First off, I gotta say, I am super protective now of our Monday nights. We've been really good at doing FHE for a few years now, and since the kids have gotten older it's actually become a bit easier to have it. They are more interested and engaged in doing something with us, and this window is probably going to be short-lived, so we are doing our best to encourage FHE and having a night that we do stuff together. they take turns 'conducting' and occasionally fight over whose turn it is to conduct. Some nights we barely have a FHE due to fighting or crying, and lack of preparation on our parts, but we try.
We certainly are not poster models for how FHE should work or be, and Heaven knows there have been too many times we have complained or whined or quit early, out of frustration, --trying to keep their attention or just have them, oh sit still for two minutes is more difficult than herding cows. Trust me. I know.
But I just keep in mind that they are pretty little, and despite it all, Cate's the only one is over the age of 8.
So.
Some times all we do is have a singing FHE, where we each get to pick a song and sing it.
But, there are times, when we plan much better, and have an activity or go somewhere.
Which makes FHE extra special.
Which brings me to the reason behind this post.
(I realize my whole plan would have gone over better had I prepared DAYS in advance, instead of just one day in advance, but hey...I only got the idea on Saturday.)
I have got to post how hard this simple little FHE activity was for me to pull off. I seriously swear, Satan was trying pretty hard to prevent me from doing this one with my kids. I was so crazy busy, that it got to a point in the day, that I was seriously said out loud, "Get over it Satan, we are doing this project!"
What should have taken under an hour to prepare and gather for our Halloween activity literally took all day!
I left the house at 10 am, with one hour to run to pick up some candy bars, fabric, and googlie eyes. I had a appointment at 11 with the doctor, and then was supposed to pick up the little girls at 12 noon. I should only be gone for two hours, giving me the rest of the day to do laundry, clean up the kitchen, change sheets on beds, etc...
Yeah, right.
Problem One: JoAnn's was insane with shoppers on Monday morning, like Black Friday crazy. I had no idea I would wait in line 45 minutes for a yard of fabric. I only made it because a sweet little grandma took pity on me, and traded numbers with me, so I could get my single yard of off-white cotton and be on time. So needless to say, I barely made it to the doctor's. (That little grandma was a blessing to me that day. The Lord purposely put her there to help me have a fun night with my family, I swear it.)
Problem Two: My doctor's appointment took longer than I had hoped, but what can you do? When I got out, I figured I better go get the girls and run back to Sam's for the candy. I didn't want Kambria to have to watch them for too long. And 45 minutes past the original pick up time is too long for my conscious to do to someone.
So no biggie, until I get home and the girls are with Kambria and not home. They ran an errand too. So, that leave times for me to switch the laundry over and load the morning dishes.
When they arrived home it was close to 1pm, and I figured that I could be back in under an hour. Had to get gas, hit the bank, and run into Sam's for the candy. No problem. Problem Three: Until I get to the bank, and Landon calls from school, super sick. And he was NOT WELL at all. His teacher was really concerned.
Poor kid, I think he had a migraine, no joke.
Anyway, I drive all the way back home, grab him and load him into the car with some Tylenol in his system and drive back to Sam's Club.
By golly, we are getting these candy bars!
An hour later, I pull in at home to find Cate with an after school snack, and watch and little TV. It's 2:40pm. We have one hour until I need to take Jo and her little friends we car pool with, to dance.
By the time I got home, at 5:20, in time to fly through dinner and finally sit down to make our MUMMIES!
With minimal crying, I might add.
From me.
I was exhausted from running around, already feeling the effects of my flu shot in my arm, and was flat out tired. Somehow, God willing, Brooklyn managed not to fall apart on me without a nap, AND didn't have any accidents. (Potty training herself, she was. She just decided last Wednesday she wasn't wearing a diaper any more. So, I figured, here' goes. She's gonna have to learn to go on the go, since I don't have 5 or 6 consecutive days to stay home and teach her.)
So we gathered around the table and made these cute little mummy bars, and my kids had a blast. It was a tremendously great way to spend some time as a family, with barely any mess (unlike carving pumpkins--a non-tradition in our home-or baking sugar cookies-also a tradition we do not do.) So from my point of view, I have a new Halloween tradition to share with my kids, and they truly LOVED it. They were instantly listing off who they wanted to give one too, and their teachers at school were on the top of the list. We did thirty of them, and it's not even a week since making them, and we only have one left! They were so easy to pass out to friends! I love the look on my kids' faces when they give a labor of love like that away! When we were done, Kyle did have to leave for work, and I thought Well, at least the Lord let him stay long enough for our FHE.
Meanwhile, with Kyle gone, the kids were still all smiles as the finished up gluing on the eyes and brushing their teeth, and then, happily went to bed.
Take that Satan.
On another note, I bought this card for my sweet little Grandma Betty in Cardston. Her birthday is the day before Halloween, and when I saw it, I just COULD NOT pass it up.
