Image and idea from Jen at Classic Play

Happy April! Bring on those showers and flowers. Our family is in celebration mode today for my hubs whose birthday is today and who has happily handled April Fools jokes his whole life. He's such a good sport. Happy birthday, my love!

April 1 brings us the silly, the ridiculous, and the over-the-top - it's the perfect kind of day to have some fun. And it's not too late to do these easy peasy jokes on your kids. I love the elaborate and extended pranks, but for my kiddos, a simple introduction to the idea of April Fools is called for.

Here are my top picks for the simply wonderful jokes of the day:

1. I'm a little biased, but I think Classic Play always has the greatest resources for fun with your kids. And, no doubt, Jen has a great treasure trove of April Fools jokes. I love how she and her children illustrated these quick pranks over a breakfast.

2. Martha Stewart's team crafted some fun ideas with food. The mashed potato sundae is a classic and one that I think would get my kids. How about yours?

3. Have you done (or been on the receiving end) of the frozen cereal trick. Put the milk in the bowl first, set it in the freezer. Take out and add the cereal. It will leave your little ones dumbfounded, in the best way. The full how-to is found over at Parenting.com.

4. For the youngest set, I think a batch of freshly baked brown E's is a great way to go. Your child will be glad to know his/her letters, but sad/laughing that they'll miss out on the chocolate treat.

5. This last one is a great surprise prank that I might do for fun on some other day of the year. Why not put googly eyes on every food in the fridge? It's such a hoot to open the door to sets and sets of eyes staring right back at you!

Are you setting up any jokes this April Fools? We're off to set up a silly scavenger hunt for the birthday boy. Here's to a great April!

xoxo, MJ

It's time for another beautiful installment of Mini Cooks with my friend, Joy of

Frock Files

. She's cooked up an easy, hands on meal cheerfully titled Enchilada Lasagna. And it's perfect for our family and probably yours, too.

I am a huge pasta fan, favoring of course fresh pasta above all, but still a fan of ramen and even Spaghettios (oh, gees, I just admitted that). And yet I am raising three amazing children who have absolutely no interest in noodles or pasta. Joy's recipe today takes some of the flavors we adore and adds in tortillas - you've got to check it out.

It's what we're having for dinner. I wish it could look this pretty.

Thank you all for the amazing support of this collaboration! We've had a ton of fun planning and prepping it all for you and your families. Do you have an awesome recipe to share? Tag it with #minicooks so we can pin it to the

Mini Cook Pinterest

board.

Catch all of the recipes and tips on these posts!

5 ideas for getting started with Mini Cooks

Egg in a Basket

Snack Granola Bars

Lunchtime Vegan Smoothies

xoxo, MJ

It's time for another fun project in collaboartion with our incredibly talented friends over at Classic Play. Today we're making paper daffodils with the kids for some pretty fantastical results.

This wreath is so simple to make from supplies you have around your house. Grab some paper (we used misprinted letterhead) in white and yellow, cotton swabs, food coloring, and some scissors. Bring your children into the process and let them feel the sense of accomplishment form their paper flowers.

We decided to dye our cotton swabs yellow using diluted yellow food coloring first. First, trim off one swabbed end, and dip and dunk them into the yellow dye. This step is not necessary (you can paint or color these with a permanent marker), but the process itslef added to the fun. My son, 4, became our specialist in creating the centers of the flowers.

We dunked ours a few rounds for fun. Take those out of the dye and place them to the side while you craft the petals. The process for creating these paper flowers is super similar to that of folding a paper snowflake. You want to create from a square piece of paper so fold over a right triangle and trim the excess to form.

You'll work from a square piece of paper (so from the first image, trim off the extra paper at the bottom.) Fold the large triangle in half. And then fold it in half again. Your triangle should look something like the one on the right below. Hold it with the end that is connected to the main fold.

Next cut out your petal shape, making sure to only cut along the two open sides. You'll cut a C curve along the top of the triangle. Creativity is encouraged here; some of our daffodils had pointed petals and some very round ones. Unfold your flower to discover!

Next up, create inner yellow circle. Shape it into a cone and secure with glue or tape.

Using a sharp pencil or the colored cotton swabs, poke a small hole in the center of your white flower. Push the cone tip through the hole in the white flower and insert the yellow swab into the center of the yellow cone. Secure all the flower parts together with invisible tape around the stick (and behind the petals) of the cotton swab.

We decided that with all these “fresh” flowers we needed to make something bigger. With the help of a simple styrofoam wreath, we pushed the blunt end of each swab into the circle form. With the handiwork of my children, we were able to fill about half of the wreath, and I wanted a really full final product so I kept on creating for an hour after they lost interest.

These everlasting flowers are charming on their own or strung as a banner. And this process was just as fun as the finished wreath. We're all very proud of our new door decoaration.

Happy crafting!

xoxo, MJ

Wednesdays are always such fun around these parts with the addition of our Mini Cooks series. In our fourth week here, Joy, Sheri, and I are teaming up for lunch. And I'm delighted to share with you our version of this awesome recipe that has loads of vitamin A and vitamin C to make you feel really good about what you're adding to your children's lunches.

