November 2012
  

December 2012 Sharing Time

Welcome to December's Sharing Time!
I can't wait to see all of the great holiday ideas you'll be linking to!
(Feel free to add ideas from past years too- I look forward to seeing your favourites :)



Healthy Habits to Prevent Sickness #HealthyFamilies

We have had some sickness going around at our house. You know how it is- someone comes home sick, and that just means the sickness is likely to find its way around the family and if you're lucky it won't get back to the one who started it- just after you think they're in the clear!

So, what are some habits that you've tried to teach your kids, to help them when they're out of the house (or in the house), to minimize the spread of the colds and viruses that are going around?

Here are a few we try for:

1. Cough/sneeze into your elbow! This is one that I'm always impressed that my kids remember to do because for the longest time I didn't realize that was better than your hand/fist (bad, I know! ;) so I still struggle with making that a habit for me!

2. WASH HANDS. Oh, how we remind our kids of this one. Over. and over. and over. We remind them about this many times a day. It'll get through to them someday soon, right? ;)

3. Take vitamins/echinacea (to help fight off those germs before they take over!)

4. Clean surfaces that might be touched often. (this one is more for at home) I like using those Lysol wipes, and my kids like it when they get to help wipe things down with them, too!

5. Lots of Rest! If it's too late, and the germs are in, try to take some down time! Katrina & I have spent some time laying on my bed watching videos and reading books in the last couple of weeks when she's been sick & I've been struggling with my sore hands. It's been great for both of us!

Disclosure: I am part of the Lysol® Healthy Families Ambassador Program by Mom Central. I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Anniversary

We're celebrating our 9th anniversary this month!



Sometimes it's crazy to think it's been that long- mostly because that implies that we're older than we feel we should be ;) But when I think back, sometimes it's hard to imagine what it was like to be single. These have been 9 very good years :)

First Snow

from the weekend.

I’m slowly aware of a 3-year-old making her way across our bedroom, to my side of the bed. Before she gets to my face and before my eyes open, Daddy reminds her not to wake us on a Saturday morning and she scurries out of the room. Before I can drift back into sleep, I gather that there is an accident on the carpet and a girl waiting in the tub. Miss 6-years-old calls upstairs & asks if I have read the note in the hallway outside of our room.

When I pull myself out of bed I find the note on the hall closet, “Befor opin ples look ewt side naw.” (Before open please look outside now)… the letter o’s in the word look are eyeballs with eyelashes. She’s excited because of the first snow last night and this morning we find the snow has actually stayed on the ground.

I get to work filling the tub, and the 6-year-old gets herself ready for the snow. Rain boots because we need to shop for snow boots later today. She hurries outside. I finish the 3-year-old’s bath, help her dry, help her dress. We watch Talia from the bedroom window. Then we dress Katrina in big sister’s too-small snow suit. Blow that dripping nose and send her out to the snow.

They are wild, running, making snow angels, packing snowballs, agreeing to have a snowball fight if they only throw them at each other’s backs. 6-year-old makes a pile of snow and they both run and jump. 3-year-old makes “a pillow” out of snow. I take a few photos through the window downstairs then I go up and warm up in bed with Hubby who is tired because his back pain kept him awake in the night.



Soon I return to the girls’ room to watch and listen from their bed, by the window. 6-year-old is throwing snow in the air and the wind carries it up, over the fence, into the neighbouring yards. Some falls back into our yard and it’s a homemade snow globe. I watch her repeat over and over and I think about how it’s magical. And I’m happy in this moment. And I can’t just sit here anymore without grabbing the laptop and typing this down.

I knock on the window to get 3-year-old’s attention and motion to her, not to eat the snow. Soon 6-year-old holds the snow up to her mouth with eyes locked on mine. I make a face. She pulls her hands away fast with a mischievous grin and yells through the glass, “I tricked you! I didn’t really do it!” And she does it a couple more times, each time making a silly face.

