As promised last week, I’m dedicating Friday’s to Family matters. Did you see the Winter Date Night I posted last Friday? You can see that here if you missed it.
What better memories can you create than fun in the home? It’s wintertime, and a great time to stir up, craft up and cozy up some good fun at home!
How adorable is this winter treat from Lil’ Luna?
The weather’s been cold for many days almost everywhere in the country, and if your children are used to going outside they probably haven’t – unless there’s snow to play in. The winter months can create restlessness in children and parents alike. Before there’s a meltdown in attitudes with your young ones create some fun activities they can participate in inside.
Food and cold weather just go together, don’t they? How long has it been since you’ve popped popcorn on the stove instead of popping a bag of the microwaveable corn? Here’s a simple video to remind you how easy (and inexpensive) it is to pop it the old fashioned way! Your children will love watching the kernels pop and then you’ll have a yummy treat to enjoy together!
A fun activity on a snowy day is a snowman craft. This one is adorable!
Making an army of these little pom-pom snowmen would stir up some creativity and fun in an otherwise drab day!
Make snowman cupcakes. Go here to see a video on how to create a tasty treat. Use your imagination – if you don’t have the ingredients they call for to decorate the cupcake look
in your cupboardand get creative!
Go to pinterest and search for Mitten game and you’ll find a variety of fun games for their age and level.
Snowman pancakes like the ones pictured above would make a great winter supper! Let your children help mix the pancakes, set the table, even create a snowy centerpiece! Put the pom-pom snowmen in the middle of the table!
Whatever your weather is like where you live, I trust you’ll have some fun times at your house with your children. Winter memories are fun ones because everything’s cozy and homey when you take the time to do things together as a family.
Welcome to a new feature on my blog – Family Friday. I’m beginning this weekly post because one great passion that I have is for the HOME. Home isn’t the structure in which you live, it’s the people – your family that makes it a home. But the truth is, there are lots of hard things in every family.
Strained marriages
Financial woes
Parenting stresses
Busy schedules
Miscommunication
In-laws
Rebellion
Sin
How do we keep home a happy place? Is it even possible? Home will never be a perfect place, but yes, a happy home is possible. I know that it is, based on God’s Word.
So, I’m dedicating Friday’s to Family issues. From fun date ideas to parenting issues, I am going to strive to give you some encouragement. It’s not because my home is perfect – as I said earlier, none are! But based on the fact that home is God’s gift, and His Word is our manual, we can learn what He says about creating a happy home. Let’s open God’s Word each Friday and get some practical helps that we can apply to our families.
There’s no better time than the present, so let’s start with an idea that will encourage your marriage.
Fireplace Date – Cold winter nights need a fire.
Find somewhere where you can sit by a fireplace – Home, Starbucks, Panera – anywhere there’s a fireplace!
Fix/Buy a hot beverage and a baked good to share
Have some fun with one of these activities:
Take a game with you to play -Dice for Farkle, Card game, Scrabble tiles for Bananagrams, etc. Some Starbucks have board games available for you to use in their store.
Before the date night, write up a list of questions on 3×5 cards. Flip one over at a time and ask your spouse to answer. Here are 25 to get you started! I found these great questions on the Internet – one place was Intoxicated on Life. 1. What are some books you’ve really enjoyed?
2. What books would you like to read sometime?
3. What are your favorite foods?
4. What did you want to be when you grew up?
5. What are some of your favorite memories from your childhood?
6. What are some of the more difficult memories from your childhood?
7. What are your favorite hobbies?
8. What did your parents teach you that you appreciate now?
9. What did your parents say or do that you found difficult?
10. Who is someone that inspires you?
11. What do you like us doing together?
12. What would you like to do together in future, just the two of us?
13. What would you like to do together in future, all of us with the kids too?
14. What is your favorite passage of Scripture?
15. What is your favorite memory verse?
16. What are your greatest strengths?
17. What are your greatest weaknesses?
18. What overwhelms you?
19. What is concerning you?
20. What are you fearful of?
21. What is the best marriage you’ve ever seen modeled?
22. When did you first know you loved me?
23. Who are the heroes you look up to?
24. What is your earliest childhood memory?
25. What is your greatest regret?
Make a list of things to do on future date nights
Dress in a way that will show you care. Add a little makeup. Fix your hair.
Hold hands, snuggle up and create a little fire of your own!
I’m open to topics for future Family Friday posts! Do you have a suggestion or request? I’d love to hear your ideas, or if this was helpful today.
Keep your marriage refreshed by having a date night!
Have you heard of Dream Dinners? You can check out this video if you’re unfamiliar. The basic idea is that you go to a Dream Dinner store, where they have prepared ingredients for you to assemble meals into freezer bags to make up complete dinners for your family for the month. I heard about it through a gal I watched on You Tube. While I’m sure it’s really convenient, it can’t be cheap! She also said there were some meals they had they didn’t like and wouldn’t have again.
Testimonials on the Dream Dinner’s site said their families were now able to eat together and have become closer as a result. Family mealtimes are important, and they do strengthen families, but if you’re on a budget, there are creative ways to make family meals happen in a much less expensive way. Here’s one suggestion…
Recently while putting away leftovers from a meal I’d made, I had the idea to bag it together just like I’d seen on the Dream Dinners. I had made Pork Tacos, Refried Beans and Spanish Rice -all from scratch and I had enough for another supper meal for my husband and me, but rather than eating it two nights in a row, I pulled out the freezer bags. I put the Rice in one, the Beans in another and the Pork in another, then I put all the small bags together in a large freezer bag and labeled it, “Pork Taco Dinner.” How great it will be on a busy day to pull this out in the morning and let it thaw, then simply warm it up that evening! It’s better than having leftovers two nights in a row, and it’s better than paying someone twice what it would cost me to fix it! I’ve always been a huge fan of freezing food, but having the whole meal together in one bag is a great plan!
