FHE: Helping Out Around the House

Opening Song: Family Night

Opening Prayer

Scripture: Doctrine and Covenants 88:119

Lesson:
Questions:
Is our house dirty or clean?
Are you happy when our house gets dirty?
Is the church building dirty or clean?
Are temples dirty or clean?
Temples are also called the House of the Lord.
Do you think Heavenly Father is happy when our house is dirty?
Would it be easy to clean the entire house all by yourself every day?

House puzzle:

Print & cut out the house puzzle.
Distribute puzzle pieces among family members
then have the family try to put the puzzle together.
Hold onto your puzzle pieces & don't help them at all.
When they realize that they can't complete the house puzzle without you,
explain that you all need to work together to make your house a home.

Story:
The Little Red Hen

When we work together,
the chores seem easier & things get done faster.
Cleaning together is more fun than cleaning alone anyway.
How else can we make cleaning more fun?

"Whistle While You Work" from Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs:
Just whistle while you work
<whistle>
And cheerfully together we can tidy up the place
So hum a merry tune
<hum>
It won't take long when there's a song to help you set the pace
And as you sweep the room
Imagine that the broom
is someone that you love and soon you'll find you're dancing to the tune.

When hearts are high the time will fly so whistle while you work.

Things the kids can do to help around the house:
Pick up their toys & keep them in the playroom
Sweep up crumbs with the little broom
Put things where they belong
Sort & fold laundry
Help with dishes
Wipe counters
Make beds

Closing Song: When We're Helping

Closing Prayer

Activity: Make a family chore chart & watch Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs

Treat: We're making my Grandma's Apple Crisp,
but you could also make an apple pie like Snow White makes in the movie,
or do any sort of apple treat really...

xoxo

Saturday Dishes - Cold Summery Treats

Welcome to Saturday Dishes
Where every week is a new theme...

Your job is to post your recipes that coincide with that theme!

Easy peasy, right?

Don't have a recipe that goes with the theme?
No worries!
Just sit back, relax, enjoy the other posts,
& be sure to check out the index & upcoming themes
to see what you can post in future weeks!

This week's theme is:
Cold Summery Treats

It has been a hot & humid week here in Indiana.
I shouldn't complain because 90 degree weather is nothing
compared to the 115+ degree convection oven that we had to deal with
every. single. day.
for months in the SoCal desert,
but there's something about it being humid that makes 90 seem just as bad.
I think it's the whole sticky sweat thing.
I don't enjoy feeling like I need a shower the second I walk outside.
But with heat comes plenty of
Otter Pops,
ice cream,
& other cold summery treats that need refrigeration of sorts!
I can't wait to see what you have to share (:

Also, I can't seem to find Otter Pops ANYWHERE this year!
They disappeared & it's making me super sad...
Maybe it's only a Western half of the USA thing now.
If you just so happen to live in Indiana & see them somewhere
PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!

Saturday Dishes is hosted by:

- Marissa @ Life is Fantasmic -
Facebook ♥ Twitter ♥ Google+ ♥ Pinterest

- Lisa @ Pebbles and Piggytails -
Facebook ♥ Twitter ♥ Google+ ♥ Pinterest

Check out our blogs & show us some love!
We love seeing new faces & new followers on our social media,
& comments make us smile (:

Last week's theme was Dutch Oven & Camping
& I once again am going to feature ALL of the links.
What happened to all the participation from the first week?

A HUGE thank you goes out to Joy from Yesterfood
for linking up her Sunshine Trail Mix...

It looks so yummy & easy to put together!

And Lisa from Pebbles and Piggytails linked up...

3 Fun Ways to Make S'mores
Mmmm... S'MORES!

Lisa's faves might be different than mine,
so don't forget to swing by her blog too! (;
Oh yeah...
& if you were featured
feel free to grab a button!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://lifeisfantasmic.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Life Is Fantasmic" src="http://imageshack.com/a/img834/3923/21jg0.jpg" />

Next week's theme is:
Red, White, or Blue
4th of July is right around the corner
so come back next week to share your patriotic recipes!

Now on to the linky...
Link up your Cool Summery Treats,
visit other posts,
& make new friends!

