Making Memories Together

This year the girls aren't taking dance. At first, I was disappointed because I loved watching them dance, and it was fun to have an evening out of the house every week. But we discovered a treasure in this decision -- we have another evening of family time and more evenings without rushing through dinner to get somewhere on time.

Matthew and I have tried to plan a few planned evenings each week. The girls look forward to these nights. Another benefit is that we spend less time plopped on the couch and more time interacting with each other.

Tuesday nights are family devotion night, and Matthew leads us in a devotion from "52 Family Time Ideas," a fantastic book by Timothy Smith. Each lesson includes an activity, scripture and discussion. It is great to set aside special family time to reflect on God and what is most important to our family.

Thursday nights are family game night. Each Thursday, someone gets to choose a game to play after supper is cleaned up. In addition, that person gets to choose a special dessert. It has been a hit! We have always loved to play games, but there is a deeper reason I thought game night would be a good idea. Although we love to play games, some of us also love to win. And, therefore, some of us hate to lose. So, keeping good sportsmanship has sometimes been an issue. I can't say that we have completely eliminated pouting after a loss, but there has been improvement.

I have to be honest -- having planned evenings requires a little bit of extra time and effort. It requires more planning. But very worth it all!

Last week was "my" game night. I chose an old marble game that Matthew and his family grew up playing -- Stay Alive. It is a great game for developing strategic and reasoning skills. And I whipped up a chocolate pudding pie as our special dessert, which Eli is proudly wearing on his face. 

One night that we tried (that I haven't stuck with) is Pinterest night. A few times, I had each of the girls and Matthew browse my many recipes that I have pinned. They created their own meal from the inviting photos. To be honest, sometimes the recipes were instant favorites, and sometimes we ran down to the computer to permanently delete the pin. 

It was fun to try new recipes. I should work it back into my menu planning, because broadening the girls' food palette has been a work in progress! It is great to teach them meal planning and they are so proud to serve their meal. : )