Thanksgiving traditions!

We love Thanksgiving in our house.

It is such a fun time of year,

It is a good chance to let each other know how thankful we are for each other.

But it is also the day we put up our Christmas decorations.

This year we decided we wanted to put up a real tree...

So we searched the net for somewhere to buy our tree,

but then the answer to where to get it from came on the back of a car park ticket!

Samuel noticed the ticket had an advert for Christmas trees.

It was for Fillingham-trees.

This place was frankly AMAZING!

The children had a fabulous time.

When we went in we were welcomed by the Head Elf,

Who was very Jolly and kind and helpful.

All the children received a Lolly to start of the fun

while the adults discussed the boring stuff.

Then it was time to go off to the tractor!

 

As I am sure you can tell the children did not need telling twice!

 

 They thought all their Christmases had come at once...

but they had seen nothing yet!

 

Before leaving for the field they each received a quiz 

(cost was £1.50 per child - includes gift),

Clues were hidden all around the farm for the children to find.

 

They rather enjoyed this bit,

I afraid there were many shouts for joy as they found Elves

dotted around the plantation.

 

Not all of them from the children....

 

Liliana had fun running through the trees.

 

Finding unlikely friends along the way!

 

And some very exciting friends too!

 

The Santa was cleverly shhh'ing the children so as to 

not ruin the big surprise ahead.

(we didn't tell the children about the gifts!)

They loved the gifts!

 

Even Oliver... 

though his mittens made it hard to enjoy them too much....

 Opps!

Ok, so with all the hunting fun we almost forgot why we were there in the first place.

To find a tree!

We had many, many to choose from...

Once we got it down to two we had a family vote

and this is the one we chose!

 

Our tree!!!

So we tagged it and then went to tell the staff which we wanted.

Immediately they jumped on their Quad bike with a trailer and went to cut it down!

Talk about service!!

and while we waited for the tractor to come back we were able to

warm our toes and fingers on the fire.

 

Within a matter of minutes we watched our tree being taken off 

to the shop area to be netted.

(and then even carried to our car!)

 

Yay! Our tree!!

Then the Tractor came...

 

Micah loved watching the tractor!

Their was only one problem...

 

Ladybirds!!

Our tree seemed to be home to a giant family of Lady birds!!

As far as pests go I am glad it was such sweet, harmless,

happily handled and happy to handle bugs!

Thank goodness it wasn't spiders!!
(The car is still full of them)

Ok, so here it is...

Our tree all decorated!

 

Very happy with it.

It is a Blue Spruce!

and here is an extra pic just for fun...

 

We had exactly the right amount of time before dinner was ready 

to decorate the tree.

After dinner we took some time aside to read our

'Because you're fabulous' jar notes!

I have to say, this is got to be up there with our favorite traditions.

I love my family and I love experiencing fun and wonderful things with them.

I am so thankful for my famly,

and for places like Fillingham Trees who help us develope Magical Memories

which will last our family a lifetime!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Before I am 28 Bucket List...

My birthday is fast approaching,

I will be 28 in the end of January.

I have decided I am going to make a Bucket List each year.

Now deciding this in mid November makes it a little tricky....

However I have come up with 27 things 

(One for each of my ever growing years)

Which I would like to do before my Birthday,

and I think are possible to achieve.

So here it is....

 

My list  is as follows...

1. Camp out in Winter
2. Watch the Sun rise and set
3. Dance barefoot in the rain
4. Find a creative way to let someone know they are amazing
5. Go Horse riding
6. Go Ice skating
7. Do something that terrifies me
8. Get over my fear of going downstairs at night
9. Read the Book of Mormon again
10. Eat something I have never tried before
11. Start a book for each of my children with letters from me to them
12. Go to a Ballet in Christmas Eve
13. Make Sushi
14. Create my ideal reading space
15. Read all remaining Jodi Picoult books
16. Stay up all night talking to my best friend
17. Laugh every day
18. Stop being hard on myself
19. Make sure the man I love knows I love him and is amazing
20. Enter a Photography competition
21. Learn a new song on the Flute
22. Embrace something I find boring
23. Go to the Temple for my Great Aunt
24. Make a Family Bucket List
25. Spend a whole day interrupted, reading
26. Visit the Peak District
27. Lay on the floor watching Snow fall.

I will try and blog how I get on....

Sweet I love you (family or couples)

When the children went back to school

I wanted to let them know I love them.

So as I can't actually be there with them at school

I decided maybe a lunch box surprise was in order.

