Birth-Mother's Day

For those who don't know:

Birth Mothers day is the Saturday before Mother's Day and is a special day where we can honor those who gave LIFE!

As soon I adopted I started celebrating this holiday. It is not widely known about, but it is probably one of the most important holidays we can celebrate. This is also not just a holiday for people closely involved with adoption. I feel like it is a holiday that celebrates good women who chose life and didn't abort. But having said that, no one even knows about this holiday. So I am asking you to remember it. Whether you know a birth mother who placed a baby, you know someone who is adopted, you know a mother who has adopted, or you just want to celebrate life, take a minute on the Saturday before Mother's Day to honor them, and to teach your children about life and how important it is.

I have been blessed to adopt four wonderful children, and each one of their birth mothers, had a very real decision to make of whether their child should live, or if they should abort. Each one, in extremely hard situations chose life. I would not have my children if they had not made the choice for them to live, and if they had not made the choice to place them in my home.

They are women that I love. I respect them for those two choices that they have made. They are not perfect, but just for those two choices, it makes them perfect in my eyes. I think of them daily and especially think of them and honor them on Birth Mother's Day. I send presents and stacks of photos to 3 of my birth mother's on this holiday. The 4th birth mother I don't get to have communication with, but I wish I could tell her how grateful I am for her.

Jamie, Felisa, Chakisha, and Angel,

I will always respect you and love you for the gift you gave my children and also our little family. You will always have a place on our family tree and we always hope that life gets amazing for you and that you are happy. Always remember our love for you.

Love,

Andrea

(and if you are a birth mother reading this, I love you too and you can put your name in place of my birth mothers. I pray for you all and hope you find peace and happiness in your lives)

Other than talking to your family and others you know about this holiday, how can you personally help birth mothers get the recognition they should have? Take gifts to a local adoption agency (little somethings), let your children help make them and take them. All you have to do is look under adoption in the phone book and you will find a whole list. Two of the agencies we used, actually bring birth mothers to Utah to have their baby. They get bored, so scrapbook stuff, gently used books, some bring children so car seats, clothing, toys, volunteer to teach a class, getting a special treat that says thank you, or really anything you can think of, would be so great for these almost birth mothers. I have talked before about me being LDS. They have Hugh needs as well and would love volunteers to spoil their birth mothers. I have a wonderful sister in law who let a birth mother live in her house (even while she was trying to find someone to give her a baby). She was paying it forward in honor of her oldest child's birth mother. She got to hold this birth mother and walk her through giving her baby up to a family that she had chosen. It was a wonderful experience for all of us, that we won't soon forget. So show some love and lets honor these amazing ladies next week.

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Origin of Birth Mothers Day:
This day was created by birth mothers in Seattle, Washington. It was first celebrated in 1990.

irthmothers in Seattle, Washington. Most birthmothers will agree that Mother's Day is a very painful holiday and these women wanted to create something that would honor their birthmotherhood.

St. Paddy's Day!

So what are we going to eat for dinner on St. Patrick's Day this year?

I saw online some stews that looked good, but were cooked with Lamb. I have never had lamb.

My Sister always makes corned beef and cabbage. I don't know if I can do that. It doesn't sound very good to me.

Years past I have always just dyed something the color green. I started with Green eggs and Ham. I have tried green mashed potatoes, and I have done green spaghetti with green Alfredo. Then last year I did Green Alfredo Pizza. My kids LOVED this one!

But this year I thought about doing something more traditional. So I might try this Irish Soda Bread. The link for it is http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Irish-Soda-Bread-I/Detail.aspx

I also might make this: It is Irish Chicken and Dumplings

The link for this one is http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Irish-Chicken-and-Dumplings/Detail.aspx

You can look at other ideas on the right side, under labels for more ideas about St. Patrick's Day. I have some games ideas, treat ideas, etc.

What can I do fun tonight?

With Silly Putty's birthday today, Dr. Seuss's Birthday today, Porky Pig's birthday today, and Elmer Fudd's birthday today, I think I can come up with something.

After School: A little Seuss music, maybe some cartoons of Elmer and Porky, and making Silly Putty. (recipe below)

Dinner Prep: While I am making dinner, they can play with the Silly Putty we made, Seuss coloring pages, and watch the Sneeches movie, or cat and the hat movie.

Dinner: Of course! Green Eggs and Ham!

Bed Time Reading Time: Of Course! Dr. Seuss!

