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Celebrating Lunar New Year’s Eve

Lunar New Year festivities are already underway in Beijing. Massive firework displays, colorful parades and high-energy street parties kicked off the 15-day celebration. In the United States, the Year of the Dragon is ushered in at midnight and ends with the Lantern Festival on February 6th. To commemorate the holiday, make like the Chinese and get cleaning. People in China believe you should begin a new year with a fresh start. By purging unnecessary items from your home you decrease clutter and bring harmony and balance to your life. In addition, a deep-clean is thought to rid bad luck and … Continue reading →

Happy New Year

If you are a single parent chances are while all everyone else is out on the town celebrating you are at home with the kiddos. It’s time to start a new tradition. Have a New Years Eve party with the kids. If you have other single parent friends then you can all get together and celebrate with the kids. Have a little party, make sherbet punch and lots of finger foods. Make a Happy New year banner and hang it up. As part of the party have the kids make noisemakers and streamers. Toilet paper rolls filled with dried beans … Continue reading →

Ringing in the New Year…With or Without My Children

It is one of my most favorite times of the year, New Year’s Eve. My family has always had a tradition of spending it together. We splurge on food items like lobster, shrimp or steak. I stock up on plenty of Welch’s Sparkling Grape Juice. And I always buy a new game for us to play. Most years we also watch a “Three Stooges” marathon. Some years we toast the New Year in while sitting in our hot tub. Other years my eyes are barely open as the clock strikes midnight. But the point is that we are always together. … Continue reading →

Holiday Traditions

Each family has its own unique set of holiday traditions. Whatever the traditions in your family, it is likely that you can look back through the years and see how certain things became a part of what your family does. For example, my father’s side of the family has always gotten together on Christmas Eve. I think that this tradition started when my cousins and I were born because each set of new parents had two sets of grandparents to include in their Christmas visiting schedule. Instead of trying to have each set of cousins make it to two sets … Continue reading →

Spreading Smucker’s Traditions Recipe and Essay Contest,

The J.M. Smucker company which has been operating for 110 years never fails to offer fine tasting jams and jellies which make the family breakfast table a bit cozier. Smucker’s jams and jellies are also a healthier alternative to cream cheese or butter. Try some of your favorite fruit spread on an English muffin and you will gladly say goodbye to the high fat bagel and cream cheese habit. Unless, of course, you use fat free cream cheese and decide to add a dollop of Smucker’s fruit spread for a deluxe breakfast treat. Adding jams and jellies for sweetness instead … Continue reading →

Family Traditions

One area that we were asked about during our Home Study was what family traditions we had or that we would like to do with our children, and also what the extended family thought about them. We had never really given any thought to it so this made us actually sit down and have a great discussion about traditions and the holidays. We started by making a list of the different major holidays and then started talking about what each of us did growing up and what parts of that did we want to make as our own traditions. You … Continue reading →

Celebrating the Year of the Rabbit

I used to live on the fringes of Honolulu’s Chinatown when I was in my 20s. Loved the waterfront location and close proximity to Aloha Tower Marketplace, but I dreaded Chinese New Year. Don’t get me wrong, I respect the Chinese culture. Love, love the food, music and cultural traditions, but the endless firecrackers that my neighbors set off ALL.DAY.LONG. was enough to make me move to Wisconsin. Okay, that’s not the real reason I moved, but I digress. The point is that if you are looking for a rockin’ place to celebrate the Chinese New Year, Honolulu is a … Continue reading →

What’s Your Family’s New Year’s Eve Tradition?

Holiday traditions are an excellent way to make and keep connections with the other members of your family. Many people turn on the TV, catch the countdown, and watch the ball drop in Times Square. A lot of people will always spend New Year’s Eve surrounded by crowds at a large gathering. Does your family have a traditional way to celebrate on New Year’s Eve? It’s fairly common to make New Year’s Resolutions on December 31, or January 1, and some family traditions include telling people what your resolutions for the new year will be. If you, and a few … Continue reading →

Celebrating New Year’s With Your Kids

New Year’s with your kids is a fun way to celebrate the holiday. They get a kick out of it because they hear so much talk about it. To celebrate makes them feel very grown up. It also gives them a good excuse to stay up late. Here are some neat things to do with your kids on New Year’s Eve: Order take out food that they like for the “big night”. Most kids like pizza, but this list could also include chicken wings, Chinese, fast food or any other kind of food that is reserved only for special times. … Continue reading →

Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and many of us are looking forward to getting together with our families to celebrate. As with all holidays, there had to be a “First Thanksgiving” from which all of our modern-day festivities originated. Exactly when and where this happened is a matter of debate, but many Americans believe that it happened in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The celebration was similar to harvest celebrations that were common in Europe around the time when the Pilgrims came to America. The first Thanksgiving was very meaningful, for the Pilgrims had much to be thankful for – not only … Continue reading →