Whittaker Woman

Family Night... Kitty Cat Night

We got a fun gift this past week that we created a Family Night around. It was called Feed the Kitty. It is so great to have Nani around because she created some fun tails and ears for us. 

Carlos was in charge of putting whiskers on everyone. He went upstairs to do is his and came down like this...

HAHAHA! Oops, sorry baby whiskers don't come out of the mouth. 

He learned his lesson and became a great make up artist! 

Then the sound of meowing began to fill the house! 

It was snack time. 

When the milk came they all flocked to the same bowl.

  

Our table was simple just kitten place mats and our resident kitty. 

And for dinner... Fish. 

For dessert we had a special treat! 

Kitty litter. 

And finally our Feed the Kitty game. 

Guess who won. 

It really was a fun and simple night. H

We Saw It Coming!

All summer I got this question... "Are you going to be ok?" 

They were talking about today.

Kindergarten. 

You would think, by having one baby going into second grade adding one to kindergarten would be a piece of cake. 

Wrong!

It's worse. When Sohaila went into kinder, we had moved across the country 5 DAYS earlier. I had been crying for the previous 2 months, so the tears for my baby going to school got mixed right in. Today is different. Seanna is me. She is my shadow. I guess I am emotional because plain and simple I am gonna miss her. I am gonna miss hearing her play kitchen with her brother as I clean house. I am gonna miss her asking to help cook dinner. I am gonna miss her presence. It is just a passing of an era. 

Carlos does not get why I am sad, he thinks I am the only one. Men... :) 

We started the morning with our new family tradition of Ice cream sundaes for back to school! 

(Believe it or not, I compared this ice cream to some sugar cereal and the ice cream won! Think on that one before you judge!) 

I did add walnuts and banana for some sort of nutrients! 

The girls off to school! 

Sohaila's teacher has been with the school 30+ years! Seanna's 20+ 

I tried to hang on... But I just couldn't. 

Then when I got home I got some love! 

My man made this new header for my blog and my friend Melissa sent me these flowers with a note that made me laugh out loud! 
*Sigh*

Ok tell me I am not the only one. Who got teary when they sent their babies off to school? H

Family Night... Splash Mountain

Sohaila was in charge of doing our last Family Night and she chose to have a Splash Mountain Family Night. Now I did what I typically do when planning and searched the internet, however it came up dry as bones. Not many creative idea's are floating around internet-land when it comes to Splash Mountain. So this one my friends was all Team Whittaker! 

We started by decorating with what we could find around the house that looked mountain like, or from the bayou. 

What Splash Mountain Night would be complete without the waterfall picture! 

We had meatball sandwiches for supper. Which turned into our boats for the ride. I printed out pictures of each of us and glued them on toothpicks that then went into the sandwiches.  Making our boat! 

We decorated the table like the ride. 

After dinner we had a mock ride. We rode the scooter through the "ride" and got splashed at the end!

Carlos even made a waterfall for us to go under. 

After it was Losiah's turn he got mad at us and yelled " I ALL WET!" I guess he did not read the Family Night memo saying it was SPLASH Mountain Night. 

The kids loved getting us all wet. What they did not know is we love pay back even more! At the end we had both the girls ride their scooters under the waterfall where Carlos and I hid with a huge cup of water that ended up all over them! It was a mess, but so much fun! H

Family Night... Welcome 2 Summer

Today is the last day of school and we are EXCITED! 

So we decided to have a welcome 2 summer party! 

We began by picking up Sohaila at the bus stop.  She was armed and ready within seconds.

We then had a water balloon toss. 

Which turned... 

Bad at times,

she quickly rebounded! 

We had snacks. Pudding snacks, lemonade and watermelon. 

And finally some bubbles! 

The Whittaker's are now ready for summer! H

Field Day Live!

Pete over at Without Wax made a video of our field day. He did a little trash talking over there! 

Wilson/Whittaker Field Day from Pete Wilson on Vimeo.

I guess I can't deny it! H

Family Night... Field Day With The Wilson Family

The point of family nights is just being intentional for a short period of time as a family. The truth is life gets in the way sometimes. We are up in Nashville for Carlos and his work. The kids and I got to tag along which is much better than staying at home alone! 

Sohaila missed field day at school and was sad about it so I decided to create our own field day. We got to stay at our friends the Wilson's one night and they jumped on board with us! 

This is Brandi and her boys! Yet another friend who I have met because of this here blog! 