What a fun little night we can have!

Silly Putty:
1/2 Cup Elmer's Glue
1/2 Cup Liquid Starch
Food Coloring

Slowly Combine the starch with the glue and knead the mass with your fingers. The longer you work with it the better the silly putty gets. Add food coloring to get desired coloring.

Go to this website if you want Dr. Seuss Printables, like this one, http://k2printables.com/seuss.htm

Valentine's Party Games

So I spent the morning trying to find fun group games for my Cub Scouts group. After an hour, I had only came up with one game, and it was one I posted last year for Valentine's Day. I was talking to my Mom and she told me I should do a Minute To Win It Valentine's Party. So that is what I did and here are the games we played. I might do this with my family, and if I do I will include the pictures of each activity.

1. Heart Hunt (find in categories under the second Valentine's Day section)

2. Heart Race (cardboard piece of a box that you fan a heart tissue paper with. First one across the line wins)

3. Heart Stack (Tongue Depressers or Popcycle Sticks, Conversation Hearts. Put the stick in your mouth and stack as many hearts as you can on top of it in 60 seconds.

4. Heart Sort (Give every kid 20 M&M's, on go whoever gets all their m&m's in the shape of a heart and raises their hands yelling Happy Valentine's Day wins)

5. Angel Dance (One White Feather, Keep your feather off the ground the longest, without holding it and you win)

6. Angel Run (One White Feather, race against others to see who can blow their feather to the other side of the room first)

and of course we had to do one Super Bowl game, because the super bowl was on Sunday

7. Super Bowl (Bowl, Spoon, Cotton Balls, and blindfold, Blindfold one at a time and give them a spoon. On go find all the cotton balls and carry them to the bowl with your spoon only. No touching or feeling around. Whoever gets the most wins)

At the end, I gave every kid a 100 grand for doing their best and because they are 100 grand to me. They all had a great time and were so cute playing each game. One kid said it was the best day ever. So if you are a Mom planning some Valentine's Party for whatever reason, try this party out.

Valentine's Fingerpainting!

Need:
Strawberry Yogurt
Big Paper shaped into a heart

That's it! Let your child make a big heart for someone that they love, by finger painting. At the end they can lick their fingers and eat the leftover yogurt. Let dry and then give to that special someone.

Another fun idea is to let them finger paint on the table or high chair and then when they do a cool design, place the paper down carefully and pull it back up, to make a print. That way you can do more than one.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Your Pixie

We usually look at Valentine's two ways. The first is the romantic holiday. The second is the kids holiday. But really it is more than just a time for kids to give out Valentine's and a special night for the one you love. It is an opportunity to love others, especially the elderly and widowed.

When I was a child every Christmas, my parents did the 12 Days of Christmas, but we called it Pixing. We always chose an old person or a widower. We gave thoughtful gifts like bread, soup, an ornament, fruit, etc. We always left it on the porch and then would go home and call them and tell them, "Your Pixie has been there" It really made their day! I find it is hard to do this at Christmas time though, because life is so busy.

So because it has been busy, we have been inventive so we can still do it. One year we did this to a family in July, One year we wrapped Christmas books and put dates on them of when they should be opened and gave them to families.

Last year my Mom was recovering from sickness and was really down and that gave us an idea to do the Pixie thing before Valentines. We did this for both sets of parents. We got a big basket, tied a Valentine's balloon to it, and filled it with 12 gifts we thought they would enjoy and made a little note that went with each one. We told them to open one each night on the night it was given. I watched my Mom through the whole thing, having no idea who had done this. My kids loved watching her get excited and speculate about who it was. It was so fun! They were so excited to finally tell her that they had done it.

For Mother's Day (but it would be a great idea for Valentine's Day). We took breakfast to each of our Mothers. We told them the tray was their gift as well as the food and the cup. Walmart had really dang cute trays in their Valentine section that I bought then and saved for Mother's Day. They loved it. We have also taken Breakfast trays like this to people having a baby. Cartons of Orange Juice, Milk, Fruit, Pasteries, etc. is fun for the kids and makes them feel special too.

Another idea to do for older people is to give them a Heart Attack. On their front door, rest home door, bedroom door, car, etc. place hearts that have messages from everyone in your family. Things you love about them, or just an I love you. This is a great gift, for someone that has everything and just needs to be loved.

