Family Home Evening IMPROVED!

Fun, Happy, and Effective Family Home Evening is what I hope to accomplish with my new FHE board. I actually put "Fun, Happy, and Effective" at the top of the board to remind ME of that goal. Afterall, if FHE isn't filled with those things, it is certainly NOT very memorable.

For months I was trying to think of a way to establish a habit of more effective family home evenings. Ideas would come to me and when they came I wrote them down. This is the current system I have come up with. Our FHEs coordinate with the monthly Primary theme in order to strengthen what is being taught at church. The first week is a scripture story that correlates with the theme. The second week is a conference talk that correlates with the theme. The third week is centered around a scripture mastery scripture, and the fourth week we talk about the gospel vocabulary and go over the Article of Faith for the month. There is a memorization chart on the side. Every person in the family is able to memorize the song they are learning in Primary, the scripture mastery scripture, or the Article of Faith of the month for one sticker each. When we reach 50 our family gets to spend a fun-filled night in a hotel. There is a bonus 10 at the bottom that when reached we get to go out to dinner as a family in a sit down restaurant.


I want my children to know, to REALLY KNOW that they are a child of God. When you know that, and continue to remember that, you want to do the things that He would want you to do (ie: be kind to others, show love freely, help others when they are in need of help, etc.). I love my children deeply and hope that these lessons will continue to be with them through all the years of their lives. I know it is my responsibility as a parent to teach these important things.
The kids have really enjoyed trying to memorize and pass off things. With our FHE organized like this, there has been a lot of laughter and excitement on Monday nights! Here we come Marriott!

Special Christmas Eve FHE

We had a special Family Home Evening (even though it was Wednesday) about families on Christmas Eve. We read the Bastian Family Mission Statement penned by my sister, Mindy, 29 years ago. Here is a copy of that document, signed and dated December 24, 1979. I signed it when I was 3 ½ years old. I was born on April 14, 1976. We talked about the importance of families, and what it means to watch out for each other, strengthen one another, and encourage each other. Friends come and go in life, but your family is constant. I told them about when Hayden was a few days old, I had just come home from the hospital and I was rocking him in the rocking chair. I started singing the song Families Can Be Together Forever. I had loved this song in my youth, but as a mother, the song had new meaning in my life and I started to cry. I could feel the weight of my charge as a mother to not lose this precious child in my arms. As our family welcomed more children into our home; Abby, Bastian, then Weston, I realized now more than ever the importance of the temple covenants I had made when I married Rob. I don’t want to lose one of my children. I told them, “I want all of you with me in Heaven. That is why it is so important to make righteous decisions.” I can tell they felt the importance of the things I was trying to teach. Bastian said, “You were about to make ME cry.” I am glad that they were touched by this significant message. We then signed a LeBaron Family Mission Statement with the same words that were written by Mindy. Weston is exactly the same age as I was when I signed the Bastian Family Mission Statement (His birthday is April 15, 2005). I don’t remember that Family Home Evening from long ago. Even though he may not remember our Family Home Evening taught on this day like his older siblings will, I hope that the importance of this day and this message will be as influential for him as it was and still is for me.

First Family Home Evening of 2009

I was hoping the first FHE of the year would be a great one. The message was great, but the kids were having a particularly hard time not wiggling, jumping, pushing, and more. I had to get after them. Why is it that sometimes they behave so well, and then sometimes they are bouncing off the walls? I think Hayden was the only one that listened the whole time. Rob was at work until 9:30pm, so he missed out on the brawl. We sang the Primary song I Lived in Heaven. Bastian had the lesson. He held up a picture of Joseph and the first vision and asked us questions about the picture. We read Joseph Smith History 1: 11-20. While Weston catapulted himself from the couch to the ottoman (and I was sooooo frustrated), we talked about how Heavenly Father answers prayers, how powerful Satan is, how light conquers darkness, and how Heavenly Father knows us by name. I did throw in the statement from Darth Vader, “Do not underestimate the power of the dark side.” Satan knew that Joseph would be a “disturber and an annoyer” to his plan. I gave my kids FULL permission to be a disturber and annoyer…….to Satan.

Just like Joseph’s experience with Satan not wanting him to learn the truthfulness of the gospel, Satan doesn’t want us to learn it either. We talked about the ways that Satan does this and the things that we can do to follow Heavenly Father’s plan. Satan tries to tell us that we don’t have time to read the scriptures or they are too hard to understand, or that we don’t want to go to church, etc. Then we talked about the ways we can follow Heavenly Father’s plan. Hayden and Abby both said, “We can go to church.” I wanted them to know that is important, but that there are things they should be doing AT church. We talked about what some of those were. Hayden said, “We can listen to the speakers in Sacrament Meeting.” Abby said, “We can be reverent during class.” Bastian said, “We can listen to our teachers.” Weston cried…not because he was touched by the Spirit but because he was in trouble for coloring, biting the pillows, and springing off from almost EVERY surface in our family room. He did not give an answer but said, “I’m sorry for doing that,” and hoped that he still got a treat. If there’s one thing that Weston is good at, it is meaningful, heartfelt apologies.

I then gave my children a charge to learn the songs taught in Primary because if they learn them well, the messages in them will be with them forever. I love my children so much. I want them to KNOW the important things. I am trying to do a good job in teaching them and even through my frustration from misbehavior I hope they can feel that. We closed with the song I Am a Child of God. It was my turn to pick the treat this week. We had a variation of Skywalker Smoothies from the Star Wars Cookbook. It was strawberries, banana, pineapple sherbet, and vanilla ice cream blended together. Mmmmm good. The real recipe calls for strawberries, banana, orange juice (or pineapple, or grape juice) and ice. Ours tasted MUCH better with the sherbet and ice cream! And yes, Weston DID get a treat.