Surprisingly, my three perceptive children have not picked up on the fact that I make smoothies every time I test out a new recipe on them. It's my fall back plan for good nutrition if the main meal ends up going south on us. I also love adding them to our lunches at home for an easy way to add extra goodness and interest to our sometimes boring lunches.

We've made smoothies from whatever we have around our house including juices, yogurts, sherbets, berries, bananas, and whatever fruits are in season or on sale in the frozen foods. This blend is extra good for us with the addition of some apple cider vinegar and soy.

I enlisted my mini-est of cooks for this recipe. He's always excited to cook and bake with me, he loves smoothies, and he's head over heels for orange.

Here's what you need, alter depending on your favorite flavors (but don't skimp on the maple syrup):

• Juice of 4-5 oranges
• 1 frozen banana
• 2-3 cups of peaches (frozen or fresh)
• 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp of maple syrup
• 1 small container of vanilla yogurt (soy)

This recipe is perfect for young helpers. They can smell the maple syrup, oranges, and vinegar. They can take in the beautiful colors of the fruits. (If you're like us, without a juicer) they can squeeze the juice and pulp right from the oranges. L felt pretty powerful squishing the orange peels and seeing orange juice happen right before his eyes.

We threw all of our ingredients into the blender. L is able to handle the hand mixer and toaster, but the blender just makes too much noise for his liking so I grated and liquified while he got distracted with one of his favorite household chores.

This is where I just had to go with his interest and let him play. Eventually he realized that the dishes were dirtier than he really wanted to deal with, and he was ready to taste test our smoothie.

His reaction? Two thumbs up, and "awesome." I'll take that.

He was excited to make it for his sisters' return from school, proud of his accomplishment. And I felt good that we were all enjoying a healthy addition to lunch and snack.

Do your mini cooks enjoy smoothies? Give them a try and don't forget to add a colorful straw! :) See more great recipes suitable for your mini cook on our Pinterest board.

xoxo, MJ

P.S. More fabulous posts for the children in your lives:

5 ideas for getting started with Mini Cooks

Egg in a Basket

Snack Granola Bars

Friends, I have been waiting to share this new nugget of goodness that has transformed our witching hour around here. You know what I mean by witching hour, yes? I think it hits everyone's house at slightly different times, but ours hits almost exactly from 4-5 PM every day. At this point, the kids have had their snacks, finished homework, and are not quite motivated enough to find something to entertain themselves (or one another). And so usually, they'd turn to me to play or to suggest a way for them to enjoy the next hour, and by that point, I'm frantically trying to wrap up work, get dinner on the table, and handle any other household chores that have been waiting on me. The combination of parent and child patience levels at their lowest is a recipe for disaster.

In our last visit to the library, we spent some time in the audio book section, or the "read-alongs" as my kids call them. My youngest, L, at four, checks out quite a few of these because it's an easy way for me to have him attentive to books even when I can't be the one reading along with him. He loves the musical backgrounds and bonus songs that some of the books feature. His big sisters were reminiscing about their own experience of these picture books with audio and lamenting that they don't have the fun of these any more.

Seeing that I had a teachable moment right in my hands, I walked with them to the audio books for kids section. Right away, they recognized titles that they had read and some that were on their wish lists. C, our newly confident reader, was happily surprised to find Mr. Popper's Penguins, one of her older sister's books that she'd been eyeing for a while. She hasn't quite had the gumption to pick it up on her own, but knowing that she could be read to and follow along broke down her fear.

Through their elementary school, M and C are required to read or be read to a certain number of minutes per week. I have seen C's confidence grow as she listens along to the British narrator of the story tackle the complicated words and phrases with her. She's able to sink into the story a bit more and use her imagination to make the scenes come to life. This is not a substitute for her independent reading time but a nice addition to her learning.

L memorizes his books through the great use of pattern, repetition, and song that professionals can provide.

M loves the opportunity to put in headphones and be given permission to tune out to dive into a book. Since I have no audio learners (save my husband) in the house, this exercise has been a helpful way for them to expand their learning styles, too.

Last week at 4:15, a moment I typically dread, I looked around to see all three of my children engaged in audio books - content, learning, and completely occupied. It was like a mini-retreat for me and dinner prep and dishes became an enjoyable experience. And we all came to dinner calmer.

Have you tried audio books with your children? Do you utilize them for your own reading? Check out Paige's recommendations for some great audio books.

xoxo, MJ

P.S. Thanks to Ileana for this helpful suggestion: "I used audiobooks all throughout my daughters childhoods. The youngest would drift off to sleep with a "story tape" after we finished with bedtime reading. She is now addicted and still listens to audiobooks as a young woman. I credit the good vocabulary of my children with this habit. I wanted to pass on these two resources of great audiobooks, one the D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths read by Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Kathleen Turner and others. The other is a collection of tales and fables for children by Jim Weiss (he has a very soothing voice)." 

