Mother's Day: One-Memory-a-Day Journal

My children are growing fast...way too fast. And they do cute and funny little things every day, which I am already forgetting. 

So I gave myself an early little Mother's Day gift this year: a One-Memory-a-Day Journal.

Confession: I am a wanna-be journaler. Truth be told, I am actually a wanna-be Memory-Keeper in several areas. Don't ask me how far my children's Baby books have progressed (one is unopened!) or how my scrapbooks are going (the photos are all there in Photoshop...not printed, not laid out digitally for a Photobook...just waiting...) And even my great intent to keep separate journals for the kids of all their funny antics is basically still a pile of notes on calendars that I need to get around to copying over to actual journals...

But this one is different. It's not intimidating at all. The goal is to write at least one sentence from the day. It keeps track of all the sweet little happenings that may not be Big Firsts or hilarious stories to share at future family get-togethers...just happy memories our family will cherish reading when the kids are grown.

I grabbed a little journal at Staples and started it May 1. So far, I'm still on track!

If you have young children or need a gift idea for a new or young Mom for Mother's Day, give her a cute journal with the instructions to jot One little Memory a day.  She will love it forever!

Date Time with your Kids

I probably tell my kids at least 10 times a day I love them. I know they know. But in this season of all-things-love, I want to make sure I remind my children often how much I like them and enjoy spending time with them.

 As with all kids, ours LOVE to go out for some one-on-one time with Mommy or Daddy. My husband and I try to get a couple of hours with one of them each month. It's sweet to see just how much they anticipate and enjoy this undivided attention. Even my 2-year-old gets giddy if he gets to go in Daddy's truck—just him and Daddy--for a simple errand to the hardware store.

Often our dates involve going out for a meal or dessert together. This provides great talk time. My daughter is 4, and she is happy just to get a cookie or visit the animals at the pet store.

We've done a few more creative things with our 7-year-old. He and I enjoyed a pottery-painting date one Saturday afternoon.

And my husband took him to a high school football game last fall. The stuff that bonds daddies and sons.
 Some other ideas we have for date times this year are:

• go for a bike ride
• take a walk together at a park
• go ice skating
• take a box of donuts to a neighbor
• go to a park and take funny/creative pictures
• make a project together
• plant something—flowers, seeds, a tree
• go on a long hike
• visit a hobby or pet store
• visit an art show
• make a fun video together
• do a random act of kindness together
• find a way to serve or minister to someone in need

Now that our kids are getting a little older, it's fun to find out what they think about the world. These are interesting conversation-starters for a date or even the family dinner table:

• If you could be famous, what would you want to be famous for?
• If you could invent one rule for the whole world to follow, what would it be?
• If you could change one family rule, what would you change?
• If you could keep your room any way you wanted, how would it look?
• What are the qualities that make a good friend?
• What do you think of my driving?
• If you could decorate our home, what would it look like?
• What do you think are the characteristics that make a good parent?
• What is the nicest thing a friend has ever done for you?
• What is the most enjoyable thing our family has done together in the last three years?
• If you could have any pet you wanted, what would you choose? What would you name it?

We are trying to use this special one-on-one time to be more than just activity time together...we want to use it to build strong communication foundations with our kids. If we're not open with them now, we know we can't expect them to want to talk to us when they're 15. I'm working daily on being a better Listener to my children!

A few years back, our friend passed along some really great questions to probe the heart a little when you have some uninterrupted time alone with one child. Some don't quite work yet for our young children, but I'm hanging onto them for a few years down the road.

