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!