Here are some fun ways to celebrate the New Year with little ones!  If midnight is too late, try celebrating New Year’s in London at 7:00 p.m. or Rio De Janiero at 9:00 p.m.

1. On New Year’s Day, take the kids to a new restaurant, watch a new movie, play a new game, wear a new outfit… you get the idea.
2. Write your wishes for the coming year on brightly colored tags and hang them on the paper tree, your Christmas tree, or turn them into a paper chain. 
3. During the year, keep mementos in a box (school notes, photos, drawings, movie tickets, etc.). On New Year’s Eve, look through the items to remember the year, then decorate a time capsule for the next year.
4. Eat that gingerbread house!
5. Have a midnight breakfast after you watch the ball drop.
6. Start a family games tradition, such as Karaoke, Olympic games or a board game marathon while you watch the clock.
7. Campout in the family room!
8. Release a shower of balloons at midnight- tape a tablecloth to the ceiling filled with balloons, confetti and streamers and rip it down at midnight.  Or pick up some large bubble wrap from the packing store and have a midnight stomp.
9. Have a New Year’s cake: bake a layer cake, write fortunes on cut pieces of an index card wrapped in foil and tuck into the layers with a string sticking out.  Let everyone choose their fortune after midnight.
10. Go online to watch (and celebrate!) the new year’s arrival around the world.

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The start of a new year offers a clean slate and feels like the perfect time to make a change. Each year, that’s what most of us decide to do. We’re great at making New Year’s resolutions. But keeping them? That’s a whole different story. This year, try these suggestions for making resolutions you can stick to for good.

• Plan ahead. Last minute resolutions made as the clock counts down to the New Year will likely be discarded just as casually. Put some thought into what you want to do and set yourself up for success with a plan. Want to stop eating junk food? Get it out of the house and stock up on healthy fruits and veggies before the first of the year.
• Focus on why. Once you’ve decided what you want to change, ask yourself why you’re doing it. Are you trying to spend less so you can afford a new home? Focus on that. That $3 morning latte won’t seem like much to give up in exchange for a house. Visualizing your end result will give you the strength you need when your resolution gets tough to keep.
• Be reasonable. Resolutions are likely to fail if we take on too much. Narrow your list down to one to three attainable goals. If you’re 50 pounds overweight and get winded walking to the fridge, don’t resolve to run a marathon. Instead, commit to walking everyday or a Couch to 5K program. Once you’re successful with that, you can always set another goal.
• Make it measurable. Open-ended resolutions, like “get in shape” or “drink more water,” are likely to fail because it’s hard to tell if you’re moving toward success. If you make your resolution measurable, such as “exercise every day” or “drink 8 glasses of water each day,” there’s no doubt about whether or not you’re getting closer to your goal.
• Share it. Don’t keep your resolution a secret. Can you blame your husband for bringing home ice cream if he doesn’t know you’re trying to lose weight? Tell your family and friends about your resolutions. Give them the opportunity to support you. Start right now! Tell us. What’s your New Year’s resolution?

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“Just a minute!”

How many times do our kids hear that? Here’s a way to help them visualize just how long that is: make an hourglass. Or in our case, a ten minute timepiece. Here’s what you’ll need to make it.

Supplies:

• 2 empty plastic drink bottles, washed and dried
• 1 plastic drink bottle cap
• sand
• funnel
• duct tape
• nail or other hole-poking tool

Directions:

1. Pour sand into one bottle using a funnel.

2. Use a nail or other tool to poke a hole in the plastic bottle cap.

3. Place the cap on the sand-filled bottle.

4. Invert the empty bottle, position it on top of the other bottle and secure them together with duct tape.

5. Flip the bottles over so the sand flows through.

6. You can use a clock to figure out how much time your “hourglass” measures and add or remove sand to adjust the time. (We used 8 oz. bottles and filled one 3/4 full of sand for a ten minute timepiece.)

7. Use your “hourglass” to keep time. We tried using ours in the morning to help us get out the door on time. It worked!

How will you use your “hourglass?”

