Baby is getting bigger

I am 16 weeks along and felt the baby move for the first time today. That is always so exciting. 😀 It’s still so small and I have to be paying attention to be able to feel it move. Before I know it, I won’t be able to get it to stop moving. 😛 Oh the joys of being pregnant. I am still not showing very much, but that is normal for me. I am finding certain clothes to be too tight though. I am just greatful that I have these jeans that hang low on my hips, so I should be able to wear them for awhile still (even if they are the only pair of jeans that fit right now). 🙂

Ethan’s 6th birthday part 2

We had a family dinner tonight to celebrate Ethan’s birthday. Daddy was home and Debby and her boyfriend Jeff came out, and Wendy got home from work in time to spend the evening with us. I made a couple of homemade pizza’s and Kyle made some breadsticks to go with. Yummmm

Ethan only had one piece of pizza then rushed to the living room asking everybody else why they weren’t done yet and telling everyone to finish eating so he could open his presents. Silly boy. Everyone took their sweet time in eating dinner and when everyone was finished we moved to the living room so Ethan could open his presents.

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When he was finished opening his presents, I put on a home video from when I was about 6 years old so we could watch the scene where Debby was about 3 years old or so and she was throwing a major fit. 😀 It was awesome. I think Debby quite enjoyed laughing at herself.

Then it was cake time. Ethan picked a butter pecan cake, and I went to make it this afternoon and discovered that we didn’t have any more cooking oil. So Kyle got some cooking oil on his way home from work and I finished making the cake and baked it after dinner came out of the oven. So by the time we got around to eating the cake, it was still warm. 🙂 It was very nice. I decorated the cake by putting Ethan’s name in m&m’s across the top and a 6 under his name. I had asked Kyle to get the candles out of the cupboard for me and he found a box of Hanukkah candles. So he asked Ethan if he wanted BIG candles on his cake. Ethan’s eyes got really big and with a huge grin Ethan whispered “YA!” It was so funny.

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Ethan’s 6th birthday part 1

Today is Ethan’s 6th birthday, and he is just so excited. At school he got a birthday crown to wear for the day, and his class sang ‘Happy birthday’ to him dinosaur style: Happy birthday to you ROAAAAR!……. I came just a little bit before school was out to bring the birthday treat he selected, which was cookies with “pretty m&m’s in them”. I remember when I was in elementary school we got to make and bring cupcakes. Times have changed a lot since I was a kid. Now-a-days you can’t bring cupcakes to school for the birthday treat because the teachers say cupcakes make too much of a mess, and you can’t bring anything homemade. I remember when I was in the fifth grade I personally made my cupcakes to take to my class, and now you just can’t do that. Anyway here is a picture of the birthday boy:

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FHE #1

House of Order Family Home Evening Manual, Lesson 20 (pg 89)

Opening Song: Hymn 215 ‘Today while the Sun Shines’

Opening Prayer: Tyra

Game: Come to Order-Dad tells the family to line up in different orders, such as by age, size, birthday….. after playing the game point out that somebody had to be giving the directions in order for everyone to know how to line up.

Scripture: Doctrine & Covenants 132:8 “Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion.”

  • We want our house to be the same, we want to establish order and end the confusion that we are experiencing.
  • Heavenly Father gives us directions (such as these) because He loves us, and He wants us to be happy and to be like Him.

Parent’s Responsibilities:

  • Preside (to give direction or to take charge)
  • Teach the Gospel-As parents it’s our responsibility to teach the gospel to our children. FHE helps us accomplish this goal.
  • Be an example-One of the best ways to teach is by example.

Mommy dress up-Here I left the lesson to go dress up as a maid, with an apron. On the apron I pinned a piece of paper that I had written “Maid” on. I came back to the living room picking things up as I came. Then we proceeded to point out to the children that I am NOT a maid and that what I was currently doing in picking everything up was not one of the jobs we had just established as being mine.

Children’s Responsibilities

  • Obey-Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Here play a game to teach obedience. Have Dad with some m&m’s in his pocket stand up and ask individual members of the family to do something. Start simple with things like ‘Come here’ and move on to things like ‘Pick up 5 books’ and when the individual completes the task Dad gives them an m&m. Then he asks someone else to do something. The children will quickly learn obedience when candy is involved. 😉
  • Honor Parents-Ephesians 6:2-3 “Honour thy father and thy mother; (Which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
  • Contribute-Each family member is responsible to help make the family happy and strong. Discuss with the children ways they can contribute to the family and household.

Closing Song: Children’s Songbook pg 198 “When We’re Helping”

Closing Prayer: Jeremy

FHE Treat: Peanut & Chocolate Chex Bars

  • 4 c Chocolate Chex cereal
  • 1/2 c light corn syrup
  • 1/4 c sugar
  • 1/2 c peanut butter
  • 1/2 c peanut butter chips
  • 1/4 c candy-coated chocolates
  1. Butter or spray with non-stick cooking spray the bottom and sides of an 8×8 pan. Put the chocolate chex in the pan.
  2. Over medium heat, heat the corn syrup and sugar, stirring constantly, just to boiling. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth.
  3. Pour over cereal in the pan, stirring until even coated. Stir in the peanut butter chips and candies, and press firmly in the pan. Cool 1 hour.