We don't want to retire this linky due to lack of participation
after it only being up for one month
so PLEASE spread the word
& let us know what themes you would like to see in the future!
We'll start sending out a reminder email to all participants
to let you know what the upcoming themes are.
You can unsubscribe from that email at any time,
but we're hoping that maybe it will help since the theme changes every week.

By linking up at Saturday Dishes, you are giving permission for Life is Fantasmic & Pebbles and Piggytails to feature your posts with one image on social media with links back to you.

An InLinkz Link-up

xoxo

FHE: Honesty - Pinocchio

Since holding FHE (Family Home Evening) weekly is one of my resolutions this year

I decided to start posting about what we do.

Partially to share our FHE ideas with each of you,

but mostly to help myself remember how important it is

& to make sure it's happening each week.

I'm not gonna beat myself up if we miss a week here or there

but the goal is to do our best to make it happen every week.

Some weeks may be more thought out than others,

& some weeks we may just watch a movie

then ask questions about lessons learned from it.

Young kids have such short attention spans

that we are going to try to keep the lessons short & simple.

I noticed that LDS Living is doing Disney themes for FHE this month

& I absolutely adore that idea!

I want to try to have one Disney themed FHE each month,

but we'll see how that goes.

Without further ado,

here is tonight's Pinocchio FHE about Honesty...

Opening Song: Family Night

(This will almost always be our opening song, since that was our tradition growing up)

Opening Prayer

Scripture: Psalms 120:2

Lesson:

Story:

Read The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

If we lie over & over again,

people may not believe us when we are telling the truth.

Pinocchio's nose grows when he tells a lie,

but we have a conscience like Jiminy Cricket
(our conscience is not an actual cricket)

that helps us know right from wrong

& helps us do the right thing

even when it's hard.

Nose Grows game:

Say statements or actions that are true/honest & some that are lies/dishonest.

Have the kids fold their arms if it's something that is true or honest

& touch their nose if it's a lie or dishonest.

String of lies object lesson:

Read the story, "The Lie Monster".

Gently wrap yarn around a child's wrists (once for each lie in the story)

& explain that it's hard to break free from lies when they grow on each other.

The only way to break free from lies is to be honest

& to always tell the truth.

"I've Got No Strings" from Pinocchio:

I've got no strings to hold me down

to make me fret, or make me frown

I had strings, but now I'm free

There are no strings on me.

When we are honest,

we don't have 'strings of lies' holding us down.

If we get tied up in a lie,

we can make things right & be free by telling the truth.

Closing Song: I Believe in Being Honest

Closing Prayer

Activity: Watch Pinocchio

Treat: 'Pinocchio's nose' pretzel rods & 'Pleasure Island' ice cream

xoxo

Belated Birthday Boys

Little Dudeman turned four at the end of April.

FOUR!

He's growing up waaay too fast!

We let him open a few presents on his birthday while Grampa was in town for a business trip,

& he got to pick out a cake at the store so he could blow out candles.

He reeeally wanted a Nintendo party

& it happened,
but a month late...
You see, we moved to our new house just a couple days after his birthday

so a party at the old house simply wasn't going to happen

with all the showings, packing, cleaning, & whatnot.

When we finally got to have his Nintendo party
it lasted an entire week.
Dinner one night,
Cake & ice cream another night,
Presents another night.
Playing Nintendo games yet another night...

We had Pizzetti for his birthday dinner
since Mario wanted Spaghetti
& Luigi wanted Pizza.

We also had Goomba garlic bread,
Sonic the Hedgehog salad,
& Princess Peach soda to drink.

We ate this Nintendo themed cake...

It's a blue cake
with blue jello frosting (;

He opened his presents,
among which was his very own Wiimote!

Little Dudeman had a blue room at our old house

& wanted his bedroom in the new house to be blue as well

so we let him pick out paint & bedding for his birthday.

He chose Sonic the Hedgehog bedding that I'm sure my Broha would approve of,

& an awesome blue that he helped Hubby paint!

It's still in progress,
but I'll share more pics once it's all finished!

Hubby had his birthday the week after we moved,

but it was very different than his UP party last year.

We still have a long way to go before feeling remotely unpacked or settled,

the wrapping paper was all hiding in storage at the time,

& we had been making trips to our old house each week for random reasons.

I had plans for his birthday.

I really did.

But then life happened...

So we went out to Kona Grill to enjoy a nice dinner as a family.

