Christmas is on December 27th this Year

In case you haven’t heard, there has been a change in the calendar for Christmas Day. No longer celebrated on December 25th, as it has been traditionally. This year, Christmas falls on December 27th. News Year Eve will be celebrated on December 30th or on January 3rd. Is this for real? Yes. That is, it is for real for many people who decide to save money, into the hundreds of dollars by celebrating Christmas and New Years on days that most of us don’t. Celebrating the major holidays on off-days is a trend that has been embraced by more and … Continue reading

Help Kids to Save with a Fun Fund

As adults, we often think of saving as something necessary and the responsible thing to do. We save up for things such as a new furnace or braces for one of the kids. Once in a while we will also save for something fun, such as a family vacation, but we often go about it with our usual boring adult selves–we plan, we save, we move money to a vacation account. These techniques, the ones we have learned over the years and now practice, however, don’t usually work with kids. For them, saving has to be visual and fun. Help … Continue reading

Thanksgiving Is For Family Fun

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and that means family time. For the genealogist in the family, it is a great time to hear family stories, both new and old, get the group together for some family photographs, and as always, listen for new family history facts that you can include in your research. You are probably even going to enjoy some of your family’s favorite recipes. This Thanksgiving, our Thanksgiving table will have something on it that is not usually a part of our menu. Because of where Thanksgiving ended up on the calendar this year, my son’s birthday cake will be … Continue reading

Free Fall Fun!

If your calendar isn’t yet booked with fun things to do this fall, you might want to look around a bit. Now is one of the best times of year to find plenty of free events to entertain the kids and even the whole family. Check out the following options that may be available in your area. Trunk or Treat Many churches and places of worship sponsor trunk or treat events, that are either on a weekday or a weekend, during the day or in the evening, so there are a lot of scheduling options. During a trunk or treat … Continue reading

Special Needs Blog Week in Review – June 24 – 30, 2012

Every week, the Special Needs Blog Week in Review brings you a quick summary of each of the blogs that were posted here in the past seven days. It makes it easier for you to find out about the ones that you might have missed. The Special Needs Podcast Roundup went up on June 25, 2012. This week, I’d like to point out an episode of NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday”. The episode was called “Planes, Patience, and Slightly Kid-Friendlier Security”. This is a good one to listen to for parents who will be traveling by plane with their children this … Continue reading

An Easy Way to Start Your Genealogy Blog

Genealogy and technology are two things that are becoming increasingly interconnected. However, not all genealogists are going to be tech savvy enough to know how to get their very own genealogy blog started. MyFamily.com provides an easy way for genealogists to get their own genealogy blog online. I think that most genealogists are using the internet in order to do their research. Websites like Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, and the National Archives have become extremely popular. It is fairly easy to get started using sites like those to get some genealogy research done, and to add to your family tree. Problems begin … Continue reading

Prepare Your Calendar for Summer Vacation

If you have kids then you know that it is never too early to prepare for summer vacation. Your home life will change as the evenings grow longer and the children are home from school. Here are some ways that you can plan out those days and get your self prepared. The transition will be easier and less stressful that way. Make Note of Important Dates Do you know when the last day of school actually is? Are there half days coming up before then? Will there be parties, dances, fairs, last ditch school fundraisers going on. Make note and … Continue reading

Chinese New Year Birthday Party

Did you know that the seventh day of the Chinese New Year is considered “everybody’s birthday”? Today is the third day of the Lunar New Year which is a time for sons-in-laws to pay respects to their parents-in-law. In addition, families who’ve lost an immediate relative in the past three years will not be partying at other people’s homes tonight. Rather, the day is reserved for visiting cemeteries and remembering loved ones who are no longer on Earth. This tradition is practiced in China, as well as Taiwan, Vietnam, and other nations with a significant Chinese population. Here in the … Continue reading

A Calendar for Everyone

One thing I love about a new year is getting a new calendar, journal and planner. It’s the little things that make me happy. I love all that open space and all that time to make my life what I want it to be. That’s the idea anyway! I always keep a journal and a planner, I finally found a planner that has a full page for everyday so it can do double duty, this helps a ton, I can jot down things that happen during the day, funny things Hailey says and then end the day with my thoughts. … Continue reading

Planning for a New Year

The New Year is upon us and it is time to re-evaluate our homeschools. If you follow the traditional calendar then you have around five to six months left of school. Start the year off right by determining what needs to be changed to make the most of the last part of the school year. As homeschoolers we have the ability to be flexible and cut out what doesn’t work while keeping what does. Homeschoolers need to constantly evaluate the needs of our children and our homeschool. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you come off of winter … Continue reading