We connect with people all the time on the internet, phones, or facebook like stuff. But that kind of technology doesn't hit with most older people. So help your child send notes and stuff in the mail for your older loved ones. This will be a fun new experience for you child, but will mean something also to the ones you send stuff too. My sister in law lives out of state and she does this all the time with her kids. My Mom's fridge is covered in little notes from them.

One story that has been told to me over the years, is my Two sisters one Valentine's Day calling all the neighbors and singing them a Valentine's Song and saying it was from someone who loved them (pre-caller id). They had fun doing it, and the women all loved it and thought it was from their husbands.

This year I was thinking it might be fun to put a fruit or treat in a Valentine's bag and deliver these little gifts to a retirement community in our area, with a note telling them Happy Valentine's Day. I think my kids would love ringing all those door bells and spreading love around.

And lastly invite them over. For about 6 months now we have been taking my Mom at least once a week to our house for dinner. She gets a good healthy meal, she gets out of the house, she gets companionship, and we get HER. My kids love when she comes for dinner, and they beg for her to come all the time. Today I burned beans and my Mom was over. She of course could have cared less, because she was just glad to be out of her quiet house and have some fun.

And remember that no matter what you do, sign it with.... Love, Your Pixie

Not Edible Crystal Snowflakes and Ornaments

What you need:
String, wide mouth jar, white pipe cleaner, borax, boiling water, and pencils.

Take a white pipe cleaner and cut into thirds and twist them to make a snowflake or you can do whatever shape you want. Make sure it with fit into the jar.

Tie a string to one end of the snowflake and tie the other end to the pencil.

Fill Jar with Boiling Water. Add 1 Tablespoon of Borax (It is found on the Laundry soap lane of the store- don't use Boraxo Soap) to the water and stir until it dissolves. Add the rest of the Borax. You need 3 tablespoons to every 1 cup of water. You can also add food coloring to the water, if you want colored snowflakes. I personally like the plain old white.

Hang the pencil over the jar, with the pipe cleaner completeley covered in the water, but not touching sides or bottom of jar.

Let sit over night.

Borax is soap, so remember not to keep low for a child to drink. I still have mine that I did years ago on my Christmas tree. Over the years the crystals have changed a little, but it still looks pretty cool on my tree.

Crystal Fun!

Rock Candy To Eat!

Needs:
1 Cup of boiling water
3 Cups White Sugar
Jar
Pencil
wool or cotton Yarn
Food Coloring
Flavoring

Instructions:
Tie the yarn to the pencil. Set the pencil on top of the jar and see if it will hang without touching the sides or the bottom, but almost to the bottom. Boil water. Stir in sugar a spoonful at a time. Keep adding sugar until it starts to collect at the bottom of the jar and doesn't dissolve while stirring. This is called Saturated. You can't have too much or too little or it won't grow crystals on your yarn. Add food coloring of the color you want and flavoring. Pour into the glass jar and don't let any dissolved sugar into the jar. Hang the string again in the jar. Put it where no one can mess with it. Put a paper towel over the top so nothing gets into it. After one day you should see it start to grow. Let them grow until they stop or it is the size you want, about 4-7 days. When sugar crust comes at the top of the jar, then remove it and eat. If it forms on sides and bottom, but not on your string, remove string carefully, reboil and cool like you did before. Pour into a clean glass jar and replace the string. When done Allow to dry and then eat.

A New Tradition!

We got an early Christmas present from my Sister-in-law, Nicole and her family. It is an elf that comes with a story. After you read the story, he hides all month long in high places in your house. The kids are never to touch the elf. Anyway my younger kids Love it, and my older child loves to hide the elf. It has made for lots of seeking the elf, lots of laughing, and lots of fun. If you are interested, then click on the website about it, below.



http://www.popinkins.com/

Christmas Ideas!

My neighbor asked me to post this, but I realized I had already done this. So I thought I would recap a little and then tell you to go look under labels under Christmas for more ideas and you can see what I wrote about this.



Anyway I am a cub scout leader and for one of our Christmas activities, we made green and red paper chains. at the top was a big star with the words, "I am trying to be like Jesus". On the inside of each chain was something that they could do, to make them like Jesus and more focused on him during the Christmas season. Examples you can find in the past posting.



