Holiday Mail for Heroes

I have been trying to think of a way to help my kids realize the importance of card and letter writing.  Today I found out that the Red Cross is doing their Holiday Mail for Heroes program for the 5 year in a row.  We are going to send some cards to this program and hope to brighten someone's day when they receive it.  This is a great Christmas tradition to begin with your family.  Click the button for more information on the Holiday Mail for Heroes Program. 



What are some other ways we can remember our military men and women during the Christmas season? 

The Need for Traditions

What do you remember about the holidays?  Is there something that you looked forward to every year?  If you answer no to these questions then please check out Once Upon A Family.  You will be amazed at all the ways you can create a tradition out of the little things you do right now. 

I will be posting some simple ideas over the next couple of weeks and also linking certain products that can help you get them accomplished.  Please feel free to share your ideas or ask questions.

Click the logo to enter the online store

No to scrapbooking!

I wonder if there are others out there in the world like me.  Do you have lots of photos and are not into scrapbooking?  A few years ago, I had been looking at all the pictures I have on the computer and floating around the house and wondered what to do with all these memories.  I had tried scrapbooking in the past and I know for a fact that this is not for me. As I was searching the internet I came across Once Upon A Family.  The name in itself was intriguing to me.  As I looked at the products and the ideas that went along with them I was hooked. 

If you are not a scrapbooker but want an easy way to keep and display your memories then check out Once Upon A Family.  I would love to host a Celebration in your home or just talk with you about all the great products.

Graduation

Last Thursday night was bittersweet for me, my baby girl graduated from Kindergarten.  As we were sitting there waiting for the ceremony to begin I kept thinking that time had sped up.  As the evening progressed and the kids were called up one by one onto the stage, I was amazed at how grown up she looked.  Gone was my little girl, a more confident girl has taken her place.  When her name was called to walk up on stage she marched right up there like she owned the show.  Her teacher, Mrs Hughes, said these three things that I believe truly sum up my Peyton:  she is a girlie girl, a tomboy and compassionate.  These are so true.  I still remember when I found out I was having a little girl; all I asked God for was a healthy little girl who would wear dresses and play in the mud.  Well, sometimes you get what you ask for and then some.
As the night progressed I began thinking about the next graduation that will be happening.  My oldest will graduate from high school in 2 years.  It only seems like yesterday that he was in kindergarten.  Then 2 years after this my middle son will be graduating from high school.  Where has the time gone? 

There are days that I wish I could stop time and just stay where we are.  Then there are days I would like to rewind time and revisit the joy of the early days of their youth.  I admit some days I just want to fast forward past the hard parts for them, but as I read in the book of James today:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

 I know that these hard times in their lives will make them better, just as the hard times in my life have helped me to become more mature and more complete.  One of those times was graduation night 2011 and one will be graduation night 2013 and finally graduation night 2015.  I will consider these nights pure joy as my babies move on to the next stage of their life.  I love you guys!

Giveaway on Amy Cornwell's Blog

Check out:  http://amycornwell.blogspot.com/2011/04/sponsor-giveaway-once-upon-family.html for a great giveaway.  The Words of Wisdom set: 

Words of Wisdom includes a collectible 5" x 10" box, 12 envelopes and 14 pages of themed letterhead

With age brings experience, knowledge and wisdom. Don't we all wish we knew what we know no when we were younger? And with this treasured box set, you can help pass on the knowledge of the ages to someone who is growing into adulthood.

Use this letterbox and its rich, matching stationery to collect the "Words of Wisdom" of family members, friends, teachers or any other mentors in your child's life. Their thoughts can be shared as anecdotes, quotes, advice for the future or however they choose to express their insights, and will become treasured thoughts for years to come.

Perfect for a birthday or graduation, this gift item can also be completed around a theme. For instance, if your son is going off to college, ask the men in his life to share thoughts about learning and growth. Or, if your daughter is recently engaged, ask friends and family to share knowledge about the meaning and joy of lasting relationships. We can never have enough wisdom in our lives!

Grandma's Button Jar

I was perusing Goodwill a couple of weeks ago and came across some glass jars with red lids.  These were just like the ones that my Grandma kept her buttons in under the kitchen counter.  I remember many visits to Grandma's house in Hanover, PA and her cabinet with the button jar and the Sears catalogs (Christmas was the best one).

My Grandma past away in 1999 and my mom asked if there was anything that I wanted from her house.  I said that I wanted the button jar.  It took about 5 years but I finally received the button jar. Now,  it sits proudly on my living room bookshelf filled with the same buttons that were in there when I played with it over 30 years ago.

When my other Grandma past away in 2005 I asked for her button tin with the hope that I could display those buttons in glass jars also.  I have looked for the last 6 years for the same jars to put her buttons in.  Finally, I found them!  I can really say that another man's junk was my treasure.  Of course,  I had to buy all three.  At this point there are not enough buttons to fill all three jars.  In the future I know that there will be a time when they will be full of buttons. My wish is that someday my grandchildren can find as much joy in therm as I did when I was little.

What do you remember playing with at Grandma's house?  If there was one treasure you could have from your Grandma's house what would it be?