6-year-old has cold feet from the rain boots and no more clean socks. I send her to find my warmest pair. And 3-year-old is downstairs needing help getting her snowsuit off. Daddy is just out of the shower, dressed and ready, and goes down to help. 6-year-old comes to show me the socks she chose. She deems my pink socks the warmest, and her favourites. It’s time for warm oatmeal now.

In the background of all of this my fingers and wrists are hurting. But I’ve decided that the more I pay attention to the gifts, the more I’ll be able to focus beyond the pain. But that’s enough typing for now.

November 2012 Sharing Time

Welcome to November's Sharing Time! I can't wait to see what you link up! :)

Here's what's been going on at Raising Memories this week:

Giveaways:

The Giveaway for a $25 Gift Code to The Vintage Pearl is still open!


There's an Ad Space Giveaway going on right now. Go enter for your chance to get an ad on my sidebar! :)

A recipe & a NEW GIVEAWAY for the new Our Best Bites Recipe Book - Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites


I also posted about a Book I started reading, and shared a video about it.

Now, let's get to the link party!



Giving Thanks

It has been difficult to blog lately.
I'll be back soon I think.
In the meantime, what a coincidence, and how appropriate for American Thanksgiving.
Yesterday I began reading a book called one thousand gifts by Ann Voskamp.
(the video I shared in my last post is from her)



And today I found a post about the very idea and the book over at Chocolate on my Cranium.

Since I don't have much to say today, I thought I'd point you in her direction :)

Focus on the Good

I've had some things on my mind lately that have made me sad. There have been challenging times when I have let go of focusing on the positive, and started to focus on my worries.



A friend of mine shared this video with me.
This is good timing for me.
To be reminded to focus on the many, many gifts in my life.

I wanted to pass it on:


November 2012 Sharing Time

Welcome to November's Sharing Time! I can't wait to see what you link up! :)

Here's what's been going on at Raising Memories this week:

Giveaways:

The Giveaway for a $25 Gift Code to The Vintage Pearl is still open!


There's an Ad Space Giveaway going on right now. Go enter for your chance to get an ad on my sidebar! :)

A recipe & a NEW GIVEAWAY for the new Our Best Bites Recipe Book - Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites


I also posted a Ribbon Balloon Tutorial


Now, let's get to the link party!



The Mom Connection- On Being Thankful







I am teaming up this week with  Two in Diapers and Naptime Review for The Mom Connection!

Check out this week's fabulous panel of moms!

We are always wondering how other moms handle certain issues or dilemmas,
so each week we are going to tackle the questions of motherhood.

December 1st we will discuss:

How do you prepare for the holiday season with your children?

If you have some thoughts or advice on next week's topic please email
We would love for you to be part of The Mom Connection!





Now on to this week's topic!
How do you teach your children to be thankful?

Here is what a few of us had to say:

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Welcome! I'm Julie over at Naptime Review. I am a mom of 2 wild, crazy and beautiful girls. My oldest is almost 4 and my baby is 1. This is how teach my children to be thankful:



This is something I try to model and show my girls daily. I think it is very important to be thankful to other's and especially God.  I model this through prayer, thank you notes, phone calls and other acts of kindness.



This Thanksgiving, I created a "Thankful Cornucopia."  We all sat around the table and wrote things we were thankful for and stuffed them into the centerpiece. It was a simple family activity that modeled thankfulness. Click here if you'd like to see our beautiful centerpiece.



Hopefully by modeling thankfulness and constantly thanking God for all the blessings he has given us, they too will be thankful. The baby already says, "thank you," and it warms my heart.


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Hi! I'm Cassie
from Two In Diapers, and I'm a mommy to three sweet babies, ages 4, 3, and 18 months. This is how I teach my children to be thankful:

 
Thankfulness is so very important to me! I feel that it's necessary to teach right from the very beginning of life! Starting in my littles' babyhood, whenever anyone gives them something or compliments them, we tell them, "say thank-you" in a sing-song voice, even knowing that they are far too young to actually say those words. Before we know it, however, they are mimicking that exact same sing-song voice, "tee-koo" in just the right situations, which lets me know that they understand. While thanksgiving in life is so much larger than just the proper manners, I think it's important to  teach from the start that they have been blessed by someone else in some form and should be thankful for it.



