THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. WE WILL BE COMPENSATED FOR PURCHASES MADE THROUGH THOSE LINKS AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU. ALL VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE OUR OWN. We are a game loving family and the holidays always bring us some great new ones to play! I've shared many posts in the past suggesting to you games that our family loves. It is one of my favorite posts to write because playing games as a family creates such great memories. I just spent a week with Alicia and her family and every night we played the games that they had added to their collection while I was there! So, I have double the amount of games to share with you this year! I'm sure you will find lots of suggestions here that your family enjoy playing together! Click on the picture or the link to go where you can snag these for yourselves. A second version of Azul! Stained Glass of Sintra! I wrote all about the original Azul on this post. Amazon lists this as an expansion, but it is a stand alone game. I think I love it even better than the first. It is much easier to keep score and it is beautiful! It takes strategy to win, and it is a great game for young teens and up to play. Azul is for 2-4 players. There are also other versions and expansion packs available. This fun card game can play up to 8 people, ages 8+! So a really great family game. It is simple to learn. You use Rock, Paper, Scissors to bid on how many tricks you think you can take. Don't dare go above or below that bid or you will be penalized! After you learn the basic game, the game includes ways to make it even more interesting with extra cards you can add in to the mix. So much fun! Spoiler Alert: There is a yummy recipe included in this game from the Beck family! I told you about the original game of Blockbuster on this post! My son got me a new version that includes video games and TV shows! We found that made it better for those younger than 30 who didn't know very many old movies! This game is great for a large group because it is played in teams. Moral Conflict-Warning, may cause some disagreement, but so far in a very fun way! In this game everyone votes on who would make the best or worst choices among the group of players. I'm not sure that all of the choices really represent a moral choice, but they are pretty funny. Often, we would vote for ourselves! Who is the most competitive? Who is most likely to go the longest without eating vegetables? Who is most likely to fart and blame it on someone else? You get the picture. This game has everyone figuring out peoples priorities including items and ideas you may not normally prioritize together. I found out that Madalynn would rather wash dishes than meet new people! I'm keeping that in mind for future use! This is a great game for a large group. Qwixx! This game is addictive! A dice game that is easy to learn but so entertaining! Good for young and old. While I was at Alicia's, we played it every evening! My 8 year old grandson had received it for Christmas, and he liked to play it, but the adults in the house loved it and, well, I'd better give you the link for the extra pad of game sheets that you will need if you play it as much as we did! I enjoyed it so much that I ordered it and had it delivered to my house so that it was waiting for me when I got home! An oldie but goodie, Castles of Burgundy! Alicia and I decided that this in one of our most favorites! This is one of those games that takes a bit longer to play and is more for adults than kids. It requires strategy as well as luck and preplanning as you make your moves. It is really a great game and for one with so many parts and pieces, I think $20 is a great price! I think you will find something for everyone on this list. If you try any of these, let me know how you like them! Did you get any new games this year that you would like to share with us? Drop a note in the comments! Past Game Posts:
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This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support. I've been noticing that there are a lot of crafts and ornaments made with vintage sheet music around the internet this year. Another trend are the ornaments that have the names that Jesus Christ is known by throughout the scriptures. I love both of these trends and decided it would be great to combine them into one style of ornament. I love keep Christ in Christmas and this a beautiful reminder of Him that can hang on the tree the entire season.
This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own. Thank you for your support! Some of our grandchildren were going to be in town two weekends before Halloween, so we thought we would gather the family together and have an early celebration. Since we also have 2 birthdays in the family that are close to Halloween, it seemed like the perfect time to have a party! Because we had our party early, maybe some of our ideas will help you with any event you are now planning at the last minute! The Menu: I wanted to keep it simple, yet satisfy a lot of different tastes and make it feel like Halloween! Maddy and I planned the menu together and we came up with:
Maddy loves strawberry cake, so I used a cake mix to make one. But, to make it special I decided to decorate it with my Disney Skeleton Apple mug that Maddy bought me from Disneyland one year. I made strawberry sauce to use as blood! Click the gallery below to see how my granddaughter and I did it. The root beer was a big part of the fun! I found root beer extract at our local grocery store. That brand was much less expensive at the store than on Amazon. But, if you can't find any, there are a lot of brand choices on Amazon that are less expensive. We made 3 gallons, which was way more than enough. The best part was putting in the dry ice. The kids loved that! The root beer was delicious! The Fun! Two days before the party, I went to the store and purchased a variety of different pumpkins. Maddy came over the morning of the party and she and my son set up a pumpkin patch in my strawberry garden box (without smashing my strawberry plants) and decorated with fall leaves and flowers. We had been having some cooler weather in Phoenix, but of course on the day of the party , the temperature shot up again, so some of our plans didn't happen as I had hoped. We set the carving tables up at the side of the house in the shade! We had hoped to have everything outside, including a fire in the firepit, and then lighting the jack-o-lanterns around the yard after they were carved. But, we had to move everything inside because of the heat of the day. The kids loved carving though! We had plenty of those carving kits that make the carving so much easier! After the carving was over, we sat all of the pumpkins on the table. The kids were able to sit and eat their dinner all around them. Then, we all visited and talked awhile until the sun set. I had purchased small battery powered candles to put inside the jack-o-lanterns. We lit them and turned off all of the lights so everyone could oooo and aaah! Then we sang happy birthday and ate dessert! The party was a success overall, in spite of a few glitches to our plans. Of course, today the Fall temperatures are back! I guess we can have our firepit going on the real Halloween, but it won't be as much fun without the grandkids! Other Halloween Ideas You May Enjoy:
This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own. Thank you for your support! In June of this year my wonderful mother passed away. When I look at this awesome picture of her, it is hard for me to believe that she is gone. She was always so alive and such a presence in my life, even though I lived far away from her most of my adult life, I knew that she was always there for me. I've written about the many things I've learned from her on posts here and here. In reality, there is no way to express in just a couple of posts all she has meant to me and my siblings throughout our lives.
Not only did she mean so much to her own children, but she was adored by grandchildren and great grandchildren alike. She had made quilts, afghans, and slippers for everyone over the years that all of us cherish. She wasn't afraid to teach life lessons to any of her posterity, even just days before she passed away. She had 26 grandchildren and if I'm counting correctly, 41 great-grandchildren. (forgive me family if I counted wrong!) At any rate, with almost everyone making it to the funeral, there was a lot of children in attendance. Many of them were young and didn't have any experience with my mom except as an old woman. They didn't know all of the wonderful things about her and the things that she experienced throughout her life. For example, they didn't know that she loved to dance and that she always made the most delicious tacos, pies and cookies. We wanted the children to have something to keep that would teach them more about her. Also, there needed to be something to keep them entertained throughout the funeral service. Alicia came up with the terrific idea of making a special program booklet for the great-grandchildren that would keep them busy and somewhat quiet throughout the service and also teach them something about their marvelous great-grandmother! |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
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Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
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