Blackout Night.

The first Family Night of twenty-ten was a smashing success. The kids were wound up all day long in anticipation of returning to our absolutely favorite family tradition.

I sent the kids upstairs while I prepared, which involved going on a candle and flashlight hunt. I gathered up what I could, turned off all electricity, prayed to the Lord that the candles would stay vertical.

We informed the kids of the travesty that occurred...we will have to man up and do family night in the dark. Instantly there was lots of pointing out the running clocks on the stove, the backyard light (oops), and humm of the refrigerator. Emma, quite proudly, turned the kitchen light on just to be sure. Once everyones curiosity was satisfied that we were in fact, lying (for the sake of fun) about it, we moved on to dinner.

We grabbed what we could from the pantry and the refrigerator (quickly so as not to lose the cold). It consisted of lunch meats, cheese, sandwiches, tortillas warmed by candlelight, and fruit. The only casualty during dinner was a Hansen's soda. Not bad, overall.

These were the rest of the activities:

crowning Shawn the champion in Candy Land

flashlight tag

shadow puppets

reading stories, and

being thankful that our fireplace, still works when the power is out.

it was great, it was easy, and it cost nothing. The only thing we were missing was an actual storm.

Can't wait 'til next week.