Reality of F.H.E, but a once a quarter happy ending!

To: Amy Richins @ I'm a mormon missionary.com
Subject: From your slacker sister in law

Dear Sister Richins,

Okay, blame Olesia. Or my broken body...but I've not written a real letter in a few weeks. I'm addicted to Facebook. It's a gateway drug to blogging. Now I have my own blog. RealityFromRachel.BlogSpot.com So I write there. And I forget about you.

Until Mondays, when I get an email from you. And I think, ARG! Why didn't I write Amy earlier so she would have a new message from me? Since I'm slacking enough on the postal, I could at least get you an email.

So here it is, you're own personal Email, no one CC or BC or DC'd at all!

We just finished a great F.H.E. We had a lesson and practice session on being kind and polite.
This was the lesson. I think I remember the right words.

I didn't bother to write the saga of gathering the family, being reverent to start FHE, welcoming, song, fight over the song, prayer, fight over who is not being reverent before the prayers is said....and tonight no one said how they hated the treat or begged for another kind of treat already open in the freezer.....on to the lesson. Given by Rachel:

"Hey kids, Emily, sit down, Katelyn, Shhh! Alex, stop making those noises. Okay kids, today we have a special - Alex, stop it, you know she hates that - we have a special  - Grant, will you get the baby, he's crying - we have a special treat. We are going to make a gingerbread house for Family Home Evening. (Insert kids happy sounds). Yes, yes - yes, settle down. SHHHHH - I can't talk when you're - what? Yes, you can eat some of the candy tonight. A piece each. What? Okay two pieces. Fine, three pieces. THAT'S ENOUGH OR THEIR WILL BE NO PIECES! (Deep breath from mom.) ALEX, SHHH! (Another deep breath by mom) Okay. We are going to be kind an polite while we do this. Oh, that should be our lesson tonight! Our lesson is on being kind and polite. We need more practice with this. Katelyn, sit down. So be kind and polite as you ask for different candies or decorate the house. If you can't be - Grant, make Katie sit down - if you can't be kind or poli - ALEX, QUIT MAKING THAT NOISE! IF I HAVE TO TELL YOU AGAIN - (insert Hallelujah chorus as inspiration hits) Who's read about Fancy Nancy? (all are quiet. Older kids have read her in school. Katelyn just likes the word fancy). We are going to use our best, Fancy Nancy manners to make this, understand? Okay, lets get started!"

Okay this sounds bad and could totally give someone an excuse to not try and hold family home evening. But after the lesson, it went great. Mark at cheerios out of a festive snowman glass.

All the candy was shared, and no one spoke a word as Katelyn adorably put each sack of candy in a partitioned bowl. The kids held still as Grant told stories of gingerbread houses and later donut making from his childhood. This was needed while the house parts "glued" together.

Grant held Katelyn on his lap and both enjoyed it. Kate's just a cute kid who can now happily follow directions. But Grant...Yes, for the first time since we had kids, Grant enjoyed making the gingerbread house. Grant says it was because the big kids were older. I think it was the spirit...the calmer spirit of Grant that went with the flow of chaos and the spirit of the Lord for trying our best to always have FHE. The house turned out beautiful. No fights broke out until the last piece of Candy was needed for Emily's tree and in Alex's mouth. It now resides on the tree.

Merry Christmas to you! We sure felt merry tonight. Oh, and I lied. I didn't mean too. But Amy, I mean Sister Richins, this turned out pretty funny. So I'm going to post it on my blog. You can see it next year when you get home and thawed from Massachusetts!

Love,Rachel

Aunt Ely's doing great, no one want's me to be mom again

My kids are sick of hearing my voice.....
I did homeworkd with them for the first time since school started. IT was just as bad as normal. Being ignored. Being told I don't know what I'm talking about.
FHE would have been a problem, since I normally give the lesson. Grant just doesn't do lessons. The kids sometimes try. But it's hard to feel the spirit when they are trying to explain some complex gospel principle with a barbie car, a stuffed animal and some other plastic toy.

Tonight our guest, my sister in Law, Ely, gave the lesson. It was the packet we got a few years ago from church, the symbles of christmas. SHE ROCKED giving the lesson. THe kids did great. And they were really listening. I wonder if it was her accent. She just came from Chili this summer to marry my little brother.

Now Ely is watching spanish TV on the internet. Everytime she laughs, Mark laughs. It's so funny to hear.

But I"m in pain today. All over. Everything but my hair hurts. And I can't stay awake. Even giving the kids spelling words, I fell asleep after Alex's second word. Is this just my low iron? Am I catching up? Why do I hurt? Will I alway hurt?

Oh a very bright side, I ate red meat (hamburger) TWICE and didn't get sick! Yes!!!!!

Don't Eat Pete! Our favorite FHE activity

Thanks to Cindy Robinson who taught us this fun, tasty and quick FHE game years ago. The kids make us say, "That's not Pete" for each candy, until they find Pete. They get scared when we are quite as they pick candy, then yell out "Don't eat Pete!" Kate just started playing it, and Mark is far from ready.




Grant and I like them to be quiet as we pick up the candy. Then, when we find Pete, we all yell "Don't eat Pete". All the kids jump. Sometimes Mark cries. Fun! We've done it with pieces of red vines, Gold fish crackers, marshmallows, even broken up cookies. anything we have laying around when we didn't pick a special treat for Family Home Evening.