Moments that Matter Most

Do you ever feel like this?



You can view the video here: http://youtu.be/l70e1TfN34w

"You are Special" Plate

For our wedding my husband and I got a gift of a red place setting very similar to this:

Along with the dishes was a note about their purpose which in part read:
"These dishes are for celebrations big and small, to help each family member feel their love from all."

We love love to use these dishes at a meal to let someone in the family know that they are loved and special!  Sometimes it is for a special accomplishment, such as being potty trained, or a special day, such as a birthday, or something smaller (but big in my eyes!) such as a child being a good listener that day.

I hope that as our children grow they will always know that we love them.  And I hope they will remember the red plate and how it is a reminder of our love for them and their unique wonderfulness!

Treasured Family Traditions

Family traditions can help children develop a sense of belonging and identity.  And they can be the basis of fun and lasting memories!  Because my husband and I have been married only four years, and our children are small, I feel that we are still in the process of finding the traditions we want to carry on in our family. 

This is our traditional Easter Tree that draws on my family's Italian history.

I've recently been reading The Happy Family: Restoring the 11 Essential Elements That Make Families Work and really enjoyed their ideas about developing and implementing family traditions.  After reading, I made a list of each month of the year and the corresponding "celebrations" we have as a family.  Here's what we came up with:

January: New Years
February: My, birthday, Isaac's birthday, Valentine's Day
March: My husband's birthday, St. Patrick's Day
April: Easter, Our Anniversary
May: Mother's Day, Memorial Day-beginning of summer picnic
June: Father's Day, Pioneer Day
July: 4th of July
August: Camping Trip
September: Labor Day- end of summer picnic
October: Amy's Birthday
November: Thanksgiving
December: Christmas

This isn't a list of the exact ways we celebrate, but more of a list of holidays or celebrations we can develop traditions for.  It was a good starting point as we discussed as a family and as a couple what traditions we want to incorporate into our family life.

In addition to the month-by-month traditions, I love the less calendar scheduled traditions, the books before bed time, the weekly family nights on Monday nights, the family culture nights.

What traditions does your family enjoy?

Museum Passes

My kids love museums! And I love taking them there, except that admission prices can really add up. Our latest museum love is a reciprocal museum pass!

We bought a pass for the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery when we visited Dayton, Ohio last year. The pass has more than paid for itself as we've been able to visit science museums and zoos where ever we visit! (The Boonshoft Museum is one of the few museums that gets you into both science museums and zoos.)

To find out more about about reciprocal Science Centers and Museums across the country, visit the ASTC Passport website.

More information about the Association of Zoos and Aquariums can be found here, including a list of participating zoos.

Is there a museum you love going to?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Being the mom of small children isn't always a walk in the park...but I am thankful for my children and the opportunity to be their mother. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Melted Crayons!

This brings back so many memories! I loved making, and then coloring with these crayons as a kid because of all the fun colors you can get with just one crayon! Here's how you do it (it's really easy!)

-Collect crayon pieces, and break them into smaller pieces if you want.

-Arrange pieces in a muffin tin. You can sort by color or mix them up. You don't need to use Pam or grease the pan because of the wax in the crayons.

-Heat the oven to 225 degrees and place the crayons inside for roughly 8-10 minutes (keep you eye on them) They are ready to come out once they look soupy.

-Let them cool on the counter, or put them in the freezer for a few minutes.

-You're ready to create some art once the crayons are room temperature!


PS: A fun idea for valentines is to make heart shaped crayons like these:

Family Time Capsule

Try this family activity on New Years day and then pack it away (perhaps with the Christmas decorations so it doesn't get lost) until next New Years.

A Family Time Capsule

Materials:
-Container (such as a cookie tin or shoe box)
-paper (acid free) to draw pictures/decorate
-other memorabilia such as: report cards, family snapshots, your favorite jokes, baseball or other sports cards, anything that is important to you NOW.
-A note to each family member telling them how much you appreciate them.
-letter to self/family about the past year
-height measurements of the kids

Directions:
Decorate your container and fill it up. No peaking until next year!

Advent Calendars

So I know I'm a little late with this post seeing as we are already a few days into December, but my sister-in-law just posted about an advent calendar that she made over Thanksgiving that I love and wanted to share also.

She used a mini muffin tin, and painted it red. The papers for each day are held on with magnets. You can put what ever you want inside, such as treats or ideas of an activity to do that day. Here's the list my sister-in-law included:

Use puppets to tell bedtime story

Star gazing

Give everyone crazy hairstyles

Go out for ice cream

Have an indoor picnic

Pick a toy to donate

Pick cans of food to donate
Watch a Christmas movie with popcorn

Dance like crazy to music

Have a webcam with cousins or grandparents

Have a bubble bath

Fancy dress for dinner

Drive around to see Christmas lights

Sing Christmas songs around the piano

Make cookies or a treat together

Eat breakfast for dinner

Pack our bags for our trip

Do a Christmas craft

Look at family scrapbook of other Christmas’

Drink hot chocolate with marshmallows

Make little snowmen with big marshmallows, pretzels and candies

Wrap a Christmas gift

Read a Christmas story

Use nativity figurines to play out Jesus’ birth

Cut paper snowflakes out

Go caroling to a few neighbors

So fun! Thanks for the idea, Tati! What other advent calendar ideas do you have?

(One of my favorite ones as a kid were the chocolates hiding behind each door:)

One that my husband and I do is make a small flip book of paper, one page for each day 1-24. Then we switch back and forth writing notes to each other. It's always a treat to find the little booklet waiting for you on your pillow at night!

An advent calendar that we have done in the past, but not this year, is a sticker calendar. We cut out "windows" that fold back in a piece of construction paper and label each window with a number 1-24. Then we paste another piece of construction paper behind the first. Under each window flap we tape a sticker (still with it's backing on). Then each day we open a flap and have a stick to wear. (We've done this also with scriptures about Christ under each flap.)

Yesterday I was reading some articles on lds.org, and I read this one by Janene Wolsey Baadsgaard called The Best Times of Life. (I had typed "crying baby" into the search box, so you can guess what kind of day we had been having.) I really enjoyed her words, and I would recommend it to any young mother. At the end she gave a couple of suggestions to help remember these best times of life that pass so quickly.

Here are her ideas for keeping memories:

• Keep a written journal for your child. Even before your child is born, you can purchase a journal and begin the entries. Write about your pregnancy—your feelings and experiences. After the baby arrives, write about his birth, his firsts, his holidays, his birthdays. This journal can be given as a gift to your child when you feel it is time that he can continue it on his own.
• Make a memory quilt. This can be made from scrap pieces of clothing that the child has worn, or embroidered with names and dates and pictures of important times for the child.
• Store items that will recall memories. Get a trunk or special box of some kind in which to keep special clothing, toys, quilts, booties—anything important to the child. This is a good place for gifts from grandparents.
• Record experiences on tape and film. You can use tape recorders to record your feelings for your unborn or to record the child’s cry, or laugh, or parties. With a camera, you can take slides, moving pictures, or snapshots. When taking pictures, don’t take pictures just of the children. Include pictures of yourself, grandparents, friends, and brothers and sisters.
• Use whatever talent you may have. Be creative. You can embroider or paint or exercise any talent you may have to prepare a history for your child. Think of something you can work with and stay with something you like. Don’t try to do everything. Pick one idea that is best suited for you and then keep with it.

So you can tell by her mention of slides and moving pictures that this article was written in 1982, but it does have merit, and we'll just update it to say digital media and MP3 files!