Family Reunion on a Budget

Cousin's Club

(minus seven)

All twenty grandkids (plus their fourteen parents) are buzzing in and out of town this month, and that means a bunch of reunions. The fun is priceless, but can also get pricey.

I've discovered memories don't need to be expensive. Last Saturday's party-in-the-park (for 22 people) cost me under $20! Each family brought their own picnic, I furnished tablecloths, and the dollar store provided the entertainment:

Lars and Will

1. Funky plastic teeth for skits.

2. Jump rope (even the adults were jumping!)

Eliza and Jill duet

3. Two plastic microphones for an impromptu talent show: sixty seconds to prepare. There were songs, jokes, skills—we called out states and Chloe named the capitals; we called out states and Jacque named the teams. Scott did math problems in his head; Will climbed a tree. No practices or instruments necessary, and nobody was left out.

4. Critter hunt. ($4 worth of plastic bugs playing hide and seek.)

5. Squirt guns: Fill 'em up at the drinking fountain. Rule: You can't shoot at anybody who doesn't have a squirt gun.

Chloe and Lucy

6. Straw Relay: The teams passed gummy lifesavers with straws.

7. Paper Relay: Use the same straws. Suck up a piece of paper, run the course without dropping the paper—no hands. Repeat until one team finishes.

Jillian June (I think)

8. Soap on a rope: Carve ivory soap with plastic knives, and hang from a piece of string.

9. Flying High: Put together and fly wooden glider airplanes.

10. Glow-in-the-dark bracelet tag.

Family reunions don't have to be elaborate, painstaking or expensive. The preparation for this party was minimal—a group e-mail, thirty minutes in the dollar store, a bunch of cousins and a lifetime of memories.

Do you have any cheap, fun suggestions?


(I'm repeating myself here. This was originally posted August, 2010.)

Camping With Kids: Survival Skills

Will

Ten life skills we learned in the woods:

Who's who?

Every thing's easier with a friend.

Jake sharpens his skills

When you're having fun,
it doesn't seem like work.

Straw relay

Sometimes you have to just suck it up.

Stars in her eyes

It's a big surprise when your kids grow up.

Anna Jo

Cool people are cool in all circumstances.

Oma tent

"There's nothing like having grandchildren
to restore your faith in heredity." ...Doug Larson

Reflection

You can learn a lot if you ponder what you see.

String together some memories.

A person who smiles is fun to be with.

A walkie-talkie

We can get lost if we don't communicate.

On the path

Hold hands and stay together.


I'm repeating myself again.
This post is a couple of years old but still holds true.

Write a Children's Book

The Oma Storybook Collection is one of my hobbies.

I'm writing our family history as a children's book, with stories about Dee and I growing up, how we met, and anecdotes about our parents and grandparents. At the same time, I'm assembling materials and doing research for a children's book on our family in England from the Battle of Hastings until they came to America in 1630. It's an exciting and overwhelming project that I've been working on for the past few years.

But the grandkids aren't waiting! I want them to grow up knowing these stories and since they're growing up faster than I'd anticipated, I print out each chapter as I finish writing it, put a spiral binding on it, and send it off to them. Eventually they'll get the chapters all compiled and beautifully bound together in one book, but this way they can learn our history step-by-step as I go along. Seeing their excitement is my motivation to keep typing and make this a reality.

My biggest challenge has been how to illustrate my books without plagarizing other people's art work. I need to get away from scanning and learn how to create my own, so I'm trying out different ideas with each chapter I print for the kids. I just finished Dee and the Giselas, a story about Dee as a little boy, and this time I staged some photo-shoots using the grands as the main characters. It was so fun to have them learn about Opa as they acted out his story for the camera. Then I collaged them together (since the kids live in five different states!) I just have to share some excerpts:

Gordon B. Hinckley said our own family stories are worth telling and re-telling.
Have you recorded yours?

(I'm doing an Oma's Write Stuff Workshop in the woods this week,
so I decided to repeat myself in this post from 2009.)

Camping With Kids: Family Ties

Chloe
(pictures by Scott)

One kid's relaxation is another kid's "What shall we do?"
Out comes an Oma kit:

Eleven kids, eleven balls of yarn (eleven different colors.)

Instructions:
Unroll your yarn to make a giant web.
It can't touch the ground or any other color, except to cross over.
The first person to run out of yarn wins.


Very ingenious, Emmie!


Now, rewind!


Luke's almost finished—
This prize better be good.

Tickets to a Mountain Mama concert?

"Too much of a good thing," said Sam.


And now, it's Opa's annual bubblegum contest!



Yeah, whatever.


Just put your lips together and blow.

Bubble boy.


Almost . . .



Perfect!

Make some family ties.

I'm repeating myself with a post from last year.
Do you have some good family reunion ideas?

Celebrating Peace

Spectators at the Parade by Norman Rockwell

"I want a little piece of peace."

People go lots of places in search of peace: a mountain top, a bubble bath, a voting booth, a garden, a museum, a convent. We all long for peace, but few of us have much enthusiasm for doing what actually creates it. Peace isn't like an unexpected rain shower; it is achieved deliberately. And luckily we don't have to wait for the whole world to be at peace to live in a peaceful world.

As a new bride I decided to create a home where our family could retreat from the tension and conflict of daily life. I had some great ideas of what this peaceful haven would be like. Interestingly, Dee had different great ideas. We discussed, then debated, then argued.

A war happens when one side wants their own way more than they want peace, and I was willing to go to war—lay down my life, if need be—to prevail. Dee wanted peace. I wanted to win, but I actually wanted more than that; I wanted to be right. It took me a while to realize that I was the cause of tension and conflict even while I was trying to carry out my dream of peace. I didn't understand that peace involved more than agreeing on a Christmas tree or who should wash the dishes.

Peace is not just an absence of hostilities, it is a state of mind; a decision to be cheerful, understanding, kind, loving and lovable.

"Men who cry for peace sometimes look upon peace as something that may be picked as an apple from a tree, something that lies about within easy reach of humanity. If I pick an apple from a tree, I have first planted the tree, cared for it, watered it, brought it to maturity. Then in due time I may have the fruit.

"So with peace. It is not a thing by itself to be picked up casually, but it is the fruit of something sown.

"Peace can only be obtained by the use of a body of principles which, if obeyed, in time would give us peace. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. There is the way to peace."

---John A. Widtsoe

I love the Young Women's succinct list of Christ's teachings. When I apply them to myself, and remember they apply to others, the result is peace, in every circumstance.

1. Faith (The Lord will bless me.)
   
2. Divine Nature (I am a child of God.)
   
3. Individual Worth (I have something worthwhile to contribute.)
   
4. Knowledge (I must search for wisdom and truth, and learn from experience.)
   
5. Choice and Accountability (I will take responsibility for my choices.)
   
6. Good Works (I will serve others gladly.)
   
7. Integrity (I will be honest in my dealings, and repent when I fall short.)
   
8. Virtue (I will strive to be pure in my actions and thoughts.)

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work for it."

My marriage, my family, my home, my neighborhood: this is where I work for it. I want world peace, but I'm more likely to make a difference in my own little piece of the world.

(I'm repeating myself by reposting an old post. But I still believe it!)