After we got them completed, I read the book I believe in Santa Claus, by Diane G. Adamson. It is first all about Santa. Ex. he comes at night, he wears red, he loves little children etc. Then it switches and talks about Jesus Ex. he comes at night, he wore red, he loves little children etc. After reading the book I talked to them about how it can be confusing when at school you only talk about Christmas and Santa coming, but at Church you only talk about the birth of Christ. But I said that this book helps us realize that Santa is trying to be just like Jesus and he is a symbol of Christmas. When we think of Santa, we can think of Jesus, just like when we see a Christmas light we can be reminded of the star that came the night Jesus was born.

Then I took the chain and said that the outside is a countdown until Santa comes, but the inside is a countdown until Jesus was born. By doing nice things for others and trying to be like Jesus, we can honor Jesus and give him a gift that he would love by serving others.

Anyway I had this little boy (I forgot to tell his Mom this part), that openly scoffed when I said we were going to read a book called, I believe in Santa Claus. He didn't say anything, but his face told me, that he was not a believer. He also thought making chains was something a preschooler would do. But after I read the book, his little chain seemed much more important, and his face said a different story, than before I read the book.

He went home and has been so excited about Trying to be like Jesus everyday. His Mom called me to tell me, what a great idea it was, and how much he looks forward to doing it everyday. I usually get no comments, and it was really nice to hear how much she like it. She asked me to post it, so now I have. Merry Christmas!

Compliment Stocking!

My sister, Jill shared this on facebook, and I thought it was cute and would post it here. Doing anything like this with children is a really good idea.

Christmas idea to share One thing we did with our kids was to let them write compliments to each other during the month of December(we did too). They could choose any day. No one was assigned. More than one person could do it in a day. You write a complement for each person in the family including yourself. They are put in the empty stockings. When someone noticed they were there we would read them as a family. Children that were too little to write could dictate to someone else. They could be things like "You are a good jumper." or "You have a great laugh." This was really fun to do.

10 Fun Christmas Games!

1. Don’t Eat Santa- Big version that fits on the floor or the whole table. For those of you who don’t know, you place a small treat (cereal I usually do) on each Santa square and one person goes out of the room. When he is gone another (I usually do the person who had the last turn going out) person picks a Santa. Then the person comes back in the room and starts to eat. When they hit the one that was picked, everyone yells, “Don’t Eat Santa!” It scares the child and they all laugh and then the next goes. It’s very simple, but even 6^th graders have loved it. I will bring the big board (A different Santa on a full piece of paper, and then they are taped together like a bingo board) and the cereal treats with it.

2. Christmas Twenty Questions- Adult starts by choosing a Christmas related person, place, or thing and says, "I'm thinking of something". The children try to guess what it is by asking no more than twenty questions that can be answered "YES", "NO", or I DON'T KNOW". The student who guesses correctly is next up.

For kids that are littler, Example: Frosty
Clue: I'm thinking of someone who wears a hat
Clue: He loves snow
Clue: He'll melt if it gets too warm outside

For kids that are older Example: Frosty
Adult: I'm thinking of something at Christmastime!
Kid #1: Is it cold? Yes
Kid #2: Is it Red? No

To get you started: Santa, Rudolph, elf, Mrs. Claus, Candy Cane, Snowman, Tree, Lights, Stocking, North Pole, Sleigh, Cookies, Milk, Etc.

3. Pin The Nose On Rudolph- Rudolph picture, red nose circles for each child, tape, pen for their name, and a blindfold.

4. Santa Bingo- cereal or beans for counters, and everything for the game. Google Free Christmas Bingo, and you can print color or black and white ones.

6. Musical Chairs- a treat for everyone that gets kicked out of musical chairs and Christmas music.

7. What is it? Christmas pillow case that has all sorts of Christmas objects in it. It is a guess and feel game. Each person takes a turn feeling one object and guessing what it is. When guessed you pull it out and see if they are right. You can keep all the objects together and have them hold the one while you grab it, or you can do one at a time and use another pillowcase to hold the other stuff.

8. Blind Snowman Game

Supplies:
8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper
Pencil.

How To Play: Give everyone a piece of paper and a pencil. Explain to them that they will close their eyes and you will tell them what to draw. DON'T tell them they're drawing a snowman! Draw 3 circles on top of each other. Each circle gets smaller from bottom to top. In the middle circle draw three buttons going vertically down the center. In the top circle draw two eyes, a carrot nose, and a mouth. Draw a hat on top of the smallest circle. Draw stick arms on both sides of the middle circle. Draw a broom in one stick hand. Open your eyes! If playing with older children you might want to devise a point system, such as: 5 points for each circle that touches the other. Points for the hat touching the head, the eyes being in the top circle, etc.