National Honor Society

As I sat in the stands waiting for the induction ceremony to begin, I could not help thinking about how the NHS is so rooted in tradition.  You cannot be considered for the NHS until you are a sophomore, nominated by a teacher or staff member, maintain a 3.0 GPA and excel in service, leadership and character traits.  On March 29th, Eastern Greene inducted 29 new students into their NHS Chapter.  

Each student had an upperclassman as their sponsor.  Once their name was called each sponsor stood up and lit a candle from the center candle and then lit the inductee candle.  Then they processed across the gym to sit on the bleachers until all 29 inductees had been inducted.  My son was the last to be called because he sponsor was the current president of the chapter.  As I sat and watched all of the kids that he has gone to school with for the last 10 years I could not have been more proud of him and the choices that he has made.  

Now that he is in the NHS his responsibility to the program has grown.  He must maintain a 3.0 GPA, as a group participate in at least one service project a year and do an individual service project.  I can't wait to see what opportunities these next two years provide for Nick.  Mom loves you and I am so proud of you!

Remembering the Old Days

Today I took Peyton to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.  I have not visited the museum since Nick was in 1st grade, 9 years ago, and it has changed tremendously.  While we were walking through the museum and looking at the commercialization that has taken place I was remembering the exhibits of old.  The Carousel is still there, can't go wrong with a 90 year old timeless ride.  Next we traveled down the ramp to level 3. We visited the section called The Power of Children.  This is a great exhibit but more for children older than 5, it has information about things that children are doing to make a difference or children in the past that have made a difference.  Great information is available!

On down the ramp to level 2...BARBIE was our next stop.  Peyton was not nearly as excited as I thought she would be.  She looked at some of the old dolls and played hair stylist but would not dress up and walk the runway.  After the visit with Barbie we had a lunch break.  From here we headed to pre-historic times.  This was a great display of dinosaurs and activities for kids to do.  She really perked up down here with the dinosaurs.  After the trip to pre-historic times we went to make-believe time with Dora and Diego.  This exhibit was just about too young for Peyton.  We did not spend too much time here.  

We ended our day at the Incredible Costume exhibit.  This was interesting but not too much for Peyton to get into.  She did like seeing Wonder Woman's costume.  

As we left and drove home I contemplated exhibits of old.  Where was the electric ball which caused your hair to stand up, the velcro wall, and all the other fun science activities.  I understand that things change but why do we invade museums with new technology like Dora and Diego and take away the things that really teach kids?  Maybe I am just becoming lost in the remembrance of days gone by but I really missed those exhibits and I think we could have had more fun without Dora, costumes and Barbie.

All Things Green

When I think of March 17th I think of the color green.  Why do I associate the color green with March 17th?  Well...it is St. Patrick's Day and he was from Ireland, the Emerald Isle, you are to wear green or you get pinched, "kiss me I'm Irish" is the saying of day, the cabbage for corned beef and cabbage is green before you cook it.  These are just a few of the reasons why I associate green with St. Patrick's Day. But really green reminds me of one more tradition we have as a family that went a little overboard.  

Birthday's are a special time in my family now and growing up.  There are four of us kids in my family.  Two of us in January and two in September.  The tradition of double birthdays has continued with my kids.  We have 5 wonderful kids and two are in December, two in April and one in June.  We are not going to tempt fate and see if we can have one more in June.  No more babies on the horizon for us.  

Growing up we were allowed to pick out our birthday dinner.  My favorite dinner is stuffed flank steak, broccoli casserole and carrot cake.  My mom still makes this for me today.  Love you mom!  Here enters the green...my sisters decided to help make dad's birthday dinner.  I am not sure of all the dinner choices but I do remember the gravy for the mashed potatoes.  They decided that since dad's favorite color was green they were going to make the gravy green.  Let me tell you that green gravy is just not very appetizing.  To this day we still joke about the green gravy and threats have been made to color the gravy at other family gatherings. 

Memories

Family and friends can come and go but the memories will last a life time. I have wondered for some time how to create lasting memories. One day it dawned on me that what I remember most from growing up are the things we did every year. The birthday cake for Jesus at Christmas, the Easter baskets on Easter with the solid chocolate bunny to the first day of school picture on the front porch. These memories have stayed with me because they became a tradition. Tradition is defined by Webster's as - the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction. By creating traditions in your family you are creating memories that will last a lifetime. One simple and easy way to begin a tradition is to start with something you do now. Take some time and think about the holidays and the celebrations that you have planned for the next three months. Is there something happening that you could do every year at the same time? A celebration for the first day of spring, an Easter egg hunt every year, a picture of your child in your work boots every year on her birthday.

Years ago I came across a company, Once Upon A Family, that had created products that make creating and keeping memories so easy. This was just what I was looking for. There are so many great products and ideas on their site. I could look all day and find so many ways to use the products available. For example, a great product to to use for birthdays is the Birthday Book. You can add the yearly picture of your child in your boots or a picture of the cake and a guest list. There are so many possibilities.


Browse the site and see what is out there. Just remember create those memories that will last a lifetime! Let me know what traditions you are going to begin. Place an order through my link above and save 25% with this code OUAFFD25.

The Beginning

I would like to invite you to join me in this journey of discovering a family life rich in traditions. Through stories from my life, products that I have found and books that I have read I hope to show you a world full of opportunities for you and your family. Here's to a journey down a road rich in tradition!