The food was absolutely wonderful

& they brought him a huge ultimate fudge brownie for his birthday!

When we came home we did some much needed laundry

then Hubby opened his presents.

They were loosely wrapped in newspaper & packing materials

since we had no accessible wrapping paper or tape.

I even hid one of them so we could play the warmer/colder game,

but apparently I forgot how to play it.

I didn't remember that you can say things like

'ice cold',

'on fire',

'lava hot',

etc...

I stuck to 'warmer' & 'colder' the entire time.
Next time I'll try to be less boring! (;

We ate his cake once we finished eating the Nintendo cake.
One birthday at a time, right?

Check out my Video Game Party board on Pinterest for more ideas
& don't forget to swing by each weekend for the Saturday Dishes Link Party!
The DUTCH OVEN & CAMPING party is going on right now,
& COLD SUMMERY TREATS will start up this weekend...
We'd love to see what you have to share!

xoxo

Saturday Dishes - Dutch Oven & Camping

Welcome to Saturday Dishes
Where every week is a new theme...

Your job is to post your recipes that coincide with that theme!

Easy peasy, right?

Don't have a recipe that goes with the theme?
No worries!
Just sit back, relax, enjoy the other posts,
& be sure to check out the index & upcoming themes
to see what you can post in future weeks!

This week's theme is:
Dutch Oven & Camping

Summer camping trips are so much fun!
We want to see your tin foil meals,
dutch oven recipes,
& lot s'more!!!
pun intended (:

Saturday Dishes is hosted by:

- Marissa @ Life is Fantasmic -
Facebook ♥ Twitter ♥ Google+ ♥ Pinterest

- Lisa @ Pebbles and Piggytails -
Facebook ♥ Twitter ♥ Google+ ♥ Pinterest

Check out our blogs & show us some love!
We love seeing new faces & new followers on our social media,
& comments make us smile (:

Last week's theme was Mocktails & Kid-Friendly Drinks...
I was a little bummed with the participation,
so I'm going to feature ALL 5 of the links!
4 lemonades & a yummy smoothie!

Watermelon Lemonade from Life is Fantasmic

Raspberry Lemonade from Memories by the Mile

Old-Time Lemonade from  Fabulous Farm Girl

Copycat Chick-Fil-A Lemonade from Eating on a Dime

Basic Smoothie Recipe from Pebbles and Piggytails

Lisa's faves might be different than mine,
so don't forget to swing by her blog too! (;
Oh yeah...
& if you were featured
feel free to grab a button!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://lifeisfantasmic.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Life Is Fantasmic" src="http://imageshack.com/a/img834/3923/21jg0.jpg" />

Next week's theme is:
Cold Summery Treats
Swing by to link up your summery treats that need refrigeration of sorts...
& remember that you can link up more than one post if you have them!

Now on to the linky...
Link up your Dutch Oven & Camping recipes,
visit other posts,
& make new friends!

I love camping & would love to try out what you share,

but I've never gone camping while in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy before.

Feel free to leave me some pregnant camping tips in the comments!

I would really love to see more participation
this week & in future weeks.
To make that happen,
I need your help.
I need you to spread the word
& let us know what themes you would like to see in the future!

By linking up at Saturday Dishes, you are giving permission for Life is Fantasmic & Pebbles and Piggytails to feature your posts with one image on social media with links back to you. You are also giving permission for a weekly email reminder to be sent to your inbox keeping you informed of the upcoming themes. You may unsubscribe from this email at any time.

An InLinkz Link-up

xoxo

Saturday Dishes - Mocktails & Kid-Friendly Drinks

Welcome to Saturday Dishes
Where every week is a new theme...

Your job is to post your recipes that coincide with that theme!

Easy peasy, right?

Don't have a recipe that goes with the theme?
No worries!
Just sit back, relax, enjoy the other posts,
& be sure to check out the index & upcoming themes
to see what you can post in future weeks!

This week's theme is:
Mocktails & Kid-Friendly Drinks

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
we choose not to drink alcohol
to keep our bodies & minds healthy
& so we can always stay in tune with the Holy Ghost.
Because our family doesn't drink,
I'm always looking for yummy kid-friendly drinks
that we can enjoy together as a family...
Especially in the hot summer months!