We had a football toss. Guess who won... Jett! Boy can throw a ball! 

I don't know what this was called, but it was funny to watch the kids get dizzy! 

Pete was showing the kids how to do the long jump! Not bad for being jet lagged from his trip with Compassion to India! 

Then we did the three legged race. Which is the ONLY time we will be tying our girls to the Wilson boys! 

This was my favorite field day event. 

The big kids won! 

The three year olds actually made it to the finish line. Which was a huge accomplishment since Losiah can rarely walk 10 steps with out falling! 

Then the egg toss!

And finally a good old fashion race, where I had to run my fastest so that Jett and Sohaila did not beat me! It was such a great day! H

Family Night... Seanna's Choice

I decided to give the reigns to the kids! Seanna was in charge of the family night and she chose to do a RAINBOW night! So here you go...

She assigned us all a color to wear so we made a rainbow! Look at her smile! Ahh, that is why I do this!

They did rainbow art... Surprise, surprise!

Seanna made name tags for everyone at their seat... In a rainbow of course!

We snacked on rainbow fish!

While dinner was cooking they did a scavenger hunt to find all the colors in the rainbow!

Everything we ate was a rainbow!. Rainbow veggie sticks, rainbow fruit plate

Rainbow Salad

And best rainbow sherbet!

It was all so simple and sweet! I loved having the Seanna in charge. She was floating tonight. She loved it! Boy was she bossy! She felt the control and I think she enjoyed it just a little to much! :) H

Family Night... Always Peachy!

Behind the curtains...

So I might have cut my finger open making the carrots for the family night! :) H

Family Night... April Fools

I was excited to do a April Fools Family Night, but Carlos has practice tonight so we improvised and went ahead and celebrated it last night. I went on Family fun and attempted to copy their great ideas!

 

Cupcakes= meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Mashed Potatoes and gravy= ice cream and caramel.

Drinks= jello!
 

Fake chore list!

 

Then the biggest April fools Prank. Sohaila has asked to go to Disneyworld. It has been a big decision that we keep telling them was not looking good. Little did they know things have changed!
 

The deal was if we did not go to Disneyworld then we would have a CandyLand party. So Carlos made a invite that said we were having a party for Sohaila's birthday.
 

Sohaila was reading it out loud.
 

She is such a people pleaser. Look at her face. She was trying to be excited. Later she said she was so sad when she read it.
 

Then... April Fools! Look at Seanna's face!
 

She so gets it!
 

Sohaila still does not!
 

I love it!
 

Oh so sweet!
 

This is what parenting is all about!

We are going to Disneyworld! H Ok... 

Now it is your turn! Share your what your family does to connect. 

1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog.

 2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post.

 3. Then put your URL into Mr Linky below. I can't wait to get more ideas! H

Great St. Patties Table Idea's

Here is a great site that has three different table decoration ideas for St. Patrick's Day. So cute!

Family Night... St. Patrick's Day

I got a email asking me about St. Patrick's Day idea's, so we did a St. Patrick's Day Family Night a few days early! I hope this will help any of you who want to use our idea's. Jacinda and I were a good tag team on this... Miss Vienna ( J's third baby) will be born next Tuesday on St. Patrick's Day, so The Hales needed to do their FN early too! I can't wait to see our little girl! Ok back on subject... St Patrick's Day. 

I know this is a long post, but it gets good at the end, TRUST ME!

We began the festivities with an attempt to make crayons. Well ok. We were re-shaping them. 

All things green! After peeling all the paper off our old broken crayons, I just put them in the oven till they melted. Then I put them in the fridge till it became a play-dough consistency. 

I went to the Dollar Store and Walmart to find a shamrock cookie cutter, but everyone was to busy putting out Easter Eggs that they forgot that there is another holiday coming up. I was so ticked... but that is a soap box for another day. :) I had to free hand them. 

Once I shaped them... back in the fridge they went until we could break them out. 

And there you go... we reinvented our broken crayons! 

After our fun project I began to work on the food. Now let me give you the inside scoop. You see, Carlos missed the bus so I offered to go down and pick him up so he did not have to wait another hour before the next one came. That was fine, but it cut into my planning and preparing time. Which was vital because I was surprising Carlos and had a sitter scheduled to come at 6:30. I thought, (key word!) I thought I had enough time. HAHAHA! 

The food. Simple but fun, (just keep in mind the stress and chaos that was going through my mind as the 6 o'clock hour was rolling around.) 