Now that my babes are getting older, teaching them to be thankful has become a priority of mine. As with many things in parenting, I try to teach through modeling. Little Bentley {age 3} has been asking me constantly lately why I said
"thank-you" to someone. I've been taking that opportunity to explain to
him that it's because that person bagged up my groceries, opened the
door for us or dropped off our mail, and for that I'm thankful. I'm constantly saying little things like, "I think your friends were so nice to share all their toys with us today" after a playdate, and even, "I'm so thankful that the man came over to fix the... today?". I don't say these things to go overboard, but instead to try to show my littles that we should all be genuinely thankful for people. I feel that the more they hear it from me, the more aware they will be of others and the gifts they are given daily.



In the same way, I also try to remind my kids to be thankful to God for all that he's given us.


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My name is Courtney from The Chirping Moms. I am a mom of two little girls: Maggie (2) & Alexandra (1). This is how I teach my children to be thankful: Through giving. 



 It's not easy to teach kids to be thankful when they
are very little. I started really trying to teach Maggie the past week, using
Hurricane Sandy. It was a very scary storm for us. She's old enough to get that
the storm knocked a lot of trees down in our neighborhood, our park is closed
& we had no power for a while. I explained to her that we have to be
"thankful" that we were not hurt & our house & all of our
special things are still ok. I explained a lot of kids lost all of their toys
& books & that we should send some of ours. I had Maggie sort through
her books & pick out some that we could send in our package to a family we
are helping to "adopt".
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My name is Heather Lynne from Raising Memories. I am a mom of 2 children,
aged 3 and 6 and my blog is all about sharing fun things parents can do with
and for their kids, while making memories of this great time we have to raise
our children! Here are 2 ways I teach my children to be thankful
:

Being thankful is something my husband and I teach more than just at
thanksgiving- we work on this every day! We say family prayers, blessings on
the food at mealtimes, and our kids say personal prayers. We do all of these
every day, and the pattern of prayer that we teach always begins by thanking God
for our blessings, and we try to have our girls think of a few specific things
from their day or life that they’re grateful for. Another way we try to get
them thinking about being thankful is that every day at the dinner table, we ask
each person what their “high” was for the day. (This is the high point, or
their favorite thing that happened that day) We also allow them to share their
“low” which is a good opportunity for us to find out what’s on their minds, what
might be bothering them, or what difficult things they may be facing while
they’re away from us at school- or even when they’re at home with us- it might
help us know how we can do better! 

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My name is Jenni from The Good Long Road.
I am a mom of 2 boys nicknamed Wild Thing (3 yo) and Caterpillar (15 months) on
the blog because of their favorite books. This month we are focusing on
gratitude. This is how:



In November, inspired by the 21 Days of Gratitude Family Challenge (started by
Inspired by Family Magazine), I decided to concentrate on a daily gratitude
practice for Wild Thing. We do this by making Thank You Post Cards each day for
one person. 
Sometimes, he will mention a toy he is thankful for instead, so then we connect
that toy to the person who gave him the toy and make the post card for them. He
loves decorating the blank post cards (that are pre-stamped, which we got from
the Post Office). He learns gratitude and some early reading/literacy skills as
well. Win. Win.



As a family, we also started focusing more this month on Family Dinners -
completely unplugged. These meals offer opportunities for gratitude for the
goodness we have in our lives and remind us to be thankful for one another.



Finally, modeling for our children might be the most effective way to teach
them to be thankful. I try to take note of my own behavior. Am I
thankful/appreciative toward others on a daily basis? Do I thank my husband for
all that he does for our family? Do I thank the boys when they listen, clean
up, help out? Teaching thankfulness begins with being thankful.
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Your Turn:
How do YOU teach your children to be thankful?
Do you have any tips or advice?
Leave us a comment.
Love to hear from you!

