Early last Saturday morning, I got in my van alone and braved a rare Washington blizzard to pick up a few items from the grocery store. What I saw in the midst of the COVID-19 virus panic shocked me. At 5am, the parking lot was already full, the shopping carts were almost all being used,Continue reading “Activity: Reenact Ration Card Shopping with Kids”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Activity: Make a Cut-Out Character with Traits
In a rare, quiet moment last Sunday, when my six little kids were off either wrestling or dressing-up, I took an ancestor’s biography off the shelf to see if I could find any neat stories for my next family history activity. I was blown away when I began reading about this ancestor, about whom IContinue reading “Activity: Make a Cut-Out Character with Traits”
Rootstech in Review
We hosted a booth at Rootstech in Salt Lake this year to promote our book and its fun ideas. It was our first time ever attending the world’s largest family history and genealogy conference, and it was amazing! There were over 25,000 people from all over the country gathered in one building to rejoice overContinue reading “Rootstech in Review”
Getting Ready for Roots Tech
RootsTech–the world’s largest family history conference–is next week in Salt Lake City! Jonah and I will be there as exhibitors with a very fun booth. Stop by if you are in the area! Our booth will have ideas for family history activities with children, a photo booth with funny family history props, lots of candy,Continue reading “Getting Ready for Roots Tech”
The Genesis of our Powerful Parenting Tool
I want to share with you an incredible parenting tool that we stumbled upon back when we lived in Arizona. Those summers were unbelievable: you go to a covered park at 8am (right before it reaches 100 degrees) trying to “get your kids’ wiggles out”, but they aren’t even wiggly yet! Come 3:00, you’ve playedContinue reading “The Genesis of our Powerful Parenting Tool”
The Opportunity
I want to tell you about a book that changed our lives: The Opportunity, by Joel Ackerman. Its inspiring message helped us seize an opportunity that was sailing away from us. If it weren’t for his book, Turning Little Hearts may never have happened! When we first heard about The Opportunity, Jonah and I hadContinue reading “The Opportunity”
The Power of Family Stories
I had the opportunity recently to speak to a group of MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers). I love these women! These are mothers in the trenches right now! They are always the targets of parenting books, millions of parenting books. I’m not an expert on parenting, but I FOUND A SECRET WEAPON! Family stories! Family storiesContinue reading “The Power of Family Stories”
Chickens and Great-Grandpa
Okay, okay, so we have chickens … In order to try and get our kids learning a little about work (and because we just really like the little birds), we have over 20 chickens in our backyard in a small coop and run. It’s kinda crazy. But the part that makes it meaningful is thatContinue reading “Chickens and Great-Grandpa”
Turning Little Hearts the book!
Alright, this is really happening! Cedar Fort Publishers has agreed to publish “Turning Little Hearts: 80 Activities to Connect Children with their Ancestors” in January 2020! Deseret and Seagull books will also carry the book on their shelves! We are very excited! We just hope more people are reached by this book. We want moreContinue reading “Turning Little Hearts the book!”
What was grandpa’s work?
Explaining careers can be hard. But dress-up helps! We told out children that their grandfather (now deceased) was a professor of architecture. That made about as much sense as eating vegetables… So we added some funny clothes and a pointer … The details are less important, but the point is: our children got to pretendContinue reading “What was grandpa’s work?”