There’s a memory that my parents and siblings and I have from years gone by. Our family had been out all day on some type of adventure. When we returned, a neighboring little girl, one of seven children, hollered from her house across the street, “Did you have a good time?”

The memory of that still makes us chuckle. That that little girl would note that we were gone, and yell at us as soon as we pulled into our driveway was cute. I wonder if it was because her family times were a far cry from “good.” My memory nods in remembrance at the strained family relationships that went on over there.

Her question is a good one, though. I will ask the same of you about yesterday – “Did you have a good time?” Perhaps you only did your normal things at home, or only went to work, or only took care of children all day but in all those “only” situations, did you create any fun? Yes, create. Sometimes fun things happen just because of where we are – at an amusement park, on vacation, swimming, or at a special party, but those days don’t happen all the time. All the “only” activities happen every single day. So if you don’t create fun on those days, who will? If you don’t stir up some creativity in your schedule, your meals, your nighttime routines, your trip to the grocery store, who will? It’s up to us, ladies.

Having a little too much fun, perhaps? No, not at all!

Okay, you don’t have to go to this extreme, but when our girls were small we got a pair of these silly glasses for everyone in the car. When we were stopped at a red light, we would put these on and then lean over and look at the people stopped at the light beside us. You should have seen their reaction! It was hilarious. We had fun, and I think we also brightened their day as well. It’s kind of hard to have road rage when you look at someone wearing Groucho Marx glasses!

What could you do to stir a little fun into your day? It doesn’t have to be something silly, it could be just the fun of eating breakfast outside on the deck in the morning instead of inside at the table, or creating a fun meal for your family instead of boring normal stuff. A friend of mine is having a Christmas in July dinner this week. I LOVE that idea! So, you have your challenge; run with it!

Ever find yourself staring off into space as you think on the past?  That happened to me Monday night at Bible study.  As we listened to the dietitian talk about preparing dinner for our families, I heard her say more than once, “Make dinnertime special for your family.”  I found myself thinking back to dinnertime when our daughters were younger.  It’s a special memory to me now, not because of any remarkable thing I cooked or did, but just because it was a regular part of family life.  To have skipped family dinner would have been as unthinkable as going without a bath!  I wondered to myself, “What is it that made our family dinners special?”  Here’s what I came up with:

• We tried to schedule it for a regular time each evening, that way everyone knew when to be home and ready.
• We always sat at the kitchen table.  That may sound like a given, but I know some families have a “grab and go” mentality.  They grab what’s on the stove and sit wherever – in the living room, or their bedroom.  Not so at our house – we asked that everyone sit together at the table.
• We always set the table with all the silverware – fork, knife, and spoon, plate, glass and napkin.  No matter what was being served, all the utensils were set out.  Making the table attractive with flowers or a candle in the middle at suppertime made everyone know that this was a special time together.
• We tried to teach good table manners in a lighthearted kind of way – things like napkin in the lap, chewing with mouth closed, passing food before serving yourself.   We also taught the girls to wait until the thanks was given, and then they were to wait until I began to eat before they ate.  Then whenever we were at some one’s home as their guests, they knew to wait for our hostess to begin eating before they picked up their forks and began to eat.  Manners start at home.  =)
• Except for lunch on Friday’s, the television was off at mealtime, that way we could talk as a family.  We tried to keep conversation going about the day’s events or other things going on in our lives.  (Here are some ideas for conversation )
• We had fun!  Often meals were themed for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fools Day, etc.  We looked for things to celebrate!  The food was coordinated for that holiday, as well as the table settings and centerpiece.

See?  It’s not that things were so spectacular, but it was a regular part of family life that we looked forward to each day.  We were together, we shared a meal, and we made many memories at that table.  Yes, sir…those were are good times!  We still do those things, even though most of the time it’s just me and my sweet hubby at the table!  I still believe that a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!  He is so sweet to appreciate the food and the setting, and we still go on making memories together, meal by meal.

What do you do to make mealtime memorable at your house?  Or what memories do you have from your table?