9. Tongue Twisters

How To Play: Say each phrase three times as fast as you can. Let kids practice on their own or take volunteers to come up and try their best for all to hear. A candy can prize for anyone who tries.

Chocolate cocoa cravings cure colds
Santa sings shining star songs
Sally skis super slow
Big bright bells banish boredom
Grumpy Grinch goes grizzly gus
Pretty packages perfectly packed
Tip-top tiny tot toys
Sally's striped stocking's stuffed slightly
Santa's super souped sleigh swiftly slides sideways
Cheery cute caroling Christmas critters
Candy cane cookies keep kids coming

10. Santa Says

How To Play: Played similar to Simon Says. The player up is "Santa". Player will say "Santa says hop on one foot". The children will hop on one foot. Player will say "Stop". The children are to keep hopping on one foot until player says "Santa says stop". Repeat for additional activities such as take one baby step forward, step backwards, turn around, sit down. Sometimes Santa will say "Santa says" and sometimes he won't. It'­s a fun game to play with young children.

Teaching Children About Giving Money To Charity!

I have been thinking lately a lot about Charity. It seems like people are more and more selfish with their time, money, skills, and love. Everything seems to be more and more about ME and what I can get for Me. It makes you so down, until you notice the kind people, who are quietly going about doing good for others. Take time to notice these people, watch them, learn from them, and then become them. That is what I want for my family. My parents are these kind people. They always were helping others in one way or the other. But if we weren't paying attention, we would have never known. They quietly did things, and made a difference in many people's lives. My Mom has been sick this year, but she still finds time to make a difference- especially to my little family. My Dad had Charity in him, until the day he died of Cancer 7 years ago. He was an amazing man. I never saw him be lazy, and I totally took for granted all the things he did for me, my family, my neighbors, my church, my community, etc. The last thing I remember that was on his mind before he died, was my mother, who just found out she had Cancer for the third time. So anyway, I figure if I can always be like them, I will turn out to be a pretty good person, and if my kids learn it from me, they will be pretty good people, and it will just keep going. So now I am going to talk about how we teach our children to give...... Money.

Yesterday I spent some time walking around my neighborhood with the Wolf Scouts. They are so cute and are little 8 year olds. We were doing Pennies By The Inch. I tried the whole time to get it through their heads that because we were collecting money, it would go to kids that needed help at our local hospital. Midway I asked one of the boys, do you feel good about all the money you are collecting? He replied, "Not Really". Which I think they all felt good, but for show he needed to be cooler than that.

I wished that I had known in advance (which I should because they do this every year) that it was going on this week. I would have had my kids at home earn some money, so they could donate and feel good about it.

In our local church (stake) meeting a couple of years ago, a man talked about the need for kids to earn money. So they could learn to budget, save, etc. He also mentioned the need to let them give their money to charity. It really made me think. I had always been taught that time and service were just as important as money. But after listening to this man, I realized that if they don't learn how to give with money as well, when they are adults they won't do it.

My cute daughter last year wanted to help with a sub for Santa. She got out 50 dollars to give. This also was an important lesson I needed to teach my daughter. Give what you can afford to lose. As much as I thought it was an amazing gift, I knew that 10 dollars was more appropriate for her age, and that she needs her money for her future, when she goes to college. We talked about it, and I helped her realize that someday, she could give more, but at age 11, this was very very generous.

This year one of our extended families is doing a Sub for Santa. We are pooling the money we would have spent, and then one family is going to buy everything the family in need needs, and take it to them. So I got the idea of paying my kids in coins to do random jobs around the house, and they could earn money to help this family. So far so good. Everyone is really excited to get our jar full. Everyone has a great attitude, when they know the job is going to have money for the jar. I think it will help us to stay grounded and happy this season.

I encourage you to find ways to teach your children as well the value of money and giving it to others when you can. And if you can't, there is always next year. And who knows, you might be the receiver this year and that is sometimes hard as well to accept. But you can teach your children about generous people and how they gave to you.

Don't get me wrong, I still realize that Charity of Time, Love, and Service is important as well, but this post is not about that.

