Family Traditions

I really like to create and uphold traditions (enjoyable activities). I think it is a good idea to review our traditions now and then.  When our family was very young, I decided to have a close look at our family’s traditions. I looked at the things we did and why we did them. I asked ‘why are we doing this and do we want to do this?’ I did notice that most of the traditions came from my side of the family. Mainly because I am the woman and my husbands family is in another province.  I asked my husband what traditions he wanted to include in our family from his childhood.  We then worked on building our own traditions based on our values.  We ended some things and we started new things. Some of our Christmas traditions include: advent; decorating the tree; holiday baking; Christmas light sightseeing; and other activities. It has been wonderful creating our own traditions and seeing our girls embrace these.

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Advent – Children

It is always such a joy to include young children in the Christmas preparations. I like the following advent idea and have used it many times myself.

On or before December 1, put the nativity in its place without the figurines. Each day in December, allow your child/children to move the figurines (except for baby Jesus) to various spots in the home (you can set boundaries as to which rooms). The idea is that the figures are traveling closer to the nativity. On Christmas Eve, the child/children place all the figures in the nativity.  At this point, baby Jesus is placed the nativity. Christmas eve is the first time baby Jesus is visible to the child/children.  My girls moved the figures once a day about the same time each day. This is a great way to focus on the message of Christmas in the midst of Santa and toys.

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Cosmetics – Online Shopping

I came across this website recently  – Well.ca.  It is a Canadian online drugstore –  (good for us Canadians).  Shipping is free.  I looked at a few products that I use and found the prices to be very reasonable.  I will be ordering soon.  Check out the blog also. Bye for now, Linda

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Spinach

In my part of the world, the weather is getting chilly. As I think about winter cooking,  spinach comes to my mind. I discovered frozen spinach when my girls were younger and life was very full. Frozen spinach, in my mind, is one of the best inventions ever. It is convenient, inexpensive, full of nutrients, and already chopped. I add it thawed, just before serving, to: soups; stews; chili; and spaghetti sauce. I use fresh spinach also.  I buy the pre – washed bag for convenience. I like to add it to a sandwich wrap for lunch. I use it in salads often. Sometimes I put fresh spinach in the bottom of individual soup bowls and just pour hot soup over it. I also add fresh spinach to: soups; stews; chili; and spaghetti sauce. Spinach adds wonderful color to dishes also. There are so many ways to use spinach – be creative, you won’t be disappointed. Bye for now. Linda

P.S. Our lovebirds really like spinach too.

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My First Post Ever

This is my first post ever.  I thought I would jump right in although I am still learning about blogging and using WordPress. My target audience is women of all ages. I hope to update the blog weekly. Any additional posting will be bonuses.   I have added links to two websites that I enjoy looking at. The sites are: Homemade Simple and Readers Digest. These sites provide good wholesome information on many topics of interest. Thanks for stopping by. Linda

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