Carnival of Family Life #37

Welcome to the 37th Carnival of Family Life. Our family here at More4kids is very happy to be the host this week. Everyone is in for a special treat if you have not experienced a blog carnival before. The Carnival of Family Life is where people share their thoughts, stories and experiences on Family, Spouse, Children, Kids, Pets, Mom, Dad, or just about anything family related.  This weeks Carnival is informative, funny and inspiring. So, sit back, relax and enjoy this weeks festivities! 

Celebrations and Birthdays

We are going to start out with a very special celebration. Babylune, is an informational resource for women recovering from childbirth. It has just celebrated its first birthday this week. Remember any of these benchmarks from your own births? Congratulations as Kate celebrates Year One posted at Babylune.

Denise offers a fun family birthday tradition. A birthday present hunt. Read  I’m your birthday present. Can you find me? posted at Let’s play math!. Umm, I will have to try that on my sons fith birthday, it sounds like fun.  

Save money by making your own birthday cake. I think a homemade cake just makes a birthday celebration even more special. I really enjoyed this article. Stephanie shares her experience with making a homemade birthday cake for their daughters 5th birthday in Homemade Birthday Cake posted at Stop the Ride!. Happy Birthday! 

Family Stories

What did your family do this New Years? Laurie Bluedorn shares their story New Year?s Eve Party and a Contest For You! posted at Trivium Pursuit.

Everybody likes to talk about their family, especially if you have kids – but where do you draw the line when it comes to pictures, video, and even names? Rory presents Just How Far Should A Personal Blog Go? posted at hamelife.

Kelly, at Pass the Torch, shares the ups and downs of homeschooling after three months of the "experiment." in The homeschool experiment – three month review posted at Pass The Torch.

Does it pay to be a little bit sneaky for the benefit of your child? See what Christine did in Sometimes being a Sneaky Mom is a Good Thing! posted at arewethereyetmom.com.  

We often think about what we can teach out children, but what can they teach us? I often think about that. Looking at ways kids do things can often help us think ‘outside’ the box. That is why I especially enjoyed reading Lessons From My Daughter – Creativity posted at My Wealth Builder.  It reminded me of what our children can teach us parents if we open our minds a bit. 

While her husband does not understand why Lara likes to read and re-read books, Lara talks about her love for reading and passing this love to her children in Re-Reading posted at The Open Door.

Linda, aka TherapyDoc thinks and reflects about something that happened 14 years ago when her middle daughter cut school in Skipping School posted at  Everyone needs therapy? Lessons from a family therapist.

Tonya at There Is A Season shares with us this cute conversation with her youngest daughter in Conversations with Lu Lu 

Praveen’s son like to be read Little Bo Peep. Preveen ponders that it teaches the ideas of passivity, trust , and letting things take their natural course in Tao of Simplicity: Little Bo Peep – Taoist Nursery Rhyme? posted at Tao of Simplicity.

MamaDuck presents another episode in the life of her son Lil Duck in Why stickers before coffee are a bad, bad thing posted at Lil Duck Duck.

Activities, Arts and Crafts

So its winter, your kids are at home, bored, and going a bit stir crazy with being cooped up in the house. Melissa at Crafty Places gives us some "crafty and fun" ideas in Keeping Children Occupied During the Chill of Winter

Lori at Fun Play Dates shares a fun outdoor activity in Winter Outdoor Activity for Kids – Create a Great Angel Craft

Here is one mother’s attempt to duplicate her daughter’s imaginative time on an etch-a-sketch. Miscellaneous Mum presents Keira, artiste extraordinaire posted at Miscellanous Adventures of an Aussie Mum.  

I would have never thought of some of these uses for a sterilizer bowl! Erica Douglas presents 4 Alternative Uses For A Sterilizer posted at Littlemummy.Com.

Keeping your childs room clean and your house clean for that matter can be a daunting task for parents of young children. Hsien Lei gives us some great ideas in Cleaning Kid Clutter posted at Play Library.

Family Vacations

Darlene at Every One Loves To Travel offers some great family travel tips in her article Family Travel Tips – Let The Fun Begin

Winter vacations can be a great getaway. Silicon Valley Blogger presents her families vacation in Walking In A Winter Wonderland For $1,300 posted at The Digerati Life.

Joanne shares a ski resort vacation in About the Ski Resort posted at Vacationing With Kids.  

Health

Baby Jaundice is very important to diagnose early. Our youngest son born in June of this year had a touch of Jaundice. Everyone expecting a new one should read Lisa’s article on Jaundice posted at Let’s Talk Babies. 

Child and Family Safety

One of the biggest fears every parent has is to turn around and realize theat their child not be there. Local Girl tells about her experience which thankfully turned out ok in Where Did She Go? posted at An Island Life.

Is your family a priority and do you show it? Discover what matters most to you as Patricia presents What Matters Most: Lessons From A Tornado posted at A Better You Blog.

Laura Young presents a public service announcement to help keep you and yours safe in the New Year in her article In Case of Emergency: Cell Phone Tip for Paramedics posted at The Dragon Slayer’s Guide to Life.

 Our Furry Friends

This was a great post! It almost makes me want to buy some kittens to help around the house! See some photos of Chris’ kittents in Helping Out Around The House: A Kitten’s Guide posted at Author Chris Dolley’s Page.

A mom and dog lover, Karen presents The Slippers Tell All posted at Karen Shanley.

Help promote the Carnival of Family life:

In order to try and increase member participation through leaving comments, I’ll be giving away a $10 gift certificate that can be applied to a purchase of  one of our childrens personalized gifts at WWW.MORE4KIDS.COM to the person who visits (and comments on) the most submissions. You have all this week to make your rounds and the winner will be announced at the next carnival edition. Please include that you’re visiting through the Carnival of Family Life to help me keep count.

Last week’s comment contest  WINNER of a box of chocolate covered macadamia nut candy or a bag of Kona coffee is Desert Songbird (http://deserticebox.blogspot.com/index.html).

 The Carnival of Family Life has come to a close…….Thankyou from More4kids to all our readers and all the people who submited such great articles. From our family to yours have a safe and enjoyable week!

More4kids