15 Great Halloween Games!

1. Make a Spider Web: All you need for this fun game is a ball of black, white, or silver yarn or string. Have everyone stand around in a circle. Ask one child to hold one end of the string and then toss the ball to another kid. Each child holds on the string and then tosses it to someone else. Before you know it you'll have a great spider web

2. Mummy Contest: Grab a few rolls of toilet paper and divide into teams (we do this as a family and have every mother being wrapped, it is really funny). Then - you guessed it - wrap the toilet paper around the other, creating a mummy. You can either make it a contest of speed or one of creativity. For the first, the team that has a completely wrapped mummy first wins. For the second contest, whoever gets all their toilet paper off their team member and places it the trash bag wins!

3. Don't Eat The Monsters! This is such a easy, but fun game. For a big board use full sheets of paper- one monster on each page. For a small board use one sheet of paper divided up like a bingo board. Place candies, cereal, pretzels, fruit snacks, marshmallows, etc. on each individual picture. Have one person go out of the room. Have another child pick which monster they are going to use. When the person comes back in the room let them start eating. When they pick the monster that you chose, yell Don't eat the monsters!

4. Eyeball Race: Start with a plain ping-pong ball for each child. Use a Sharpie marker and draw on it to turn it into an eyeball. You can simple draw the pupil, or for a scarier version, add some red wiggly lines to make the eyeball look bloodshot. I personally like to let each child make their own eyeball. Then they can take it home with them. Give each child a spoon and drop one of the eyeballs in each spoon. Now it's time to race. The child that reaches the finish line with the eyeball in the spoon first wins.

5. Ghost Hunt: (this one I already have posted about, a few years ago. To see about it, go to the labels on the right side and hit the Halloween section and it will pull up.

6. Musical Chairs: (this one I already have posted about, a few years ago. To see about it, go to the labels on the right side and hit the Halloween section and it will pull up.

7. Witch Race: You will need at least two buckets and two brooms. Each player in the race must put one foot in the bucket and hold onto it with one hand, and carry a broom in the other hand. Play the music Witch Doctor while doing this activity. It is really funny.

8. Apple Race: Kids must race on all fours while pushing apples with their noses.

9. Donut Bob: hang donuts from a broom or a pole above. Each child then lays down, or kneels with their hands behind their back. As soon as you say go, they start eating. Whoever finishes their donut first wins! Warning-glazed donuts= sticky kids!

10. Little Ghosty Won't Bite You: Sit in a circle and make a tissue ghost. Take the ghost and have one person be it. They say the following: I had a little ghosty and he won't bite you, and he won't bite you, and he won't bite you, BUT he will bite you. When he says will bite you, he drops it in their lap and runs around the circle and gets back into that person's place before the person touches him. Always have the won't bite you part be different so no one knows when it will happen.

11. Haunted House: Divide up the group into 5 different Halloween characters (Witch, bat, ghost, pumpkin, vampire) Add more or take away depending on how many you have. You can also print up these images on paper and tape them to their shirts so they don't forget. Then have one person stand in the middle and call out one of the names. The people that's name has been called need to switch places. The person in the middle needs to try and steal one of the places. Then someone else is IT (if the middle person was successful). When the middle person yells HAUNTED HOUSE! everyone runs and finds a new spot. No one can be in the same spot twice in a row.

12. Wet & Wild Halloween: For this game you get a very small thimble and fill it with water. The category is Halloween Costumes (or candy, Halloween, etc.) Go around in a circle and wait for each child to give a comment. If they choose yours, you spray them in the face with the water and then it is their turn to do it.

13. Monster Dance: Turn on Michael Jackson's Thriller and have everyone dance however they want to this music. It is so funny to watch and is really easy to play.

14. Hiding Ghost: One person goes out of the room. Someone else hides the Ghost. When the person comes back in the room you sing a simple Halloween song or chant Ghost Ghost Ghost woooooooooo over and over again. Louder if they are close to the hiding place, quieter if they are not.

15. Halloween Memory: Take all sorts of Halloween objects on a tray. Let everyone look at them for a few minutes. Then send someone out and take away something. When they come back see if they can figure out what is missing. Then repeat with other people.

A Favorite Thing!

So my friend showed me this cookbook that she made. It was sooooooooo cute. She took recipes from both sides of her family, that were family favorites, or traditions. She used the website listed below and had her cookbook professionally done. It sounded like such a great idea. So I got on the website, and I have been typing recipes in, adding pictures that go with the recipe, and a description of why it is important to me. It is really cute and I am so excited to get mine printed. So go to this website and it really is not that expensive for treasuring your heirloom recipes. I gave an example of two of mine.

http://www.tastebook.com/

Egg People!