• What conflicts are you and your brothers/sisters having when Mom and I aren’t around?
• How is your heart towards your brothers and sisters?
• Do you think your mom or I show favoritism towards one of your siblings? If so in what ways?
• How’s your relationship with Mom? How is she doing as a mom?
• What is God showing you about the way He made you?
• What can I do better in leading the family to love God and love each other?
• How are your devotions?
• What is God teaching you?
• In your own words, what is the gospel?
• Is there a specific sin you’re aware of that I can help you in defeating?
• Are you more aware of my encouragement or my criticism?
• What’s Dad and Mom most passionate about?
• Do I act the same at church as I do when I’m at home?
• Are you aware of my love for you?
• Is there any way I’ve sinned against you that I’ve not repented of?
• Do you have any observations for me?
• How am I doing as a dad/mom ?
• How have Sunday’s sermons/classes impacted you?
• Does my relationship with Mom make you excited to be married?
• On top of these things, with my older kids, I’m always inquiring about their relationship with their friends and making sure God and his gospel are the center of those relationships. And I look for every opportunity to praise their mother and increase their appreciation and love for her.                     
• Family Strategy questions by Rand Hummel/the Wilds

A little attention and time goes a long way...it's just hard to fit in sometimes. After the football game, my son came home with shining eyes, as well as a little hot chocolate still stuck to his upper lip. He told me it was his best night ever.  Later my husband recounted the evening to me and said he felt like even if he'd been the worst Dad in the world (and for the record, he's a fantastic Daddy!), that evening together would have redeemed him big time. It was a super special outing for both of them. And a reminder to make the effort to book these important times on the calendar before lesser things eat away our hours with our kids.

Make A Memory: How I Met Your Mother!

If you are looking to start a new Valentine's Day tradition this year, here is a great idea!   Even though my kids are 6 and under, I know they will enjoy hearing the story of how my husband and I met.  We have never shared this story with our kids before; what better time of year to retell our own love story (with each other and with our kids!) than on Valentine's Day!
I know my little girl will particularly enjoy looking through our wedding album and watching our wedding video.  If you want a few ideas to jump start this fun Valentine's Day idea, here is a free printable for you to download!

This would also be another another great page to add to your child's "All About Me" book!

This is a simple way to spend time together as a family sharing stories and experiences that will help your kids begin to grasp what love is all about.  Have fun and if you have another suggestion or story about how this works out with your kids, please share it here!

Memory Maker: Video Interviews with Your Kids!

Aren't we fortunate to live in the age of Flip cams and iPhones and the ability to instantly capture the cuteness of our kids on video for forever memories?! All the sweet little stages and firsts and special events.

One thing I have done with my children from time to time is get one alone where he/she is not distracted, and ask some questions...just to capture their thoughts on video. The other day I took my oldest two outside and asked them each about 10 questions on the topic of Money. From some recent dialog, I knew my daughter did not have much financial understanding yet, and some of her answers proved to be pretty entertaining. They will both get a kick out of this a few years down the road!

You can have a lot of fun with this simple format...and provide some wonderful videos for long-distance family! I plan to interview my kids about growing up, goals, Daddy (Father's Day!), grandparents, siblings, work/jobs, family, and vacations. 

For kids who are a little camera-shy, try sitting a few feet to the side of the camera as you talk to them. If they are looking at you, that may help them forget the video and more freely answer your questions. A few other quick tips:
1) Use a tripod! You can get one at Walmart for as little as $20, and it's well worth the investment for nice, steady video.
2) Set the camera at their eye level. Don't "shoot down" at them.
3) Sit or kneel as you interview them so that you are on their eye level as well.
4) Frame your shot fairly tight--usually waist or chest-up is good.
5) Try shooting outdoors for better lighting and more scenic setting (the trade-off is background noise if you live on a busy street).
6) Ask open-ended questions--have 10-12 ready since they may pass on a few of them.


It's not hard to edit their answers together and make them fun to watch--if you don't already have an editing program, you may find Windows MovieMaker is easy to learn. It is a blast editing--and later watching--these priceless videos starring your favorite little actors!

I plan to do these videos on a more regular basis this year, so my goal is to interview my kids each month on one topic. Look for our February edition..."Kids on...Love!!"

Tomato Cage Christmas Tree!

