Create New Christmas Holiday Family Traditions for the Season

Now that Thanksgiving 2007 has come and gone, for me it’s time to start planning for Christmas. Little Moomette is up and running now, and our tree will probably be decorated with ornaments from the top to about half-way down. Again. My DDs are grown, but I have plenty of pictures of only a half-decorated tree with only the most precious ornaments out of reach! And the Cat is now 11, and too lazy to attempt to play with anything. He prefers to just ‘hide’ from Moomette anywhere he can find ~ and probably to get away from those Antlers we have him wear for photos!

I’m trying to start some ‘New’ traditions, and came across this delightful article at SMARTMOMS~SMARTBUSINESS that I’d like to share with you. Happy Holidays!

Christmas Tradition: Ten Tips for Your Family This Year

Christmas Tradition is one of those bedrock moments that create family memories. In this fast paced world and with families living so far apart it is hard to keep family Christmas traditions alive. Don’t let that stop you from cultivating really meaningful traditions that transcend time and locations. I will give you some great and easy tips that will make your family smile for years to come. You are only young once, and children adore the mystery in Christmas. It does not take and should not take a lot of money for you to have a very meaningful, fun filled Christmas season.

Tip #1 – Start reading a favorite Christmas story every night before bed. There are so many to choose from. You can feature both spiritual and cultural masterpieces for your children in quiet moments that impact their tender little hearts. Imagine being curled up on the couch with your family, the glow of the lights of the tree, hot cocoa, snuggling with your children and reading tales of mystery every night of the month. Who knows what they are thinking of as you share with them the traditions that have been repeated for centuries?

Tip #2 – Wear red. During the month of December wear red clothing as often as you can. Red is the symbolic color signaling “preparation”. Use it as a teaching moment to remind your children of the true meaning of Christmas. We are preparing our hearts for a marvelous gift.

Tip #3 Put jingle bells on their shoes (if you can handle the noise). There is one thing for sure young children love jingle bells. This will keep their little hearts all a flutter. Another benefit, you will always know where they are.

Tip #4 – Give each child a special new ornament every year for Christmas. Sign their name and date it on the bottom. This can be something you give them when they leave the house and start a family of their own. In our family, our parents give our children their ornaments. It is a special treasure they can’t wait to get from their grandparents on each side. Once your children are old enough you can set up a small tree in each of their rooms to showcase their very own ornaments.

Tip #6 – Do family fun crafts every year. Pick a night that is marked on the calendar for Family Craft night. String garland, make ornaments, or create an advent wreath for your dinning room table. There are as many ideas available as there are days in December so pick one of your favorites every year and make something together as a family. Maybe for your family it is baking and decorating Christmas cookies. What ever you decide, make it fun and don’t stress out about the outcome. It is about enjoying the moment and not having picture perfect crafts.

Tip #7 Make it Sensory. Include all of your senses. Did you know if you include 2 or mores senses in any given task, your brain is hundreds of times more likely to remember it than if you didn’t? That is why Christmas is so memorable with all of the sights, sounds, scents, hugs, and singing. It is a sensory extravaganza. Including many senses allows your child’s brain to really grab hold of the moment. Play Christmas music in the background as often as you can and cook wassail on the stove to infuse your home with scents.

Tip #8 – Be Generous. Make giving a family affair. Bake fresh breads and other treats that will be deliver to friends and neighbors. Enjoy the process of preparing, wrapping and presenting this heart felt packages. Allow your children to create the cards and insert a family picture with your newest contact information with every delivery. It will keep the connection all year long. Make a few extra to deliver to a local nursing home. Show your children that it is better to give than receive and it will stay with them for a lifetime.

Tip #9 –Create a Christmas memory book. What do you do with all of the pictures and newsletters you receive starting after Thanksgiving? Start a photo album that you add to every year. This will be a fun pastime that you can include your children in after every trip to the mailbox. They will be excited to see all of the changes their friends and family go through over the years. Make sure you have your own newsletter or thoughtful card ready to go out and add current contact information or website/email addresses that will help your friends and family stay connected all year. Be sure to take a family picture. This is the perfect time of year to update you family’s portrait. It can be funny, or serious, professional or artistic just record the moment. Make that picture the beginning picture of every year you add in your memory book.

