Family birthdays

A wonderful birthday dinner last night...loved it :)

     Family birthdays are always fun and exciting...for parents and for children. Kids really don't need extravagant parties or presents. They just need to know they're loved. So, handmade decorations and fun little gifts can be more enjoyable than the stress-producing anxiety of a full-blown event that can sometimes be more about the party than about the child.

cake at home, and a Marie cake :)

      Try to come up with your own birthday traditions to continue year after year. Our boys had birthday cakes made by our wonderful Marie, some by Mom, and birthday number cookies...a big hit at our house. When Chad and Scott got older we all decided we loved Sanders Bumpy Cake, so that became our birthday cake of choice. We got to have it 4 times a year...yummy!!

special cakes with special friends

we love our number birthday cookies!

Bumpy cake started young and continues :)

        Do you have as much fun on your birthdays as your kids do on theirs?? You should:)  Mom or Dad can help the kids plan something fun for the other parent. Learning how to plan something special for someone else is a good life lesson for encouraging kindness. Kids love to plan someone else's party almost as much as having their own. It makes them so proud when Mom, Dad, or sibling lights up at what they've prepared for them.

Happy Birthday, Mom! Kids planned and helped cook
the delightful dinner!!

     Have fun, be silly, and take photos! Going back through these pictures is so much fun for me, traveling through memories :)


Happy Parenting!
D and C

Family Vacations

Chad and Scott in San Francisco, 1993

Vacationing as a family unit - whether a stay-at-home vacation, a road trip, camping, flying to a new spot, or visiting friends and relatives - is an integral part of building everlasting memories. Wherever you go, whatever you do:


     1. Take photos....and organize or print them when you get home. I know, not very realistic;)    but...TRY!
     2. Make it all about the family. It is not necessary to take extra kids along so your kids can 'have fun'. (More about pouting and whining in future blogs!!)
     3. Bag the cell phones and all internet connections. Instead concentrate on BEING PRESENT with your family. Interact and have fun:)
     4. Plan a little, be spontaneous often.
     5. Have family fun!!


Sometimes you can even reinvent past vacations:

Scott in 1993

Enjoying San Francisco crab!

Chad in 2010

Fisherman's Wharf

Scott and Chad, 1993

Chad on the same posts, 2010

My "boys" are now 32 and 29, but I enjoy them now as much as when they were little. Family is important. We all continue to take photos to build and keep new memories. My 35 filled albums are like best friends that bring me joy.

Enjoy those family vacations and that precious family time!!

Happy Parenting!

D and C