How do you display your Christmas cards? Hung on a doorframe? Taped to the wall in a tree shape? In a basket? I am typically frustrated with constantly propping them back up on my mantle, and couldn't wait to try this super-cute AND decorative display idea that Tara ran across...using Tomato Cages!

We realize it's probably a leee-tle bit late to make a Card Holder for this Christmas, but maybe you'll want to tuck this idea away for next year. Tara happened to have two colorful cages in her garden just begging to be trimmed for Christmas. Plain wire ones (new or charmingly used) would be just as cute! She tied the legs together with floral wire to make the tree top, and we each had an instant wire tree.

I wanted to decorate our Card Tree on the cheap (free, actually), so I pulled out some pages from an old book, retrieved my craft bin, and we spent a couple of fun hours creating little ornaments. My kids loved tracing Christmas cookie cutters and then outlining them in glitter glue. I folded some pages like fans and then glued them into circle shapes, adding colorful scrapbook paper accents. A snowflake wearing a little fabric yo-yo with a button center formed our tree topper.

We tore paper into snowmen and added scrapbook paper buttons and faces. Paper strips glued together made stars. We clipped everything in place with mini-clothespins and mini-binder clips.

We love our little Card Trees...and how they proudly display each lovely card received from family and friends!

A Shout-Out to Shrinky Dinks!

I ♥ Shrinky Dinks. 

All weekend my husband made fun of me for talking about Shrinky Dinks nonstop--he thought I was making them up until we found them at AC Moore. The name is great! And the possibilities with this product are left entirely to the limits of your own imagination! Yes, it is hard to believe there is actually a product named Shrinky Dinks, but I assure you, that is what they are called. Here is the website!!!


Several weeks ago I stumbled across a neat charm bracelet on Pinterest that someone made by scanning in books and printing them on Shrinky Dink paper. I had never thought to do that before, so my mind started going crazy. My first idea was to create a "family album" using pictures of your child and loved ones to make a charm bracelet.

~~Shrinky Dink Charms Take 1!~~

Here are the supplies you will need: 

• I found this film at AC Moore --  Shrink Film and comes in a packet of 6 sheets 11 X 8.5.
• Please note the frowny face I inserted here. I thought my photo charm bracelet was award-winningly original.. evidently not. There was a photo of such a bracelet directly on the packaging--another notch down on the wall of creativity for me!

Here is how our first photo project went down.  I did not sand the film (even though the packaging recommended it.) It needs to be sanded.  
I also did not purchase the extra special printing ink that is made for this particular film. I don't think I would purchase the special ink unless I was really planning to go Pro with Shrinky Dinking. For now, I'll stick to amateur level.

At any rate, my normal printer ink never quite stuck to the film, resulting in a wet and tacky surface after shrinking :(

The little charms were so cute, I was bummed that they would not completely dry.  We moved on to Shrinky Dinks, take 2!

~~Take 2!~~

This time around, I sanded the film. Aah, much better. The film was more receptive to pencil, colored pencil, and marker. Hooray.  

Next, I printed out her name, traced it and colored it in. I also did a little "cartoon" of her face by tracing a large image.  Then I cut the letters leaving a little room around the edges.

In the meantime my daughter carefully drew and colored some special charms for herself!
You will need to have a hole punch to make the holes for your necklace rope or wire! Give yourself a little room at the top and place the punch where you want a small hole.

•  To bake your Shrinky Dink Charms, preheat the oven to 300° or slightly warmer depending on your oven.  Place your "charms" on a baking sheet--the directions tell you to use wax paper, but I have had great luck placing them directly onto the sheet.
• Wait until the charms curl slightly, then flatten back down.  Once they are flat, about 1/2 the size and much thicker, you can pull them out. It takes about 3 minutes.
• Let them cool and if you need to flatten them a little more, use the tip of a spatula.

You can see how big they are here. If you want them smaller, just make smaller letters and pictures!