From our parsonage kitchen,

One of the best things about holidays are the traditions that go with them.  They create special family ties and memories that can’t be replaced by anything electronic!  They will long be remembered by your family with, “Remember how we always…”

One special tradition that has special memories for me was at Christmastime when my mom would purchase a taper candle and make 25 notches in it to mark each day in December, counting down to Christmas.  Each night at supper, we would burn the candle to the next notch.  It was such fun to have the flickering candle on the table and watch to see that it didn’t burn past its allotted mark.  My sisters and I would take turns blowing it out each night.  We  knew how close Christmas was, simply by seeing how small the candle was getting with each passing day!  I carried this tradition to my family as well, maybe more for myself and the sentiment it brought.  I trust my girls remember it with fondness as I do.

If you’re looking for a fun tradition, why not find a short taper candle (since it’s more than half way through the month) and mark it for the remaining days ’til Christmas?  Not only does it create a memory for your family, it also provides family time at the dinner table.  You could also use the flame to create conversation about Jesus, the Light of the world.  Perhaps each evening you could also read  some Scripture about Christ’s light and explain what it means.

Family times need refreshment, and a great way to experience that is with  traditions – maybe even a new one!  By the way, this isn’t just for children, a couple, young or old, could hold this same tradition and make special memories together.

What traditions do you hold or remember having?

Be refreshed,



Summer for Allison’s August birthday





and my favorite – Autumn for Whitney’s September birthday.  (I keep forgetting to give this to her, but I will some day!  It just looks so cute in my fall display!)

I even have plates with a heart in the middle that my husband and I use in February for Valentine’s Day!

Dishes are a great way to make family traditions and create special memories.  Use the same bowl for Family popcorn night, a special turkey platter at Thanksgiving and Christmas, or a snowman tray for Christmas cookies Those dishes will build treasured memories that will stay in the hearts of your family longer than the Christmas gifts lasted.  Those pieces of ceramic or china will be something they can pass down to their children – if not in a tangible way, at least in their hearts.

Do you have dishes that carry a special memory for you?

From inside my parsonage windows,

Books were a very integral part of my growing up years, therefore, when I became a mother, I wanted my children to also have a love of good books.  I began reading to my girls very early in their lives – as a matter of fact, I read to them before they were born! 

When they were infants, I would hold my girls in my lap, a book in front of them, and read the story while letting them see the pictures.  Hence, both of my daughters have grown up with a love for reading.  We read at playtime, after supper, before bedtime, and often several times in-between!

There is one book that we read for many years and was always associated with Thanksgiving; it was,  Amy’s Goose, written by Efner Tudor Holmes and illustrated by the infamous illustrator, Tasha Tudor.   It is the story about a flock of geese that come each fall to the same farm as they are headed south for the winter. The little girl, Amy, that lives there, has come to consider these geese as “her geese.”  She could hardly wait for their return each year.

“Dinner seemed to Amy to be taking unusually long.  Ordinarily she loved sitting there in the dining room with all three of them together, and the candles casting soft shadows on the warm wood-paneled walls.  The room smelled of freshly baked apple and pumpkin pies.  But Amy’s thoughts were with the geese out on the moonlit lake.  Her geese, she thought.  They had remembered, and had come back to her again!”

This little girl finds that one goose is sick and nurses it back to health, then struggles to decide whether to keep it on the farm or let it be free.  It is a sweet story of love and surrender.

I can’t resist each Thanksgiving of getting out our copy of Amy’s Goose and setting it on the coffee table. It speaks as loudly of family time for the Cunningham’s as Tom Turkey in the middle of the dining room table does for others.   As we sat together in those early years to pour over the pictures and words of our books, we were also pouring into one another’s lives, and it knit our hearts together in a way that no other form of media really could. 

Though the story tells of love and surrender, when I see Amy’s Goose, I think of love and togetherness, because that’s what that book and many, many others created in our parsonage home.

Do you have memories of reading in your childhood years? What are some of your favorites?

From inside the parsonage,