Search Results for: blog creating new holiday traditions

Preserving Holiday Memories

Christmas Eve is here. While it’s easy to get caught up in the celebratory madness, if you are planning to scrapbook the holiday, you want to remember to document the festivities. Grab your camera and snap your family and friends partaking in holiday traditions, including sipping hot chocolate by an open fire or baking cookies to leave out for Santa. If you are planning to make a massive holiday meal, preserve the recipes to add to a recipe scrapbook or at the very least, place the directions in a journaling block along with photos of the finished products and shots … Continue reading →

Scrapping Holiday Family Fun

The holiday season provides a litany of opportunities to create memorable scrapbook layouts featuring your entire family, and I’m not just referring to the same ol’ boring page designs of people opening presents. Since most clans tend to gather for either Christmas or New Year’s Eve, don’t miss the chance to document and expand on your family’s favorite traditions. Forget about creating a chronological timeline of Christmas Day; rather, select a few standout events and tell the stories behind each. Some special seasonal layout ideas include: Caroling: You don’t have to participate in an elaborate Christmas caroling event around the … Continue reading →

Creating a Meaningful Christmas on a Budget

So many families are struggling right now with the economy and are wondering what to do about Christmas and gifts for the kids. The stores are still screaming about deals, deal and deals. The kids see commercials for the latest hot toys that seem to cost more than my first car ever did. Examining the family budget, many of us are deciding to spend less this year, including on Christmas gifts. I think this is a blessing in disguise. What better time is there to make a meaningful Christmas for the kids, and well, for everyone. Participate in Operation Christmas … Continue reading →

Juggling Extended Family During the Holidays

If you live close to home or if your family and your spouse’s family is from the same area you may find yourself juggling a lot of family activities along with your church activities. It can be tiring to find time for yourself and your own family when you are rushing from party to party. First you need to make sure that you are not letting these events get in the way of the things that are most important. Make sure that you continue to have scripture study and family prayer every day with your family. You should continue to … Continue reading →

Creating New Christmas Traditions

When you are first married, you may find yourself pulled here and there juggling between two different families, but when your kids become a bit older, it is a good idea to carve out your own family traditions. There are a variety of things you can do over the holidays to create memories that will last forever. Christmas caroling is one tradition that seems to have fallen out of style lately, but it is a great way to spread the holiday cheer. You can carol in your neighborhood, in your ward, or at a hospital or nursing home. You can … Continue reading →

What NOT to do with Your Newborn Twins

And the 2008 Worst Mother Award goes to… Sonia Ringoir. Okay, maybe not. However, if they handed out an actual award for poor parental behavior the 31-year-old Belgium mother would certainly be in contention for title. If you haven’t already heard, Ringoir stands accused of selling her newborn twin boys to pay for liposuction surgery. According to reports, Ringoir, a restaurant worker from the Belgian tourist haven of Ghent, was arrested and charged last week after her estranged husband ratted her out. And get this—when police questioned Ringoir’s current boyfriend, he says the mom sold her babies because her estranged … Continue reading →

Christmas Traditions

During the holidays it is so easy to focus on creating traditions in your family. As you look back at what you did to celebrate Christmas when you were growing up, you probably did similar things every year. While you do want to provide that for your children, you may choose to leave some of your traditions behind and create new ones for your family. It can also be difficult to create family traditions when you are not at home for Christmas, but visiting family. My favorite traditions are the ones that focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Growing … Continue reading →

On to the Next Holiday

This morning I put away the last of the dishes from yesterday’s meal. Somehow I managed to use by best Tetrus skills and get all the food tucked away into the refrigerator last night (although with teenagers, they had everything back out again within an hour) and as I descended the stairs this morning, I knew it was time to gear up for the next holiday–it’s time to start the Christmas decorating… Customarily, the weekend after Thanksgiving is our decorating weekend. I get out the tree (yes, I am now one of THOSE people with the artificial tree and I … Continue reading →

The Return of Lost Traditions

We have written some here in the Parenting blog about family traditions—changing them, establishing them, letting some of them go. As a parent who has seen my children grow from infancy to nearly adult-hood, I am finding it interesting that some of the family and holiday traditions I said goodbye to a couple of years ago when my kids were in the throes of adolescence, have started to return… My eldest daughter and I were chatting this morning on our post-dawn commute—making some plans for the weekend. It was actually a combination of finding out what her social plans were, … Continue reading →

Everyday Traditions – Nava Atlas

Our lives are so busy. Everyone I know is busy, particularly those of us with children. Sometimes my own family is too busy. I know it’s the little things kids treasure and remember. Things like their mom playing cards with them, or making them cinnamon toast when they are sick, or giving their stuffed animals a kiss goodnight. Everyday Traditions: Simple Family Rituals for Connection and Comfort by Nava Atlas reinforces my belief that it’s the little things that matter. In fact she elevates those little things to be more than little things. The cinnamon toast becomes a sick day … Continue reading →