Tip #10 – Throw a party. Open your home up to friends and loved ones, neighbors and colleges. Let your children be an integral part in the planning of the event. It doesn’t need to take tons of money, just a little forethought. Make it a potluck or experiment with a progressive dinner. Inviting people into your home allows your children to participate in a larger sense of the season. Make your home a haven that busy travelers can rest in. Use this time to build into your families relationships with those you are connected with. It will be a gift that lasts throughout the year.

These tips take a little time and preparation but the memories gained will far out weigh the work put into them. Remember, these are memories that will last a life time. Slow down this Christmas season and savor every moment, because in the end, your children will rarely remember what they got for Christmas. They will remember what you did as a family and your thoughtful Christmas tradition.

Amber Bishop is the co-founder of www.smartmoms-smartbusiness.com and www.smartmoms.freeforums.com ;online resources for work at home moms. She is also the owner of www.homeschool-diva.com She stays home and home schools her three children while building a successful home based business._________________

Amber Bishop
Smart Moms – Smart Business!
Homeschool Diva Blog
4fabmoms blog

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Moomette’s Best WAHM Site ~ Blog Award Winners

Moomettesgram’s Musings is proud to offer this special graphic award to Super WAHM-owned Websites!

Celebrating how far Women have come – and how much farther they can go!

Here’s to all the recognition that women have sought to achieve and deserve!

Once you have won please have a Live Link back to http://moomettesgramsmusings.com

What is a Best WAHM Website?

You must have your own WAHM or WAHG Website, Blog and address.

No Affiliate Websites will be considered.

No Adult Party sites will be considered.

You must have an ecommerce, ebiz website that is 100% Family Oriented.

Your website or blog must be easy to navigate and interesting.

Your website or blog must offer specific products and/or information, or interesting, informative advice specifically targeting women, families, Working Moms (or Dads), WAHM or WAHG, or Baby Boomers, without pop up ads, or Splash Pages.

You must permanently place your Award in a prominent place on either your home page, or Award Page, and be able to link back to http://moomettesgramsmusings.com

Periodic site checks will be done. Any site that doesn’t have the award posted as indicated above will be removed from the Award Winner List.

Please Contact me at:

WINNERS OF THE BEST WAHM SITE ~ BLOG AWARD

A Pocket Full of Buttons

The Bantering Blonde

The Dirty Shirt

A Frugal Friend

Mama Michie’s Musings

Sited and Blogged

Saving Cents with Sense

The Life of a College Stay at Home Mom

Dore’s Diaries

Accidental Mommies ~ What’s That Smell

Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery

The Mummy Diaries

Laura Williams’ Musings

Mommy Knows Everything

That Crazy Mom

Roxiticus Desperate Housewives

Lady Java’s Lounge

Vibrant Healthy U

The Mom With Brownies

WAHM Trade

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Musings…Memories of Thanksgiving Cooking Traditions Past and Future

The pine cone handmade Turkeys that my girls made are on the mantel. The Turkey decorative pillows are in place in the Living Room. So’s the Gobbler decoration greeting everyone by the Front Door outside. But this Thanksgiving will be a little different at our house. In the past, our table was full…of Grandmoms, Great-Grandmom, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins…and more. Little by little that’s changed over the years, as some have passed on, or families have merged, and started their own traditions.

For the first time since she was born, my oldest DD will be spending Thanksgiving away ~ with her husband’s family out-of-state, and bringing little Moomette with them. They’ve decided to alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas…which, I understand, is only fair..inasmuch as they live close by us.

But I have other Thanksgivings to look forward to as Moomette gets older, and hopefully she’ll be ‘helping me’ in the Kitchen.

Here’s a delightful article from a member of SMARTMOMS~SMARTBUSINESS that I thought would be perfect to share with other Moms, or Grandmoms~! Happy Thanksgiving!