It's time for another great recipe to enjoy with your Mini Cooks! Big thanks to Joy and Sheri for this awesome series. Today Sheri takes on snacks!

We keep our snacks, sorted sweet or savory, in our pantry on the low shelves and on the bottom shelf of the fridge so that the kids can help themselves as they'd like. I am all about independence and knowing when you feel hungry. I also want my children to make good choices.

Honestly, I have a love/hate relationship with snacks and my kids. Sometimes snacks can supplement our meals so well and other times they devolve into another dose of sugar. I'm always on the hunt for a healthy snack that will appeal to them. I think Sheri heard my silent plea to the world and created these yummy granola bars with her son, Noah.

I've never made granola, and I'm ready to dig in.

I love their circular nature, and they're sized just right for little hands (and stomachs). Hop on over to see adorableness meet healthy. Thanks Sheri and Noah!

Guess what? We have a great collaborative Pinterest board for Mini Cooks that you should check out for new ideas on fun recipes and tips for cooking with children.

Catch up on the series with the intro of “5 ideas for getting started with Mini Cooks” and don't miss Joy’s yummy breakfast of “Egg in a Basket”

xoxo, MJ

How can you can tell which games you or your family love the most? As I discovered, they are the least photogenic. I adore board games; marathon monopoly weekends are a favorite part of my childhood memories. As a tween, my room was right next to the game closet (formerly known as the linen closet that was taken over by puzzles and family games). And Saturday evenings were meant for a tough match of Win, Lose, or Draw or a casual hand of pinochle with my parents.

Playing games as a family is not only fun and a sweet stress reliever, it allows families to get to know each other on new levels. Watching teamwork develop and competition rise and fall... even the teasing and antics all become a part of who we are as sisters, mothers, brothers.

I'm sharing our top board games for kids 10 & Under over on my Squeeze Time spot at Classic Play! Have I mentioned how much I love contributing to such a vibrant community? Thanks for having me back, Jen. Come check out our picks and argue with me over the quintessential board game...

Have a bright weekend, friends!

xoxo, MJ

Breakfast is our all-time favorite around here. We could have pancakes in the morning, cereal and toast for lunch, and dine over a stack of French toast with a side of eggs. Our diets would lack balance but, hey, we'd be happy for quite a while! Breakfast is also such a wonderful meal to invite kids to cook! Think of all the Hollywood portrayals of the red-faced, smiley children, thoughtfully carrying the tray of morning treats for Mom and Dad to enjoy in bed.

Well, that hasn't quite happened around here, but we do make it a practice to cook breakfast together on the weekends. Sundays are the best time to gather around the kitchen island and grab a mixing spoon. We bring the griddle out for small eyes to watch as bubbles appear in the circles of batter. We snack on chocolate chips (one for every year of your life and extras for every person in the family who loves you!) as we take in the rich smells of the bacon crisping and popping.

I think it's important for my children to understand the process of food preparation. The act of stirring to smoothness, ladeling an even portion, waiting and watching are all part of the amazing observation of life, and I find becoming a part of this work has made them more interested in food and independence more generally.

Joy has a fun and easy breakfast meal with eggs (and gorgeous photography) that I can't wait to try with my kids. Guess what's for dinner tonight? More on Egg in a Basket.

And if you're wondering how to make your kitchen a great space for your mini cook, check out last week's ideas on inviting them into the kitchen!

Have you made an egg in the basket before?

xoxo, MJ

Every Wednesday for the next six weeks join in for a fresh collaborative series called Mini Cooks. I'm teaming up with Sheri of Donuts, Dresses, and Dirt and Joy of Frock Files to explore the culinary world through the lens of children! We'll be offering you simple recipes and cooking adventures that you can do with your children, nieces/nephews, neighbors, and more.

We've been cooking up (pun intended) a fabulous series to give you practical recipes as well as helpful ways that children in your kitchen can get involved, learn important skills, and grow to love the foods they create. I'm delighted to kick us off with five ideas on how to enjoy time in the kitchen with your mini cooks!

Cooking is more comfortable when the tools of the trade fit your size. Take a look at your drawer or canister of kitchen gadgets and see what might work best for little hands. Utensils need not be used as they were originally intended... a brightly colored measuring spoon can work to mix ingredients and playful plastic cups can be a great substitute for larger adult measuring cups. Or maybe make a splurge for a magenta spatula or little egg whisk to let your littles know that they were thought of, too, in the process of food preparation.

Be sure they have a safe and secure way to reach countertops or consider taking the cooking process down to their height at a kitchen table or play table.

Dress up is always fun so consider if mini aprons and chef hats might be your thing!

Perhaps the aspect that keeps our children out of the kitchen more than any other is safety. Ovens, ranges, knives, and processors present very real concerns. Our job as the big chefs, if you will, is to make sure the space is set up for success and that we monitor mini cooks in the kitchen at all times.