So I searched for ideas...

There are lots on the web,

But nothing that fit my children perfectly.

 

That is until I searched Ebay 

(I know ebay obsessed - But you can find just about anything there!)

And I came across some super cute lolly moulds.

All our children (well except Oliver) use the I love you sign language sign

We like to use it when we are not in a position to actually tell the person.

The children enjoy on a Sunday showing Daddy they love him

as he sits at the front every Sunday this can be difficult for them so they use the sign.

So this

I love you sign lolly mould

was perfect for the job.

I did order it from a UK store but they don't seem to be offering it now.

A tasty way to let them now!

Explore the world of wet (Family)

Children develop and learn through exploration

And boy do they have fun exploring!

We sometimes forget,

when we are super busy with 

work,

church,

hobbies,

housework

etc..

How much fun it is to play like a child....

with the children!!!!

This week maybe take a moment to explore the world through your children's eyes!

You could;

• Paddle at the edge of a pond
• Play with play dough
• Make salt dough models
• Play with your food!
• Make art out of food

There are plenty more things you could do...

No doubt some of the above will appear in future posts!

Most importantly though...

HAVE FUN!

Connect four (Couples)

This week for our date night we enjoyed a date in the garden.

It involved these above,

A bucket BBQ,

Some yummy drinks,

Some Marshmallows,

A blanket,

Some cushions,

A sprinkling of stars...

and lots of fun!

Once the children had gone to bed we got ready to go 'out' on our date.

We set up our connect four outside...

David prepared the BBQ

(Sitting it on a piece of wood as our grass is astrofelt!)

We prepared the refreshments 

and we were ready for our night 'out'.

Ours is a giant Connect four which can be found here;

www.jaqueslondon.co.uk- giant connect 4

Though a small version works just as well!

It can be soooo much fun,

Though if one of you is alot better at it than the other

Let them win every so often

(without being obvious about it!)

As the evening roles on your BBQ will burn down a little

Which makes it PERFECT for roasting marshmallows on!

This is where the blankets and pillows come in,

As the night draws in it will get chilly.

But rather than going in

wrap up warm and cuddle!

Once it is dark it is the perfect time to lay back on the pillows

and watch the stars!!!

Back to school dinner (Family)

As the holidays draw to an end

Let's celebrate the fun that we have all had!

To do this we enjoyed a nice big Christmas style dinner

and at dinner we all shared our favorite memories from the summer.

It was also the perfect opportunity to announce the winner of our

Most Helpful Child Summer 2011 Award!

This is a little plaque which is attached to a big photo frame

which will contain our a photo of our favorite moment from the whole summer.

On the plaque is the name of the winner 

we also give them a medal which says 'winner 2011'.

The winner in our family also receives £20 

and a date night of their choice.

We then enjoy some games together

followed by a film.

I love the summer holidays!

Feeding the Ducks! (Family)

An old family favorite!

Through generations we have been enjoying feeding the ducks

But it seems 

(certainly where we are)

it is becoming harder and harder to find a place where ducks live.

We enjoyed feeding some ducks in a nice country park near Market Rasen

 

Wouldn't it be wonderful to share where you know ducks live?!

If you know a wonderful place to feed the ducks 

please leave a comment below so anyone who reads this post will know good local hot spots!

FHE - First Vision

When teaching during Family Home Evening

it can be difficult to keep the attention of all members of the family.

Especially if there are some very young ones and some older ones.

We try to find fun ways of teaching the lesson

while keeping everyone entertained.

For teaching the subject of 

The First Vision

we decided to go out for a bike ride to a woods.

When you find a suitable area take a seat and get ready for a little reverance.

(tip: Don't make it too long or when others go down the woods that day they will likely find grizzly parents chasing children running in random directions)

 The Story can be found here;

The First Vision    

or you could teach from;

Primary 3 lesson - First Vision

For FHE snack/ treat take along a picnic to enjoy after listening to the story.

Although the bike ride/ walk 

is a lovely activity for your family home evening 

you could also enjoy a game of hide and seek!

So much fun can be had teaching creatively!

Visiting Teaching - September 2011

This months message is entitled;

Strengthening Families by Increasing Spirituality.

This is such a wonderful message, 

a nice reminder that strong, families are not something we get without work.

