Three Things : Weekdays + Creative Family Giveaway

Right now the boys (four and two) are into collecting bugs (and the whole neighborhood for that matter). It has offered an opportunity for adventure, creativity, learning, fun, family togetherness, and being good to nature.

every evening, usually over dinner if we're all together, one of us asks "So... How was your day?" Done in a sing-song voice. For some reason it always stops us from the distracting thoughts of our days and brings us back to the Here and Now... the joy of just being together. Our daughter, now 4, is usually the one that asks the question since it became a routine. I love it!

Ticklefights! I love Amanda Soule's blog & I've been wishing for her book! Thanks for the great blog!

Our children are grown and married, but we manage to get together almmost every week for dinner and then some kind of activity. Last week, for instance, the weather was beautiful outside so we had a picnic in a local park's Lilac Arbortium/frisbee golf course and after eating we played frisbee, smelled the flowers, and ran off our little legs. During winter we play with the little ones, read books, or play Rock Star or Guitar Hero--the whole family gets involved.

Our family's favorite thing to do together is Sunday - reserved for church & family time. No birthday parties, sports, chores. Just time together.

We do several things, but one thing that we try to do every week is have Family Study night. We either read our weekly bible reading, or study some other information that is appropriate for our daughter and just have the chance to talk about things going on in our lives and how we can strengthen our faith. Great topic!

We recently moved from Michigan to San Diego and we try to walk as a family on the beach every weekend. It gives all of us a chance to be together, a chance to exercise, and for my husband and I - a chance to actually talk to each other (we have 6 year old twins and a 4 year old). It is the highlight of the week.

It's so simple, but the only time we really all come together is for dinner a few times a week. Our favorite is to bring home a big tray of sushi - we all love it and it makes us happy!

Just now, my favorite thing is the time between bath and bed time where we snuggle in a pile, read books, listen to music and are just us with no outside interruptions, worries or interference, just togetherness.

Lately, I have been gravitating towards calendars in my scrapbooking, too. Love these - and whoa!, love the Papier Valise website, too!
My family's favorite together activity is taking walks - all of us, dh, son and dog. We've just moved back to my hometown and are enjoying walking to the beach, to the nature sanctuary and the old mill pond. We have really enjoyed the progression of this beautiful spring, and are looking forward to the changes summer will bring.

Right now we are just a family of 2..but I can remember growing up the best thing to do as a family was the road trips. Pack up the station wagon (with faux wood siding) and two kids in the back separated by pillows so we would not fight (like that worked!). But I will always have those memories of seeing all the sights and asking "are we there yet" frequently. Hopefully someday I will be able to do that with my kids!

We love to bike ride outdoors in nature as a family. It inspires us to live healthy lives and appreciate our world!

Our favorite thing to do together as a family is walk to the park. We just moved into a new house that has a great park within walking distance. Once we get there, the kids love to play.

We like to go to the zoo. We got an annual family pass, so we can go for a short amount of time if our 16 month old gets tired and not have wasted money.

Our favorite thing as a family-hmmm...it could be "Movie the week night" on Saturdays where we play old films from the Marx Brothers, etc...
or it could be going to used bookstores together...
or it could be just the 3 of us sitting in the living room together as one plays with his legos, one works in her journal and the other works on the computer and we're all talking and laughing as we do this...hmmm... ;)

Each night we gather as a family after the jammies have been put on and teeth brushed to say prayers and talk about what we're thankful for. More often than not, the boys talk about being thankful for their brothers and for mommy & daddy. No matter how the day went, brothers fighting, mommy & daddy losing it, talking about all the things that went right in the day allows us to say in fact, it was a good day.

My two favorite things to do with my family, one "creative (I made it up) and one not: Any dinner where we are all present together (not as often as I like now that 2 of them are teens), we play "Good/Bad". We go around the table once and each person tells a good thing about their day and a bad thing. The bad thing is optional but good never is. I love getting a little peak at what was important or meaningful to them that day. And I love if no one can think of anything bad that day! Our other family constant is movies. We try to go a couple times a month, all together. We sit in a long line and share popcorn and sodas and sour jacks. The whole deal. We laugh and might be a bit too loud sometimes, but we love it. Like you, I watched Amanda launch her book and I sure wish it had been out when my kids were little.
tonya

As a family we like to go bike riding down by the Mississippi River. I have been following Amanda Soule's Blog and enjoy her creativity as well as yours.

Since we have about 30 family members locally, we celebrate at least one birthday each month--with as many as 5 in a month. Birthday parties are one of our favorite things and finding ways to make them unique is something that brings us together.

My family always used to go to brunch on Sundays after church, with my grandparents. It always felt so special to try out a new restaurant or visit one of our old "favorites". Regardless of where we ended up, it was always a great family bonding time--everyone together to talk and not worry about cleaning up the dishes or having to cook.