First, be sure to alert children of possible dangers and help them understand safety zones. Model good locations to stand when cooking by the range, opening the oven door, or flipping on the griddle. Where are hot spots? What is breakable?

Remember to teach clean habits during the prep and clean up processes.

Of course, certain processes are not child appropriate, and mini cooks need to understand this, too. Children can still be engaged while adults take on the more risky elements.

This one I love. When my children are really involved and enjoying our food prep, it's a direct result of the pre-planning I did to make it a success. Having all of the pots, pans, bowls and tools washed and ready to use; thinking through the preparation process and what ages can handle what skills; talking with my children about what recipes they want to try.

In our house, it's a rite of passage to be able to use the hand-held mixer. And from the point that someone can stand on their own, my children know that they are welcome to hold the measuring cup over the bowl. My oldest, M, now 9 is excited to have the cutting board and dicing responsibilities now. Think early and often invitations to participate!

Forgive this former teacher, but I cannot pass up the amazing teachable moments found in the kitchen. From the history of recipes to the geography of the people who created them to the mathematics of measurement. From nutrition and agricultural learning to business and art lessons, the kitchen can become the most fertile learning ground in your house. Let it be!

Every child has her or his own limit on the messy they are willing to do. My younger daughter, C,  embraces and wears all things sloppy as she bakes. My son wants his hands clean as soon as they get wet. And neither perspective is good or bad. Try to expose your children to both sides. Engage in the messiness of goopy recipes that require hands on and use the tongs and scoops that can keep hands clean.

And remember that floors, sinks, counters, ovens, and even ponytails can be cleaned so that your mini cook can feel good making the necessary messes for his or her masterpiece!

Join us next Wednesday as Joy brings us a simple breakfast treat to entice your mini cooks into the kitchen.

Big thanks to Joy and Sheri for your incredible creative touch!

xoxo, MJ

Happy Valentine's Day, lovelies!! Have I told you lately that I love you? Today is the day to do it. And I do! Thank you for all your love, commenting, faithful reading, and support. How are you spending your day and/or weekend to celebrate? We have small plans to go out to a movie together and enjoy a heart-shaped pizza, but I'm mostly looking forward to the warmth of the fire and snuggles on the couch as we tune into the Olympics.

Valentine's day with all the color and emotion is one of my faves! I can't help it; what can I say? I always wanted to work for Hallmark as a child.

The great people of Cricut sent me (and many other talented folks) a gift of crafting goodies including stacks of hearts in all shapes, sizes, and colors and encouraged us to give someone we love - a heart attack. This is only the best kind, of course... so I decided my daughters needed some extra lovin' in their lunchboxes. AND, I can't resist an opportunity to make a pop up heart.

Grab your crafting wire, spin it around your finger to create a coil, and washi tape it to the lunchbox. Ta da - a surprise I love you pops out as you open your lunch!

These hearts came pre-cut and ready to string for the perfect drawbridge banner!

And who says your mesh pouch can't double as a banner hanger to send some extra hugs and kisses?

That intricate cut Valentine? All thanks to the fabulous Cricut Explore. Thanks for making me look like a rockstar mom!!

Why not go over the top a little today? Or reach out to everyone you love? Let's LOVE BIG.

Happy Valentine's Day!

xoxo, MJ

Sing it with me now:

On the first day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Lulu the Baker.

On the second day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Trouvé Magazine.

On the third day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Design Stitch Go.

On the fourth day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Design + Life + Kids.

On the fifth day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Donuts, Dresses, and Dirt.

On the sixth day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Minnow + Co.

On the seventh day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Bring Joy.

On the eighth day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Design Improvised.

On the ninth day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Frock Files.

On the tenth day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Raincoast Creative Salon.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Alexandra Hedin.

And, can I get a drumroll, pleeeeassse....

On the twelfth day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Classic Play!

First off, I can't believe that this series has come to an end, but nevertheless I am so excited to have Jen here to talk about her fabulous blog (so so much good stuff over their parents) and (hello...) new PBS series, Adventures in Learning.

Classic Play is the place where "having kids is cool" and in order for all that to happen you have to have one amazing mastermind behind it all. Jen has the wit and sincerity we parents need when transitioning children to the next stage of learning or getting into a project with your family. Cooking, playtime, crafts, reading - it's all infused with fun, and Jen's spirited illustrations are the cherry on top!

I guess it started when I had a toy/children's dress up line years ago and thought a blog would be a good promotional tool for it. Along the way, I fell in love with blogging—the conversations, the different skills it required, the friends I made. Eventually, we closed up our shop and I went all in for online publishing. 

What keeps me blogging?

The creative outlet, the opportunities that have arisen from the blog (even if the blog doesn't bring in revenue), the amazing contributors I work with, the pride I feel when I scroll through my site. I know it probably sounds vain, but it just makes me happy to look at and read it. 

Classic Play is a family lifestyle blog for creative types of parents or those who are looking for some creative ideas. I like to say it's always stylish, never fussy. As far as other places to find me? I host a pretty kickin' online series for PBS Parents called Adventures in Learning. It's one of the best parenting shows around. And I'm tooootally not biased at all ;) 

Hmm… this is a tough one!

