A Family to go with the Home Evening part

One of my Young Women invited me to join her and her family for dinner and FHE last night. I forget, in between trips home at Christmas, how interesting it is to dine with small children! The Young Woman is the oldest of 5, with a 10 year old sister and 8 year old brother who are fairly civilized, and with a 4 year old brother and 18 month old sister who are not yet. We had tater tot casserole, veggies, cornbread and apple pie for dinner, and the 4 year old very thoroughly cut up all of his food (What was there that needed cut, you ask? So not the point of his efforts!) and stirred it into an unappetizing mountain, then predictably didnt' eat much of it. The 18 month kept disappearing, then reappearing without a diaper. At one point the poor 8 year old went to get something, then came hopping back on one foot yelling that he'd stepped in poo - and sure enough, he'd managed to step right in the middle of a dirty diaper that the baby had abandoned at some point. When Dad of the family went around the table asking all the kids how their day went, we were treated to this long and bizarre tale about a spider that ate all the dinasours on the playground, courtesy of the 4 year old. It was quite the entertaining meal for one who usually eats on the couch while watching TV.

Then FHE was just such a fun mix of who was in charge of what. The 8 year old led us in Nephi's Courage for an opening song, then the 4 year old offered a prayer that basically went:

Dear Heavy Father, Heavy Father, (mumble mumble completley unintelligible) Heavy Father. Name of...of...name of...name of...of...oh yeah, Jesus. Amen.

The YW gave the lesson/story from the New Era about listening to parents (during which the 4 year old thoroughly ignored his mother asking him to sit still). Then we played Imaginiff, which is really challenging with people you don't know super well! But it was fun to watch the mom and dad try to explain some of the choices to the younger kids. The 4 year old started out playing with us, but eventually got bored and disappeared. The 18 month old was mostly content just to sit and hold some cards, then roll the dice when it was mom's turn. We finished up only to find that the 4 year old had been entertaining himself by tying all the chairs together and to the table with a ball of yarn - he got quite a tangle going. And when someone commented on it, he pops up from under the table, just bursting with pride, and says "I've been doing some damage!" My YW asked him if he knows what that means, and he said "Oh, just doing stuff." Then we sang Once there was a Snowman for a closing song, had a prayer, ate our pie (made out of food storage apples, and just super delicious!), and it was time to head out so little ones and the seminary student could get ready for bed.

It was a lovely evening - quite a bit noisier than my usual night, but a really fun change.