Cooking With Your Kids This Thanksgiving
by Peg Baron

Thanksgiving can be a little stressful when you have company coming and you have to cook the whole meal. Sure the company is bringing a pie and will help with the dishes and clean up, but you’ve got a whole lot of work ahead of you when you wake up on that special Thursday morning. Don’t despair and stress – rally the troops!

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably got one or two or more children running around that house don’t you? Put them to work and give them all jobs. Just don’t mention the words “work” or “job”. Kids like to be helpful, especially when they see how much you appreciate it. Let them help!

First off, you need to have a plan. Take some time before Thursday morning to plot everything out. Of course you know what you want to prepare and serve – you do the same thing every year, don’t you? So that’s the easy part. Really look at each recipe and see what’s involved. You could probably do it in your sleep, but your kids can’t. Assign a recipe to each child, depending on their skill level. You may even want to find an easier version of the recipe. Go over the steps with your child and explain how it’s all going to work. Do kind of a foodless dress rehearsal with them.

If the child is too young to do a whole recipe, just give them certain tasks in a recipe and have them help you. Little ones can melt butter in the microwave, mash the potatoes, wash the vegetables, toss the salad, and put the marshmallows on the sweet potato casserole.

This is one meal where everything seems to happen at the same time. To help prevent this, the kids can mash the potatoes ahead and keep them warm in the crockpot, ditto with the sweet potato casserole and veggies. If you don’t have a way to keep them warm, time them to come out before the mad rush, put a lid on them and wrap them in several towels. They can stay quite warm that way. The salad can definitely be made earlier in the day or even the night before.

Try to schedule the prep time so there aren’t too many people walking around the kitchen with sharp knives at once.

What about the pies? Kids love to make the pies! Go with the pre-made pie crusts if their pastry skills aren’t quite up to snuff. Maybe they could pick the pies they want this year and shake tradition up a bit. I’m sure a Chocolate Dream pie is a tradition in someone’s home even if it isn’t (yet) in yours.

Keep one step ahead of total chaos by having someone wash the dirty dishes that are accumulating. Perhaps those who are watching football on TV could lend a hand! Not only will there be fewer dishes to do at the end, but it leaves lots more room for the cooks to prepare the grand feast.

If you give it some thought and plan ahead of time, this Thanksgiving could be a lot easier on you and a heck of a lot more fun for the whole family. Have a good attitude and lots of patience and just enjoy yourself. Your kitchen will be filled with those you love, and that’s something to be thankful for.
Peggy is the editor of the popular Cookin’ Kids Newsletter. Interesting themes, fun facts, silly clip art, easy recipes, kid jokes, cooking terms, and safety tips make this newsletter a hit with kids! Learn more about it at
CookingKids Newletter

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Sew Fierce – Meet My Friend Stephanie – WAHM Guest Post

Life in Dysfunction Junction: Part 3 – Guest Post By The Cat

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WAHM Baby Boomer Grandma Caregiver: Meet My Friend Kaye from SandwichINK – Guest Post

ExPat WAHM Mom In Brazil: Meet My Friend Linda – Guest Post

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Mommy Auctions ~ New Selling & Buying Site ~ SAHMs, WAHMs, GRANDMOMS

I have to tell you about Mommy Auctions. It’s a new auction site opened this year!

Great for SAHMs, WAHMs, Grandmoms ~

Listings are free until you sell an item, at which time a fee will be assessed. Featured listings and other extras are available for a nominal fee. This is a great way to try selling if you’re new & going to give it a whirl. There’s also the option to open a Store ~ which is what I did Moomette’s*Magnificents on Mommy Auctions. This is an affordable venue and business opportunity for Moms to establish an ebiz or ecommerce site with low overhead. Plus, it’s a great way to seek out items to buy for the kiddos or grandkiddos at an affordable price!

Listings are uploaded to Google Base Store Connector every evening to keep them fresh.

Check out the active, fun Forums, too!

Happy Holiday Selling & Buying!

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Photo Editing Subscriptions~Increase Sales ~ Make Your eBay, Auction & Blog Photos Professional Looking

I just found out over on eBay Coach Free Forum where I’m a Moderator about a New Photo Editing Subscription Service that I have to share with everyone!

