Family Time

Welcome to our Family Time page. Here you'll find all kinds of articles about the family. There's parenting tips, activities for spending time with family, and ideas to share special moments with your loved ones. Check out a few of our most popular posts here, or scroll down for the most recent projects.

Eco-Friendly Celebrating

by Marie

I’m excited to have Vanessa from I Never Grew Up here today as my guest. She’s sharing some great tips on throwing an Eco-Friendly party, reusing your decor to help the environment.
Our little family is still pretty new so we are discovering our own traditions and ways to make yearly celebrations special. Every day [...]

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Benefits of Learning a Second Language

by Marie

Ever since my children were very young, I’ve had the desire to expose them to a second language. I’ve noticed over the last few years that they’ve been picking up phrases in Spanish, thanks to Dora and Diego! They can count in Spanish, know a few colors and some directions, it’s great! So I’ve been [...]

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Donate to an Orphanage in Need

by Marie

My sister Stephanie and her husband Brian are here today as my guests sharing their heart felt love for the country of El Salvador. They’re in the process of adopting a little girl from there and have come to love the people, connecting with a particular orphanage in need. They’re here today asking for your [...]

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Giving Kids Time to Respond

by Marie

When asking a child a question, we often expect them to answer us right away. Even with questions like, “How old are you?” you would think a child could answer right away. Well, with kids, especially small ones, it can take their brains a little longer to come up with an answer. They just need [...]

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What You Can Do For Autism

by Marie

Even though it’s the last day for Autism Awareness Month, it doesn’t mean the awareness stops there. So I’ve asked Christy from ChrisyNelson.net to share a few tips on raising an autistic child, as she’s doing it with her own son.
It takes a lot of people to raise a child with autism. I have [...]

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Ask Your Parenting Questions Here

by Marie

My hope with Make and Takes is to share a few parenting insights from what I’ve learned as a teacher and parent that’s helped me teach and raise my own kids. As I’ll be sharing fun ideas or methods I’ve found helpful, I’d like to open this up to the questions you may have too. [...]

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Family Game Time Then & Now

by Marie

I grew up playing all kinds of board games with my family. My all time favorite is still Boggle… and I’m really good at it, not shy to say so! Here’s the trick, don’t underestimate the letter ’s’. It will give you another point every time you use it to make a word plural. What [...]

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Craft Service Project With the Kids

by Marie

I was so happy to be a part of the Mom It Forward with Make and Takes service project held in Utah last week. Families came to craft with their kids, all to help out kids in need!

We decorated a Christmas Tree at the Christmas Box House, a home for children to stay in between [...]

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Easy Hooded Bath Towel

by Marie

I make each of my kids their own bath towel hoodie when they’re born, starting with my son 6 years ago. I make them one with their name on it and one with a fun appliqued shape on the back. These towels are super easy to make, needing only limited sewing know-how. And they make [...]

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What To Do When the Kids Get Sick

by Marie

As winter is almost over, the ’sick’ season is still here. My kids are now sick and every time this happens, it takes me a few days to realize I need to do something about it. So I’ve come up with a few things I should be doing on day 1, so by day 3 [...]

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