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 I’ll have a McLinky so you can link it up!
Here are some questions to get your ideas flowing:
I can’t wait to read all your ideas!
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One tasty tradition
When we were reading about the Passover this year, the verse that stood out to me was that God told them to celebrate it yearly, so they wouldn’t forget His protection. (Exodus 12:14.)
I guess deep down, that is what all the traditions I’ve developed in our family boil down to. While enjoying moments of fun, warmth, and total security, we’re also creating set points in our daughters’ lives that they will always remember. And the mom in me hopes they’ll one day return home for some of these traditions and remember their rich childhood filled with love. Of course, I also hope that they’ll pass them on to their own children, and create some new ones, too.
The only problem with routines is, like anything, you can overdo it. I’ve been known to get so enthusiastic about traditions that make it practically impossible to keep up with them all. That will have to be part of my kids’ memories, too. Their wacky mom who was always planning something!
In spite of my flakiness, several things have stayed put over the years.
Here are some simple ones I’ve shared:
Sick Days
Lazy Day
Bedtime Rituals
Michaelmas
Summertime
What are some of your favorite routines?
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here and in the US and it is a great time of year to instill a thankful heart in our children. Many families, ours included, go around the table and have each person state what they are thankful for. We actually do this on other days, too, trying to increase thankfulness year-round.
Wouldn’t it be nice if a few years from now we could all look back and remember what our kids have been thankful for over the years? I have often done video interviews around Christmas time, and I think it would be a great tradition to start doing these on Thanksgiving.
Some kids might not be comfortable on video, but that doesn’t mean you can’t preserve these happy moments. You could list questions and have your kids write out answers, or dictate them to you and collect their answers over the years in a pretty scrapbook. Maybe even a voice recorder would work better for you.
However, my girls are both big hams and love to be on TV, so I will probably go with a video.
Here are some questions you might ask to get them started:
For younger children:
Finish these sentences:
For older kids (you might want to give them a while to look over the questions you plan to ask before you begin taping):
Note: if your child is having a hard time with a question, I wouldn’t force it. Maybe give them some examples and help, but if they just aren’t able to come up with some answers, I would just go back to some simpler questions. This should be a fun, uplifting activity.
Another idea:
As long as you’re getting the kids on tape, why not set a good example and talk a little about what you are thankful for? I cringe at the thought of myself on video, but I know that ten years from now I would be glad I took the time to record my own experiences and my children would love it, too. If you have a big family gathering, maybe everyone could get in on the action! Grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. What a treasure you could create for future generations!
Do you have any traditions that instill thankful hearts? Please share them!
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)
Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today I am posting an idea to get your family involved in giving while celebrating a fun holiday at Heart of the Matter.
On November 11th, countries around the world will celebrate Martinmas, the holiday honoring St. Martin of Tours, a Roman soldier-turned monk. According to legend, St. Martin came upon a scantily clad beggar one night in the snow, and having nothing to offer, he took his sword and cut his cloak in half to share with the man. That night, St. Martin had a dream in which Christ was wearing half a cloak and said, “Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized; he has clad me.” The next day, Martin ran to be baptized and became a Christian.
In European countries today, festivities range from children parading with paper lanterns behind a man dressed as St. Martin to families eating a feast featuring goose, but the heart of the story is selfless generosity.
Why not hold your own spin-off on Martinmas and round out the celebration with a new tradition that will foster warm, giving hearts in your family?
Read the rest here: A Family Giving Project
Let me know if you try it!
Today, September 29, is celebrated all over the world as Michaelmas, or the feast of St. Michael. I originally read about this holiday in Mrs.Sharp’s Traditions and we tweaked it a little and made our own tradition. According to Wikipedia, It is based on “the legend” of the archangel Michael who banished Satan from heaven. Michaelmas is celebrated differently depending on where you live. If you live in the Mills house, it goes something like this…
Here, we read John’s firsthand account of Michael and his army of angels fighting Satan (the dragon) and his angels. Satan was defeated and hurled down to Earth where he spends his days as the accuser of the believers. (But he was filled with fury because he knows his time is short! verse 12) We then talk a bit about the devil, temptation, and his clever evil ways. This time is pretty laid back, I just go with the flow of what seems to be on their minds.
If you’d like to have some scriptures on hand, here are a few:
James 1:13-15
Genesis 3:1-6
Ephesians 6:12-18
I use canned cinnamon roll dough (with 8 rolls) for this. We roll out 3 pieces into a dragon-ish shape. Top that with dried fruit and add a top layer of 3 more pieces. I then cut one of the remaining 2 pieces into triangles and we make spikes. The last roll we leave as a head and add a raisin eye. We pop him into the fiery pit ( a 375 oven) and await his demise (for about 20 minutes).
Here’s the poor little guy before we cooked him: (You can see my family time book in the corner of the pic!)
It’s no work of art, but it sure is tasty! While we’re waiting for the dragon to cook, we clean up and one of the girls gets ready for our next step…
Once the dragon is out of the oven, we pour the provided icing on top. Then whoever is playing Michael gets to slay the dragon with a big knife. Supervised, of course. We do our best angel-soldier looking poses while doing this so I can add our memory to our family time book!
Kids around here prefer their dragons with ice cold milk. Mommy likes coffee. This celebration feels like the start of fall to me, so we usually begin brainstorming fall crafts. It must be the smell. Today, we were going to make rag dolls, but instead we got caught up talking about Coco’s upcoming birthday and spent all our craft time at the table doing that instead. Ah, homeschool. Love it.
I came across this idea on a blog and I LOVED it! You can read about adventure boxes on Blog, She Wrote. I like the idea of sneaking in learning when we’re not actually doing school, and we’ve already had great fun with these boxes. I’ve done things like this before, but never under the label of Adventure Box…and it just seems more fun this way. (And more adventurous, too!)
I asked the girls what they might like to explore over the summer and Coco chose Little House on the Prairie. Soleil said Insects. I spent a couple weeks shopping and finding little things to fill their boxes. I really built them up, talking about them and hiding them until we officially started our summer. They could hardly wait!
I have put these boxes (or basket in one case) on a table in our living room and have not had any kind of structure towards them. They are there for fun whenever the mood strikes.
So here they are:
Little House on the Prairie Box: I used a patchwork-printed hatbox I already owned.
Because I anticipated both girls wanting to enjoy activities from each other’s boxes, I got two of some items.
In the Little House box:
Insect box: I used a basket lined with green gingham fabric that I already owned.
Everything in this box (except the butterfly treehouse) came from the $1 bin at Target, a used book sale, or my shelves!
