Three Things : Weekdays + Creative Family Giveaway

"Family Movie Night" is still going strong after many many years (my boys are 12 & 15 now). The preparation is VERY important as we vote for a movie (always hotly contested and we had to bring in a rotation system LOL) prepare the snacks, get your place on the lounge (crazy creatures that we are we all sit in the same spot on FMN) and dim the lights.
I'd love FMN to go on forever :)

For us, there's nothing better than a floor picnic - brekky, lunch or dinner on the picnic rug on the loungeroom floor. A great break from routine and the kids love it!

Rainy days we love to cook together and play mnopoly
Sunny days we go geocaching
Sue

When the weather is nice we love to spend time with the kids and the dogs in the backyard--playing mixed in with working on outdoor projects. The night usually ends with us BBQ'ing and then a trip to the ice cream store.

Long walks on a Fall day collecting leaves. Walking barefoot in the grass. Watching the wonder of a sunset or sitting up to watch comets streak across the sky. Eating together and laughing and catching up for the day. Going to recitals, school plays, awards banquets........just living life together, taking time to smile and be together, to listen, to talk, to love.

Right now our favorite family thing to do is have Dad stop on his way home from work, pick up something yummy to eat (recently it was fresh chips, salsa and guacamole...hey, yes, it counts as dinner when it's 95 degrees out!) and we all sit on the back deck and hang out. I usually stop and get something yummy to drink (recently that meant fresh lemonade, yum!), and we all relax together with no dinner clean-up! I have been working an overnight shift once a week, and it's taken a huge toll on my sanity and on my schedule and time overall, so these little family times mean a lot!

Wish we could still run in the sprinklers - unfortunately water restrictions here in Melbourne put an end to that. We used to love that! We also love a day at the beach - boogie boarding, eating sandy sandwiches for lunch, digging very deep holes, reading our books eating fish and chips as the sun goes down, just chilling out together. Special times!

I need to bookmark this so purchase this book if I am not the lucky one!
As a family, we love to go for walks. I have a 1 1/2 year old and he is happiest outdoors (as is his father) so we take him out and let him choose the course - dh and I can catch up on the day at the same time!

Our favorite things has to be the zoo!! I've never seen a two year old get so excited about stinky apes and crepy reptiles. I love going just to take pictures. Which means of course I need to do a special zoo album, but it's fun!! Great book BTW. It would be awesome to have.

As my family grows older, marries and has babes of their own, we attempt to gather for SUNDAY dinner together. It's noisey, crowded and I love every moment together. Sometimes I hang back in the kitchen and just watch my beautiful son with his children... interacting with his crazy (3) sisters and their hubbies and babe. Often I end up catching the eye of my guy, from across the room, perched doing the very thing I am doing.
All too soon the house is quiet again... I love the times that are noisey, crowded and 'together'.
Love Amanda's blog... hope I'm blessed enough to receive her book! Thanks Ali!

Ali, our favourite family times include reading children's classics together aloud. At the moment we are reading Prince Caspian. A close second is playing Mario and Sonic at the Olympics on the Wii, lots of laughter.
Thanks
Ange

The thing that we like to do as a family is to garden. I love to watch my children as their plants start to grow. The excitement is contagious as their smiles are as big as possibly can be.

Like so many other Moms out there, my favorite family activity is dinner time. It is at the dinner table that I watch my little ones grow and mature,it gives me so much pleasure and fullfillment.
I am sure that when I am old I will sit on the porch and remember all the things we talked about while eating dinner. All the things we shared about our day, all that we learned about each other and from each other...these are the things I will remember.The laughter will ring in my ears despite my faded hearing.

We love taking long walks together.

Our favorite thing to do as a family together is eat ice cream. If we could, we would do this every night. My little boy enjoys helping mommy scoop out the ice cream, then passing out the cups to everyone...just as much as he enjoys eating it. Ok, maybe he enjoys eating it just a little more... ;)

Sunday morning blueberry pancakes....our w/e favorite way to spend the morning.
Tx for the chance. Great website!

sleeping in and being silly....
those are the best times!

Simple, but effective...we make sure to eat dinner together as a family every night. Sometimes we watch tv during dinner, but mostly we talk. My kids like to play the question game. Rules: First person asks a question (cannot be yes or no, must be open-ended) and everyone answers. There are no wrong answers and you must be respectful and listen when someone else is talking. Then it goes around the table and everyone gets a chance to be the "asker". Fun to see what's important to each of my children. :)

I Love her blog! and i've flipped through it and it looks like a great book.
We like to shop at Trader Joe's, PC Market, and our local food coop-Grower's Market. At the coop we will often: eat and shop, help out at the register and Grace our 6.5 yr old daughter will even weigh, tally and cash out customers. It really feels like a family owned thing.
i'd like to also turn you onto a local Eugene author and a friend of mine, Ginger Carlson and her new book Child of Wonder: Nurturing Creative and Naturally Curious Children. You can check out her website http://gingercarlson.com/Welcome.html My daughter is on the cover. You can never have too many ideas.

We do lots of fun activities with the kids, but nothing beats reading together. When you're all cuddled up together, enjoying a story and the great artwork in children's books, you can't help but feel close.