FHE - We are a ............ Family

What kind of family are we?

Happy?
Fighting?
Loving?
Angry?
Sharing?
Grumpy?

A lot of the time it feels like we are the not so good adjectives in that list and my goodness it really gets to me. So it was time to have one of those lessons about getting on better with eachother, being more loving, taking turns, sharing.

Emphasis on 'we are a happy family'

I made a poster and put the words above on little cards that I hid around the house. Each child got 2 clues that told them where to find 2 of the words to try and fill in the sentence 'we are a ..... family'

I couldn't find 'angry' when I took the photo, but we all agreed that this isn't the kind of family we wanted to be

This family sounds way better to be around and be a part of

And to finish off, we filled in these pages that helped us consider what you see, hear and feel in a happy home

A cool lesson, and a really cool treat afterwards

Nevermind the fact that my lovely husband fell asleep right in the middle of it and Seth was feeling hot and tired so he just watched from the couch. The girls were fully engaged

And it was cool today when I could tell we'd have a typically scrappy moment (over choosing a movie on netflix, or the coveted middle seat in the car), and I'd just sing 'we are a happy family' and the situation would be diffused just like that. I don't hold out hope that my sweet little song will always work, but it was like magic today and it's those small victories that help me to keep on going when the going gets tough!!!!!! (humming billy ocean's song right now of course)

Family fun outings over the past week

Tuesday morning at the Ranui Library Storytime

Term 2 Summerland Disco

I wouldn't give him back a sugary, chewy lolly that I'd taken away because he'd already had loads of pink candyfloss

Faith and I had a sneaky date to the Night Markets in Henderson on Friday and she convinced me to let her use her $5 to buy little pork dumplings

Stake Primary Activity with a Family History Theme.....this was off the hook cool, and even better cause we had 4 little cuzzies there with us

The grand finale activity was to play a human version of hungry hippos....something I'd never even consider doing, but the kids LOVED it

They did activities like make a picture frame for a family photo, look at old kind of technology from their parents/grandparents day, colour in pictures of the temple, learn the family history song.....

I love stuff like this and love that my kids are totally into it too. And our day even started off with a delicious breakfast on our deck with 3 other families from our ward (no pictures unfortunately), so all in all it was an awesome day!!!

FHE- Pictionary, animals, donuts & superheroes

FHE last week was 2 super duper simple games and then we dropped of some dunkin donuts to our awesome Kapa Haka leaders/teachers.


The games....

Pictionary

Frog on a lillypad

Guitar (we got it so fast that she hardly got to draw any)

Seth-Lion (obviously!) 

Guess that animal...definitely one of our faves, definitely for Seth. The take turns for me to whisper an animal in their ear, they act it out and the rest have to guess what they are. I can't believe how much everyone gets into it. Ella's version of a starfish was priceless....ask her to do it one day!

And on Sunday arvo when the Leone's came over the kids all did this lil activity where they painted a background and then made up characters for the girls home learning project.

Very proud to take it in to their classes the next day and say they did it with their cousins the day before

June Date - Waitakere Bush Walk

When I took the kids to the Arataki Bushwalk tracks a few weeks ago I decided that I'd like to do a walk like that with my hubby one day when we happened to be childless, which is pretty few and far between these days. Whenever we have time like that we usually end up having a nice lunch, maybe watching a movie or DVD, and I really wanted to do something different.

I intended on knowing beforehand and planning to take a backpack with drinks and snacks to make it a little more special.

But things worked out for us to go a few days ago at a minutes notice, so we went without the special treats afterall. We just walked for a about 45 minutes before turning around and going back out. Simple as that. My date kept laughing that we walked through nowhere, to nowhere and back again, but I maintain that it was fun cause it was out of the ordinary.....we got to enjoy the fresh air, do a bit of exercise and enjoy good company!

And of course we had to finish off with a quick trip to McDs

Stuff Lately x 24

Ella's Book Week window (She did the bed at the top) 'Where the Wild Things are'
I think they were Max's bed

Faith's on my phone 24/7.....and messages me from her Dad's phone whenever she gets a chance. The messages usually say things like 'what are you doing?' and 'where are you?' when we're sitting right next to eachother! I got this one the other day when I was laughing at her for taking  sneaky sick afternoon off school

My big boy has just started fighting for Mummy bear so now it has to go between all 3 of the big kids...swapsies every night

Some concreting by an awesome concreter I know at a chapel in East Auckland

One of our trips to the library last week....this kid never sits still anymore

My nursery babies....pretty sad that our sensational teacher got released last week :(

When the singing leader came in he kept singing the 4th article of Faith to get more stickers

Spot the real baby!

Talking to Grandie on Skype on Ella's 1st morning at school. Pretty neat to talk to him all the way in Arizona on her big day

A FHE from a few weeks ago that I forgot to record. I drew a watch and 2 clocks and we talked about how we all spend our time

We pretty much ended up realising that we spend too much time on devices and could do better things with our time like more reading and exercising (as I type this all 4 of the kids are watching something on Netflix)

Some mornings here lately have been FREEZING

A little bit of artwork I did with my class a couple of weeks ago.....celery print fish

Wear Pink to School day for Anti Bullying

Flowers delivered to the school office for Marissa Heke!!! What an unexpected, exciting surprise

A yummy dinner of leftovers....roast potatoes and pumpkin, beetroot, baby spinach, felafels and avocado covered with spicy apricot sauce. I loved it. My hubby probably wanted me to add a bit f chicken, or bacon, or beef strips.....just a taste of meat!

My first 2 lemons, 2.5 years after I first this lil' baby!!!!! A good start, but hopefully 'I'll get this x 20 next year.