Saturday Dishes is hosted by:

- Marissa @ Life is Fantasmic -
Facebook ♥ Twitter ♥ Google+ ♥ Pinterest

- Lisa @ Pebbles and Piggytails -
Facebook ♥ Twitter ♥ Google+ ♥ Pinterest

Check out our blogs & show us some love!
We love seeing new faces & new followers on our social media,
& comments make us smile (:

Last week's theme was Grad Party
& you guys shared some awesome ideas & recipes!
These were some of my faves...

Graduation Party from Texas Decor
I love the easy party foods & the clever candy bar poster that her neighbor made!

Water Bottle Drink Station from Feathers in the Woods
Water instead of soda is a healthier & more frugal option (:

Snickers & Butterscotch Bars from A Bountiful Love
These sound absolutely WONDERFUL right now!

Lisa's faves might be different than mine,
so don't forget to swing by her blog too! (;
I love that she shared her Sugar Popcorn recipe with us...

You could make it with school colors or whatever colors match your party!

Oh yeah...
& if you were featured
feel free to grab a button!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://lifeisfantasmic.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Life Is Fantasmic" src="http://imageshack.com/a/img834/3923/21jg0.jpg" />

Next week's theme is:
Dutch Oven & Camping
Camping season is finally here
so swing by to link up your dutch oven or camping recipes
& remember that you can link up more than one post if you have them!

Now on to this week's linky...
Link up your Mocktails & Kid-Friendly Drinks,
visit other posts,
& make new friends!

An InLinkz Link-up

xoxo

Girl's Camp 2012

I know it's 2014 now,
but I've been thinking about the Young Women from our old ward in California a lot lately.
I miss those wonderful girls dearly & thought it would be fun to reminisce a bit.
Besides, my kidlets are obsessed with The Incredibles right now...

The theme for girl's camp in 2012 was Superheroes, Arise & Shine Forth...

Our ward was assigned the value Integrity & the color purple.

Right off the bat,
we couldn't think of any well-known superheroes that wore purple
so we figured that we would need to come up with our own.
We were thinking that making capes would be fun,
but then thought that EVERYONE would probably be thinking the same thing.
Our minds raced through all cape-less superheroes that we could think of,
but all of them seemed too familiar.
We wanted something recognizable,
but not everyone's first choice when they think superhero.
Then a lightbulb turned on.
Disney heroes!
Why hadn't we thought of them sooner?
With "The Avengers" and all the other comic book superhero movies coming out,
nobody else would think to choose Disney heroes!
We remembered that the Incredibles don't wear capes
"NO CAPES!"
- Edna Mode -
& that chances are nobody else would choose them.
Not to mention they have an "I" on their supersuits,
& Integrity starts with "I".
This would be perfect!
Then Hubby popped his head in the room & came up with a brilliant beyond brilliant idea...
Why don't we merge the words "integrity" & "girls"
to come up with our superhero name:
"Integrigirls"
{I know, I know... The word is a little funny looking. It's also very catchy.}
We were the Incredible Integrigirls!

We then had the daunting task of creating our supersuits.
We wanted to do ward t-shirts AND sweatshirts
since it gets cold at camp at night & so we could represent our ward while staying warm.

Ideally, we would have looked like this...

source: KAIZEN Analytics

...only purple.

But alas, we didn't have the time, budget, or materials to create said supersuits.

So what did we do?

We bought purple t-shirts & sweatshirts.

I created an Incredibles "I" stencil using a transparency of sorts.

Then we bleach-dyed each of the t-shirts & sweatshirts using the "I" stencil.

After they were all bleach-dyed and washed,

we decorated the fronts & backs with glow-in-the-dark puffy paint!

I wish I would have taken pictures of them right after we finished them,

but I didn't

so you get to see the effects of my shirt being worn for 2 years...

I'd say they turned out pretty cute

& they looked INCREDIBLE at night (;

I didn't get to go to most of camp in 2012,

because Little Princess was still a nursing infant

& Little Dudeman was 2...

Our whole family went up the last night of camp for Bishop's night & testimony meeting,

but I got sick shortly after dinner

so I laid down in a cabin & didn't go to testimony meeting.

I was super bummed.

We left early the next morning for a 3 week road trip

with stops to visit family & friends in Utah, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, & Arizona.

It was quite an adventure,

but it was most certainly incredible.

xoxo