Search Results for: blog make your own gingerbread house

Five Free Fun Ideas Your Family Probably Isn’t Doing

By now you know how to save money on family fun, but are you really taking advantage of all of the fun family free stuff that is out there? There are plenty of things to do, to see and to learn that can be geared toward the different talents and interests of yourself, your kids and the family as a whole. If your family isn’t doing them, you could be losing out on a lot of free fun. 1. Join free classes and clubs. There are a number of free classes and clubs out there, just waiting for someone to … Continue reading →

Entertaining Your Little Ones

When you have little ones running around it can be hard to entertain them day in and day out. Their little attention spans require a wide range of activities to keep them busy and as a single mom running from one thing to the other all day it can be hard to think of simple things to keep them from getting bored during the day. I’m not sure what people did before the internet, but lucky for you, there are a ton of fun ideas to do with your kids, especially during the winter months when you can’t send them … Continue reading →

Spicy Gingerbread

When most people think of gingerbread, they think of gingerbread houses, or gingerbread cookies shaped like little men. . .or to be more ecumenical, little ‘people’. . .but gingerbread actually has it’s origins as bread and not cookies. It wasn’t until much later that the notion of shaped cookies came and interestingly it was popularized by the famous fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. (Some food historians believe that gingerbread cookies as we know them, originated from Germany while cake like gingerbread was popular in other places in Europe.) Regardless of its origins, traditional cake like gingerbread makes a wonderful … Continue reading →

Sugarplums and Gingerbread: Create a Tree Good Enough to Eat

Make it a magical holiday for children of all ages when you create this yummy tree that is as beautiful as it is delicious. Just imagine the awe on the faces of the little ones when they see a tree filled with all sorts of good things to eat, such as gingerbread boys and wrapped chocolate truffles. You can create this tree as your main tree or as an additional smaller supplemental tree. The idea also works well for anyone just starting out in their home, because the “ornaments” can be had easily. If you plan the tree out with … Continue reading →

2006 in Review: Homeschooling Blog at a Glance

As a new homeschooling blogger at Families.com, I wanted to know everything that has been discussed to date. In response to my own curiosity, and in an effort to make perusing our articles easier for you, our readers, I have compiled all of the blogs for the year 2006. Deciding to Homeschool Why homeschool Am I qualified for this? Reasons that Homeschooling Works! My Most Important Advice for Homeschoolers. The Cost of Homeschooling Instead of standing up for their own kids, why not stand up for all kids? Disclaimer: I am hardly an expert in education. Did You Know? ‘Empirical … Continue reading →

BAH HUMBUG? 20 Ways to Share the Christmas Spirit with Your Kids

Several days ago, one of my kids said to me, “Mom, it doesn’t feel like Christmas. I’m not feeling the Christmas spirit.” I gulped. What? I had a Christmas tree, lights, decorations, the works. So I wrote down all the fun Christmas memories I’d had as a child. I thought I’d make a checklist, to see how many fun Christmas activities my family could still accomplish (without stress) to make this a very memorable holiday season. (I apologize to readers who aren’t Christian. I only have my own family traditions to access here.) It’s not too late to share the … Continue reading →

Decorating Your Home For The Holidays—How Do You Stack Up?

An 18-foot Douglas fir decked out with glass ornaments, red satin bows, and cotton snow; 10-foot tall Nutcrackers standing guard at the entrance to a living area; hundreds of yards of garland, dozens of wreaths, and half a dozen gingerbread house centerpieces… no, I’m not describing what the inside of my house looks like this time of year; rather I’m describing all the Christmas pageantry inside the White House. Did I mention the first family’s home even has ivy topiaries shaped like their pets– Scottish terriers Barney and Miss Beazley, and the first cat, Willie? It may put our house … Continue reading →

The Homeschoolers’ Advent Calendar: Gingerbread Structures

In just two hours, we will be on our way to our home schooling co-op for a lesson in physics (compliments of my husband) and the fine art of gingerbread making. Well, technically we’re using graham crackers. . .but we’re using real frosting and we’re using real candy to build a winter wonderland of gingerbread structures. Maybe it’s just me, because we live in a city with tons of bridges, but the study of structure has fascinated me. It actually started to fascinate my highly observant son who noted that most bridges are made out of triangles–which is true. This … Continue reading →

A Gingerbread House Made Easy

I grew up with my mother putting together a gingerbread house every year that we would decorate as a family. The gingerbread house would feature white snow frosting, a chocolate-orange stick fence, and green colored popcorn ball trees. One year she even made a blue candy pond. Her mother had done the same thing. I wanted to continue the tradition with my own children. So a couple of years ago I found a gingerbread house pattern on-line and copied it off. I then proceeded to make the same gingerbread recipe that had been in my family for years. But somehow … Continue reading →

BITSS of Body Ownership.

From the moment we are born, our body belongs to us. Our body is part of our human signature. Babies may need to rely on adults to care for them but each baby’s body is still unique: they have their own skin, tone, imprints, hair, voice, size and shape. A newborn baby has little understanding of where their body begins and ends, so as loving carers, we engage in touch, good touch, to teach our babies what is theirs and what is ours. We stroke them, massage them and put clothes on them to give a message of body boundaries … Continue reading →