I think this one, even though it's not a shiny happy piece, because it was the first time I ever tackled criticism. I wanted to ignore it, but I decided to be brave and tackle it head on. I've never done that before.

CORRECTIONS + CRITICISMS

This one was just plain ol' fun and helped me realize what type of parent I wanted to be—the kind who was cool with her kids being themselves

A CLONE TROOPER GOES GROCERY SHOPPING

And this one because I think it was the first time I felt brave enough to share my illustrations with people:

FALL LEAVES PRINTABLE

I'm going to be honest, I get nervous when I make big wishes; my family is wildly superstitious. But, I'm going to put on my big girl pants and make a wish. *deep breath* I would love to redesign the site to make it more functional. There is SO much fantastic content on there that gets lost in the shuffle. Other than that? I think I'll be happy with continuing to loosen up and experiment more. Blogging has allowed me to grow in so many ways. Hopefully 2014 will bring more of that growth even if it's uncomfortable (eek! I should probably be more careful what I wish for, yeah?)

Jen's energy for life and for motherhood is such an inspiration to me! She embraces everyday learning with ease, and injects a little something extra into every post. Whether you're a parent or not, you'll find inspiration on the overflow over at Classic Play.

Thanks all you beautiful bloggers for letting me feature your writing, your photography, your illustrations, your collages, and your hours and hours of sweat and tears. Blogging is an entire creative process, and I learn so much from ladies like these...

So here's to a wonderful 2014! My bloggy resolution for this year is to read more blogs. And comment more. Blog commenting has become akin to handwriting a personal letter. So I'm bringing it back with a gusto for 2014.

Watch out.

xoxo, MJ

P.S. You just have to come back tomorrow because I have a beautiful story to share with you and one biggo announcement.

P.P.S. #30sketch Day 5, for my middle school self

Happy New Year, pals!! It's 2014 - how did that happen? Thank you for all of your reading and applauding through 2013 for this here blog. Because of your support some fabulous changes are happening in 2014, and I can't wait to share a few things I've been keeping on the hush hush. May 2014 be a year of lasting hope and endless possibilities!

On this seventh day of Christmas, I'm BRINGing you JOY. If you have not yet discovered the force that is Janae from Bring Joy, let me convince you.

I wanted to share recipes & helps answer questions about my dietary choice to go vegan. When I first began blogging nearly 5 years ago, the www was a totally different place. Pinterest didn't exist. There was no such thing as a Facebook fan page. Twitter was just in its baby phase. So much has changed, but the reason I began is the reason I continue--to connect with others & to share. 

My blog has evolved over the years (as I hope all blogs do!) to be more than just a blog about being vegan & sharing recipes. I like to share snippets of family life, share how we're striving to be frugal & get out of debt, & discuss issues about relationships & parenting. I keep blogging, honestly, because of my readers. I have some readers who have stuck around since the beginning, & my interactions with them are my fuel to keep going. I love learning from them, & feel honored to have such a thoughtful, smart audience. 

The essence of my blog is sharing, community, with an emphasis on thoughtful, purposeful living. In a few words, I'd like to think I & my readers discuss ways in which to bring more joy to living, particularly as it relates to food, family, & money decisions. 

Dear first time mom: what 5 pregnancies has taught me

Curves

I don’t know. Except I do. Because I’m a woman & I’ve been guilty as anyone of this. In the past 6 months or so, I’ve been quietly working on changing my mindset. Striving to realize that my value as a woman, as a person, does not have anything to do with the shape of my body, or the size of my jeans. It’s hard to fight against this though, in our culture, where we’re sold this idea that a woman’s power or strength at least in part, is derived from the shape & size of her body.

Let's talk about the importance of...ahem, sex 

Image courtesy of Freshly Picked

I just want to continue interacting with my readers in a very mindful, intimate way. I love nothing more than to receive emails & comments from readers that teach me something, or open my eyes in a new way. I feel like blogging is the 21st century version of extreme pen pal-ing. I get to interact on a regular basis from people all over the world, & not just any kind of people--some truly fabulous & wonderful people. 

When you head over to Bring Joy, you will quickly notice how engaged Janae is with her audience. Her smart, relevant, and challenging content stretches the gamut from frugal living to healthy eating to marriage and parenting conversations. And she has an almost magical way of beginning a conversation you want to be sure to join. So many times when I'm reading a post from Bring Joy, I find myself internally nodding and thinking "YES!" as I read her well selected content.

Janae's food photography is pretty awesome as well. Click on over to Bring Joy - and let's make it a habit to do so often in this great new year - 2014!

On the seventh day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Bring Joy.

On the sixth day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Minnow + Co.

On the fifth day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Donuts, Dresses, and Dirt.

On the fourth day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Design + Life + Kids.

On the third day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Design Stitch Go.

