Family Movie Night (and a Giveaway)
As you can imagine, this summer has been a little on the chaotic side for our family. Between flying straight to Vegas from vacation in the Outer Banks, to three weeks living with Bart’s sister, then six weeks with my parents, and now six weeks in Arizona, it’s definitely had a touch of the crazy.
Bart and I have made major efforts to keep the girls’ lives as calm and regular as possible during this time so that they don’t feel totally unmoored. They have regular nap and quiet times every afternoon, and they are in bed at 7 on the dot pretty much every night. We go to church on Sunday, visit the library and IKEA weekly, and have regular meals as a family.
And we also reinstated Friday Movie Nights once we were all back in the same house.
In my usual fashion, we’ve kept things very simple. I know myself well enough to realize that if I make it complicated, I’ll just quit, so it’s pretty streamlined.
We have (homemade) pizza for dinner, and then we have (not homemade) ice cream while we watch our movie.
Just before seven, we pause the movie, get both girls completely ready for bed and put Ani down. Then we finish the movie with Ella and she goes immediately to bed once the movie is finished (since she basically never stays up late, even by 7:45, she’s usually asking “how long until this movie is done?”).
Sometimes, if I’m feeling very nice (or I want to get things rolling earlier), we’ll let the girls eat on a picnic blanket and start the movie during dinner instead of waiting until after.
. . . a Poloraid camera with film, and a puzzle, a bottle, a book, a changing pad and the biggest box of styrofoam peanuts you’ve ever seen.
Pampers is giving away another identical gift basket with all those goodies to one reader. Yippee! (Also, save the box and peanuts – my girls have been playing in it daily for two weeks. We may be a little starved for toys around here).
Pancakes (or waffles) on the weekends.
Special breakfasts on the weekends. My boys get to pick a new recipe every week.
Story time at night!
Bathtime (my husband bathes the kids, and I love to eavesdrop on their conversation) and then bedtime (we all chat about our day and our plans for the next day)
Our tradition is grilled cheese sandwiches for Sunday supper. 🙂
Kyle thrives on his morning routine- wake up, have a fruit pouch, and then a bottle (I'm supposed to wean him off those before kindergarten right?), and then a bowl of cheerios, everyday like clock work!
Friday night pizza night is our family tradition, too. Yay for Friday!
I can't believe they still make Polaroid cameras with FILM, especially! I'd really like to win the basket for A Baby Center, a local charity that gives diapers and other necessities to needy families.
Stories before bed!
Sunday evening dessert and bike rides!
Reading books before bed!
Sunday is Family Fun Day. This usually involves going to the woods somewhere to let my feral sons (and husband) loose in their natural environment. Movie nights would never fly at our house, sadly. I'm the only one who will sit still for one.
Hi! I have a quick question if you don't mind… I tried sending you an email but not luck, so maybe I'll have better luck here lol anyway, what types of books do you recommend for infants? My little guy is seven months old and I want to start reading to him, but I feel silly, like he's too young to pay attention so why read to him? Is there a certain time? Is he too young right now? What kinds of books do you recommend? Should I be looking at board books, things with textures, things that make crinkly sounds? Sorry for all the questions but I thought you would be the right person to ask.
Runt
runtspickins@yahoo.com
http://www.runtspickins.wordpress.com
(If responding, please email or comment a blog post of mine.)
Friday night playtime with cousins!
We sing the BYU fight song every week at FHE–indoctrinating them young!
Reading together before bed.
I get to sleep in on Saturdays while my husband gets up with our 8-month baby. Best "tradition" ever.
Also, we play bingo after thanksgiving dinner with really goofy silly prizes. It's a blast!
My husband and I always go to bed at the same time. It's not super exciting, but it keeps our schedules on the same page!
GREAT giveaway!! We also *try* to have family movie nights every week. I love them.
Love this giveaway!