Homegrown Mom

Family Fun Night Link-Up!

March 9, 2010

Welcome to my first ever link-up! Am I doing it right? Do you love it?

When I was a kid, we all went to the movies and dinner one night and I started calling it “Family Fun Night!” with enthusiasm over and over, hoping it would catch on. My brothers joined in, thinking it was ironic but dorky little me was totally serious. I still haven’t figured out if my mom was serious or if she was being sarcastic, too. I don’t want to dig too deep there. Anyway, we planned a few more Family Fun Nights and my nerdy little heart just loved ‘em.

I still do. Fortunately, my husband is a very good sport. He’s put up with all kinds of wacky ideas. Today, instead of sharing all of the super-cool things we’ve done, I thought I’d share my dorkiest idea ever.

Family Talent Night!

It’s a good idea in theory. And we had fun. Coco shared her talent for dance. Eric shared his woodworking talent and Coco got to make a project. Then came Mom’s turn. I was so stinking excited about my talent. I mean, God had gifted me and I was prepared to share that gift with my family.

What was my talent?

Teaching.

Yep. It’s all I could think of. The sad part is, I was really into it. This was when Coco was still in elementary school, and before I could work out all my teaching urges on my poor, unsuspecting homeschooled kids.

I decided to do a teaching on the book, The Five Love Languages. I had a whiteboard. I had an object lesson. We did a craft. My husband controlled himself and only sighed deeply three or four times. I was delighted.

The next day, I was downright embarrassed. What was I thinking? I should have sung off-key or done my freaky dance. I could have recited a monologue from Gone with the Wind. I could have even flipped my eyelids, that was always a crowd-pleaser. Instead, I turned Family Fun Night into Family Bore Night. But my family still loved me. Still, instead of admitting what a loser I was, I just made some lemon bars. All was forgiven.

So there it is. The most embarrassing family fun night ever.

Do you have a fabulous Family Fun Night? Or even a kind of cool one? Please share it with us!

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Resurrection Rolls: An Easy Easter Treat

March 8, 2010

in Creating Family Times, Homegrown Kids

Mine are always far more mishapen than these...

Ingredients:

One can of crescent roll dough

8 large marshmallows (or one for each roll you’ll be making)

Melted butter

Cinnamon sugar

Bible or Easter storybook

Assemble rolls and read the story:

1. Read John 19 while the oven is pre-heating according to the package directions. If you’re really on top of things, spend the week before reading John 12-18 with your kids.

2. Unroll the crescent rolls. Explain that this is like the cloth they wrapped Jesus in.

3. Give your child a marshmallow and explain that it represents Jesus… all white and pure because He was without sin.

4. Roll the marshmallows in the melted butter. This symbolizes the embalming oils.

5. Roll the marshmallows in the cinnamon sugar. This is like the spices used to prepare his body for burial.

6. Wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll cloth, pinching the dough together securely. Don’t worry about the shape so much, they’ll taste the same no matter how you roll or bundle them. This represents how they would have wrapped Jesus’ body. I like to brush them with more melted butter, but it’s not necessary.

7. Put the rolls in the oven (symbolizing the tomb) and bake for the amount of time specified on the package.

8. While the rolls are baking, read John 20:1-18.

9. Open the tomb and remove the rolls. When they’re cool enough to handle, break one open and discover what happened to the marshmallow. Jesus is risen! At this point, I also read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. Jesus is coming again!

Note: I am certainly not the first person to post this idea, and I can’t remember where I first heard of it. We did it with my preschoolers back when I was a teacher, and in recent years our Sunday School sent home a flier with instructions. So, I’m not taking credit but I can’t find anywhere who first thought of this so I can credit them. If you know, you can leave it in the comments. Otherwise, to God be the glory

Thank you, Photoxpress

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Parenting is Not Just…

March 6, 2010

Parenting is not just providing good input. It is not just creating a constructive home atmosphere and positive interaction between a child and his parent. There is another dimension. The child is interacting with a living God. He is either worshiping and serving and growing in understanding of the implications of [...]

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Do you Have a Family Fun Night Idea?

March 3, 2010

I am always looking for more ways to have fun hanging out with the family. Next Tuesday, March 9th I am going to host a Family Fun Night Link-up.
If you blog, then write a post sharing a story or an idea about Family Fun Night. Then, come back here on Tuesday and [...]

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Do You Remember your Grandma?

March 1, 2010

By Kathleen

Do you remember your Grandma?
What pictures just jumped into your brain?
Big ol’ apron around her ample waist as she plopped yet another helping of buttery potatoes on your plate, urging you, “Eat baby, you’re too thin.” Or maybe—
Arm around your shoulders as she leans in, guiding your eye to the telescope lens–both [...]

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10 Novels I Read Over and Over (and Over) Again

March 1, 2010

To say I am an avid reader is like saying Mr. Darcy is kinda snooty. (Don’t you love how I worked in that literary reference?)
There are certain books I reach for when I need an escape. I crave the familiarity of the main character’s voices, their families, their innermost thoughts. I have [...]

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