FHE: Lehi's Dream

It's been ages since I shared a family home evening. One we held recently is definitely blogworthy.

Opening Song: Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam (yup, we've got another Sunbeam in the house!)

Opening Prayer: The Boy.

Lesson: Boo.

Since her class had discussed Lehi's dream on Sunday, Boo shared their lesson with us. If you are not familiar with the story, here is a simplified version.

First, she summarize the first portion of the dream (1 Nephi 8:2-11) where Lehi dreams about a dreary waste where he wanders in darkness before calling upon the Lord for guidance and then sees a field with a beautiful tree. The white fruit of the tree makes him feel happy

Then Boo read the scriptures that contained the reactions of his family. (1 Nephi 8:12-18)

12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great ^ajoy; wherefore, I began to be ^bdesirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was ^cdesirable above all other fruit.
 13 And as I cast my eyes round about, that perhaps I might discover my family also, I beheld a ^ariver of water; and it ran along, and it was near the tree of which I was partaking the fruit.
 14 And I looked to behold from whence it came; and I saw the head thereof a little way off; and at the head thereof I beheld your mother Sariah, and Sam, and ^aNephi; and they stood as if they knew not whither they should go.
 15 And it came to pass that I beckoned unto them; and I also did say unto them with a loud voice that they should come unto me, and partake of the fruit, which was desirable above all other fruit.
 16 And it came to pass that they did come unto me and partake of the fruit also.
 17 And it came to pass that I was desirous that Laman and Lemuel should come and partake of the fruit also; wherefore, I cast mine eyes towards the head of the river, that perhaps I might see them.
 18 And it came to pass that I saw them, but they would ^anot come unto me and partake of the fruit.

After reading, she went back to summarizing, telling us about the other things Lehi saw in his dream: the iron rod, the path, all the other people, darkness, and a large building with it's residents. 


When the lesson was finished, Boo had an activity for us, a sort of play to act out the different reactions of the people. We moved our ficus tree out from it's corner, tied a rope to the base, stretching it out and then tying the other end to a chair. Boo wedged a flashlight into the base of the tree, shining up through the leaves, and I placed our treat for the evening at the base (large Toberlone wedges). Now we had our Tree of Life with it's "fruit" (hey, I thought it was very desirable!) and our rope rod. She turned off the lights to simulate the dark and dreary waste. Playing the part of Lehi, the Man went to the tree first, had some chocolate, considered eating it all himself but gave in to his daughter's demands, and called the rest of us to join him. As Nephi and Sam, Baby and Boo went next, following the rod until they reached their goal. I was Sariah and made my way to the Tree. But the Snowman and the Boy were Laman and Lemuel, and decided to horse around instead of  holding to the rod. They ended up in another part of the room, pointing their fingers and making faces at us, which would have been hilarious if the room hadn't been so dark and we couldn't see their faces. 


Closing Song: Book of Mormon Stories.


Closing Prayer: The Man.


Treats: The Man was recently returned from a trip to London and brought back lots of chocolate for me. I was nice enough to share it. But only a little, and then it went right back into my chocolate hiding place.

About That Giveaway

Hey, I bet you're wondering if you won the MyMemories giveaway!
Well, you're only wondering if you actually entered…
I used Random.org to find the winner. The winning comment is #10.

 Cheryl said...
Way too many cute ones! I would have to say Dotty Girl. I haven't done much of anything for my poor girls! Sure are lots to choose from!
February 15, 2012 1:34 PM

Congratulations, Cheryl!
And thanks to everyone who entered! If you decide to purchase the software for yourself, remember you can still get 10% off by using the coupon code from the giveaway post.

Teaser Tuesday: Faery Tales & Nightmares

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share a few “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



I've entered countless giveaways on Goodreads for all different kinds of books. Faery Tales & Nightmares is a the first one that I actually won so I'm pretty excited to read it, also because it's a collection of short stories of paranormal attractions, which I also adore! But the cool thing about these is that in a lot of the tales, the attraction isn't exactly mutual or even wanted. The book they sent is an uncorrected proof. It doesn't have a dedication yet (and there are errors and awkward sequences that will probably be fixed). Still, I love a good telling about the paranormal, mixed with some steamy romance. (And it's the best kind of romance: hot without being explicit.) 


Also? I really like the cover. You think the girl is staring at you, almost in a haunted way, but peer closer and you notice she's not looking at you at all. Very creepy/cool.


I couldn't help myself and had to include two Teasers this week, just to show the different tones. Hey, it's my blog and I make the rules.