It’s just the answer if you have a Store or sell at auction on eBay, and are a little unsure of how to use photo-editing software ~ and it’s perfect for eBay, Etsy, Wagglepop, other Auction Sites or your own Blog Web Pages!

Due to the large demand for small photo corrections,
Digitally Remembered has created an economical solution! For a small monthly fee, Digitally Remembered will edit and correct all your photos. Never again miss out on high bids due to poor photos. Make your photos stand out and look professional with eye-catching frames or embellishments!

I’ve personally used Digitally Remembered to make Logo Buttons for the the various Forums I belong to (Shameless Plug ~ See Side Links), and they created an awsome Template that I use on
Mommy Auctions!

Very reasonable plans are offered….and I can personally attest to very patient Customer Service & Follow-Up! Be sure to check them out and watch your sales soar!

Happy Holiday Selling!

On the Net:
Digitally Remembered

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Musings… Retirement Career Options, eBay Store, Boomer Woes…and other stuff

This week has been a ‘me’ week. I’m feeling my Boomer age. The flu shot that was supposed to be good for me actually darned near flattened me. I’ve been home with an upper resperitory for several days & antibotics!

While home, it’s given me time to reflect. I’ve spent a a great amount of time tweaking the mechanics of this Blog, and working on my eBay store, Moomette’s*Magnificents. Tons of stuff to sort, photograph & list that I can’t wait to put up! So much to offer! I’ve decided I would rather do my eBay store as my primary source of income and do the SAHM~WAHM type of work, than trudge in to the office for my regular job. I’m too burnt out from that now after so many years. I’ve spent a lot of time surfing this week to see what’s working for other people.

Moomette’s mom is away on business, so I’ve been picking her up from daycare & feeding SIL when he comes to get her. Although my energy is zapped from this cold, she’s brightens my day when I get her! Actually, I got a wakeup call at 7 am today so she could be dropped off at daycare! Well, at least that got me on the Internet early while waiting for her!

We New Englander’s love our comfort food now that it’s getting colder~ Here’s SIL’s favorite recipe that I’ve been making for him since college:

Jeremy’s Favorite Shepherd’s Pie (Stout)

Gritty McDuff’s Pub, Portland, Maine

1 -1/2 pounds lean hamburger
1/3 cup diced onion
1 stalk celery, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 -1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 cup stout (can also substitute Beef Broth)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chives
1 16 -ounce can whole kernel corn
2 16 -ounce cans creamed corn
Paprika

1. Sauté hamburger, onion, celery, garlic, thyme, oregano, red pepper, stout and salt and pepper until meat is brown. Place sautéed burger mixture in large, shallow casserole dish.
2. Meanwhile, cook potatoes in water. Mash and season with butter, milk, sour cream, chives and salt and pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Drain corn, and mix with creamed corn. Layer corn mixture on burger mixture and spread evenly. Layer on mashed potatoes. Sprinkle paprika lightly over top.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes.
Yield: 8-10 servings

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New to Ebay? eBay Sign Up 1-2-3

As a Boomer, not having grown up with computers as the younger generation today has, I know that I had heard quite a bit about eBay and the wonderful buys that people could get at auction. I’d also heard of the success others have had selling. But I was hesitant to get on the Internet!

At first I signed up for an Adult Ed class on eBay at my local high school at night. But I didn’t feel I got that much out of it. So ~~ it was by trial & error that I learned! It really isn’t that intimidating!

Here’s some info on getting started from
The Fainting Couch”Newsletter

Never used eBay before? Don’t worry; it’s not so scary. Here, we’ll go through it together.

Easy eBay Signup 1-2-3
Work on getting positive feedback, especially when you first start out. Provide great customer service, answer all questions in a timely manner and of course ship asap. Don’t forget to ask your customers to leave you feedback and do the same for them. Prospective customers will be more likely to buy from you if you have a high feedback score.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Helping you take your eBay business to the next level… www.jennihunt.com

Good! You’ve signed up! Now it’s time to start your holiday shopping!

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Disclosure

This policy is valid from 04 November 2007

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Twitter
@Moomettes

Disclosure

This policy is valid from 04 November 2007

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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