On the second day of Christmas, Pars Caeli gave to me Trouvé Magazine.

And Lulu the Baker !

Happy Wednesday, good people! Two fun things to share with you today: an easy Fresh Holiday Tradition and an Advent tradition to begin.

First off, a little Advent. You all have seen some amazing Advent calendars going around, have you not? Do a quick search on Pinterest to see just how creative people can get with countdowns! I am amazed.

Have you heard of a Jesse Tree before? It's an Advent calendar of sorts, that takes you through the days leading up to Christmas and uses the words from the Old Testament stories to do so. I posted all the details last November, but I've received so many questions about it, that I wanted to post it again for new readers.

Wanna make one? Here's what you need:

• 1 yard of purple felt (it's a traditional Advent color)
• 1 yard of brown felt for the limbs and trunk
• Printed or drawn symbol ornaments
• Velcro to attach
• Dowel and ribbon/twine to hang.
• Fabric glue or hot glue

Head over here to get the full details including printable symbols, a reflection book to follow, and some more Advent ideas.

And as we get our homes and gifts ready for Christmas, I'm excited to share with you this great kiddo project from Jen over at Classic Play! I know that I've been looking for a few ways to contain, errrr focus, my children's holiday energy in good directions. This is a perfect project. And I love Jen's first reminder to keep it simple! Click over to see Painted Wrapping Paper!

Only two more projects in our Fresh Holiday Traditions series! Here's what we've seen so far:

• Gratitude Journals from Lulu the Baker
• Pumpkin Pancakes from Classic Play
• Gratitude Star Garland from Pars Caeli
• Stamped Thank You Notes from Alexandra Hedin
• A December 1st Party from Lulu the Baker
• Painted Wrapping Paper from Classic Play

What holiday traditions are you bringing out these days? Cookie baking? Christmas-book reading?

Check out these great traditions from my pal, Janae, over at Bring Joy.

xoxo, MJ

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! We don't use that term enough, do we? But tis true, turkey day is tomorrow, and I, for one, am running around trying to get suck up our dust bunnies and chop celery till the cows come home (sorry for today's late post!). In Northern Indiana today it looks like we're in the middle of a snowglobe, and we can't help but dream and think about the holidays ahead.

I have to spend two minutes giving a very warm and special thanks to the talents behind the Fresh Holiday Traditions series. We've been sharing some of our favorite ways to give thanks and live it up for Thanksgiving, and now our eyes turn toward Christmas! But right before they do, here's a fabulous list of Thanksgiving activities that you can do tonight with the kids or tomorrow with the extended fam:

• Gratitude Journals from Lulu the Baker
• Pumpkin Pancakes for Thanksgiving Breakfast from Classic Play
• Gratitude Star Garland from Pars Caeli
• Stamped Thank You Notes from Alexandra Hedin 

Melissa of Lulu the Baker is sharing her December 1st Party tradition today. It's just adorable. And right up my alley. Imagine this: Christmas tunes, tree decorating, and gobbling gingerbread cookies. It's a tradition she's passed down from her mom to her children.

If you try any of our projects or traditions, post a picture of it twith the hashtag #freshholidaytraditions. We'd love to show it off!!

Our team here is welcoming one set of grandparents tonight and more come tomorrow. The turkey is in the fridge ready to be buttered up, and the house *almost* smells good now.

Off to finish up the final finishings. Wishing you a lovely Thanksgiving Eve! If you need a little break from all the togetherness tomorrow, check back in here for a special holiday message!

xoxo, MJ

 

In my childhood bedroom, I often strung construction paper Christmas tree garlands and hung homemade Valentine hearts from the ceiling. Even as a youngin, I loved to decorate for these special occasions and create my own "decor." As a little girl I could rattle off my three favorite holidays, in order: Christmas, Valentine's Day, and New Year's Eve (probably not the normal conversation starter but it worked for me).

No doubt Christmas topped them all for the p-r-e-s-e-n-t-s and good music. Valentine's Day was filled with pink and chocolate. And New Year's Eve was so exciting and hopeful and late-night.

But Thanksgiving? Well, Thanksgiving never even made a blip on the radar screen.

Fast forward a few decades later, and here I am mom, wife, and hostess for the annual Thanksgiving dinner.

And guess what? My favorite holiday, hands down: Thanksgiving.

So today I'm giving it up for Thanksgiving with my top 4 for the holiday:

1. Having a four-day weekend that many people honor for leisure. I know this is up for debate with increased shopping schedules, tough economic/working situations, and a lot of football. But speaking just for myself, the hectic work life powers down for four full days, and I sink into the beauty of family and home and pure relaxation. No extra projects creep into the fun of Thanksgiving...and time off really is time off.

2. Having everyone in one spot. The older I get, the more sacred this becomes for me. Don't get me wrong, this is also the element that causes me the most stress; however, I always overthink it. Truthfully, I hit the pillow every Thanksgiving night so grateful to have my parents, my in-laws, my aunt, my children, and my love all in one space - happy, healthy, and very full from a savory meal we were able to provide.