I plan on doing this more often! You could simply double whatever you’re making and eat one for supper tonight and put the other into freezer bags for another day. There’s no need to have to do a month’s worth, or even a whole week’s worth at one time! Wouldn’t it be nice just to know you have a whole meal in a bag all ready to eat for ONE day? Start there, then perhaps you can build on that.
That’s my challenge to you – see what you can pull together to make and freeze ahead. Have the elements for that meal in one large bag. It will eliminate calling out for pizza, or running up to a local restaurant because you’re too tired to cook. Become your own Dream Dinner maker; it’s really doable, it’s cheaper, and you’ll be making things you know your family loves!
As the year comes to a close, I look back on these posts of Monday Marriage Matters and know that we have truly worked on our marriage this past year. These posts are not simply done for the viewing of the public; they are our lives, our marriage that really, truly matters. We want to daily be pouring into this God-given gift, so that it is growing, but also so that it is a picture of the Gospel.
Here’s what the last month of our Marriage Matters looked like:
Christmas mugs. Sweet messages. Full cups and hearts.
I love making something in my kitchen that I know my husband is going to love. Surprising him when he comes home is a joy that never gets old.
Happiness is not not found in things, but in relationships. To be married is one of God’s greatest blessings. Why Do people get married and then stop having fun? We should never get over the joy of time together. Oh, and when there’s mistletoe, we use it! “Ban the peck.”
The work of Christmas is a lot for the wife, but this guy helps me so much when I work in the kitchen. He thanked me for all I did to make Christmas special, but I was quick to remind him that I couldn’t have done it without his help, and It’s So true. We work as a team, each contributing to our home and marriage. It’s not 50/50, it’s 100/100.
What does your marriage look like as you end out 2016? Is it stronger, deeper and better because you have been intentional?
I pray that these posts have encouraged your marriage this past year. Take a look back and see other Marriage Matters posts here.
In a favorite episode of Andy Griffith, Aunt Bea goes out of town for a few days. While she’s away, Andy and Opie TRASH the house while living their bachelor days in her absence. When Andy tries to make Opie understand that their mess might be upsetting to Aunt Bea, Opie recalls the words he’s heard his great aunt say, and what he thought she might say when she returns to find the disaster –
Land sakes alive! Look at this mess; just look at it! If it weren’t for me, this house wouldn’t be fit to live in!
Most wives can probably relate in some way to that scenario. We dust, shine, mop, vacuum, and pick up – only to have to do it all again after the family has “lived” in it for a day!
But then we add into our busy worlds one word – HOLIDAYS -and we find ourselves with even more responsibilities than Dollywood has Christmas lights! It can be really easy to fall into the “Aunt Bea” mode and mumble under our breath and complain about the holiday tasks that fall into our already full laps.
Our mumbling might include statements like:
I have to shop for the gifts, purchase the gifts and wrap them.
If I don’t schedule a time for our annual Christmas card picture, it never would happen! Then I have to address the cards, seal them. and get them to the Post office.
I have eight different kinds of cookies to bake because everyone will expect them, and of course no one helps make them or clean up the mess, but they sure are there to eat them!
Then, of course, I have to buy the gifts and wrap the gifts!
If I left the tree decorating to my family it never would get done either!
Let’s face it – the whole Christmas celebration is up to me and I’m about worn out!!!!
It’s about that time that you can hear, instead of words, the honking sound, like Snoopy’s teacher:
No one wants to listen because of the terrible “sqwaking” that’s coming from our lips.
How do I know?
I’ve been there.
I’ve sqwaked.”
I’ve complained.
I was wrong.
Okay, so much of the doing of Christmas is up to us as the female in the home, but the attitude and heart with which it is done can make it either sweet or spoiled. How might we spoil it?
Negative talk about our husband. This is simply wrong. He is the head of the home and is to be honored. Eph 5:33 Would we rather take on that responsibility? I wouldn’t! That’s a load every single day – not just at Christmas. Let’s let our husband lead, and let’s you and I help make him the best leader by lending a hand with all our feminine ways. That includes:
Planning
Cooking
Baking
Purchasing
Decorating
Wrapping
2. Not doing our work to glorify God. I Cor. 10:31 If we work ourselves to death and do it with a wrong attitude we shouldn’t be expected to be rewarded in heaven. We got our reward – everyone’s pity (and maybe their distance from us, too!). Let’s do all we do as unto the Lord. Oh, that we would make our efforts like the precious gifts brought to the Christ child by the wise kings!
3. Having an ungrateful heart. A thankful spirit will be grateful for the:
Family we have to serve – I know some wives who have gone to heaven this past year. Their families will be missing them this Christmas. You and I are here; let’s make our families glad!
Health with which we can serve – This can be taken in an instant. Be thankful you can walk, work, and think!
Provision for the cards, gifts and foods to prepare – Everything we have is a gift from God, and we have far more than most!
Reason we are celebrating!!! Don’t lose the focus of this celebration; it’s all about Christ!
Maybe we need to do as I suggested yesterday and simplify our Christmas; make it a little easier on ourselves! Our families would probably be fine with a little less decor, baked goods and gifts if it would mean we are sweeter and more fun to be near!
Have you been muttering under your breath? Ask God to forgive you, then when you get up off your knees, ask your family’s forgiveness, too. Start the day over with
No more husband bashing,
Work that glorifies God.
A thankful heart.
Watch and see what a difference it will make in your Christmas preparations!
Making an army of these little pom-pom snowmen would stir up some creativity and fun in an otherwise drab day!
RefreshHer 