General Conference Weekend

This weekend was General Conference, the semiannual time of year when all Mormons around the world sit and listen to the leaders of our church give us council about family, overcoming trials, finding joy, strengthening our testimonies, and so much more. Eight hours of council! It's really quite amazing. I can't wait to read them all again in the Ensign. I definitely had favorites.

Now, you can imagine how hard it is to get four little kids to sit and listen to eight hours of speakers. I've tried new methods every year. Things like conference packets, activity workbooks, Legos, picture finding games, etc. None of my previous methods have worked as good as this new one I found on Crafty Night Owls http://craftynightowls.blogspot.com/2012/10/conference-ideas-and-activities-for.html

Check out idea #3. This is what I did and it totally worked. I had all three girls (sorry Hudson, it's nap time for you!), plus me and Ryan, pick two words out of a bag. Words included things like Faith, Missionary, Temple, Book of Mormon, Commandments, Prayer, etc. Then we each got to chose one healthy food (like strawberries, grapes, apple slices, carrot sticks and dip, etc), and one treat item (candy, marshmallows, Cheese It's, pretzels, etc). I put all the foods in bowls right below the TV and then gave each girl a bowl to collect her goodies.

Once conference started, the girls had to listen for the words to be said during the talks (not the hymns or prayers). When a word was said, like Temple, they got to grab whatever food was in the "Temple" bowl. You can imagine their pure joy when the first speaker said the word "temple" like 30 times!!

Yes, my kids had more sugar in the past two days then they've had the past six months, but whatever. They actually sat and HAD to listen to the speakers, which is a win win for them and for me and Ryan because this is seriously the first time in years we've been able to really listen without constant interruptions. It also helps that Hudson was asleep most of the time.

So, I highly recommend this idea to anyone out there. I think next year we will try a combo of both the idea #3 and the spin off idea mentioned on the website where we use pennies and let the kids "buy" little toys with the money they collect. Or, I will make sure most of the items are healthy and not so sugary.

Hope you enjoyed General Conference!

Lots of goodies just waiting to be chosen...

 The girls sitting reverently, waiting for a word to be said...

 Yes!! More candy!

 After I realized this idea was totally working, I printed off a bunch of words on colorful paper, laminated them, and on Sunday we all chose new words from the new and improved word cards...

 Do they looked doped up on sugar?… Well, maybe just the big guy in the middle...

Oh, one more thing… my cute little Beehives heart-attacked my front lawn Wednesday night while I was with my Laurels and Mia Maids learning self-defense. They wrote the funniest things on the hearts. Wow, do I feel loved. Thanks girls!...