Green shamrocks...

Confession, these were only decoration! No one ate green bell peppers. Not even me! :)

Fruit rainbow...

This was our attempt to make a fruit rainbow without spending more money on blueberries, oranges! 

The kids did not care! 

Dinner...

 I copied Jacinda and did loaded potatoes. However I have another confession. I must have been sick during the history lesson on why Irish and potatoes go together because when I think of a potato I don't think Ireland.  I do think of an I location but it ends with dahoe! I had to ask my mama on this one today. I knew I could ask her and she would not make fun of me and tell me the truth! So Irish loaded potatoes and a shamrock made from kiwi was dinner. And now the fun part! 

I saw this great cake made the other day, I took it a step further and put it in a bundt pan to form a rainbow. 

I have never baked and felt like I was making art, but this was beautiful! And fun! 

I made individual colored batter and then layered it into the pan just like this. 

The concept was so great! I could not wait for it to come out! 

 

Ok, now remember I am strapped for time. I have the bacon and potatoes in the oven cooking at the same time. When the bacon was done I took it out and swapped the cake right in its place. It was about 5 minutes later I turn to see an abnormal glow to the oven... that's right, it was on FIRE! Dang it! I have seen this before. Well, I forgot to mention the little detail where some grease spilt while I was getting the bacon out. You have to remember, I was so strapped for time, I could not clean it up right away!  So... now my oven was on fire with a half cooked cake! I quickly grabbed the baking soda, like my mama taught me and put the flame out.

The good news... My house still stands! The bad news... The cake was not so lucky! 

Oh it had great potential! You can see the colors below... So beautiful! 

Minus the slim in the middle, the idea was to look like this...

Could have been so cute! 

OH BUT WAIT! It does not end here. You see, the sitter arrives and my dearest Seanna begins to throw the biggest fit right there, at the dinner table. I had meant tell the kids that a sitter was coming, but I figured they would be fine because always ask for her to watch them.  UMM I was wrong. So in the middle of my already stressed out night. I am trying to calm down my 5 year old who continues to yell at me... "This is not a Family Night! How can you leave us on a Family Night!" Good,  that fills my soul! My thinking was we would be done with the festivities and they would be on their way to bed when the sitter would show up, but with all the drama of the night things got pushed back some. 

We finally leave for our date... Remember that? Remember, I was attempting to do good for everyone. Family Night for the kids, date for my man. **Sigh**

As we pull away my man says... "You really should have told her that the sitter was coming"... And right there my friends, I lost it. There is nothing like starting a date in tears and a moment of controlled yelling :) "DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!" Now those are some fun times! We ended up going for a hike and had a great time together, but I share for all of you to know... Family Nights are ALWAYS crazy! :) Have fun and let me see a rainbow cake that is fully cooked! :) 

Ok... Now it is your turn! Share your what your family does to connect. 

1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog. 

2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post. 

3. Then put your URL into Mr Linky below. I can't wait to get more ideas! H

Family Night... Circus Time

I have been wanting to do this Family Night for a long time. Last fall the dollar store had a ton of circus stuff and I stocked up! Jacinda did it too and we pretty much copied her! It was so much fun! I got the house all decorated while everyone napped and or was at school. 

We had a little surprise tucked away so Carlos came home early and as soon as he arrived we began the festivities...

We actually started with dessert because dinner was in the oven and we were running short on time! 

Ok so my dessert looked so much better in the picture I copied it from, but hey you get the idea! 

Can you tell we embraced the costumes? 

We had clown pizza...

We played games at the dinner table! 

We just had fun, but it was quick fun... We told the kids we had to go do an errand, which got a ton of groans and complaints! Not to mention we had to sit in traffic for an hour! Seanna even claimed that our family night was not even a family night because we did not even finish it!  But when they realized that we were going to a CIRCUS they were hugging each other and screaming! I just love kids for their shock factor! It is the best! We went to the Big Apple Circus, it was a small venue but so fabulous! Carlos and I were actually shocked at how great it was. 

There was the tight rope... not as high as it was when we were kids but obviously she had some skills!

Almost every show had me gasp in some way! 

Sohaila was ready to come home and work on her swing skills! 

Seanna wondered... why would anyone do something so scary! 

It was so much fun! And the best part is that it only cost us $30! Each grandma sent the kids $5 bucks for Valentines day and the tickets were 12 bucks each so it ended up being so cheap! I loved it! 