Mini Puffed Oven Pancakes & Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites


A few weeks ago, I tried making Mini Puffed Oven Pancakes.
The recipe came from Sara & Kate who blog over at Our Best Bites

Here they are:


Tutorial Tuesday: How to Make a Ribbon Balloon

I'm posting at HowDoesShe today about how to make one of these ribbon balloons:



See you over there! :)

November 2012 Sharing Time

Welcome to November's Sharing Time! I can't wait to see what you link up! :)

Here's what's been going on at Raising Memories this week:

Giveaways:

New Giveaway for a $25 Gift Code to The Vintage Pearl!


There's an Ad Space Giveaway going on right now. Go enter for your chance to get an ad on my sidebar! :)

Today is the LAST DAY for the Shutterfly Giveaway - Enter to win $50 to spend at Shutterfly!


Other Posts:

I posted about our traditional Hallowe'en Candy Advent Calendar


and I shared a book review of an adorable children's Christmas book written by Thomas S. Monson.


We met Kim from The Money Pit for Feature Friday and you got a glimpse of some of the awesome home makeover projects she's got on her blog!


Now, let's get to the link party!



Feature Friday (The Money Pit)

It's been a while since I've done a feature friday- I don't know what it was exactly, but I think ever since we went away on our little vacation in September, things got busy with the blog (starting with the 1000 Follwers celebration), but I'm back with a great feature. I'm so impressed by Kim and what she can do! Enjoy :)





1. I have seen EVERY SINGLE episode of the TV Show House Hunters (and yes, there are 63 seasons of more than 940 episodes!) I still miss Suzanne Whang!
2. I grew up in Saudi Arabia (until I was 12)
3. I would rather shop for power tools than purses and I prefer the lumber yard to the nail salon.
4. I can't sing or play a musical instrument. The only thing I can do with music is listen to it.
5. My biggest vices are: Iced coffee, bacon and staying up way too late watching reality TV (see number 1)



The Money-Pit

I am a stay at home mom who is single handedly updating/renovating my 1988's tract home in the Bay Area of California. Previously I owned a 1905 Victorian in Boston and renovated that one as well. That is how my blog began,
Because that house was so old, and there were so many unexpected headaches, I called it "the money pit" and the name stuck! I also frequently blog about crafts, decorating and cooking, but my true love is DIY home improvement!




Kitchen Reveal


garage "mud room" made from Ikea Cabinets


Board and Batten in my girls' bedroom


Installing a Beadboard ceiling


Laundry Room Reveal


Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Hometalk



How/Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging way back in 2009 for just my friends and family. I only went public with my blog in 2011 after so many people asked about my projects and wanted details about how I did it all!

Has your reason for blogging changed? If so, why??

Definitely. In the beginning I blogged as a way of keeping my family and friends up to date on what I was up to. Now I use blogging as a way to be inspired and get feedback. I really feel like I get more back than I give.
For every project I post there are 1000s of posts out there that inspire me! By browsing link up parties, and following other bloggers on places like Pinterest, I am never lacking ideas for my next big project.

What it's like to be Kim! (you can do it, too!)

I am not a typical DIY blogger in the sense that my husband has absolutely NOTHING to do with my projects. Many DIY bloggers are couples, or at least have their husbands on board, but that isn't the case for me. I am 100% on my own, but that doesn't stop me.
I am always willing to try anything once. Plumbing, electrical, construction.. you name it. The guys at the Home Improvement store know me by name, and that is a fact I am actually really proud of. Especially since I also am a mom to 2 girls under the age of 6.
So between loads of laundry and getting dinner on the table, I am busy painting the garage, or installing can lights in the ceiling.. I hope I can empower more women to tackle their "honey-do" lists instead of waiting around for someone else to do it for them.

---------------------------

Would you like to see your blog featured here? I'll be doing a "Feature Friday" post, featuring one blogger & their blog on Fridays throughout 2012. If you have a blog that you'd like to see featured, please send me an email to raisingmemories at gmail dot com to submit your blog.

The Prophet, A Train, and the Joy of Giving

Ever since I started sharing book reviews for Deseret Book and Shadow Mountain,
my religion has been coming up more often on this blog!

