It's more like elderberry spread...

For our FHE last night, we talked about how following directions will lead to a desired end result like following the commandments and keeping our covenants will lead to living again with our Heavenly Father.

So we prepared jars, lids, boiling water, sugar, berry puree, vinegar, etc. and went to work. The "jam" took forever to cook, so at 9pm we sent the kiddos to bed while I continued to stir, and stir, and stir...

After the mix had reduced enough to be about an inch from its original levels, I thought that it had cooked enough. It wasn't thick like the recipe said (found here), but maybe it was supposed to thicken more while it cooled. I got good seals on all my jars and let them cool over night.

Shows what I know. We woke up this morning to spread. It tastes good, and everyone that tried it thought it was great (except Dougie, he wouldn't touch it). Now the questions is: who to give the jars to?

Family Home Evening

I know I'm a little behind on the pictures.

This is our family home evening from last week. Seeing as the topic during Sacrament was Zion, we decided to carry over the theme for our activities. The center picture is the destruction of Babylon, while the pictures around the outside are Enoch and his people in Zion. We talked about why Babylon was destroyed, why Zion was taken into heaven, and the differences between the two. We then went down an impromptu list of activities and asked which city they belonged in. For example, fighting amongst ourselves belonged to Babylon; being kind to one another belonged to Zion; following the Lord's commandments belonged in Zion; and drinking alcohol and smoking belonged in Babylon. The kids understood that by doing the right things, they could live in "Zion" and not be in "Babylon" when it is destroyed. Everyone then got to color their own picture of Zion. Counter-clockwise from the top left is Tim, Audie, Chloie, Dougie, and me.

Family Home Evening

I asked the kids what they wanted to do for FHE, and Audie said, "A house of order!" I looked online for pictures that I thought would represent the list as found in D&C88:119 "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God"

We got our the white board and talked about what it meant, drawing pictures of "needful things". The kids listed food, clothing, a house, scriptures, and water among those things they needed. Then we came to the list. I had drawn a house with windows in it and given each munchkin two pictures. As we read the list, we tried to figure out who had the picture that represented the "house" we were reading. From left to right, top to bottom we had: prayer, faith, learning, glory, order, God, fasting (the door on the addition).
Then while I got the treat ready (the remaining King Cake from Mormon Mardi Gras), they each got to draw their own house. Tim even drew one of his own! Counterclockwise: Tim, Audie, Chloie, Dougie (mine was the big one in the middle). :-)

Family Home Evening

Our Family Home Evening this week was about tithing. Some time ago I had made up a printed sheet with 10 boxes on it. Nine of the boxes are under the heading "For Me", and the last box is under the heading "For the Lord". we give the kids ten of the same coin, and they place them in the boxes. It helps them understand that one-tenth of anything they earn goes to tithing. We even talked about what tithing is used for and why it is important. Then we showed them how to fill out the tithing envelope and who they could give it to. Over all it was a quick lesson, but one that they enjoyed!

Family Home Evening

Yesterday during lunch I decided to look at Splash for a Family Home Evening (FHE) idea. I decided to do a little "gospel art" with the family. We've been reading in 1 Nephi about how Lehi followed God's commandments and led his family out of Jerusalem and into the wilderness. I found a picture in the gospel art kit on lds.org and printed #301 in grey scale. I also printed the text on the back of the picture. We talked about the picture, who was who, and what they were doing while everyone colored their picture. Then we posted them on the back window for all to see.

It was fun to see how each one of us colored the picture. From top left and going counterclockwise: Tim, Me, Dougie, Audie, and Chloie with the text in the middle. This was a fun activity that fit very well with our scripture study, and we got to see how much the kids really learned from reading. Dougie even knows what book we're reading (the Book of Mormon) and who we're reading about(Nephi). Audie and Chloie can recount most of the story and why some of the events happened. I'm so proud!

I *heart* you

We're getting close to Valentines Day... the day when eating chocolate is perfectly acceptable... the day when cut flowers perfume the air... the day when you find out your kids are growing up.

Hold the phone... kids growing up? You heard me.

This morning Audie said that he needed to do one more valentine. I guess Tim started him on it last night. So I'm going through the list to figure out which one he's missing, and I find that one is bigger than the others...

Is this someone special? He nods. "Can I put some extra hearts on it, Mommy?"

Oh, dear. There it is. He likes a girl.

I rue the day when Chloie starts this, but then again she'll put extra hearts on anyone's valentine if I give her the stickers.

I should mention that my mother got the kids those boxes of valentines (thanks, Mom!). Dougie got first pick and chose the Pixar box with Wall-E and Nemo. Chloie (of course) picked the Disney princesses; Audie chose Spiderman. We're going to work on Dougie and Chloie tonight after family home evening (more on that in a minute). For Chloie we'll work like we did with Audie, making one valentine for each person in her class including the teachers. Then, all three will make valentines for Gammy and Happy, Grandma and Grampa, (maybe Mommy and Daddy), and I'll try to do some for JD to mail to Arkansas. I think he'd like that.

For Family Home Evening, we're a couple days late (I know), but we've been a little busy. Audie is excited because he gets to teach. I guess they were talking about temples and "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". They made trumpets like the Angel Moroni atop the temples. This evening's lesson should be quick, but nonetheless it will be a good experience for him and a wonderful opportunity for him to show us he knows and loves these principles.

... wow. Did I really say that? It seems that a year and a half ago, I wouldn't have.

*warm fuzzy moment*