3. Having teamwork. Wednesday evening and most of Thursday is spent in food preparation (and a whole bunch of parade watching). My husband and I plan the meal together and dance around one another in the kitchen all day, prepping each dish and attending to the big bird. It's a total team effort that fills our house with the smells that are family, holidays, and gratitude. And we have hours and hours just to marinate in the experience together.

4. Having time to be grateful. At Christmas, I can get distracted away from Christ's birth with toy overload and travel prep. At Thanksgiving, I take the time to pull away just a bit from the must-do list and gaze at all I've been given. I watch the scene of my children laughing and playing make believe with their grandparents. I peek in on my daughter sharing her latest secrets with her grandma. I take a deep breath by the fully extended dining table, covered with recipes we've tweaked and enjoyed as a family for years and years. I feel the sentiment in this year's toast to good health and family, and whisper a petition for yet another next year. It's a day of very active prayer, very present moments where I feel and express the gratitude that I am graced to experience the other 364 days.

And I'm so very thankful for Thanksgiving.

xoxo, MJ

They'd always begin the same way:

Good morning Beautiful, A big hug and kiss to start your day.

Every morning for three years as we lived 90 miles away from one another and he was studying in law school, my boyfriend/fiance would send me an email before he went to sleep so that when I opened my computer at work the following morning, I had something special greeting me.

It was like opening a present every. single. morning. He'd incorporate inside jokes, funny memories, future dreams and wishes, inspirations.

I have two large binders that are filled with these love notes.

It's a rare relationship that allows two individuals to spend every moment together (would we even desire it to be so?), and sometimes those penniless gestures made while we apart from one another are the sweetest.

I've been away from my home, my husband, my kiddos more this year than ever. It's been a little sad as well as enriching for all of us, and inspired a bit of nostalgia as well.

While away, I was able to send silly texts and make late night phone calls with my husband, just like old times. Comfortable and familiar, and yet not.

For my kids, I prepared all of their lunch box notes and snack bags so that they could feel like a bit of me was with them in the middle of their days. If you follow the hashtag #lunchboxnotes, you've seen these already (or follow @parscaeli on Instagram).

My 8-year old sent me texts from her Ipod while I was away, and I received many sweet emoticon-filled messages. She is becoming more and more interested in photography so she began sending me pictures of beautiful leaves she saw or silly faces her siblings made.

This evolved into creating memes for me to enjoy. This one made me stop in my tracks. A gesture of love and appreciation while I was gone (and the best use of any selfie that I've seen).

How can you spread love while you are gone, even that be for just the workday or evening? It costs only pennies... or even less.

xoxo, MJ

Phewee, friends! So sorry for my lapse in communication. Quick jaunts to NYC have a way of knocking me off my routine in the most fabulous of ways. I was there for my 24-hour job, and the city once again did not disappoint. For the first time ever, I had the opportunity to visit the Met, Central Park, and make a dent in the inventory at FAO Schwartz.

And now I'm home and so ready to share with you this lovely Fresh Holiday Tradition from the glorious, Jen Cooper. She's sharing a family favorite! Have you ever made pumpkin pancakes? Oh, yummm.

Much like Jen and the Cooper clan, our family loves Thanksgiving morning. We spend Thanksgiving Eve putting together our Christmas tree and chopping vegetables and fruits for the stuffing. Thanksgiving morning is filled with savory smells as my husband and daughters prepare the turkey, and all of us hang out in our PJs until after the Macy's Day Parade ushers Santa down the lane.

Typically we shy away from the TV during holidays, but the excitement of the parade with the balloons and Broadway productions is the perfect way to kick off a day of fun and togetherness. I love sharing my favorite characters with the kids, and they love to Ooh and Ahh with new surprises and performances.

It's an event we look forward to all year round.

Thanksgiving is just weeks away. How do you make it a special occasion for your family?

Next week I'll be sharing a special project you can do with every member of the family around Thanksgiving!

Check out the other posts in this series…
5 Minute Gratitude Journal

About Fresh Holiday Traditions…
I’m working together with my blogger buds Melissa, Jen and Alexandra to show off eight fresh holiday DIYs. Every Wednesday stop by any and all of our blogs to find something new for your family this holiday season.

xoxo, MJ

Hands down, fall is my favorite time of year. I adore the color changes, smells of leaves and pine, and preparing our home for the goodness of Thanksgiving. As we all well know, Christmas sneaks up on us so fast after turkey day that we sometimes have little time to prepare. This year, it's going to be different (I say that every year but this year it's true), and I'm bringing in some creative mamas to make it so.

Today I'm delighted to announce a new series in collaboration with some of my favorite ladies. We're teaming together (again) to bring you Fresh Holiday Traditions! Beginning tomorrow and launching every Wednesday through Christmas, we'll be sharing traditions from our homes, projects for celebrating the holidays, and always ways to get your kids involved in all the fun!