Ok... Now it is your turn! Share your what your family does to connect.
1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog.
2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post.
3. Then put your URL into Mr Linky below. 
I can't wait to get more ideas!  H

Family Night... Caveman Style

We made a cave and had the kids do some cave painting.

We had dinosaur eggs for dinner and lava juice.

We ate caveman style and used our fingers. 

The men fought over the last bone.

Then we played hatch the dino. I had this little egg that had a dinosaur in it... simple but cute. 

We had such a fun night. It was so simple. Spaghetti and meatballs, some punch and 

a silly dino game and a cardboard box. You can do it, it was simple! 

Your turn...
Share your what your family does to connect. 
1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog.
2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post.
3. Then put your URL into Mr Linky below. 
I can't wait to get more ideas!  H

Family Nights... Gone Wrong

This is for all of you who think it is all so sweet. Trust me... its not! H

Family Night...Our Love Day!

All I want to know... Were we the only family in ATL that were sleeping in a tent in

their backyard? We made it! Well, everyone except the man with the idea. He went in 

around 4...And can I add it rained all night! 

We brought in our bed from the tent and let the kids watch TV while I made

 breakfast. 

Surprise! 

Our Hearty Breakfast!

I had a change of plans with the hanging hearts. I had everyone make one for

 each other! 

Our breakfast was great! We had such a fun lazy day! 
We ended up taking the kids to a movie instead of ice cream... but I think they 

enjoyed it more! Dinner was great too! 

And finally I hit the jackpot when I gave them a small bag of Hershey Kissables
on their pillows before bed. They thought it was the best to get to eat candy when 
they were falling asleep. :) I love my kids.  But I love my man more! There were no
presents, no fancy date this year... but it was not needed. At least not today. We have 
been great with having quality time, speaking each others love languages... and 

meeting each others needs... you know what I'm sayin... every day it's a choice and I

can tell that we have been good at choosing each other lately. 

This v-day was about our kids!  H

Family Night... A Lovely Day!

Shhh, don't tell them but here is the plan for Valentines day, I wanted to tell you before it happened just in case you wanted to do some of the idea's! 
We are planning on doing a camp-out in the back yard tonight... (that is carlos' idea, so he is in charge of our valentines night tonight). And in the morning, my plan goes like this...

Wake Up To a Lovely Day

 I want the kids to know how much I love them so I am going to hang some cut out hearts from the ceiling, each one is going to have their name and a love note on it. It will be from the tent ceiling, but you get the idea. 

 Make A "Heart-y" Breakfast 

The night before I plan on setting a Valentine breakfast table that will surprise everyone when they wake up. We have had a tradition of making pink pancakes and Carlos spells out each kids name... I Love (name).

 

Right before breakfast...I am going to tell the kids to wash up, so they will find the heart-shaped soap I put in the bathroom.

Through out the day we will have little pockets of love...

I will  have a Valentine's Day card ready for everyone. 

At some point we will bake from the heart! 

Lunch time!!! We are going to have a great picnic... Everything red and white!

 "Cup-O-Love" Punch
Freeze fruit punch in heart ice or candy molds.
Make enough for three cubes per child.
Place the ice hearts into clear plastic or glass cups
and add lemon-lime soda  

Draw hearts in red lipstick on the bathroom mirrors that say, "I love you!"
Play love-themed music to put everyone in a holiday mood!

Tell the kids that you have to run an errand and surprise them with a trip to get ice cream!

I am going to play a silly love song in the car.

Dinner á la Heart
Make heartshaped pizza! Check out Brandi and her blog she made them and were so cute!

Take A Cozy Bath
 I am going to dye the bath red! So fun... My friend Jennifer did this and I loved it! 

Sweet Dreams
After the bath its bed time (because mommy and daddy have some loving to do!) Everyone will have a "kiss" on their bed and a sweet note thanking them for their love.

Friend Night

Last month when the Hales were here we decided to have a Valentines Day Family Night. The only problem was... it turned into a girls night. 

I love this picture of Losiah so sad... I can't remember why he was so sad. 

We made Valentine books and each girl did a page for each other. 

We made the yummy girl scout cookie recipe with ritz crackers but decorated them with pink and red. 

Snack was cranberries, popcorn and sugar. So good! 