The full message can be found here:

September 2011 Visiting Teaching Message

I have based my message handout on;

Sisters can help create strong homes and families as they act on personal revelation. “The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life,” Sister Beck continued. “Qualifying for the Lord’s Spirit begins with a desire for that Spirit and implies a certain degree of worthiness. Keeping the commandments, repenting, and renewing covenants made at baptism lead to the blessing of always having the Lord’s Spirit with us. Making and keeping temple covenants also adds spiritual strength and power to a woman’s life. Many answers to difficult questions are found by reading the scriptures because the scriptures are an aid to revelation. … Daily prayer is essential to having the Lord’s Spirit with us.”

We also strengthen our family members spiritually as we help them understand Heavenly Father’s eternal plan. “What can we do to better prepare our children spiritually for their eternal roles?” asked Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “Perhaps the most inclusive answer is: Teach them how to live the principles of the gospel.” This teaching comes through daily prayer, scripture study, and family mealtimes as well as weekly family home evening and Church attendance. Elder Ballard explains: “We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something less, perhaps something far less.”

Isn't it a lovely reminder of the things we should be doing.

The very things which will keep our families strong, happy and close

to both each other and Our Heavenly Father.

As this message talks of the importance of regular scripture study, prayer and family home evening

I decided to make a calendar to remind us of these important principles

as we enter back into our busy lives brought by school.

The Cover can be found here:

Calendar Cover 

The Main Calender can be found here:

Calendar

I hope you enjoy this message, 

please print an extra copy for yourself!

I can't wait to pin mine to my fridge and use it with my family!

The children are very excited to use it.

A little reminder (couples)

Sometimes a little reminder of a special moment 

can be as wonderful as making a new memory.

A reminder can come in the form of;

A letter,

A little note,

A taste,

A special smell,

or a item which sparks the memory when you found it.

Recently I was in a card shop and found....

This sparked a fabulous memory for me of

Summer 2010,

Spending a night camping on a beach with my family,

within 25 footsteps of the sea.

More specifically this brought back the memory of when

we had put the children to bed and David and I sat on the beach 

listening to the waves

while watching the stars.

A beautiful memory brought back to life and the forefront of our minds by a candle!

You never know what will bring back a wonderful memory,

but chances are if it brings it back for you

It will bring it back for the special someone you shared it with!

Visiting Teaching - August 2011

This months visiting teachers is entitled

A Society of Holy Women.

It is a lovely message,

My favorite part is found in the From Our History section.

It is what I have based my idea for this month on.

It reads:

Speaking to the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, the Prophet Joseph emphasized holiness, 

explaining that as sisters became pure and holy, they would have a marked influence upon the world. 

He explained: “Meekness, love, purity—these are the things that should magnify you. … 

This Society … shall have power to command queens in their midst. … 

The kings and queens of the earth will come unto Zion, and pay their respects.” 

Relief Society sisters living their covenants command the respect not only of noble people,

but “if you live up to your privileges,” Joseph promised the sisters, 

“the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.”

What a fabulous blessing we can have when we magnify our calling as women.

Below is the handout I prepared to help remind my Sisters of the importance of this message.

I have picked out some of the main points in the message and found little gifts to go along with them.

They are:

• Holy- A Iced Doughnut (must be a ring doughnut)
• Purity - A Box of Stain Remover 
• Meek - I picked Gypsophila, as it is such a soft little flower but makes all the difference to any arrangement
• Love - A Pack of Love Hearts
• Magnify - A magnifying glass
• Queens - A Little Tiara (4 for under 87p at Wilkinson's)
• Respect - I found a fabulous talk and made it into a scroll. (found here:
  Respect Scroll)

• Angels - A little angel pin (from Birthdays - 75pon sale) Though any angel decoration would work.

This is accompanied by a copy of the extract noted above.

You can find my handout here:

August Visiting Teaching Label

I finished it with a wooden heart tag stamped with the initials of the Sisters I visit.

I hope you have a lovely visit this month!

Ready Steady Cook (family)

We all know the show!

Why not bring the show to your kitchen?!

Ready Steady Cook is easily done in any household.

Just split into two teams

Then off to the shops...

Set a budget, We say £5 plus meat 

(as meat is so expensive these days!)

Plus £2.50 per team on lucky dip bag.

The lucky dip bag is where you buy a couple of items you either want, wouldn't want or have never had.

So once the ingredients are bought it's off home to swap bags.

The lucky dip items go into a bag and each team takes it in turn to pick items until they are all gone.

Then it's time to cook!

The best part comes when all the cooking is finished....

TIME TO EAT!

We do a voting system for picking the winner.

