pumpkin name settings

If you are in charge of Thanksgiving this year or want a fun get together with friends or family. This ideas is sure to get your guest talking.  This simple ideas was found at Better Homes and Garden. I love it because it is so simple and a fun gift for your guest to take home.

family photo booth

This is a great way to capture real and silly moments together as a family.  Find a little area to create a booth,  pin up blankets, put up a shade canopy, or designate a area under the tree.   We set out a few funny hats, glasses, and props.  Take four pictures and then format them into photo strips in your favorite program (publisher, photoshop, etc).  Print them out on photo paper and cut them into strips.  We then hung them up on a ribbon with clothes pins to display them and then everyone could grab them as they go.

   

This is a great way for everyone to take home a memory of a family reunion with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents that they may not get to see very often.  This could also easily be adapted to a birthday party, a wedding, or any other kind of party.   

birthday pictures

OK so I have been working on teaching my kids a little more about our family history, and  since this week was birthday week. I thought that I would share what we have been doing.

This is our Birthday Board.

Every month we add the pictures of who has birthdays in the that month (past and present).  Then during that month we have a birthday night where we share some fun things about each person. We have a birthday cake in the their honor. It has been fun to learn all kinds of fun facts and learn to love our heritage.

There are all sorts of fun ideas that you can use this for. Such as filling it with pictures of just the birthday person from their past to the present. You can even put a treat in each of the holes instead of pictures. One treat for each day of the week until their birthday (like a birthday countdown). Be creative and have fun with it. I know that we have.

To Make this:

You will need 1  2x4 of your desired length. Mine was 12in.
scrapbook paper, modpoge, a foam brush, wire, nail and hammer.
Cut your 2x4, then you will cut and modpoge the paper on to your 2x4. Let it dry completely and with your hammer and nail, nail however many holes that you want. Then take your wire and make 2 loops and twist at the bottom of the loop. Leaving the desired length for the height of your picture. Glue your wire in the holes. You will slip your pictures between the two loops of wire. With the left over paper I made tags to show their name and their birthday.

school's out for the summer

This is a fun last day a school tradition from family fun.   Hang a welcome to summer banner for your children to bust through on their last day of school.  We would love to hear your last day of school traditions.

growing lucky clover

We thought it would be fun to grow a little luck this year. We started with some little terra-cotta pots and painted them gold with a little glitter paint for sparkle.

We found some clover seed at a local seed and garden store. This is usually sold in large amount with grass seed so a small amount is very inexpensive. We soaked the seeds in water for about 5 hours (we thought this might speed up the process a bit) and then planted them in some potting soil.

We placed them in our windowsill and we are hoping they will make it one time. We probably should have started them a little sooner but at least we can enjoy it the whole month of March right. We will keep you posted on how long it takes and then we can plan better for next year.

We hoping for something like this.

valentine love pillow

This is our family love pillow that we just started around the first of February this year. We wrote this little poem to explain how it works.

This is a little love pillow

And this is what you do,

A simple act of love

For someone that loves you.

Find a secret act to do

Then sneak it on their bed

They will know that they are loved

Even more that words have said.

It is now their turn to pass it on

To someone of their choice

To show the love they have for them

With service as their voice.

Sometimes we find it hard to say

Those simple little three

So show the ones you care about

You love them and they will see.

Our little girls have loved this!!! They are so excited when they see it on their pillow and I love it because it stretches LOVE and Valentine's Day out for many days.

we LOVE birthdays

Is there anyone under that hat???

We LOVE birthdays at our house. Who doesn't? I bought this birthday hat at the dollar store a few years ago and it has become a great tradition at our house. This hat is always waiting for you at breakfast when you wake up on your birthday morning and it can be worn where ever and as much as you would like only on that their day. (We found one at Oriental Trading Co. in primary colors for Dad so he would have to wear a pink one.)

Family traditions are what make fun memories even if they are simple like this.

The other birthday traditions that our girls love are:

*Choose the menu for the day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My mom did this when I was little and I loved it.

*Other family members pick up your jobs for the day.

*You can stay in your pajamas all day if you would like.

Here was the outfit of choice for this year. Great for dancing!!!