Here are some common traditons …

1. Have each person at your Thanksgiving dinner state at least one thing they are Thankful for.

2. Have each member recall a happy or memorable Thanksgiving in their lives

3. Put on a Thanksgiving play with your family

4. Invite someone to your Thanksgiving feast that would be alone otherwise. Maybe a single person you know or a college student living away from home or a widow/widower that lives near by.

5. Volunteer at your local “Soup Kitchen” to serve Thanksgiving dinners to the homeless.

6. Read a Thanksgiving story or watch a Thanksgiving movie with your family

7. Plan a family outing like a family hike. Take a half an hour to an hour to enjoy each others company and the Great outdoors. You might even collect some of those beautiful fall leaves that you can make crafts out of later.

8. Parents can create “I’m thankful for you because …” notes for each of their children. Really, you could do this for anyone. We all need some appreciation every now and again.

9. Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. This has been an American tradition since 1924.

10. And of course what would Thanksgiving be without football?

- Some trivia here, Watching football on Thanksgiving dates back to the first intercollegiate football championship held on Thanksgiving Day in 1876.

As we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday’s take some time to “Count Your Blessings”. We can always find something to be Thankful for, regardless of how hectic and stressful our lives might be at the moment.

Looking forward to hearing your Thanksgiving traditions!

People in The United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, England and some places in Australia all have fun on October 31st.

Here’s some fun and interesting facts you might enjoy … 

(hint – They might be fun questions at a Halloween party.)

1. The origins of Halloween is from the ancient Celtics in Ireland – More precisely their harvest festival (Samhain) where it was believed that spirits of the dead revisited their homes.
2. All Saints Day was introduced in the 7th century to honor saints and martyrs. It was hoped to replace the pagan festival of the dead. Thus our current Halloween customs are a confusing mixture of pagan cultures and Christian traditions.
3. “Trick or Treat” is traced to a European custom called “souling”. Beggars would go from village to village begging for Soul Cakes. The number of cakes they collected determine dhow many prayers they said on behalf of their dead relatives.
4. In Britain and Ireland Halloween was known as “Mischief Night.” People were free to play pranks and cause mischief without the fear of being punished.
5. Americans first celebrated Halloween in Anoka Minnesota in 1921.
6. Kids began dressing up in ghoulish costumes in the 1950s.
7. About 50% of adults dress up for Halloween.
8. Over 10% of pet owners dress their pets up in Halloween costumes.
9. The Biggest Pumpkin – 1469 Pounds! – was grown by Larry Checkon of North Cambria, Pennsylvania. The new Guinness world record was set on October 1, 2005.
10. The Irish used to carve “Jack O’Lanterns.” out of turnips. When they came to America they began using pumpkins because pumpkins were more plentiful.
11. 99% of pumpkins are marketed for the purpose of making Jack O’Lanterns.
12. 86% of Americans decorate their homes for Halloween.
13. Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the fall harvest and black is associated with death.


14. Over 28 million Halloween cards are mailed each year. The first Halloween card was made in the early 1920s.
15. One quarter of all the candy sold each year is sold between September 15 and November 10.
16. A traditional food eaten on Halloween in barnbrack. It’s a type of fruitcake that has a muslin-wrapped treat baked inside.
17. The tradition of bobbing for apples is believed to come from the Romans Pomona Day. This Roman festival honored Pomona their goddess of fruit trees who was often pictured wearing a crown of apples.
18. The tradition of “Trick or Treating” is believed to have come from the Irish. On Hallows Eve Irish townsfolk would visit neighbors and ask for contributions of food for a feast in town.
19. In the 1800s Halloween was celebrated by people telling legends of their homelands.
20. In Ireland you won’t hear “Trick or Treat” the kids rant “The sky is blue, the grass is green, may we have our Halloween?”
21. Interesting Halloween cities include, Salem Massachusetts, Transylvania County North Carolina, Skull Creek Nebraska, Tombstone Arizona and Pumpkin Center, North Carolina.

We instructed Mel to keep his violin in it’s case in his bedroom (actually under his bed so it would be out of the way) when he wasn’t using it. We also told him to play in his room when he felt the need.

Thinking we were being smart by implementing these “rules” so that his little brother, Lamont, wouldn’t try to touch it and inadvertently break it. (they are not allowed in each others bedrooms)

Saturday morning…for those of you that are counting…TWO DAYS after we bought the thing…Mel thought it would be great to “practice” (he still doesn’t really know how to play since he’s only three weeks in and none of that time has been spent learning any music yet) in the boys’ game room.

Big Mel and I were downstairs playing cards and heard the music a little closer than we should have…so we called Mel down to remind him of the bedroom only rule.

Of course my son would bring the violin downstairs with him-out of it’s case! So when we sent him back upstairs all we heard was….

A big boom and thunder sounding noise. Then his cry “‘Mont look what you did!”

Somehow between the two of them Mel tripped on the stairs and broke his fall with the violin-strings first.

I took it back to the music store yesterday and they only had to re-string it thank goodness!

The store didn’t even charge me since it had been less than a week and they understood how frustrating the situation was for us. They did warn me that it will be $30 next time, though!

Now the violin is kept in our bedroom and only comes out to go to school and with our permission. I don’t think he’ll be making the same mistake though. I hope not.

Anyways, I did get the insurance on the violin but it doesn’t cover strings because those are a wear and tear item…but if you have to buy or rent an instrument….GET THE INSURANCE!!!!

And if you have ever experienced anything similar (even if it didn’t have to do with an instrument) please feel free to share what happened and how you resolved it as a parent to avoid the same thing from happening in the future…remember we can all learn from each other!

Until next time,

Amy

This is a blog for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends.  Anyone looking for information on what the kids of today enjoy.

Your hosts are me Cindy a mother and grandma and my daughter Amy, mother of two rambunctious boys.

The kids of today live in an extremely fast paced world.  They face challenges that couldn’t even of been immagined in the 60s, 70s or even in the 80s when my children were small.

We’ll be reviewing popular toys and games as well as discussing what kids enjoy, need and want as they grow.

We look foward to sharing and learning from you in return.  Please feel free to share your experiences and views with us by posting a comment.  (Remember this is a family friendly site.)