Also on the website below were these egg people. How fun would that be, to blow out eggs for the whole family and as a family craft sit at the table and make egg people. Keep them for next year and it might be fun to see how you viewed yourself the last year. I think this would be really fun for preschool as well. If I was doing this with little ones, I would probably buy wood eggs at the craft store, or use the plastic ones from the store.

Not just dyeing Eggs anymore!

Are you ready for something new? Here are some techniques you can do instead of coloring eggs, or in addition to coloring eggs. I found them all at: http://familyfun.go.com/easter/easter-crafts/egg-decorating-ideas-843997/view-all/ They have complete instructions on how to do them. Last year I put lots of ideas on how to do eggs that you can keep forever. You could also do that with all of these, just remember to hollow them out first. You can do that by putting holes in each end and blowing out the egg mixture, or buy getting a needle and a shot and sucking it out that way. The only one that will not work on blown out eggs is the warm crayon egg. That one the egg needs to be warm, so as you draw the crayon melts. Anyway have fun, and remember to check out past Easter projects on this website if you are new! String Eggs

Light Bulb Sleeve Eggs

Warm Crayon Drawn Eggs

Bubble Wrap Eggs

Foil Eggs

Easter Edible Bird Nests

I am the baby of my family. When I was a child I remember one of my sisters bringing these to Easter dinner, as our name card. She wrote our name onto a little paper, put it in the nest, and put it on our plate. It was so cute and I have always remembered it. I have done this a lot in preschool, when doing a bird unit. It is a really fun activity to do with children!

1 (12 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
1 (12 oz.) pkg. butterscotch chips
1 lg. can or package of chow mein noodles
Jelly beans or my favorite mini robin eggs

Melt chocolate chips and butterscotch chips over slow heat. Pour over chow mein noodles. Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Put a large tablespoon of chocolate-covered noodles on waxed paper. Form like a bird nest. Put candy in nest to look like bird eggs. Refrigerate until firm.

One of my favorite things!

One of my favorite things from my childhood is Fondu'. I have really fond memories of doing this on special occasions with my family. I even had a really fun Sweet 16 birthday party doing this. When I married my husband, I started doing this as a romantic dinner for us. Then when kids came we started to include them. Now we do Fondu' once in November for our Anniversary, on New Year's Day, and sometimes on Valentine's Day. This year we did a party for our daughter for her birthday. All the girls had so much fun learning how to do Fondu'. So buy a fondu pot, cut up some vegetables, and have some fun!

Our Favorite Menu
1. Steamed Rice
2. Cut up Carrots, Mushrooms, Zuccinni, Artichoke canned hearts, Yams, fresh pineapple
3. Chopped up steak, shrimp
4. Sauces
5. Peanut Oil
6. Box of Tempura (found in baking section of store. It is a mix, You dip stick in tempura with veggie on and then dip in oil)
7. Depending on if you have an electric Fondu' pot or not you might need Sterno to heat the oil. It can be found in the camping section of a grocery store.

For Sauce Recipes, I just make up my own. I don't know how much of each ingredient. Sorry.

Sauce 1 (for meat):
catsup
mayo
parsley
tabasco sauce
worshiresauce

Sauce 2 (veggies)
Parm. Cheese
Cream Cheese
A little Milk
(Soften cream cheese before mixing)

The best part of Fondu is that it forces you to spend time talking with each other. So if your family needs more time communication go buy a fondu' pot and get started.

Family Plan for 2010

A long time ago my cute friend Nancy made me a New Year's plan for my family. I loved it and it was so darling. After that I made the above papers. Not nearly as cute as hers was, but it still does the trick. Each year on or around the first of January, our family gets together and we make a plan of at least two things to do in every month. They are things that we are looking forward to like: Making a snowman, going on vacation, mom's birthday, game night, swimming, etc. We put them on the side of our fridge and then the kids can look forward to something, and the parents can be fun parents.

We also print these papers up. We also put them on the side of the fridge. They are for quick little notes we want to remember. Almost like a little journal. Someone lost a tooth, a funny comment someone made, an acident someone had, etc. This was also my friend Nancy's idea. At the end of the year I simply place the paper in my family scrapbook and transfer any info I want to the kids personal scrapbooks. It is so easy and I feel like I am remembering our life moments.