What do you have up your sleeve for V-day? My Friend Brandi did a Valentines family night the other day... check it out you can get some great idea's. H

Video Family Night... Made By My Man

So You Want To Be A Dad // Family Night - Snow Man Theme from Carlos Whittaker on Vimeo.

Family Night... Snowman Night

We are back! Yes we are! Oh it has been a  long time! The break was needed, I don't think I could have handled the traditions and festivities of the Holidays and still do Family Nights. I feel refreshed and ready to pour into our nights! This week we did a snowman night.  I planed our theme last week and told the girls that on Thursday we are having a Snowman Night. I think that was the best part of the whole week. They were so excited! Everyday was a countdown. I loved it. 

We decorated and got all bundled up. We put coats on the chairs, snowflakes falling down, 

The centerpiece was Frosty melted away. 

 

Snowman night would not be complete with out... snowman soup aka... potato soup. 

For dessert... snowballs

Hot chocolate... because when do you build a snowman and not drink hot coco? 

Then we had a snowball fight. Or a smelly sock fight. Depending on how you look at it. :)

I just love our family nights. I was a grump before, tired...stressed, but then it came together and we had such a fun time. I love it! 

Your turn...
Share your what your family does to connect. 
1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog.
2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post.
3. Then put your URL into Mr Linky below. 
I can't wait to get more ideas!  H

Family Night # 23, Seanna's First Party

Since we were in LA last weekend. I thought I would have a party for Seanna with our friends and family from So Cal. For some reason, Seanna usually gets gypped for her b-day and I thought I would make up by giving her two parties. One in Cali, and one in GA. So we spent time as a family celebrating our girl this week.
She wanted a cooking party...

Which was so easy because I just used what was in the kitchen! I used the mixing bowl for chips, a collander or the grapes, and cake pans to layer and put plates on.

Everyone made their own pizza, Seanna did hers first.

I wore a chef outfit while I rolled out dough.

The kids then decorated the their own cupcakes. Really this party was great, the guest did their own cooking! What a big time saver!

Now I know this was not our traditional Family Night, it was a time where we were able to spend time with our loved ones. How do you spend time with yours?

Your turn...
Share your what your family does to connect.
1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog.
2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post.
3. Then put your URL into Mr Linky below.
I can't wait to get more ideas!  H

Family Night #22, Paper Night

Carlos was in charge of family night tonight. He decided to make it a paper family night. I know, I know... What is a paper night? He found a website where you can print out these paper dolls that once you cut and put together they make cute 3D paper dolls.
I went ahead and went with the flow. We wore paper hats.
  


We ate on paper.
We had desert in paper.

And finally the grand finale of these little blessed paper dolls. Lets just say Carlos' quote
for the night was..." WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?"
I think that says it all.


We tried to call it quits and made some lame excuse about the dolls not working and well Seanna was in tears so... We kept on going!

Your turn...
Share your what your family does to connect.
1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog.
2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post.
3. Then put your URL into Mr Linky below.
I can't wait to get more ideas!  H

Family Night #21 Baseball Night

Well this week is a bit crazy... So we took our family night on the road! Which the kids thought was the best. Carlos had band practice and so we took our family night to him! We did baseball night right at church! We made our own baseball cards. 

Some of us sported the look. My baseball cap was not even a baseball team... Opps.    

Can you tell Seanna was in a mood. That's my girl!  

  

We had Dodger Dogs, peanuts and Gatorade! Seanna had a banana dog because she does not like hot dogs. 

 

And before we began our game we loaded up on BIG LEAGUE CHEW!   

   

We had such a fun night. I was surprised at how athletic everyone was! Batter up!

Your turn...
Share your what your family does to connect.
1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog.
2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post.
3. Then put your URL into Mr Linky below.
I can't wait to get more ideas!  H

Family Night Video Style

So Brandi has been doing family nights now with us for some time. However her man just stepped up the game with his Family Night Video! Love it! Check them out. H

Family Night #20, Date Night!

The Whittaker Family Motto: When mommy and daddy play together, family nights stay together!

Your turn...
Share your what your family does to connect.
1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog.
2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post.
3. Then put your URL into Mr Linky below.
I can't wait to get more ideas!  H

Family Night, revealed!

Every week there is always someone who compliments me on my family nights. People say, I just don't know how you do it. Let me tell you the truth...usually  there is always some drama, stress and tears!

You guys saw the fun pictures of our Football Night, now here are some real pictures.  That is me saying something to the effect... "Sohaila if you don't stop by the time I count to three you will be up in your room going to bed."