Teaser #1:

"Eliana pulled him down for a kiss--and almost wished she didn't need to kill him. 

Almost."

-pg. 61, "Transition" from Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr.

Teaser #2:

"No one warned him that the mere touch of her hand would evoke such a feeling: he'd fight until his last breath to keep her near him, to keep her safe, to make her happy. It was akin to the sea, this feeling that pulled at him. He'd drown under the weight of it, the enormity of it, and he'd not object as he did so."

-pg. 89, "Love Struck" from Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr.

What are you reading?

Also? Last chance to enter my MyMemories digital scrapbooking software!

Mothering Moments: The "Talk" Doesn't Need to Include Details

Soooo…

Boo is at that age where having "the Talk" is necessary. It's never an easy task. In fact, I don't even have my own experience to draw upon because my parents never gave sat me down to explain the birds and the bees. Years later, I asked my mom about this. She said that it's a horribly embarrassing thing to talk about and she knew I'd get the information from my older siblings, friends, and the class they give you at school. True enough. Most of my enlightening happened one afternoon while talking with my friends on the way to the library in the third grade.  And my mom was totally right about the embarrassing part. Although as a teenager, my mom and I had a great relationship and I could easily talk to her about anything so I wasn't naive or ignorant.

But back to the Boo. At her age, she asks a LOT of questions. I'm more of a bare basics kind of mom. If she wants more information later on, we can go over that but right now the emphasis is on our bodies being sacred creations given to us by God and our responsibility to care for and protect them. Other people must respect our bodies. And if they don't, tell a teacher or parent immediately. So we're got that covered.

Then there are the kids at school that tell her other things, things we haven't discussed and frankly don't really want to at this point. But because she not old enough to be embarrassed by asking about these little details, she just shoots away.

Boo: Hey, Mom?
Me: Yes? (I'm not quite tearing my eyes away from the book I'm reading).
Boo: Do you and Daddy touch tongues?
Me: Uh… (Eyes bugging out for a moment there as my book falls out of my hands.)
Boo: Do you?
Me: That sounds pretty gross, don't you think?
Boo: Yeah. (Nodding seriously) It totally does.

Crisis averted! No need elaborate on the different styles of kissing because she's convinced that the idea is utterly unappealing. We'll cross that bridge when having a boyfriend means something other than the kid who saves a seat for you on the bus.

Wordful Wednesday: Heart Dinner

Hey, I'm not exactly known for my ability to keep things short or to the point.

For the annual Love Day celebration, I concocted yet another red heart meal. I think this one might just be my best so far!

The main course was stromboli (which I explained to my kids was just like a rolled up pizza). For the pickier eaters, I had a smaller cheese-only stromboli. And the very pickiest eater got a peanut butter and honey sandwich - heart-shaped also, thanks to a sandwich cutter.

For drinks, we had the usual: goblets of Sprite with frozen juice heart cubes. This year, I used two different ice cube trays that were slightly different. In one, I poured pink grapefruit juice (making a nice soft pink heart) and the other was filled with pomegranate juice. The pomegranate cubes didn't look red but instead a lightish brown color, which actually looked pretty cool with the pinker one. And it was tasty, too.

Instead of the usual molded jello hearts, I made mosaic jello. I love this stuff and may or may not have had some for breakfast this morning. The different flavors/colors of jello were watermelon (soft pink), strawberry (dark pink), and black cherry (dark red). This is sweet enough to be a dessert but since jello is a traditional Valentine side dish, I couldn't save it for last. Besides…I had big plans for dessert…

But before I reveal the dessert, I need to clean my plate. Green salad with heart-shaped strawberries, more strawberries for those who preferred them untainted by green stuff, hearted pears soaked in pear juice and grenadine, and a bowl of conversation hearts just to keep our blood sugar levels peaked.

Then came dessert.

Whilst ignoring the heaping pile of dishes diligently cleaning my house, my laptop magically opened and started searching the web for new and spectacular desserts. Completely by itself, the browser landed on a show-stopper of a dessert featured on Hungry Happenings.

These are actually mini cheesecakes although they totally look like chunks of luscious frosting. And since it goes against my nature to bake anything without adding almond flavoring, these are vanilla almond cheesecakes. Beth from Hungry Happenings gives excellent tips on getting these perfect without losing your mind in the process. Mine look funny different because I decided to use what I thought was an easier method to add the wording. It wasn't.

Hope you had a loving Valentine's Day!


And if you haven't already, go enter my giveaway for the MyMemories digital scrapbooking software!