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Fall Craft Projects: Fun with Pumpkin Seeds

Sure, you can salt, bake, and snack on pumpkin seeds from now until well after Halloween, but believe me there are much more constructive (and need I mention, FUN) things you can do with the pale flat seeds than pick them out of your teeth. Here are just a couple kid-friendly craft projects that come alive with help from the seasonal seeds: Pumpkin Seed Necklace Leave it to Martha Stewart to figure out a way to turn a seed into a piece of jewelry. Got pumpkin seeds? Then you have the foundation for a pretty necklace. Simply, scoop the seeds … Continue reading →

Week in Review – Fun

Winter is gradually easing into spring. Lauri’s boys remind her that fun can be had in the simpliest of things in A Winter Thaw – Treasures From Trash. Sometimes the old crafts are the best. Read about Easy Paper Dolls and Shapes and String Figure Fun. Bookmarks can be great gifts, and can be as easy or complicated as you want. Read about a fun way to use bookmarks to encourage reading. If you are looking for an easy recipe for the kids to make, try Italian sodas. They are quick, delicious and look very festive. Every once in a … Continue reading →

String Figure Fun

Did you ever play with a piece of string and make a cup and saucer, or a broom, or Jacob’s Ladder? Using string to make shapes and figures is an old game. According to Cat’s Cradle by Anne Akers Johnson, people around the world have made string figures for ages including the Arctic Inuit who made reindeer and wolves out of string, and the Navajo made coyotes and owls. All you really need to play string games is a loop of string and two hands. A few string patterns need the loan a friend’s hand, but most don’t need any … Continue reading →

A String and a Button Toy

Tonight one of my nine year olds was playing with a long strand of beads that we use for Christmas decoration. The way he was twisting the strand to make the beads spin reminded me of a very old toy. You take a button and a long piece of string or yarn. The button needs to be the kind with holes through it, not the kind that is flat on front and has a single hole on the back. You put the string through a hole in the button and tie the string. Or you can put the string through … Continue reading →

Organization Has Gotten Away From Me

Today as I was putting away some dishes I came across a decorating tip that I had used on Thanksgiving for filling deviled eggs. Without a second thought I tossed it into this little drawer that is on the side of my sink, a drawer I never think about because I never open. When I pulled that drawer open to toss that decorating tip in there I was in shock. I could not believe what lives in this drawer. I’m really good about keeping the drawers in the kitchen organized but somehow this one has been overlooked. Let me first … Continue reading →

Channeling Anxiety Through the Body: Rita’s Story

It’s challenging enough dealing with the anxiety that lives in our minds. But when it is channeled through the body – as it always is – anxiety works us over double time. Sometimes it manifests as a tightness in the gut, or clenching of the teeth or hands. Over time, though, anxiety takes a more dangerous toll on our physical sides, from ulcers and panic attacks, to high blood pressure and heart attacks. What’s worse is when we add fuel to the fire, treating our bodies in ways that only make anxiety worse. Rita knows this all too well. Promptly … Continue reading →

We Might Be Getting Life Insurance

Next week, my husband and I are going back to visit with our insurance agent. When we visited her before, we renewed our car insurance, and figured out what we needed to do in order to correctly document our property for our homeowners insurance. We talked with her about health insurance options, and were disappointed to learn, after we “crunched the numbers” that what they could offer was too expensive for us to afford. The next thing to sort out would be life insurance. Life insurance is important because it gives financial assistance to the beneficiary after a loved one … Continue reading →

Help Your Preschooler Get Ready to Write!

I remember my grade three teacher well. Unfortunately, I mostly remember her for the little plastic triangle that she would place on my pencil in an attempt to get me to write with the correct hand position. I was a sweet and docile student, but I bit that little plastic triangle in half. Yes, I bit it in half, and continued to write in an incorrect hand position that I still use to this day. Later, in grade seven, I was a straight A student, with the exception of handwriting. For that, I got a solid F. Little wonder that … Continue reading →

Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving with Your Spouse

How do you normally celebrate Thanksgiving? Do you stuff yourself on the traditional turkey fare? Once stuffed, do you then collapse in front of the TV to half nap, half watch football? Do you rush between houses to see all branches of the family tree? Or does your whole family gather in one place and play games, like perhaps a friendly match of touch football? Last year Wayne and I went to Denver, where our families both live, and caught up with everyone. That was a big deal for us, because most years we’re pretty low key. Either we get … Continue reading →

Penny Football

Summer travels often bring some unexpected down time. Penny football is a good game to fill up some moments. Since this is a casual lunchroom developed game, there are several versions of rules. All you need to play are three pennies, two players, and a table. A smallish table works best. You can still play on a large table, but you may want to state boundaries so that the coins don’t get to far off track. Flip one of the coins to see who goes first. The winner of the coin toss places the three coins in a triangular formation … Continue reading →