The current prophet of our church is Thomas S. Monson. I think I've always felt like I had a connection with him because I knew that he knew my Grandpa :) President Monson served as president of the Canadian Mission from 1959-1962 and worked with my Grandpa then.

Anyway, a few years back, President Monson gave a talk that was published in the 1989 Ensign magazine, called Your Jericho Road. He shared a story in that from his childhood about an experience he had with a Christmas gift- a train set.

President Monson has recorded this personal story in his new picture book,
The Christmas Train (published by Shadow Mountain).



It's a great story that teaches about the importance of giving and the joy that comes from doing so (something that President Monson exemplifies in so many ways!) My girls were pretty excited when they heard that it was a true story from when President Monson was a little boy! It's illustrated beautifully by Dan Burr- here is a look at the artwork:



And here's some cool news: iPhone and iPad users can follow along and listen to President Monson read the story in his own voice when they purchase The Christmas Train app ($4.99) from the App store! The app includes animations and sound effects- how fun for kids to listen to the story while navigating trains and turning Christmas lights on and off :) This looks really neat!

(Oh, and if you're thinking of buying the book, there's a special offer on the page right now- looks like for a limited time, you can get a free CD of Pres. Monson reading the book! Check it out! <--click that link, and scroll down to where it says "SPECIAL OFFER" in red.)

Hallowe'en Candy Christmas Advent Calendar




The time is now!

Before they disappear, stash away your kids' M&Ms, Smarties, Skittles and other small candies, for use in this fun, DIY Christmas Advent Calendar!



Want to try this yourself?
Check out these links for our past calendars & tutorials:

Here's our 2009 Calendar & Instructions

Here's the 2010 Calendar

And the 2011 Calendar with Photo Tutorial

I've already grabbed cups at the dollar store & looking forward to making this year's!
(I think we might make one calendar for each girl this time since I thought ahead enough to set the right candies aside from Hallowe'en ;)

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Here's another advent idea that focuses on the Christmas story.


1000 Followers Celebration (The Vintage Pearl)

It's time for our final Celebratory giveaway! :)

I'm so excited to have the fabulous Vintage Pearl here to celebrate with me,
because I really really love their products!



The first thing I got from The Vintage Pearl was this necklace- it has each of our names on it (me, my hubby, and girls). I really love this necklace and it is the reason I have used tvp for gifts, and the reason I was so excited when they wanted to offer a giveaway to you!

Before we get to the giveaway, let me just share my experience because I know some of you will be reading this, looking for that.

My siblings & siblings-in-law all went in on this necklace for my mom and my mother-in-law, with each of their children's names on it one Christmas (which I'm pretty sure they both loved- they still wear them ;)

Most recently, I chose this sign language "i love you" necklace to review for you. I decided to get it domed, with the 'quirky' font, and I'm so happy with it!

I chose it because we are always doing the "I love you" sign to each other. It's something we do every day- when Talia leaves on the bus, we wave & we say "I love you" with our hands, when we say goodnight & walk out of the girls' room at night, we do it. When we look across a room and want to say "I love you", we do it. :) So, this necklace has special meaning to me.

The necklace came in a nice little drawstring bag with a small jewelery cleaning pad. And here's how it looks!



Okay, now I know you all want to get your own Vintage Pearl treasures!! :)

And one of you will win a $25 gift certificate to spend on your favourite item!
Just enter the form below for your chance to win! :)

(If you can't see the form, try this link)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


November 2012 Sharing Time

Welcome to November's Sharing Time! I can't wait to see what you link up! :)

Here's what's been going on at Raising Memories this week:

Giveaways:

There's an Ad Space Giveaway going on right now. Go enter for your chance to get an ad on my sidebar! :)

Shutterfly Giveaway - Enter to win $50 to spend at Shutterfly!

Other Posts:

I posted about Germ Bugs, a way to motivate your kids to clean properly!


and I shared engagement photos from my most recent photo shoot.


Now, let's get to the link party!



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