Here she is wearing her necklace. I ended up using some of my bead "hardware" to finish this up, but running a  stretchy Pony Bead string or fishing line through the center holes will make most kids happy! We will add more beads and glam to our necklace on another day.

We had a fun time. There is something magical and exciting about peering through the oven door, waiting to see how your artwork will change.  I will most likely be posting on Shrinky Dinks again, in the meantime I'd love to hear about some of your own experiments... and mishaps!!!

Imagination Booster: Paper Doll Furniture

When I was little I used to love going to my grandma's house, not just because the cookie jar was always full or because I loved the smell of coffee even when I was 11, but because she always had fun and creative ways to play together.  My innovative grandma was a second grade teacher for over two decades, and always had amazing stories since she grew up as the baby in a family with no father during the Great Depression. To this day, one of my fondest memories is creating paper dolls and paper doll furniture with my clever grandma from scraps around her house.

To make your own Depression Era paper doll furniture, start collecting boxes from around the house. You will only need a few cereal and/or food boxes to get started. I also saved some of my son's birthday cards to make a few colorful pieces. Anything that is made from thin cardboard material will work.  You will also want to have scissors, scraps of felt or material and any old magazines or catalogs you may have lying around.

This craft is geared towards older kids who can cut and glue well, but younger kids will also enjoy playing!

To make a simple table, cut your cardboard in the shape of an "H" then fold the legs down.

Finished Table made from an old birthday card!

To make your couch, take a large rectangular piece, fold it in half and cut slits in the middle. Then fold down and up- voilà. Couch!

Next, I cut up a few felt pieces to make a bedspread and pillows.

To make a chair, follow the instructions on the couch, only make it half the size!

To finish decorating your room, the possibilities are endless. I like to keep old issues of Pottery Barn, for example, and the pictures are perfect for decorating. If you like to play with Mod Podge like I do, then you and your big kids will have lots of fun cutting, gluing and decorating to their heart's content.  You can break out paint, stickers, cotton balls, anything! 

I used large cereal boxes for my walls here, but another option is to glue walls onto file folders or sturdy folders that you can use to create a space for your furniture. The folders also double as storage if you want to keep your room design for longer than just a few hours!

The final step is to make  your very own paper dolls from catalogs and/or printouts, but we will save that for another day. In the meantime you will notice that Taylor Swift and a Yoga friend stopped in to see our Paper Doll room.  They had a great, relaxing time in our creative new living space!  

4th of July Aftermath. Late Nights, Early Mornings.

When two out of three kids fell asleep in our laps during the grand finale of the Fourth of July fireworks display, we knew it had been a fun-filled family day. Although he was exhausted, my little guy still managed to be up bright and early this morning. He was less than chipper though, and his hair looked a little like an exploding firework as you can see here. 

(This is what happens when a sleepy, sweaty head is ground into a pillow all night.)

The fourth of July is always a great day for family, and yesterday it included the 4 “C's”: Cookout, fun with the Cousins, lots of Croquet (essential for my husband's family), and Cars 2—my big kids and husband both thoroughly enjoyed this movie, especially since they saw it for free using some credit card rewards points we had been saving.

It was a hot and muggy day, but the thunderstorms held off and we enjoyed an amazing display of booming explosives in the night sky. Even though the 4^th always marks a bittersweet mid-point to summer and reminds me that fall is inevitable, I enjoy these holidays more each year. Now that the kids are big enough to “ooh and ahh” and play with cousins and wave small flags and attempt to play croquet and sing made-up songs and eat lots of ice cream, all while scratching dozens of tiny mosquito bites, I know they are catching these moments like snapshots in their minds. I hope they will remember every detail of these hot summer nights when our family sat together under the booming sounds and colorful celebratory lights.  What are some of your family traditions and favorite 4th of July memories?

What we remember from childhood we remember forever - permanent ghosts, stamped, inked, imprinted, eternally seen.  ~Cynthia Ozick