Helping Families Minimize Chaos and Maximize Joy
In our house, our Christmas traditions begin the day after Thanksgiving. I love reserving certain things for just the Christmas season. The day after Thanksgiving we start playing Christmas music, bring our Nativity scene and Christmas books, and begin the countdown. While we don’t wrap up the books to be unwrapped one day at a…
Apollo’s ninth birthday landed on the day of Judah’s graduation from the Trooper Basic (and just a day and a half after I arrived home from New Zealand) so, needless to say, his party was postponed until I recovered and life was back to “normal”. We finally got around to having it last week. He…
Large family birthdays are a wonderful way to celebrate each individual child. This post was sponsored by basicinvite.com. Please check them out for your next celebration. Receive 15% off with this promo code: 15FF51 I know some large famlies choose to do big “family birthdays” or keep individual parties small and simple. While these are…
How to Survive Thanksgiving in a Large Family Post contains affiliate links. Well, friends, we survived Thanksgiving 2018 with no injuries, casualties, or emergencies. One strange advantage to not having extended family nearby is we don’t have the Holiday Drama that includes dragging our little cherubs from one house to another for three days straight….
How to Host a Fun Office-Themed Party Post contains affiliate links. Tucker’s The Office Themed Birthday Party Yes, I know, The Office isn’t exactly appropriate for thirteen-year-olds. Or eight-year-olds. And some episodes aren’t even appropriate for 42-year-olds. Despite that, the kids and I spent the summer evenings from 7 to 8 pm watching The Office….
Parenting Mordecai for the past 15 years has taught me a lot. I have learned (often the hard way) that he does not like changes in routine or surprises. He likes things the same, day after day, year after year. So for his birthday this year, I knew exactly what he would want. The three pillars…
4th of July 2017 {Large Family Recap} The 4th of July. Some call it Independence Day. Some see it as a holiday, an excuse to barbecue. Others (namely, parents) find it a night of torture. The Purge, if you will. Those of us with small children remain inside, huddled under the covers, willing the explosions…
Post contains affiliate links We like to keep Christmas simple here in our house. We don’t put up a tree or exchange gifts but this doesn’t mean we don’t celebrate! We decorated sugar cookies (several different times in fact). We read The Greatest Christmas Pagent Ever together (my kids were rolling with laughter over the Herdman…
Post contains affiliate links. I love Christmas time. I love the music, the food, the feelings of anticipation. Time with family and time to reflect on all we are grateful for. Time to remember the birth of Christ and His gift to us. In our family, we don’t put up a Christmas tree or exchange…
Christmas 2015 has come and gone. While I love the advent season and all of the anticipation building up to the celebration of Christ’s birth, I’ll admit I am ready to get back to my daily routine. In the same way that I love Mondays, I love the after Christmas return of regular bedtimes, meals…