F.A.M.I.L.Y.

Father is a part of it.
Aunts and uncles are part of it.
Mother is a part of it.
I am a part of it.
Love is a part of it.
You are a part of it.

That's how tonight's family night began.







This one was probably one of the better ones. And I can't take credit for it. I get to teach the 6 year olds in my church on Sundays. We already have lesson manuals that provide age appropriate gospel-centered lesson plans. I do not come up with anything creative, I just follow the plan! Then, the next night, I teach it to our children. The topic today was "family" and how Jesus was placed in a family just like us. Heavenly Father's plan is for us to be a part of a family so that they can help us make good choices that will help us be happy. Then we each said what we liked about each member of our family. Hearing Jake say, "Caleb makes me happy because he plays with me" was a moment I shall engrave in my long-term memory to recall when I need a little pick-me-up. And Caleb's sheepish grin when I said, "What does Mommy do for you, Caleb?" and his response, "Geez, Mom, everything!" will be written down next to Jake's memory. When I said, "What does Michaela do for us?" both Caleb and Jake just smiled, "She's just funny!" I concur. Michaela just spreads joy when she skips or dances into a room. When I asked Daddy, "What do you like about Mommy, Daddy?" I started to giggle, I just can't help myself sometimes because my husband just does that to me. It's like a little bubbly spring. I look at him and first I feel a little twitch on the corners of my mouth, then my lips spread wide and I start to feel this little tickle down in my tummy and it travels up my throat until I am giggling. "You can only name one, Daddy. I know it's terribly hard to do that." His slight smile was first, followed by, "Her sense of humor." Followed by more of my giggles. To close our little assembly, each person had to try to pick up a crayon without using their thumb. The moral: each person of our family is just as important as each finger. Life is a lot easier when we have all the members of our family. To help them remember this we traced everyone's hands and labeled each finger a member of the family. And Michaela colored hers with a frenzy! She had so much frenzy left she decided to color Daddy's and Mommy's with that frenzy. Jake laid on the floor to finish his masterpiece and fell asleep. Ah, Jake, I sure love you my little rough, cuddly bear!