 Children love getting in the kitchen cooking,

What better way than to make it such fun 

and teach them how to cook things they otherwise may not have tried.

If you have a fussy eater this is a fabulously fun way to encourage them to try new things!

Have fun!!

Appreciation Pouch (Family)

While I was preparing some posts for on here my daughter set about a secret task.

She sat for about one hour preparing what she called 'Appreciation Pouches'.

 

She carefully wrote out lovely, caring messages for each member of our family.

She drew pictures and cut them out and folded them so each would be a nice surprise as it was opened.

Such a simple little gift,

No cost to it at all.

But the value these sweet words have in my heart is more than anything she could ever buy.

What a sweet wonderful example she is!

Perhaps this would be a nice activity for FHE,

Share some loving service with those around us.

Teaching the children also that words can be a service  more valuable than anything else.

Thank You Sweetheart x

Sentiment so small (Friends)

Sometimes you want to just let someone know they are thought of.

I found some fabulous little scrap booking papers...

Each piece held 10 little pictures with a small compliment/ message.

I loved these and thought wouldn't it be wonderful to cut them out...

Once they were cut out it occurred to me,

each one seems to mean more now individually than they did together.

They are very small about 1.5" x1.2" each...

perfect for slipping into a book,

or into a hand during a hand shake,

or maybe into a card.

These read messages such as...

• Loveable
• Sweet Heart
• With a friend like you who needs Chocolate
• Just call me...
• Honey Bunny
• Cute as a button
• You're totally awesome
• Cupcake
• Fabulous friends
• Sweet as honey

Although these are ready made easy to prepare notes

You could easily make little notelets yourself with a personalised message for your special friend.

Spread some smiles!

Pop corn is popping! (Couples)

Cinema Night!

This week for our date night we are enjoying a cinema night.

We will be having a marathon run of film.

David loves The Lord of the Rings....

and I hate to admit it but he has converted me too!

We are planning to enjoy a selection of finger foods...

(you have to really for film watching.... foods you don't have to look at to eat!)

but if you are going to have a marathon run of films you need snacks to go with it.

 

 These snacks are carefully selected...

Love hearts - Because every bite gives a little bit of love

Super hero candy sticks - Because when it gets scary your my hero to make me feel safe

Tongue painter lolly pops - Because I Lolly Lickin' Love You! 

Wham! Popping candy - Because your explosively fun 

(and let's face it everyone loves the pop!)

Rainbow Sherbet - Because no date is complete without a little Sugar!

All the snacks above can be purchased for less than £1.30!!

So not only is it scrummy but cheap too!

Sweet nothing envelopes (Couples & Friends)

Everyone likes a nice surprise!

Imagine how wonderful it would be when you are busy..

out shopping or paying bills...

to open your wallet/ purse and find a little envelope....

Filled with a little bit of love!

 

These little envelops can be filled with a nice little note of appreciation,

a sweet small gift, 

or a perfectly chosen love heart sweet.

Whatever you choose it will be a beautiful moment of excitement 

when the envelope is found and the recipient feels your love for them.

The envelopes start of as 2.5" x 4" brown money envelopes

I bought these from Wilkinson's 

a pack of 50 for just £1.00!

That's alot of love you could spread with just £1.00!!

You can decorate them with pretty papers,

cut out pretty pictures or patterns from wrapping paper,

Write a little hint as to the contents,

or tenderly note a shared memory you treasure.

Share a little love!

Getting to know you game (Couples)

Think you know everything there is to know about each other?

I have made a quiz for you to test this out, may may just be surprised by the results!

If you click on this link it will take you to a pdf of the game.

Getting to Know You

You need to answer the questions with your own answer on the 'Me' side and in the 'You' side answer the questions with what you think your partner would answer.

Each question you guess the correct answer for your partner you get a point.

Whoever answers the most correct answers gets to pick something that the other person has to do.

Such as :

• The washing up for a week
• Wash the car
• Make a romantic meal
• Look after the children for an afternoon so the winner can have time to do whatever they want.

The options are endless!

Have fun!

Because your Fabulous! (family)

With David having served his mission in America,

and Rebecca spending many of her early years on American army bases...

We like to celebrate some American holidays in our home.

Our favorite one has to be Thanksgiving.

It is a perfect opportunity to show how much we love each other,

and how grateful we are for all we have..

and for the wonderful people we have in our lives.

We are always looking for fantastic new traditions we can enjoy in our home.

