Pockets Magazine

 

We love this magazine - Pockets.  Lila is even on the advisory board this year.  When Kyle was younger he also got the opportunity to be on the board.  But that's not what we love.  We love all the stories, devotions, games, recipes, poems, jokes, etc.  My kids have been reading now for maybe 10 years.  And we've been saving the magazines - they even reread them.  It's nice to have a magazine come in the mail that reinforces what we believe and teach at home.

 

Get Your Family Talking

I love conversation starters or story prompts, especially when friends or family are joining us for dinner.  I have several story starter prompts, including one just for Spring. 

Here are a couple of prompts for spring gatherings ...

*What do you most anticipate about Spring?

*Do you have favorite Springtime decorations?

*Do you take special trips during the Spring?

*Spring smells like ...

*A perfect Spring day would be ...

*My favorite Spring flower is ...

*A taste of Spring is ...

*What is your favorite Spring celebration?  How do you celebrate?

*The color of Spring is ...  because ...

*How does your mood change during Spring?

These prompts came from a book I got from Cherish Bound.  I also have Chat Rings that are great for getting your family talking from SimplyFun.

I'd love to hear what you love about Spring!  Leave a comment and share.  I love Easter, and my daughter was born in the spring.

Gingerbread Fun

 

One of our newer traditions is going to the local Gingerbread Festival, becoming inspired, and then creating our own gingerbreads at home.  These are our inspirations.  Our creations to come!

 

Linked with: Works for Me Wednesday, Raising Homemakers, Miscellany Monday, The Better Mom, Beauty in His Grip, On Your Heart Tuesdays, Mommy Link-up!, Women Living Well, Hip Homeschool Hop, Thankful Thursday, Winsome Wednesday, Courtship Connection, Wordless Wednesday, and Gratituesday.

Yearly Thanksgiving Trivet

 

This year we are going to carry our yearly stepping stones over into making a yearly Thanksgiving trivet to use on the table.  We will pass it around to write down what we are especially thankful for in the year 2012.  Next year we will make a new trivet to add to the table, and hopefully continue in years to follow so that as we eat our dinner we can remember what we have been thankful for over the years.

 

Another fun dinner activity we did one year at the table was to stencil iced sugar cookies with food coloring markers.  And then eat them.  It was a nice activity to enjoy with the kids and grandparents while we had tea and more dinner conversation.

Linked with: Works for Me Wednesday, Raising Homemakers, Miscellany Monday, The Better Mom, Beauty in His Grip, On Your Heart Tuesdays, Mommy Link-up!, Women Living Well, Hip Homeschool Hop, Thankful Thursday, Winsome Wednesday, Courtship Connection, and Gratituesday.

Macy's Day Parade and Making Butter

Images from Macy's Day Parade site

One of our favorite traditions on Thanksgiving morning is to watch the Macy's Day parade.  We love to watch the whole show.  We also make butter for our Thanksgiving dinner while we watch - another tradition.  We pass around a chilled mason jar with 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, and we shake and shake and shake!  It seems as if it will never turn to butter, but after shaking and shaking all of a sudden it turns into solid butter and buttermilk.  Next, we open the jar and pour the butter and buttermilk into a strainer.  Lila likes to drink the buttermilk that goes into a bowl under the strainer, or we can make pancakes with it later.  Then we rinse the butter that's left in the strainer in cold water to remove the rest of the buttermilk.  After rinsing we put the butter in a bowl and using a clean wooden spoon to stir and press the butter against the side of the bowl we swish with more cold water.  Removing as much buttermilk as possible will help the butter last longer.  Then add salt to taste and serve with rolls at dinner.  My husband likes to eat the butter on club crackers for a snack.  It's a fun tradition that we've done for years.  It gives us something fun to do together while we watch the parade too!

 

Linked with: Works for Me Wednesday, Raising Homemakers, Miscellany Monday, The Better Mom, Beauty in His Grip, On Your Heart Tuesdays, Mommy Link-up!, Women Living Well, Hip Homeschool Hop, Thankful Thursday, Winsome Wednesday, Courtship Connection, and Gratituesday.