If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!I found some great ideas for Halloween games on this About.com page and thought I’d share them with you! Halloween is not until Friday, so you still have plenty of nights to play these games with your family. We haven’t […]
Filed under: Family Fun, Kid Stuff, Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
We have a monthly family party to celebrate all the birthdays that month. They’re always great fun with lots of good food and games. For our October/Halloween party, we played some old fashioned games that were really fun.
The first gave was bobbing for apples, which is an old standard. If you haven’t done that in […]
Filed under: Family Fun, Kid Stuff, Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | 7 Comments »
Happy 4th, everyone. I think Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays - it’s in the summer, there are fireworks and candy and parades, pancake breakfasts, BBQ dinners - aren’t these some of the great things about America? Hmm-mmm.
I’ve been thinking about our 4th of July traditions, getting ready to celebrate, and […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | 4 Comments »
According to an NPR broadcast this morning, if mothers were paid a salary, it would be $117,000 per year. Most of that pay would be from overtime since mothers work an average of 100 hours per week.
You might not be able to give your mother a monetary thank you this Mother’s Day, but […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | 3 Comments »
Mother’s Day is in 2 days!!! I know what I’m getting my mother - some new bobbins for her sewing machine. She’s so used to having only a couple that she would never buy herself more, but I know she will use them.
Now for what I want. I never know - I […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | 1 Comment »
A happy memory from my childhood is going on birthday outings with my Grandma. She would take me to lunch at a restaurant of my choice and then shopping to pick out a birthday gift. The birthday I remember best I chose to eat at RAX (which I haven’t seen in years - […]
Filed under: Family Fun, Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
[photo from skiptomylou.wordpress.com]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Here’s a great April fools’ trick from marthastewart.com. Tie a rubber band around the kitchen sprayer to give your kids and husband a surprise shower when they turn on the faucet! APRIL FOOLS!!!
Here’s another good one…color milk with food coloring. Yum-yum! One time we asked my Grandma to make green macaroni […]
Filed under: Family Fun, Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | 1 Comment »
We have a family get together each month to celebrate any birthdays in that month. We usually eat lunch or dinner together and then have some sort of activity. My husband and I were in charge of the March party, and we decided we wanted to talk about how we met our spouses, […]
Filed under: Family Fun, Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | 1 Comment »
George Eliot wrote, “Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Apparently the true origin behind Valentine’s Day is not known for sure. One idea suggests that Valentine was a priest in Rome, and when Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than married ones, he declared it illegal for young men to get married. St. Valentine continued performing marriages in […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
I’m working on coming up with some ideas for Valentine’s Day on Thursday. Check back a little later!!!
[photo from jupiterimages.com]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Happy New Year! Can you believe it’s 2008 already!
Have you made your resolutions yet? I am a fan of goal making, not so much of “New Year’s resolutions.” Perhaps your New Year’s resolution could be to not make any more New Year’s resolutions but to set weekly or monthly goals instead!
I like to make and […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
VanillaJoy wishes you all a very Merry Christmas!
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Give each family member an opportunity to share a favorite story about Jesus. Talking about His life will help us remember Him and try to be more like Him.
Let each family member write down a goal for the next year. Put all the written down goals in a safe place where they can be seen […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Make Christmas Eve a special day by remembering the purpose for Christmas. On Christmas Day, things get so hectic and busy with opening presents and visiting family that the whole “reason behind the season” gets forgotten. Christmas Eve is a good day to really celebrate and remember the birth of Jesus Christ.
Here are […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Have a family dinner together then read Luke and remember again that Christmas is a celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth.
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
If you haven’t noticed, Christmas is all about food - it’s a wonderful time to try out new recipes and share your culinary creations with friends and neighbors. Invite over several of your neighbors for a night of desserts and Christmas music.
Christmas is a wonderful time to get to know people around you - don’t […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Get your family and friends together for a game night with snacks and hot apple cider. Here are some of our favorite games:
Settlers of Catan
Ticket to Ride
UNO
Nertz
Scrabble
Cranium
Hoopla
Ping Pong
Pool
Canasta
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | 1 Comment »
Curl up with fuzzy blankets, some peanut butter popcorn, and a cup of hot chocolate to watch a Christmas movie together. A few popular favorites are
It’s a Wonderful Life
A Charlie Brown Christmas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Elf
Miracle on 34th Street
A Christmas Carol
The Polar Express
Mickey’s Christmas Carol
White Christmas
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Bake cinnamon rolls for breakfast! They are a bit of work, (my recipe is as easy as it gets), but the work is well worth the delicious result. Eat breakfast together as a family while listening to Christmas music. Your family will be ready to hit the road and go your separate ways after a […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Whether your family puts the presents out early or “Santa” brings them late Christmas Eve night, let your older children help you wrap gifts for their siblings or other family members, with the condition that they keep all information strictly confidential. Kids like to share secrets with their parents…it makes them feel special and grown […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
There is something so sweet about poetry that fills me with sunshine. I don’t know what it is, but when I read a simple poem with a clear message I feel a sense of hope and happiness. It’s that feeling that makes me want to change the world. I think that feeling is another name […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Many cities put on a live Nativity event. Check to see if that happens in your city and attend. Bring hot chocolate and wear warm clothes!
If you don’t have a live Nativity in your city, act it out with your family. You’ll need
Mary
Joseph
Baby Jesus (a doll)
A shepherd
A wise man (or woman)
An angel
If you have more […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Take your family (or just your spouse) to see the Nutcracker Ballet, a Christmas choir or bell choir concert. Or visit a local museum to see the holiday exhibition.
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
This is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite things to do at Christmastime. I remember going to the Festival of Lights in my hometown with my family. We drove through the park and saw all of the beautiful light displays. We would also drive around local neighborhoods to see the lights.
Take your […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Even Christmas trees without lights are fascinating to babies. This mobile is a breeze to make with patterned papers. Suspended over a changing table or crib, it’s a decoration that also serves an important purpose: keeping your little one calm and entertained (be sure to hang it out of reach).
Mobile How-To
1. Using a utility knife […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | 1 Comment »
Start doing a puzzle tonight and work on it until Christmas. Set it up in the family room where you can all be together while doing it and also where people can work on it and still be involved with other things that are going on.
Buy a new Christmas puzzle each year the day after […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Sometime during the day hide some candy or a small gift in each of your children’s shoes. At some point in the day, perhaps after dinner or right before bed, give one person a little package to open that will have a note inside saying something like:
“For a bit of Christmas news, hurry and […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
Get lots of different kinds of candy in different colors and shapes, graham crackers, and frosting to make gingerbread houses. Let each member of the family make his or her own house and put them all together at the end to make a village.
Here’s the recipe for the frosting:
2 egg whites
1 t. cream of tartar
2 […]
Filed under: Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions | No Comments »