I found a beautiful glass jar at Wilkinsons for just £5.00!!

It just jumped of the shelf into my arms...

saying "buy me, buy me!!"

To which I replyed "for what purpose do I need you?"

"I don't know yet but you will know soon, trust me, buy me!" said the jar.

So I lovingly agreed as it clearly did not want to stay at the shop anymore....

Maybe it was being bullied by the bigger jars...

I just don't know but I had a loving home and knew I could share it with this fabulous jar!

So it then occured to me,

I wanted a nice box to keep on the table so we could all leave nice notes

of why we love each other and things we are thankful for.

So that on Thanksgiving day we can sit and read them out

and everyone will know they are loved and worthwhile.

The jar said " I can do that, I would love to hold all that love and happiness inside me!"

What could I say but "yes!!".

So not only does the little jar get a new home

but gets to be filled with all the love our house holds too!!

Here is our little friend ready for compliments...

 

Isn't she lovely!

Oh and for those bargain hunters out there...

The twine is on sale at Wilkinsons, 

I bought a HUGE roll of twine must be about 300 metres for under £1!

The kind you use for craft project.

Make your Home a Hotel (couples)

Don't have a babysitter?

Do not have lots of spare money to book into a beautiful hotel?

Then making your home a hotel for a night is the perfect solution!!

 

If you are anything like us, going to a hotel can be very exciting but there are some home comforts that hotel's just can't replicate.

Saying that pretty much all of the luxuries of a hotel can be replicated at home.... OK so the room service is a Little harder but take out menu's can take care of that.

First things first, make sure your bedroom is completely tidy, you can't truly relax in a messy room.

If you do not have nice add on bed cushions then take them from other rooms and make your bed all comfy and soft. For me the cushions make a real difference to how luxurious the room feels.

If you want an extra touch of romance that you don't get in a hotel, take out those Christmas lights and hang them above the bed.... don't go overboard with lights or it will look tacky.

Add a couple of chocolates/ mints to the pillow too.

Once the bed is all made and prettified you can turn your attention to the hot drink supplies.

No hotel, even the cheap ones go without hot drink making facilities.

You can steal the kettle from the kitchen and a couple of mugs, hot chocolate sachets add to the hotel feel.

I coudn't take ours from the kitchen as it is built in but I managed to buy one from Tesco for less than £7.00!!

As you can see I wanted to make it a little more special and so I added chocolate stirring sticks, marshmallows, biscuits, cream and hotel chocolat's liquid chocolate – we use this as sprinkles for the top of hot chocolates. I also added some herbal teabags I made for David as he is very much a lover of chamomile tea.

Once that is all sorted it is time to turn your attention to the mini - bar!

It is worth considering what you both really like and whether you want to have to get up and go down stairs the next morning to make breakfast or whether you want breakfast in bed.

I decided we would be super lazy and have breakfast in bed so I bought a couple of tubs of porridge from Marks and Spencer's, some breakfast bars and fruit juice.

Most mini-bars in hotel's have a selection of nuts and crisps and things you don't really want at a ridiculously high price.

Well this is the perfect opportunity to make a mini-bar full of all your favorite things!

 

...So that is just what I did!

Now just because it is all there does not mean you have to eat it all in one night, however if you want to feel free as it is your luxury night 'away'.

Once you have taken care of all the basics hotel's have to offer now you can turn your attention to the extras you always say no to because they cost a small fortune and even if you can afford you just can't justify.

the champagne (for us it's non-alcoholic)...

Always makes an evening feel a little bit on the special side.

Pull out your best glasses that you save for anniversaries and special dinner parties.

Add a few extras like candles and face masks and nice creams to give you the spa feel.

Pick out a nice DVD and enjoy your evening.

We really enjoyed this date night and the best part is it does not have to cost anything, you can fill your mini-bar full of things from your normal shop or you can buy extra special items you wouldn't usually buy.

The most important thing is to enjoy it and make the most of your evening.

I can't express enough how important it is for couples to date, once you have got down the aisle it does not have to be the end of romance in fact it should mark the start of truly being able to spoil and get to know your husband/ wife.

Once the children are all grown up and moved out, it will be just the two of you.

Wouldn't it be nice to still feel the way you did on those very first dates when you are celebrating your 50th anniversary!

I am going to issue everyone who reads this a challenge....

Married or not do something romantic for your partner today!

If you are not dating right now do something nice for someone you live with.

Everyone needs to know from time to time that they are appreciated!