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I just got from the library Yum-Yum Bento Box: Fresh Recipes for Adorable Lunches, which judging by the cover and the Amazon reviews looks absolutely adorable.  Check it out:

Super cute, right?  And you can easily make it at home if you have nori paper, tofu skin, egg molds, about 30 minutes to make your kids lunch, and a kid who will hold the lunch box extremely still on the way to school. 

What? You don’t have these things???

Neither do we.  But we did use the pictures to come up with ideas of our own.

And you know what, once you get started it’s kind of fun.  Perfect for a party or holiday.  And if my 1 year old thinks her mouse veggie sandwich is so cute she calls it a cookie, then I’m all for it.

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The start of a new year is a natural time for reflection. We look back at the past year and forward to the next. Some of us resolve to make changes.

Lose weight.
Quit smoking.
Get out of debt.
Get organized.
Spend more time with family.

What about you? Are you making any resolutions this year? Take the poll below and share your resolutions (or the reason you aren’t making any) in the comments!

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We’ll be taking the next few days off to enjoy the holiday with our families. We’ll return to our regular posting schedule on Monday.

Have a very merry Christmas!

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Save some money and the environment by reusing your empty chip bags as gift bags!  Not to mention the pride your child will have in making her very own gift bag.  My kids thought it was magic. 

Here is how to do it:

Step One:

Turn the bag inside out and clean.  I filled ours with dish soap and water first, then turned it inside out and wiped with a towel. 

Step Two:

For the bottom, fold the corners in and tape.  You can make them big or small, depending on the size of the bag you want.

Step Three:  Fold the top of the bag in on itself until you have the desired height.

Step Four: Use hole punchers to make holes for the ribbons, then thread the ribbons through.  Use one long ribbon for each side and tie in the back for extra stability. If you don’t use a hole puncher, just cut a slash with scissors, but support it with duct tape or packing tape, otherwise it will rip.

You’re done!  Fill with a present and have a Merry Christmas!

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The holiday season is filled with loads of parties and gift exchanges that generate enough gift wrap debris that, if you laid it out, could reach the North Pole. I’m making that up, of course. I’ve done no research to support that assertion. I have no idea how far that even is. But you get what I’m saying. We use a whole lot of gift wrap. And even the most enthusiastic present-opener can’t destroy it completely. So, don’t throw those gift wrap scraps away just yet. Gather them up and breathe a little Christmas spirit into their shredded remains with this recycled gift wrap wreath!

Here’s what you’ll need.

Supplies:

• A paper plate
• Scissors
• Glue
• Gift wrap scraps
• Hole punch (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut the center out of a paper plate. (We traced around a round object to make a neat circle.)

2. Cover the plate with glue.

3. Stick on your gift wrap scraps.

4. To hang the wreath, you can attach a loop of ribbon. We used the hole punch to make a hole and looped a piece of string from a gift bag handle.

5. Deck your halls!

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When you want to keep the Christmas spirit but the kids have had more than their share of cookies, try one of these healthy ideas!

A Christmas Tree made from broccoli with orange pepper tinsel, grape tomato ornaments, and a star made from a yellow pepper:

A candy cane made from red and green sliced apples:

How about provolone, mozzarella or swiss cheese slices cut into snowmen or angels with cookie cutters?

Melons can be cut into large thin slices so that you can use a cookie cutter to make Christmas shapes; if you don’t have a cookie cutter, use a small glass to cut circles and then a straw to cut a smaller circle so that the melon looks like an ornament!

Kids also love cracker snowmen: take two or three round crackers and spread with cream cheese, then put in a line and decorate with raisins and carrots. Yum!

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Much of the magic of Christmas comes from believing in Santa Claus. But, at some point, children usually begin to have doubts. Perhaps an older child tells them he’s not real or they find a stash of presents. Or they read Superfudge, like mine did. Do your children believe in Santa? If not, at what age did your child stop believing?

Take our poll and share more in the comments.

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