Category: Family and Friends

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Family Game Night – What Game Are You the Champion Of?

The Game of Life, Risk, Sorry, Monopoly. It’s family game night and time to break out the board games. I am our family champion for Monopoly. I can’t get enough of that game. I always have to be the banker, I think it has something to do with controlling all of the money.

My husband loves to play Risk. He seems to be great at all of the calculated risks and determining when to sacrifice something in order to come out on top. I am not the biggest fan of this game to be honest. It seems long, drawn out, and boring. However, we take turns choosing what games we are going to play and I am always a good sport when someone selects a game I don’t really like.

What games do you play for your family game nights for entertainment? Do you play board games, have tournaments with game systems, or maybe just play with a deck of cards? All of the above can be lots of fun. The important part is spending quality time with your family and having fun.

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The Wizard of Oz, An Old Favorite

The Wizard Of Oz is a classic in my book. I remember watching it on television as a child with my parents in our living room. I thought it was completely amazing when I saw Dorothy walk out of her house into Oz when it was all in color. It seemed like magic to me.

I loved the Lollipop Kids too! I thought they were adorable and I asked my mom if I could visit them and play at their house. I saw their giant lollipops and fell in love.

The movie had its scary parts too. The flying monkeys creeped me out. I hid my face in my daddy’s chest and asked when they disappeared. I wasn’t only afraid of the monkeys; the talking trees also gave me the heebie jeebies. I could handle talking scarecrows but when the trees started talking I thought they were nuts.

Every time I see this movie on television now, I always stop changing the channel and enjoy the rest of the movie. It’s a wonderful movie to share with your family.

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Technological Advantages of Children Today

Kids growing up now live in a world where everything is instant or pretty close to it. No longer do they have to rely on things that take up a lot of time. The children of today have many advantages in technology that generations past did not have the benefit of. Microwaves have taken time out of cooking. The internet makes information accessible with the touch of a button. Telephones make communication with people across the world a snap.

Children today are growing up with everything around them happening soo fast.  It’s a wonder we can teach them to have patience at all.

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Children’s Literature Favorites

One of my most favorite books ever growing up as a kid was, Where The Wild Things Are. I remember Max tromping off into the scary woods and dancing with the wild things. I loved how he was dressed up and seemed to fit right in with the rest of the monsters.

I always wondered what had happened to him earlier in the day that led him to go to this far off place where the wild things lived. Did he get into trouble? Did he tell a lie? Was he trying to escape something he didn’t like? He sure had a gigantic imagination to dream up a place like that.

Every kid should have a chance to read that story. It would be a lot of fun to make up your own prequel or sequel to the story to explain what happened before or after to Max and his family. I might even do that with my own kids. I bet they would love to write and illustrate their own stories about Max.

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Best Way To Spend a Long Weekend

With Memorial Day coming up we have a long weekend ahead of us. On long weekends I like to relax with family and friends. We usually have a crock pot breakfast on Saturday morning and then just pass the day with family time. We like to play board and card games. If the weather is nice we’ll go to the park for a picnic or take everyone down to the pool for a nice refreshing swim.

This year we are going to go to the movies on Sunday and then to a barbeque on Monday. It’s a great way to catch up with friends. The barbeque is potluck style. We’re bringing my famous potato salad. The secret is to have one whole hard boiled egg for every potato you use. I never liked potato salad growing up until I had this recipe. Now I bring the potato salad to most every potluck we go to in the summer.

What do you like to do for long weekends? Do you go somewhere to get away from everything? Or, do you like to take it easy and everything at a slow and leisurely pace around home?

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Homemade Wind Chimes

The kids and I went for a walk this afternoon. We heard some of the most beautiful wind chimes. Hearing the lovely sounds and then seeing the creations behind them inspired me to want to make some of our own wind chimes at home.

I gathered fishing line, beads, seashells, a few nuts from my husband’s tool box, a bit of paint, paper plates and some plastic cups. I had the girls paint designs on the plates and cups. Then we punched holes in them and laced the fishing line in long strings through the holes. Finally we attached the beads, seashells, and nuts to the lines. Once everything was attached we spray painted the lines and decorations all the same color.

We hung them up on the patio and wiggled them around to listen to the items clank together. They didn’t sound nearly as beautiful as they looked but we all enjoyed making them.

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Afternoon in the Garden

This afternoon I spent time assembling the upside down hanging planters that I got at the really great price.  I let the kids help put the soil and the plants in each planter.  I let them use some of the toy gardening tools that I found for them at the toy store.  First, they carefully put the baby plants in each planter. They both had smiles on their faces as they heaved small shovel fulls of soil into the planters.  They carefully put the baby plants in each planter.  We had one for peppers, one for tomatoes, and another for strawberries. Once all of them had enough soil they sprinkled on some plant food and topped them off with water from the toy watering cans.

I labeled each of the planters with pictures of each type of fruit that the girls colored for me.  Their favorite one was the planter with the strawberries.  This didn’t surprise me in the least.  The strawberries always go first when ever we have fruit.  I’m excited to watch the planters produce some yummy food and the girls are excited to eat it.

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A Day Filled with Hearts

Because Valentine’s Day falls on a Thursday this year, my husband and I decided that we would celebrate it together this weekend. Tonight we will have fun and do something special with the kids.

I decided to a bit overboard and decorated the entire house last night before I went to bed. When the girls got up this morning they were surprised by all if the heart balloons in the living room and play room. I also scattered hearts in a variety of sizes throughout the rest of the house. There were window clings on the bathroom mirrors and the sliding glass door that leads to the back yard.  I had laid out a few heart shaped pages for the girls to paint later in the playroom too.

To make the day even more memorable for the girls, I made them heart shaped pancakes with little heart shaped banana slices. I used a teeny tiny cookie cutter I got from the craft store to cut out the bananas. And even though it’s not really healthy I sprinkled a few heart sprinkles on top of their pancakes to make them extra special. We enjoyed watching the girls light up this morning. I can’t wait to see their faces when they see what we have planned for them tonight.

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Breakfast with the Family on the Patio

Breakfast with the family is one of my favorite times of the day. Yesterday we had breakfast outside on the patio. I made blueberry scones, scrambled cheesy eggs, and a fresh fruit salad. My husband and I sipped our coffee as the kids gobbled up their breakfast. The scones turned out great. It was a new recipe that I got from a gal at work. It’s definitely a keeper.

When the kids finished eating they played in the back and we kept an eye on them from the patio.  The girls ran around in the grass and kicked a soccer around. I noticed the lawn needed to be mowed and politely mentioned it to my husband. He promised to mow it before lunch and made good on that promise with a smile on his face.  I told him I would pick up a few planters for some peppers and tomatoes as a thank you the nex time I went to the garden center.

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Cutest Puppy Ever Stole My Heart

While walking through the mall today, I stopped by the pet store.  I normally go in just to look at all of the animals.  Today I saw the cutest puppy ever.  It was a baby golden retriever with the prettiest little brown eyes you could ever see.  This little guy smiled at me and I just had to hold him.  Puppy dog eyes get me every time.

I played with him for about 20 minutes before I realized I was getting really attached… almost too attached.  I had the store clerk put him back even though I could have played with him for hours.  He looked soo sad when he left my arms and headed back to the little cage he was in.  It broke my heart to see him stare back at me as though he was saying, “Why don’t you want me?”

I really wanted to take him home, but I couldn’t bring myself to make a purchase like that without the entire family with me.  Well, that and I don’t really want to have to deal with dog fur on everything we own.