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).
My favorite routine is watching a family movie at 7pm most nights before my kids go to sleep.
kellywcu8888ATgmailDOTcom
It was good to see you st ikea on tuesday. For the record, you cam get a refund on your plant, if it dies, just bring in the original receipt!
We like to have family movie night on Fridays as well. We typically allow the blanket for dinner but find ourselves needing to stop the movie from time to time to remind our little girl that she needs to eat. Fun times.
We have themed meal nights everyday of the week. Friday is pizza night for us too.
Bums and bottles…the essence of early mothering 🙂
We have a weekly pizza night too! Usually on Saturdays though!
We have routines, more than traditions…but a weekly family movie night sounds brilliant.
When my baby is older we hope to have family movie nights and maybe family game nights, too.
One of our favorite family routines is brinner on Thursday night. Super easy and helps usher in the weekend!
We tend to do pizza and a movie nights too. They're never planned, they just happen all the time.
We love going on family hikes!
best days are our lazy sundays!. sleeping, watching movies, shows, games, puzzles, crafting.. of course having our breakfast lunch and dinner in our pjs
I love playing out in our newly finished backyard as a family.
It is simple really, but I love my son's bedtime routine. After bath, we snuggle in a comfy chair and read his bedtime books. I pray for him and sing to him (he has to endure my terrible voice), and then it is off to bed with plenty of kisses.
I love bath time with my boys! So special!
Bedtime routine- bath, reading, then prayers together. It definitely helps our girls go down a lot easier when there's a routine!
Eating dinner together. As the kids get older, things get crazier, so it's especially nice to have the time to reconnect.
Sunday night popcorn while skyping with grandparents. Since we're on the opposite coast now, we skype with different grandparents, but still the same tradition! 🙂
I'm loving rocking my youngest to sleep (I know I shouldn't!) because it is so peaceful and calming for us both!
um your pizza looks amazing