Look at those crocodile tears coming down. Drama, drama, drama! Welcome to the real side. H

Family Night # 19, Football/Cheerleader Night

READY...OK!    
I must say that we went more for the cheerleader side of things, and thats because girls rule in this house! But if you have boys my blogging friend Brandi did a great job at focusing on the football side of things.

Like any good cheer squad we painted signs!  And made our own Mega Phones!
We had a concession stand that sold nachos and drinks.  And had candy for their fund raiser!
The girls wore their cheerleader outfits and the boys wore football jerseys.

Carlos decided to lead us all in a cheer. Yes as you can tell I was in cheer in High School, but Carlos was also the mascot at his High School so I guess it is in their blood.
One thing that I found that was so cute, but forgot to buy at the store was Bugles and cheese balls for pom- pom and mega phones. How cute is that snack!  H

Your turn...
Share your what your family does to connect.
1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog.
2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post.
3. Then put your URL into Mr Linly below.
I can't wait to get more ideas! H

Family Night # 18, Carlos Night

It's my man's b-day today and so last night we had a family night in honor of him!
The kids dressed up in his clothes.

Thai chicken with fried rice was on the menu, his favorite of course!

When he got home I handed him the chicken to go grill and when he walked out he got his big surprise! My $300 dollar grill that I got on sale for $90!

We decorated the house with balloons, and tons of pictures of him all over.
While we ate dinner we listened to his CD! Oh and since he loves Starbucks so much, we got some of their cups to drink from. We filled them with sweet tea, but at least the idea was there.
  We finished the night with my mans favorite Ice Cream Cake. Happy B-day Babe!   Your turn...
Share your what your family does to connect.
1. Simply write about it in a post on your blog.
2. LINK back to this site somewhere in your post.
3. Then put your URL into Mr Linly below.
I can't wait to get more ideas! H

Family Night #17, Turtle Night

In honor of Jacob, we decided to have a turtle family night!
We decorated plates like turtles...

We ate stuffed turtle shells

We wore turtle necks, well the girls did. Could you see Whittaker men in turtle necks? :)

I made this turtle bread

And for dessert we had a turtle cake.

The grand finale of the night was letting Jacob go.

Your turn...
Share your what your family does to connect. Simply write a post on your blog, LINK back to this site somewhere in your post and then put your URL into Mr Linly below. I can't wait to get more ideas!

Oh and as for the Olympic night. I was over the Olympics by the time our family night came around. Maybe we can do it in two years when they come back around. :) Thanks for all the ideas. H

A True Family Night!

Wow, we have no excuses when it comes to planning a family night! You have to check out this blog and their story. This is a story of true love. Could you imagine adopting? Could you imagine adopting and then your baby becomes diagnosed with a deadly disease. Could you imagine? Wow you must read their story! I am humbled that they did a family night!
Meet Carmen...
H

Family night #16, Back to School Night

In honor of the new school year we celebrated!

After the bell rang we sat down to do some school work!

That built up our appetite so we had a after school snack of rice crispy treats!
Our dinner was a classic brown bag lunch... PPJ, apple, juice box, and Cheeto's! 
And what brown bag would be complete without a love not from mom!  
After dinner everyone got their backpacks on and we had a pencil hunt! 
 
And finally we had our Back to School Cake!
     
 Good-bye sleep good-bye! H

Your turn... Please share your families traditions! All you have to do is write a post and put my blog link somewhere in your post and then add your link in the slot below. Thats it!
I know there has to be some olympic nights out there. We are doing ours next week and I need some ideas!

Family Night #15, Ice Cream Night

Simple and Sweet...

We made ice cream and Popsicles as our craft and used them for decorations.
Then we had fun by making homemade ice cream by playing kick the can.
    

It worked!
.
Sundae time!

The night ended with a game of pin the cherry on the ice cream cone. We sang "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" while we were spinning each person before their turn.  

We had a great time tonight. I heard a voice mail from my grandma around 4pm asking what we were gonna do for family night. I totally forgot it was Thursday. I had to think of something quick so we ran to the store and got to work. It was so simple, but the kids loved it!

Your turn, if have a tradition with your family post about it. Make sure you link to this post somewhere in yours and then leave your blog below. I love getting idea's from everyone. H

Family Night #14, PJ night

One of the great finds Jacinda and I found on our shopping day was Disney PJ's for 4 bucks! So what did we do? We made a family night out of them. We had the kids help decorate the table with their favorite bedtime story and one stuffed animal each. We than had them go put on old pj's and when they came back into the kitchen they found their new jammies on their seat.