This team worked together on the Endless Summer Projects series, and these busy bloggers have been up to some good, good things since we were last together. Check out who I have the privilege to create alongside:

Melissa from Lulu the Baker is a class act with a kitchen full of amazing recipes, charming crafts, and undeniably great photography. She's also a Style Spotter for Better Homes and Gardens. You can follow her journey to build her dream house! You'll find her here every Wednesday talking holidays with us. Melissa is kicking off the series tomorrow with something extra special for Thanksgiving.

 

 Alexandra Hedin is joining the crew to bring fun to every party! You'll find her not only at her blog this holiday season but also over on Martha's, BHG, Sweet Paul, and Good Housekeeping. And now you can catch Alexandra here every Wednesday to help you turn your holidays into something extraordinary.

Jen over at Classic Play is the epitome of cool mom plus! She has her own series on PBS called Adventures in Learning that showcases unique ways to teach and hang out with your kids. Her images and illustrations will delight you over these next weeks and help you, too, add a little extra cool to the holidays.

And, for me, I'm whipping up a few of my favorite ideas for the holidays. I promise you, you'll find something new and intriguing to bring to your family celebrations.

Let's help each other and make this an extra special and extra low stress fresh holiday!

Until tomorrow. xoxo, MJ

PS. If you have some fresh holiday traditions or inspirations you want to share, tag them with #freshholidays and I'll post them up for all of us! Many, many thanks!

Let's talk truth here, friends. I stink at cleaning. Wait, let me rephrase that. I stink at cleaning on a regular basis. If I know we're hosting friends or family, I know how to get the place to sparkle (after many, many hours), but on a day-to-day (or more like hour-to-hour with three kids) our house can be an absolute mess - sink overflowing with dishes, laundry unfolded all around the actual laundry room, dust bunnies multiplying under every piece of furniture.

I grew up in an Always Clean house. My mom spent a lot of her life energy making our home warm, tasty, and clean enough to always have a hint of bleach smell throughout. Sometimes I wonder how our kids will remember the state of our house. My guess is that it won't really stand out, but nevertheless, I think about it.

And sometimes I wonder, "What would it be like to have an always clean house?" Would we have friends over more often? Would I sleep better at night? Could we avoid more sinus infections/common colds?

I recently came upon this list on Pinterest from the Gaddis Family Adventure, and it got me thinking. What if I tried it? What if for at least one week, I kept to a regular weekday schedule, rather than sporadic weekend and vacation, for cleaning? Would I feel more relaxed at home? Better about the environment I create for my family?

So for the next week, I'm going to follow this (slightly modified) plan, which includes daily morning and evening tasks as well as a handful of weekly tasks. We are a family of five with a three-story house, two children in full-time school/one in preschool, and two full-time working parents. I'm nervous to see how this is going to go, but I want to try it.

Wanna try it with me? You'll make me braver.

Here's what I'm thinking.

**Adapted from the Gaddis Family Adventure.

I'm going to have to set the alarm earlier to accomplish dishes, laundry, and another domestic duty on top of lunch prep, kid prep, and my prep. Follow @parscaeli over on Instagram this week to see how I handle the additional tasks. I'll be keeping it real, sharing the journey, and trying not to take cleaning too seriously.

How do you keep your home mess-free and clean?

xoxo, MJ

PS. In our house, my husband handles a lot of the dishes, vacuuming, and laundry. We'll see how he adapts to this new schedule, too!

Helllooo there. I'm excited, friends. Excited to share a new spot on the blog I'm calling Inspiration Drawer. Did I mention I've moved offices? Yes, I have. Not a big move, just one floor down to a similarly sized office space. And I've taken the opportunity to refresh my work space.

Moving always prompts me to reorganize and declutter (both very needed elements in my worklife), and I've created a fresh spot in my desk I refer to as the inspiration drawer. In it are a mixture of print pieces, catalogs, colors, words, and photographs that have interested me for some reason or another. Previously these items were all over in various files and project boxes. Now I have my treasure trove of ideas all in one spot.

And that's what's coming at you on Wednesdays! Inspiration Drawer. Images, words, and ideas that inspire me...and may just stick with you, too.

Today's idea. Make yourself laugh.

What do have in your office space? Diplomas or family photos? Beautiful paintings or collages of prints?

How do these inspire your work? Or do they?

With my new workspace, I decided a change of mood was in order for my environment. And instead of filling my space with images or open spaces that might bring a sense of peace, I opted for bright colors, a leaning toward the impractical, and a sense of humor.

For example, I used to have framed photos of my children and husband that I would call "the most adorable" images I could find. This time I went through my iPhoto storage to find the images that perpetually make me smile or laugh. I remember these moments with such great joy that just seeing the image allows me to hop right back in time.

I decided I wanted these to be a little larger than life so I sent them off to print at Walgreens. 3 days later, I received my 11 x 14 poster prints on really quality paper for a great price. And I love how the black and white turned out!

 

Looking forward to sharing more...

What do you keep around your workspace to calm, excite, focus, delight you?

xoxo, MJ