Last week, we started our “Family Fun Night” tradition. We had SO much fun, and we were all looking forward to this week’s fun. Our two older kids (6 and 4) have been looking forward to this all week long. To be truthful, so have I. This past week was rough. I’ve been struggling with a lot of discouragement. Life’s been stressful and uncertain. While intentional time with my family doesn’t solve our problems, it definitely lightens the load. Family time forces me to stop and embrace my BLESSINGS, rather than focusing on my problems.
“Family Fun Night” is a weekly feature here on Chasing Supermom. Each week, I’ll share with you a re-cap of what my family did together, sharing new ideas with you. Sometimes I’ll feature recipes, new products, activities, etc. My goal is to inspire and encourage you to spend more time with your family each week.
Each week I’ll be featuring our adventures in music, dinner, dessert, movies, and activities. Have fun, be intentional, and keep it simple.
Music: Hootenanny by Jambo
A little bit of bluegrass. A little bit of the blues. A whole lotta fun.
Dinner: Pancakes and Campbelled Eggs
Breakfast for dinner (Brinner) is a family favorite. I’m pretty sure all of us ate pancakes until our bellies hurt. I made plain, blueberry, and chocolate chip pancakes, and our favorite scrambled eggs.
*Always make extra pancakes, and freeze them!
Dessert: Orange Creamsicle Cake
I always loved those great orange creamsicle popsicles as a kid. This cake gives you a way to enjoy the taste of summer all year long. Click the link for the full recipe!
Movie: Home Alone
I bought Home Alone around the holidays, and we never got around to watching it. Growing up, I was pretty sure I was going to marry Macualy Culkin, and this movie remained in my top 3 favorites for well over 10 years. I was pretty excited to share this one with the kids. They of course, thought it was hilarious.
Activity: Charades
We’d never played charades with the kids before….Trust me on this one, if you’ve never watched your young child attempt to act out words – you are missing out! Watching my four year old act out “robot” and “toilet” were perhaps the funniest things I’ve seen in a very long time.
We used cards from the game “Guesstures,” rather than creating our own, simply to save time. Since we were playing with younger kids, we chose to stick with simple noun cards like “balloon,” “fishing pole,” and “rocket.” Older kids would enjoy more complex words including verbs and media/pop culture references.
After the Kids Go Down: Jeff Who Lives at Home
I figured I’d throw in what my husband and I do after our kids go to bed. Let’s be real…parents need intentional time together too! Instead of just catching up on our DVR, we decided to scan Netflix for a movie we hadn’t seen. We chose Jeff Who Lives at Home (mostly because we like Ed Helms.)
While I was NOT a fan of the language, I appreciate movies that depict REAL people, just struggling to find a way through life. No one was overtly gorgeous. Nobody lived in a mansion. Life wasn’t a magical fairy tale.
What I really liked was the notion that our life’s “destiny” or purpose isn’t always about US. Sometimes we find ourselves waiting for something big to happen…waiting for our life to change or progress…move to the next phase….when really, our life is about those around us…who we touch…who we help…who we’re there for. If you can overlook the crazy amount of swear words, this movie is worth a watch. (Just don’t expect a fast-paced, blockbuster type movie.)
Are you making the effort to have intentional family time once a week? I hope so! See you next week, for more family fun!
