Don't Let Your Memories Remain Jpegs!

Happy March! Spring is on the way - woo-hoo! I think everyone is ready for it this year - what a winter we've had! It's 25 degrees and we are under a winter weather advisory here in NC as I'm typing this. I have to chuckle at my southern friends who have complained that they're so sick of the snow and the cold. I know most of my northern friends would trade places with them in a heartbeat!:)

A new month means new place-mats on the table at our house. I have different place-mats for almost every month of the year. No, don't be impressed. The reason I do this is because it gives my children a chance to see some pictures throughout the years (because I am CRAZY behind on my photo albums - can anyone relate). I do know the many advantages of having printed pictures of my children and our family memories (example - did you know that it can increase a child's self esteem), but I just never seem to have enough time. So, monthly placemats was a quick and easy solution.

I created these with my Heritage Makers business, but you could create them on construction paper too. March is my oldest sons birthday month, so we have a place-mat for every birthday with pictures from that birthday. 3 birds with one stone - a way to make his birthday month special, printing out some precious photos so we can enjoy those memories AND placemats for dinner! Remember, don't get caught up in perfectionism - make some placemats with photos of your memories from March for the last 10 years, laminate them and ENJOY! Bonus - once you're done and they're laminated you already have placemats for that month next year - just make sure you make new ones for the new birthdays. Which reminds me, I need to go make placemats for Jordan's 12th and 13th birthday. :) Hope this helps you CELEBRATE the memories with your kiddos. Remember to ENJOY the journey!

March - Lucky Pennies

Here's a fun idea for you to do with your kiddos for the month of March.

Get several rolls of pennies and hide them all around the house (the individual pennies, not the whole roll). ;)

Every time somebody in your family finds a penny, they have to share something they're thankful for and then put the penny in the penny jar (just a mason jar or any other jar that you've created for this purpose). You also could have a notebook set out by the penny jar (doesn't have to be fancy, just a spiral notebook will do - remember, perfection is not required for great memories) and have your kiddos write what they're thankful for in the notebook as well. At the end of the month you will have a huge list of things your family members are thankful for (mom and dad should participate too). Keep the journal out and write in it throughout the year, or bring it out every March and repeat this activity every March.You can figure out what you want to do with all the pennies in the jar at the end of the month - maybe use them to help pay for a special family activity, or give them to somebody who needs them more than you do (church offering, shelter, homeless, etc.)

NOTE - You may want to hide pennies throughout the month, a few a day, so you're not done with this activity in one day! ;)

What I love about this - I am constantly trying to teach my kids (and myself) to be a little more appreciative. Talking about what we're thankful for is a great way to do that. I also love the idea of having a family thankfulness journal that I can refer back to in years to come - it will show my child's interests at different ages and will also remind me of some tough times that God has brought us through. ALSO - as a result of this activity, when my boys find pennies on the ground while we're out and about, they will no longer be "lucky" pennies, they will be thankful pennies!

Flashlight Stories

What is it about kids and their LOVE of flashlights? You can take a normal activity that you do with your kiddos, add a flashlight to the mix, and BAM, it's an automatic hit!

Case in point - I like to read bedtime stories to my nieces and nephews when they're over for the night. My sister and her family came to visit us and stayed for about a week. During their visit, I had the idea to turn all the lights off and use a flashlight while reading a bedtime story to my niece. This was an automatic hit and I was asked to read a "flashlight story" every night she was here. How easy is this?

Whatever your bedtime routine is - maybe you sing a special song with your kiddos (I know my sis-in-law, Stacy, has a special song for each of her 5 children that she sings to them every night), maybe you read a book together, maybe you pray together. It doesn't matter what it is, just try it with a flashlight this weekend and let me know what the kiddos think. I bet they'll love it! Remember, it's the LITTLE things that make a BIG difference! Oh, and we don't make any $ for recommending this, but one of our FAVORITE bedtime stories is Nighttime is Just Daytime With Your Eyes Closed by Mark Lowry.

I have a NEW flashlight story idea that I'm going to try out during my next family visit - more on that tomorrow!

I Love You Because...

One of my favorite Valentine traditions that we do with the kids is our Valentine placemats. I made ours with Heritage Makers, but you could really just let the kids decorate some pieces of construction paper (lighter colors would work the best so you can see the writing), laminate them, and do the same thing. I change out our placemats the first of every month - so for the whole month of February these are on the table along with a dry erase marker so we can write different things we love about each family member. Even my teenage son looks forward to reading the things that are written that we love about him. I like it because there are so many things I love about my boys, but I know I'm not the best about telling them all the time. This makes me be intentional about filling up their love tank! :)

I Like Warm Hugs

I absolutely LOVE Disney's movie - Frozen. I love the characters, love the story, love the music and especially love Olaf! I was THRILLED when I found this free Valentine printable from The Idea Room! Isn't it absolutely adorable? I'll be making some of these to hand out and might even keep one for myself! :)Thank you Amy!

You've Got Mail

Do your kids LOVE getting mail? My boys get so excited when they have mail! Create a family mailbox - this could be one box with the correct amount of slots for each member of the family or individual boxes for each family member. Find a place to put your family mailboxes and USE them! Write letters to your children, your husband and don't forget you'll have a mailbox yourself - those letters from your children will be priceless! You can take the letters and make a scrapbook out of them so you have them to look at again and again! Your kids will LOVE looking at these when they're older and seeing what they wrote! Have fun with this and let your kids decorate their mailbox however they want to!

