R-E-S-P-E-C-T

For the month of October, we are focusing on the principle of RESPECT in our little family.  Because believe it or not, we ALL could use a little more!  For tonight's Family Home Evening, I had a last minute stroke of inspiration for the lesson/activity, and after going over our new scripture for the month {Ephesians 4:31-32 -- Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.}, I had everyone come up with their own acrostic poem to outline what respect should look like in our home and family.  To my complete surprise and delight, this activity actually grabbed their attention and they all (minus Alex and Jane) complied!  Even Ethan eventually caved and at least finished the assignment.  Grace and Sophie, on the other hand, really got into it, and other than the first couple of examples that they copied straight from me, they came up with some great little ideas on how we can have more respect.

 {Mine on the left --
Rally around each other
Enjoy each other's company
Say please and thank you
Politeness is key
Elevate your game
Caring and concern should be your calling card
Treasure the relationship

Ethan's on the right --
Ravenous
Excellent manners
Saying nice things
People be nice
Essential manners
Courageous manners
Terrific manners}

 {Grace's on the left --
Reverent behavior
Excellent manners
Speaking kindly
Pray reverently
Eyes closed while saying a prayer
Care about each other
Terrific behavior

 Sophie's on the right --
Rally around
Excellent manners
Say good things
Pay good attention
Everyone need to do their part
Caring for other people
Talk nicely to people.}

To close with a reality check, rest assured that the one incident of cooperative and happy children during the course of our Family Home Evening tonight was short-lived and surrounded by chaos.  Quite literally.  Find comfort in the family room scene below.  Nothing is ever 100% perfect around these parts.  And this was AFTER a 30 minute "tidy up" session from all 5 kids while I tried to make dinner.  Although technically I don't think all 5 of them ever really did anything.  Alex was busy attacking Jane, Jane continued to color throughout the mayhem, Sophie was mostly singing to the radio, and Grace was the only one who was kind of cleaning up.  Possibly because it was her actual chore, but who knows what goes on in her mind.  Let's just say that Alex and Jane were twin tornadoes of destruction this morning as they had a field day this dumping out every single toy basket in the family room along with an entire box of crayons and the bucket of markers. 

Stay tuned for a recap of our SUPER busy weekend!  Until next time, peace out.  :)