Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at the Nute Home, 1959

I love this photo. It was taken Thanksgiving, 1959 at my grandparent's house. My parents were just newlyweds of 5 months (they are not in this picture), and I was not even an inkling in their mind (perhaps my older brother and sister were-- but definitely not me!)

I love this photo so much because it just says "family Thanksgiving." The men are in ties, the women are dressed up. The china is being used and my grandmother's fancy goblets are out. The candles are lit, and there is a welcoming pineapple/fruit centerpiece on display. It's not a Martha Stewart affair, and would not grace the boards of Pinterest for it's recipe or party idea potential, but it sure looks like a festive gathering.

The best part about this picture is everyone has a smile on their face. So even if this was just a down-home Thanksgiving, it must have been fun!

Wishing you and your family have a wonderful, down-home Thanksgiving of your own!

School's Out for SUMMER!

Yay, it's finally the last day of school!! The transition between school time and summer time is always a bit rocky at our house. Many summer activities (like swim team), start up well before school is over. So, for the last month or so, we are bouncing between being in school, and wanting it to be summer!! Now it's finally here, the last day of school for my daughter!! Yay!!

I've been asking many friends if they had any special traditions in their family on the last day of school... and suprisingly there's been a resounding "no, we did nothing special." Even my own mom admitted that nothing happened at our house either.

Being the gal that I am... I'm all for traditions... So I racked my brain... do we do any end of school traditions?

1. SCHOOLS OUT for SUMMER!!
Well, I have to admit... we do have one tradition that may seem a bit bizarre, but we love to play the classic rock song, "School's Out," by Alice Cooper. Ironically this tradition really came to the forefront when my son, then 2, loved to belt out the lyrics!! The best part is he wasn't even in school at the time! (Watch the video if you want to see more :))


2. Picture at the Front Door
We always take a picture at the front door on the first day of school... so I decided this year to take one on the last day of school too. You've got to print them out, and make sure your kids can see just how much "smarter" they look. :)

3. Their Choice Dinner
My kids LOVE ravioli, so I think we know what were having tonight. You could let them decide on a place to go out to eat too, if they'd like that better (and you don't want to cook!)
4. Wait to celebrate on the 1st DAY of Summer Break
The last day of school is loaded with school parties and craziness.... perhaps the tradition is better if started on the 1st DAY of summer break vs. the last day of school! That is where we are sort of heading this year with the tradition-- and that's not just because it's also my birthday... :)
We're lucky we're close enough to the coast... so we're going to get in some beach time!! (Although, it may be mightly foggy and cold...). Another big hit is going swimming-- any pool will do, even if it's in the back yard! Have your kids help plan the day, so they can look forward to it!
I would love to hear about your last day of school traditions... or your first day of summer fun! I hope you have a great day!

So, You Want Be President?

For some reason, even though there always is a school holiday for Presidents Day, we never seem to celebrate the meaning of the day... So, this weekend, when we went to the library, I checked out a great book to read to the kids, "So You Want to Be President," by Judith St. George and David Small.
It's quite a humorous read... giving all sorts of facts about past Presidents, and things they shared or didn't share in common. For instance, if you're name is James, you may have a better chance of being president, since there has been 5 presidents named James!

For a family tradition idea, I tasked my kids to come up with a slogan they'd use if they ran for president. My daughter said she'd declare the national food to be candy... and my son, well he didn't really say it, but I think he'd promote thumb-sucking at any age!

So, Happy Birthday George and Abe, and have a nice President's Day.

I Have a Dream Tradition

I don't know about you, but I've never really "celebrated" Martin Luther King Day. Of course, my kids have had the holiday off, and I know they've been doing projects at school, but at home, it's just has been overlooked. Now that's pretty sad, especially given light of what the holiday celebrates... and even more importantly, this year, what tomorrow holds... the inauguration of President Barack Obama!

So, this year I decided to celebrate the day, not only by creating the "Dream" banner above, and hanging it prominently in our house, but also coming up with an MLK tradition for our family.

Here's our new MLK day tradition:
I put a "dream bowl" on the center of the dining room table and handed each family member three pieces of paper and a pencil. The instructions are simple, each piece of paper represents a dream the person has; the first piece of paper is for a personal dream, the second for a with a slightly larger scope (say a dream for the family, or school, or community), and the last a very large dream (say for a state, a country, or the world). One each paper will also be the person's name and the year. I plan to bring the "dream bowl" out every MLK day, so we can not only add to our dreams, but also see if any dreams have come true.

I look forward to see the outcome year after year!

Do you have any MLK traditions in your family, your school, your community? Please share!