It will hopefully make her laugh so hard!
We sent it with two of our Mummy bars.
We certainly are not poster models for how FHE should work or be, and Heaven knows there have been too many times we have complained or whined or quit early, out of frustration, --trying to keep their attention or just have them, oh sit still for two minutes is more difficult than herding cows. Trust me. I know.
But I just keep in mind that they are pretty little, and despite it all, Cate's the only one is over the age of 8.
So.
Some times all we do is have a singing FHE, where we each get to pick a song and sing it.
But, there are times, when we plan much better, and have an activity or go somewhere.
Which makes FHE extra special.
Which brings me to the reason behind this post.
(I realize my whole plan would have gone over better had I prepared DAYS in advance, instead of just one day in advance, but hey...I only got the idea on Saturday.)
I have got to post how hard this simple little FHE activity was for me to pull off. I seriously swear, Satan was trying pretty hard to prevent me from doing this one with my kids. I was so crazy busy, that it got to a point in the day, that I was seriously said out loud, "Get over it Satan, we are doing this project!"
What should have taken under an hour to prepare and gather for our Halloween activity literally took all day!
I left the house at 10 am, with one hour to run to pick up some candy bars, fabric, and googlie eyes. I had a appointment at 11 with the doctor, and then was supposed to pick up the little girls at 12 noon. I should only be gone for two hours, giving me the rest of the day to do laundry, clean up the kitchen, change sheets on beds, etc...
Yeah, right.
Problem One: JoAnn's was insane with shoppers on Monday morning, like Black Friday crazy. I had no idea I would wait in line 45 minutes for a yard of fabric. I only made it because a sweet little grandma took pity on me, and traded numbers with me, so I could get my single yard of off-white cotton and be on time. So needless to say, I barely made it to the doctor's. (That little grandma was a blessing to me that day. The Lord purposely put her there to help me have a fun night with my family, I swear it.)
Problem Two: My doctor's appointment took longer than I had hoped, but what can you do? When I got out, I figured I better go get the girls and run back to Sam's for the candy. I didn't want Kambria to have to watch them for too long. And 45 minutes past the original pick up time is too long for my conscious to do to someone.
So no biggie, until I get home and the girls are with Kambria and not home. They ran an errand too. So, that leave times for me to switch the laundry over and load the morning dishes.
When they arrived home it was close to 1pm, and I figured that I could be back in under an hour. Had to get gas, hit the bank, and run into Sam's for the candy. No problem. Problem Three: Until I get to the bank, and Landon calls from school, super sick. And he was NOT WELL at all. His teacher was really concerned.
Poor kid, I think he had a migraine, no joke.
Anyway, I drive all the way back home, grab him and load him into the car with some Tylenol in his system and drive back to Sam's Club.
By golly, we are getting these candy bars!
An hour later, I pull in at home to find Cate with an after school snack, and watch and little TV. It's 2:40pm. We have one hour until I need to take Jo and her little friends we car pool with, to dance.
By the time I got home, at 5:20, in time to fly through dinner and finally sit down to make our MUMMIES!
With minimal crying, I might add.
From me.
 | |
| Remember I said Minimal Crying? Note the tears of sadness on Brooklyn's cheeks. |
 |
| Note the smiles now, however as everyone starts to see the completed Mummies! |
I was exhausted from running around, already feeling the effects of my flu shot in my arm, and was flat out tired. Somehow, God willing, Brooklyn managed not to fall apart on me without a nap, AND didn't have any accidents. (Potty training herself, she was. She just decided last Wednesday she wasn't wearing a diaper any more. So, I figured, here' goes. She's gonna have to learn to go on the go, since I don't have 5 or 6 consecutive days to stay home and teach her.)
So we gathered around the table and made these cute little mummy bars, and my kids had a blast. It was a tremendously great way to spend some time as a family, with barely any mess (unlike carving pumpkins--a non-tradition in our home-or baking sugar cookies-also a tradition we do not do.) So from my point of view, I have a new Halloween tradition to share with my kids, and they truly LOVED it. They were instantly listing off who they wanted to give one too, and their teachers at school were on the top of the list. We did thirty of them, and it's not even a week since making them, and we only have one left! They were so easy to pass out to friends! I love the look on my kids' faces when they give a labor of love like that away! When we were done, Kyle did have to leave for work, and I thought Well, at least the Lord let him stay long enough for our FHE.
Meanwhile, with Kyle gone, the kids were still all smiles as the finished up gluing on the eyes and brushing their teeth, and then, happily went to bed.
Take that Satan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On another note, I bought this card for my sweet little Grandma Betty in Cardston. Her birthday is the day before Halloween, and when I saw it, I just COULD NOT pass it up.
It will hopefully make her laugh so hard!
We sent it with two of our Mummy bars.
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