  Jacinda and Seanna made homemade cinnamon rolls for dessert!    For dinner we attempted to make something that resembled a sleeping person. We made a bed out of rice, put a hot dog down to as the person and put some cheese over as a blanket. Then we looked at it and busted up laughing. We just could not serve our CHILDREN this...
It was just wrong. Funny but wrong. Family Night gone bad! So we improvised. 
Not bad if you ask me, and much more appropriate. We finished the night with a great movie cuddled up on the couch!       
It's been so long since we have had a family night linky. Here's the deal... Write a post on you blog about a family night or tradition you and your family do. Make sure you link to this post somewhere on yours and then enter your info here. Simple as that.

Family Night #13- Watermelon Night

In honor of my favorite fruit we had a watermelon night.
Everyone dressed in either red, green or black.
We made watermelon maracas.
 

 
We attempted to make watermelon balloons but they kept popping.

For food we had chips and watermelon salsa, watermelon juice, and watermelon cut into fun shapes. Then we made watermelons out of green rice, shredded chicken and black beans.

We went bobbing for watermelons!
 

   

 

 
We then tested our skills with a seed spitting contest!
 

   
Then we went and did watermelon bubbles out side! They even smelt like watermelon!

And finally we had a watermelon shaped ice cream treat!

I would have never imagined all the fun things we could do with one fruit! It was a great night!

Now it is your turn. If you do family nights or have a fun tradition to share please write a post on your blog, link to me here and then put your blog address below. I love seeing what others are doing. I have gotten some great idea's for you out there!

Family Night #12- 60's Night

Oh, how I wish I lived in the sixties! I can sing me some classic rock! It just puts me in that happy place! This night was inspired by a gift Sohaila got for her birthday...

Any guesses?

We did tie-dye shirts! I am telling you, those birthday gifts really spark my creative juices!

Our activity for the night was painting our own signs with the classic 60's phrases on them.

Sohaila: Flower Power, Seanna: Groovy, Losiah: Peace and us well...
I made meatloaf for the first and last time. I just do not like a big loaf of meat. It's just nasty! But in honor of the night I made it with mash potatoes and those nasty mixed veggies. Sohaila about died when she saw what she had to eat. 
We ate our homemade TV dinner in front of the box watching the Brady Bunch and finishing it off with some "Special Brownies" with out the "special". :) Got to add a little adult humor here and there!

Family Night #12 Half Way to Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go...
At least in the Whittaker house!

We figured, its halfway to Christmas might as well get in the season. Everyone wore their festive colors! The girls in their Christmas dresses.
I busted out the big plastic bins in the garage. We got out lights to decorate the tree, the nativity because no matter when you need to remember the reason for the season, and how can we have a Christmas celebration with out some holiday music.

I made my dads English toffee and cookies for the pretend Santa to come and eat. Because we all now that the real santa is quite busy this time of year. We read Frosty the snowman, had hot chocolate, and ate homemade pizza just like we do every Christmas Eve.

 

We even had stockings with fun little gifts for everyone, well except mom. Go figure!
And the lovely night ended with us all cozy on the couch watching ELF! So much fun! And free too!

By the way... I am so stinkin' pissed at typepad right now. It has given me nothing but problems. So I am sorry the way this looks and that there is not links this week. HUH! H

Family Night #11 Beach Night

Well I confess, we have a packed week and there was no plans of a family night, however we did through Alyssa a great Beach Night for her birthday. You could totally use these idea's for a family night.
I made pudding and topped it with raw sugar and chocolate sea shells that we made.

For the kids I put their pudding in sand molds. The things that look like butter are shells. The picture really does not do it justice.

The beach is Alyssa's favorite and I wanted to make her feel at home so everyone put on sunscreen so we could all smell like the beach. I made her sit with her feet in sand like at the beach. We also had a bon-fire and smores just like we would at Huntington.
 
We even got sparklers and sang happy birthday to her! It was a lot of fun!

And like every family night the girls asked... Mommy can we do a beach night again. Those are the words I live to hear.

Now it's your turn. What did you do special with your family this week? Here are the rules...Share it on your blog then link back here!!! This is very simular to the blog carnival that Shannon has explained here. Email me for questions. H