Traditions

Guest Writer: Amy Hamblin

We love this time of year!  Family time for us is the best thing ever and this time of year is just jam packed with family time.  It has been fun for us over the last 12 Christmas’ to find our own traditions or take from our different family traditions and blend them into one.

12 Days of Christmas

Many years - not all years - I do the Twelve days of Christmas for my family. Sometimes I have a theme, sometimes it's completely random. Last year I actually took the song and rewrote it to suite my needs and it turned out awesome. It of course is personal to my family and our circumstances, but you can use it as a guideline for writing your own 12 Days of Christmas poem.

Just have fun with it. I start 13 days before Christmas so that the last gift received is on Christmas Eve. I think I have as much fun leaving the gifts as everyone does getting them.

Pictures With Santa

As you know from my post "10 Tips For Surviving Black Friday" Jess and I are Black Friday Shoppers. We started the tradition about 6 years ago, and both of us are very protective of our day: it's always just the two of us and we like it that way. We have certain places, and certain things we do every year, and one of them is to get our picture taken with Santa!

The Man Cave: Why You Might Be the Turkey on Thanksgiving

I know that insulting Family Strong readers is not the best way to build loyalty. For some reason I don't care today. I'm going to exorcise my Thanksgiving demons. I'm going to pull no punches and say the things that are really on my mind; tell it like I see it.

And if you don't like it...well...you can get stuffed.

Pilgrim Hats

Guest Writer: Amy Hamblin

We do not find as many easy to do projects for Thanksgiving as we find for both Halloween and Christmas but there are a few.  Finding them or thinking them up is the hard part.  I never hesitate to improvise on someone elses idea.  When I can use what I have and get pretty much the same result I think it is a project well done.

10 Tips For Surviving Black Friday

Jess and I are Black Friday Shoppers, and have had this tradition together for about 6 years now. It's really quite amazing how similar my rules for Black Friday parallel those for "Rules of Zombieland". If you have never seen this movie, it's a must in your preparation for Black Friday. Look at it as a training video.... It's quite uncanny how the shoppers you will run into on this morning mirror zombies: you have sleep deprived, caffeine pumped maniacs that will do anything to get what's on their list.

So, here we go - 10 Tips to survive the Black Friday Apocalypse.

Pumpkin Muffins

I love pumpkin! Pumpkin bread, muffins, pie, cake, smoothies - you name it, I love it. This time of year is always a special treat because I really break out the pumpkin and go to town.

This muffin recipe is pretty much a staple right now. I think I have made it three times so far, so I thought I would share.

The Man Cave: Ten Tips to a Manlier Thanksgiving

For many Thanksgiving is the forgotten holiday...the middle child in the Holiday family. Not for me. I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday. You get all the perks of Christmas and none of the hassle or pressure. There is very little home decorating, and maximum opportunity for manly pursuits.

Here is how you do it:

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cake

 Guest Writer: Amy Hamblin

This is one of my family’s very favorite desserts!!  Whenever we are asked to bring a dessert to any function, this is what we bring.  It is easy, it isn’t to bad for you but most importantly it tastes fantastic!

Turkey Sandwiches

Turkey sandwiches... and I meant that quite literally. Another amazing idea floating around out there! People's creativity never cease to amaze me. What a simple way to make lunch fun while still maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I LOVED this idea..... I wonder if I could get Jess to eat her veggies if I made her this when she comes  home for the holidays?....... Better not get my hopes up.