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Advent Wreath

A new tradition our family is starting this year is a personal advent wreath. We bought candle holders and candles from Christian Book Distributors and we are taking the time to light each candle and discuss it's meaning each week. Along with this we are reading Jotham's Journey by Arnold Ytreeide - "In this widely popular, exciting story for the advent season, readers follow ten-year-old Jotham across Israel as he searches for his family. Though he faces thieves, robbers, and kidnappers, Jotham also encounters the wise men, shepherds, and innkeepers until at last he finds his way to the Savior born in Bethlehem." Jotham's Journey has a reading for every day during Advent. What a GREAT way to keep your family's focus on Jesus. Arnold has written two other books that are great for Advent reading - Bartholamew's Passage and Tabitha's Travels. We're actually reading 2 books by him - we do one reading in the morning and one reading after dinner. I think it's a GREAT way to keep our focus where it should be!

Traditions - Why Do You Do What You Do

This isn't hard because most Christmas traditions already have a spiritual meaning. The problem is we take the time to DO our Christmas traditions, but a lot of times we don't take the time to explain why we're doing them to our children. A GREAT book for helping children find Jesus in our holiday traditions is The ADVENTure of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel. There are 25 different sections, so you can cover a section a day starting on December 1st. For example, did you know that an English missionary was the first person to use the evergreen tree as a symbol for God? He referred to it's triangular shape and said that it represented the trinity. Also, we know that Jesus died for us on a cross (from a tree) - remind your children of that.

From Lisa's book - Have you ever noticed that the boughs of your tree extend out like the arms of Jesus stretched upon the cross as He offered His life to anyone who would come to Him in faith? And your Christmas tree is very definitely pointing toward heaven and, as Jesus did with His words and His actions, drawing our attention to the Father who loves us.

Take some time with your traditions and find a spiritual lesson for each one. Your children will remember why you do the things you do for Christmas and they will remember that each one reflects Jesus!

Camping Under the Christmas Tree

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is sleeping under the Christmas tree. Ok, well not actually UNDER the Christmas tree. One night during the Christmas season we put sleeping bags in the living room by the Christmas tree and have our camp out there. We also watch The Polar Express together on this night (this can be the day you set up your tree, December 1st, the first weekend in December, whatever you decide as a family).

After watching The Polar Express we talk about how we also can miss so much in life (just like the boy can't hear the bells or the music) when we don't believe in Jesus. Faith is just believing!

Make Time for Traditions

Taken from Have a Mary Christmas by Karen Kingsbury

I recently tried an experiment with my kids. During a family dinner I asked them to tell me about the Christmas presents they received last year. The kids - all 6 of them - drew a blank. They looked at me and then at one another, and panic appeared in their eyes.
"Ok," I said, "what do you remember?"
Their faces lit up.
"Our gingerbread house competition!" Austin shouted.
"Baking cookies and caroling," EJ and Sean cried out.

The conversation that followed was on I'll always remember. We talked about our favorite family traditions. Every year our kids form teams of two and decorate gingerbread houses. EAch team is awarded a prize - something like "Most Creative," "Best Effort," and so forth. We play Christmas music, laugh a lot, and take a ton of pictures. The gingerbread houses remain a part of our Christmas decorations for the entire season.

We also love baking our favorite Christmas cookies, placing them on decorative trays, and delivering them to friends and family. We wear Christmas hats and bring along others who want to join us. Then we stand at front doors and sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," and "Deck the Halls." Sometimes my husband, Don, brings his guitar. It's always a wonderful night.

In addition, we have an old fashioned wooden Advent calendar - complete with little compartments and tiny painted wooden doors. We fill the 24 hiding places with Scripture verses, notes detailing a kind thing that one child can do for another child in the family, and candy. Each of the kids opens four doors throughout the month of December. We also read aloud The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever, and we have a handful of Christmas movies we watch. Family traditions are a great way to take Christmas slowly and make the days count.

Mend Relationships

Taken from Have a Mary Christmas by Karen Kingsbury

Matthew 5:23-24 tells us, "If you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift."

The same is true with the people we love. Why race through the mall to find the perfect gift for a sister or a parent when the relationship with that person is strained or neglected? Christmas - more than any other season - is the perfect time to take stock of the people God has placed in our lives. Do we owe someone an apology? Should we take someone out for coffee and let them know we care? Is there a letter we could write or a phone call we could place? These are beautiful gifts, and they should be given before we spend a moment's thought about buying commercial present for these loves ones.

Especially for the Kid's Table

I LOVE this idea for a little decoration for the children's table (or for everyone that's coming to dinner). I got the idea from happyclippings.com - head over there for the tutorial on how to make these. I know your kids will love them! :)

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Giving Thanks

November is the perfect month to teach your children about Gratitude. I'm sure you know that even as adults sometimes we can focus on what's going wrong instead of focusing on our blessings. Start a list of what your family members are thankful for and add to it every day this month. This is a great dinner time activity while you're all gathered around the table together. Is that a dream for your family, are you constantly running your kids from place to place and you're lucky to have dinner? Then put a list in the family vehicle and add to it every day while you're running the kids to their different events. It's so important to teach our children to be thankful for everything, especially in our "entitlement" society. I made this gratitude placemat for our family through Heritage Makers. These come with a UV coating on them, so you can write on them with dry erase markers (you can do the same thing if you laminate placemats that you and the kids make). The kids can just write something on their placemat that they're thankful for.


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