Curtis FHE || Part 1

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Prophet has counseled us to hold a weekly Family Home Evening or FHE. As a Church they have set aside Monday Night as the evening to have this Family Night. 

Since Jonathan and I have been married we have never been great at having a family night every week. I think this was because our schedules were always so hectic with school and work that it was hard to stay consistent. Now that we have Zella, I feel like having a FHE is even MORE important. I want us to get into the good habit now while she is young, because I assume it will only get harder as she gets older, and we probably add more kids to the mix. 

So we came up with a plan... Because we don't have a night of the week that will ALWAYS work for FHE, we made the commitment that every Sunday we would decided what night of the week we could hold FHE that week. I got a little chalkboard out, and then wrote out the day we would hold family night, along with what we would be doing. 

So far this is working wonderfully, and we have successfully held FHE 4 whole weeks in a row!!! Best record yet... I think.

However... I really wanted to include Zella in our FHE, while still having a meaningful lesson for Jon and I. With Zella only being 10 months, I've been having a hard time coming up with things that would engage her interest. So I thought I would share some of the things I have come up with, so all of you with young babies can have some ideas for FHE too!!!

We've been keeping the lesson short and simple... Zella's attention span is practically nonexistent! One thing she does LOVE is songs... So we sing a few Primary Songs... I found a fun app called "Children's Sing-Along" that has the Primary Songs with words and pictures. It is offered in the App Store, as well as the Play Store for the Android. You can purchase the entire Children's Song Book for $4.99 or the App Store offers a "lite" version with a selected # of songs. 

Then, of coarse, I've been trying to come up with some type of fun activity to include her... as well as a treat!

So here are the FHE Plans from the last 4 weeks...

Week #1

The Lesson was on "The Scriptures"

We sang Scripture Power!

I hid my Scriptures under a towel for Zella to find.

I also added little tabs for her to play with.

My Scriptures snap close 
so I wasn't worried about her tearing the pages.

I shared some of my favorite scriptures, 
and my testimony of them.

Here in Brigham City we are blessed 
to be just blocks away from the Temple.

So for our Activity all of us, including Mini, 
went on a walk around the Temple.

When we got home we enjoyed some Apples + Peanut Butter.
Then it was time to get Zella in the tub and ready for bed!

Week #2

This week Jon had the Lesson.

It was on Temples. 

We sang "I Love to See the Temple"

He read about Temples from the True to the Faith Book.

While he read I gave Zella some Temples to hold & look at.

After he was done reading about Temples
they built a Temple together,

and even put a little Angel on top:)

Zella just wanted to knock it over!

For our Activity I made some finger paints!

We made pictures to send to family & friends who live far away.

Zella only liked it a little awhile. 

The paint was edible, but had no taste.

I think that's why Zella wasn't too interested in it:)

As short lived as it was, it was fun!

Before that mess we had Peaches & Creme for a treat!

They were the yummy home canned peaches:)

We go to our local library regularly,
and they have a good selection of
Gospel related board books for the little kids!

So to end our FHE we read
"I Love to See the Temple" from the library.

Week #3

This Lesson was on the Sacrament.
We sang "Reverently Quietly"

I made a Sacrament Quiet Book for Zella,
and had just finished it.

So we read it for the first time,
then let Zella explore the pages while

 I read about the Sacrament and
the Covenants we make at Baptism
from the True to the Faith book. 

For our Activity we took a trip to the local Ice Cream Parlor.

We had a couple of coupons for free cones.

So for our treat we each got an ice cream cone,
And so did Zella!!

This was a first for her, and she LOVED it of course:)

Week #4

Dad taught the Lesson about Jesus Christ.

We sang "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam"

I let Zella see our Christus, 

and the first thing she did was give Him a kiss!!

Cutest thing ever:)

Dad read from The Living Christ,

Then we read another story from the library.

This one was called, "Stories of Jesus"

It told about how Jesus loved the little children, 

and even when He was tired...

He still wanted to hold and bless them. 

 For our Activity we Face-Timed with Cousin Roddy & Aunt Heather. 

They are living in Japan, so we love when we get a chance to chat.

Zella likes to try and give Roddy kisses.

And Roddy loves to watch Mini, and play "Sumo"
He also LOVES Zella! It is so sweet:)

After we got Zella to bed,
Jon and I shared a yummy treat all to ourselves!

Here is the recipe:)

Well I hope this gives you some simple fun ideas
to include your babies in FHE.
I love ALL the memories we are making together
as a family each week:)

We love including little Zella,
she brings such a sweet special spirit with her!