Category Archives: Family Fun
Start a Tradition of Family Nights
Karen and I each do once-a-week family nights with our kids. We spend an hour or so teaching lessons that pass on our values, playing games or doing activities together and eating a treat. Here’s why we do it: Making … Continue reading
Family Night Nature Walk
For family night tonight, gather everyone up and go on a nature walk together. Even in a city or a neighborhood there is nature to be seen…clouds, birds, rocks, flowers, and trees. Our kids like to take along gallon sized … Continue reading
Toddlers and Chores
I’m a big believer in kids doing chores. It actually amazes me how many moms I know that don’t assign chores to their kids. I once heard a celebrity in an interview on TV say that her son’s only chore … Continue reading
Real Wood Floors Made From Plywood
Plywood sounds so . . . cheap. But look how our plywood floors turned out! I’m loving it. The reason we chose to go with plywood floors instead of pre-engineered floors are: Cost. This method was MUCH less expensive and … Continue reading
Comparing The Rights and Responsibilities of Three Countries
We did a government activity for Family Night this week. Every week we have one evening set aside that we spend as a family. We do it because we know life is busy and time gets away. Soon our kids … Continue reading
I’m Not Good Enough
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about bloggers. I just keep asking myself, “Bloggers are people too, right?” Well, sometimes I’m not so sure about that. Some of them seem to be just a little TOO perfect. Don’t know what … Continue reading
The Face of A Boy
I’m not sure what it is about boys, but it seems like there’s always somebody with a goose egg or a major laceration requiring stitches or a black eye like this one that bloomed spectacularly on Isaac’s face. He was … Continue reading
Making A Mansion
Once a week plan to have a Family Night. It’s a chance to get together with the whole family in a semi-formal setting in your home. Make it a real meeting with someone conducting, prayers, songs, lessons, activities and, very … Continue reading
Design Notebook
I have kept a design notebook for years. I just cut out pictures from magazines that I like and then when I’m ready to do a room, I look the pictures and decide what it is about them that I’m … Continue reading
Sprout Robot is Planting My Garden
I’m a big time gardener. I’m no pro or anything, just a dabbler. Every spring I plant at least one new thing I’ve never tried before. The purple cauliflower year was a hit. All summer long we eat out of … Continue reading
Remembering Why
I’m feeling less than competent once again. It happens too often actually. Right now I have one kid sleeping in a jumble of blankets randomly arranged by himself because I didn’t get to making his bed. The sink is full … Continue reading
Boxes Are (almost) Better Than Video Games
A couple of weeks ago we, quite unfortunately, bought two large appliances. Unfortunately because when two large appliances go out at once, the pocketbook suffers. One of them, the dryer, came in a very, very large cardboard box. Cameron, my … Continue reading
A Trip To The Ocean
This week we’re heading out on a family camping trip to the Pacific Ocean. We’ve been doing all sorts of things to get ready. We’ve mapped out a plan of our trip and where we want to go, made lists … Continue reading
Expedition: Aquarium
We live near Salt Lake City and just took advantage of a free admission day at Salt Lake’s Living Planet Aquarium. There’s just nothing like taking a day off of school for a learning expedition. {Sometimes Mom needs the break … Continue reading
Our Hogwart’s Feast
As promised, here’s the skinny on our Hogwart’s Feast. I sent the kids upstairs while I made all the fixin’s so they could come down and see it all ready at once. I set our table with a black tablecloth, … Continue reading
Expedition: Prince Edward Island
This week we’re leaving the kids behind and going on a GROWN-UP expedition . . . 3 cheers for that! It may be a grown-up expedition, but it stems from a childhood favorite: Anne of Green Gables. Our mom raised … Continue reading
Summer Learning
Learning definitely doesn’t stop at our house just because it’s summer, but it does change from our regular “school day” routine. At the beginning of each summer we sit down and make 2 lists together — 1.) what we want … Continue reading
Expedition: Saltwater in the Salt Flats
We live in the desert in Utah; well, the salt flats to be exact. That’s over 500 miles from the nearest ocean. Yet we found out about this amazing place here–a natural spring in the middle of the desert that … Continue reading
David Thompson: Cartographer
David Thompson was a Canadian explorer, surveyor, and map maker of the early 1800′s. He is known as the greatest land geographer who ever lived. The natives of the North American continent knew him as Koo-Koo-Sint, “Star-Gazer”. Born in England in 1770, he was poor and … Continue reading
Library Outings
A friend of mine once told me that she won’t take her kids to library because letting them handle all those books other people have touched just seems dirty. SHOCK. AWE. Seriously? Never in my life had I considered the … Continue reading
Visit to the Pumpkin Patch
My daughter at the pumpkin patch! In our world of grocery stores and fast food, we’re often very distanced from where food actually comes from. Halloween provides a great time to go “visit the farm” because nearly every town and … Continue reading
Alaska Expedition
There’s just no better way to learn about a place than to go there and experience it firsthand. Our family just got to go to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska to visit some friends who live there. Would you … Continue reading
Geocaching
By now, I’m sure you’ve heard of geocaching, the massive worldwide outdoor treasure hunting with GPS. It’s a perfect family outing. First you need a GPS, luckily they’ve been coming down in price. After you’ve figured out how to see … Continue reading
A Trip To The Museum (and almost the zoo)
This week we took our kids to a museum at a university near our town. It’s a life science museum that is filled with “stuffed animals” from around the world. They have everything from an elephant to tiny insects and … Continue reading
Entrepreneurs
My kids, ages 12, 10, 7, and 5, sold Otter Pops and frozen cherry juice bars at the local 4th of July parade in our town. They bought 400 otter pops for $14 and sold them for $.25 each and … Continue reading
Fishin’
Kids and fishing and summer time go together. Kids love the outdoors, fishing pole, worms, casting the line, sack lunch, reeling in the line over and over, the thrill of a tug on the line, a wriggling flopping fish on … Continue reading
