Peaceful Chaos

Okay, I'll admit - yesterday was one of those days that I didn't feel like holding Family Home Evening. My energy level was not up to par - and if it had just been me, the night would have slipped away without it. But, thankfully, it's not just me...my husband is the better half at things like this and, at 7:00, he cheerfully asked us all to "hurry and help me clean up so we can have Family Home Evening!" I felt like a grumpy teenager as I dragged my feet into the living room.

It seems to hold true that whenever we have FHE when I really don't want to, the spirit is easier to recognize. I think that's because FHE always fills me with the spirit - so when I go into it with a grumpy heart, I notice the change as I go from empty to full; whereas when I have a happy heart from the beginning, it's not as easy to appreciate the small increase. (Now, it's true that sometimes the spirit has to fight it's way through fussy/hyper children who don't want to sit!)

Generally, I love Monday nights! And, despite the rocky start, last night ended up being no exception. Carson is finally starting to participate in the fun songs - I had to get a video!

ONCE THERE WAS A SNOWMAN


After our very short lesson on the temple, we took our OtterPop treats up into Mom and Dad's room for the activity of watching some of the Duke basketball game together. (Can you guess whose idea that was?) I was SHOCKED at how special the kids thought that was! We turned off all the lights, cheered for Duke and ate our OtterPops for about 10 minutes before we decided that it really was time to get the kids into bed. We said goodnight to the Duke team and turned off the TV, leaving us in total darkness. McKenzie jumped into Brian's arms and said, "Hurry, Daddy! Hurry! We need to get out of this darkness. Hurry....hurry...." I opened up our bedroom door and a little bit of light from downstairs met our eyes.
"Whew!" McKenzie said, "That was close. We almost saw a monster!"
~