My son knows that Easter is coming and that we will be traveling to MomMom and PopPop’s house this year. He is so excited and keeps asking, every single day, “how many days until Easter?”

I got tired of saying, “it’s a lot of days.” Or, “it’s a long time away.” At Christmas, we use an advent calendar and that really helped him understand how long away it was. We try so hard to get our kids excited, but if you tell them about special days too soon, it’s something you might regret.

A couple of nights ago we created a paper chain to use as an advent calendar of sorts. Each paper link on the chain represents one day. Each morning my son can rip a chain off the link. As the link gets smaller, he’ll know that Easter is getting closer. I think he was surprised how many links we needed — 32 days is a lot of links. Since we made the chain, he hasn’t once asked how many days until Easter? Mission accomplished.

How to make a paper chain:

• Cut paper into about 1 inch wide strips. No ruler needed. We used a paper cutter and just eye-balled the measurement. I even used scrap paper. It would certainly look more festive with construction paper or scrap booking paper, but I used what we had available.
• Form a circle with paper strip and glue or staple ends together. We opted for the stapler because my son loves using it and we didn’t have to wait for the glue to dry.
• Intersect second strip into first circle. Staple/glue second strip together to form circle.
• Intersect third strip into second circle. Staple/glue third strip together to form circle.
• Continue intersecting, stapling until chain is complete.

I added numbers to each circle so that I would know how many days are left without having to count the chain the next time I get asked the how many days question.

Just so you know … there are 30 days until Easter.

Baby photo credit: doriana_s

• If you have simple PhotoShop skills you can follow my easy to use instructions to download this free photo frame (shown above) and add your own image inside the red frame. Instructions are at the end of this post.
• There’s time to make chocolate covered strawberries. And, they’re quick and easy. The kids would have fun with this project.
• Valentine’s Day crafts for kids.
• If you’ve got some time today or even tomorrow you could attempt to make a Valentine’s Day cake that will *wow* everyone who get a piece. There’s a surprise on the inside — when you cut into the cake it displays a red heart. The baker shows a simple tutorial on her blog. You’ve got to see it.
• One of the allrecipe.com users, Celeste, submitted a photo of a Valentine’s Day (or I should say Night) picnic she created for her and her husband fireside at their home. Looks very romantic.
• RealSimple.com has a Valentine’s Day dinner menu that claims to be “stress-free.”

When all else fails, wait until the kids are in bed and put on a movie. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you are together.

Photo Frame How to:

1. Open valentinewrap.psd in PhotoShop.
2. Click (highlight) on the “Insert your photo here” layer.
3. In a new window, Open your photo.
4. Size your photo to 375 x 500 (width x height). (Go to the Image menu, choose Image size, type in your dimensions and click OK.)
5. Drag your photo to the open valentinewrap.psd file. Since the Insert your photo here layer is highlighted it should show up behind the red border.
6. Save the file as a JPG. (File Menu, Save as.)

DOWNLOAD THE FILE NOW.

Enjoy!

I have much to be thankful for this past year, most specifically the birth of my daughter who made me a mom all over again, who made her dad a father to a baby girl and made my son a big brother. We are so lucky to have this miracle in our lives.

I want to thank you, all the readers of this blog, for your time and your return visits. I have seen a steady increase in traffic during the past year which has given me inspiration for an even bigger 2010. I am in the process of making some goals for the blog that include a new look and more posts.  I don’t have an implementation timeline just yet, but have begun the work of figuring out what I need to do next.

Here’s to hope, blessings and victories in the new year.

Happy New Year!

Photo courtesy stock.xchng

Each year for Christmas my husband received an ornament. When we were married this box (boxes) of ornaments came with him. These mementos from his childhood adorn our tree every year along with cherished ones we’ve collected together.

We’ve started this tradition with our children. Each year they receive an ornament to commemorate the year. If there is no year on it, I find an inconspicuous place to mark the child’s name and the year. One day, when they move out. They will have their own box of precious keepsakes from our Christmas’ together as a family.

The ornament pictured here is one of my favorites. It’s one I picked up from a unique Christmas shop in Alexandria, VA, while on a business trip. I fell in love with the shape and colors of this fragile, glass ornament and found a way to keep it as a carry on without it breaking on the trip back to Florida.

I got our all of our children’s Christmas books a week or so ago and we’ve been reading them every night with my son. I particularly like “Memories of the Manger.” It’s a story you probably know. One that you may have already read to your children during the Christmas season. But, this book is sweet in that it tells the story of Jesus’ birth through the farm animals that live in Bethlehem.

A white dove narrates the story as he delights in telling the story of how Mary and Joseph arrived at the manger and what it was like when the baby was born. Some of the animals ask the dove questions that your children might be asking and the dove graciously answers.

Beautifully illustrated and told, this is a book worth having in your home to read and reread each year at Christmas.