Fun Valentine's to give

Are you starting to think about Valentine's day! We are too. I posted a few fun Valentines you can make and give away! enjoy!
Here are a few fun Valentines to give away.



Use your child's hand print to make a card. Inside the card write: Hands down your the best or we give you a hand, thanks for the helping hand, or thanks for holding my hand.



Use an old puzzle to create a "your my missing piece" special pin for grandma or a special friend. Click here to get details. You could also have your child paint several old puzzle pieces and glue them to a frame on the pieces write " I love you to pieces".


If you would prefer you can print your own here



Use candy then fun phrases with ribbon: sucker....I am stuck on you







"Thumb-body loves you" art...have your child dip their finger in ink pads and make various stamps on a card..make the prints into faces. We've done this a lot in the past. To make it extra special send it in the mail.

Family time

Family time can be hard to find between work and school. Dan has every Wednesday off and we try to dedicate that to family time. A friend of ours uses every Friday night as family night. There are many things that can make this time unique, but mainly it is about being together. Playing games, walking, baking, doing good deeds, watching a movie, etc. This is a good time to capture memories.

The biggest challenge is to take advantage of everyday moments. This is really challenging for most of us, but I read this great post and thought I should share. Click here to read for yourself.

Now go be with your children!

Everyday traditions

Some traditions revolve around the holidays, but some of my favorites are the things you do everyday. The things that are more routine than traditions. Things like;
books before bed, blessings before the day (we are working on really adapting this to our bedtime routine, each night we pray a blessing over our children), breakfast verse of the day, horse ride to bed, and so much more. Do you have any favorite daily tradition?

wall journal

This requires the right place in your house or garage, but it would be neat to see. Each year on a wall in your home (I would choose the storage room in our basement) right down a few things from 2010 each year add to the wall for a wall of memories. You could also use the wall to measure your children each year. We also pick a word for our family each year. A word we work in through-out the year. This year was joy! We constantly remind each other of the word and focus on growing in what the word represents! Enjoy!

A collage of memories

As we wrap up 2010 it is always fun to remember the year with past memories. In the next week work with the kids, husband, and any other family members to create a collage of all the highlights from 2010. You can use magazines, crayons, pictures, ticket stubs. This could be a page in the scrapbook or a piece of art you hang until next year. I would love to hear how you treasure the years past! Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! Hope your family finds time to create lasting memories! Can't believe that 2010 is almost over and 2011 is on it's way. Looking for ways to kick off the new year stay tuned!! Enjoy!

Adult fun

Each year we always play a game with my mom's side of the family. For years we played Bingo, everyone loves a good game of bingo. Last year my cousin put on our Christmas party and she did things a little different. We did an auction. Weeks before she asked everyone to bring a few things to her house new or used. She bundled them together making them themes like:
brrr it is cold out here -this might consist of hot chocolate and a used sweater
hope your feeling lucky-maybe a lottery ticket
Each player gets monopoly money and we go at it! It was a hit. you can check out more variations here

Last year at Dan's family Christmas we divided into teams and dressed up one player like a Christmas tree. Check it out here

Another fun one is minute to win it. Check out ideas here.
Bunco-you can buy this at many stores