Friday, March 8, 2013

30+ Springtime Celebration Ideas


** If you are new to our blog, we have a "Friday Forum" most Fridays. Each of us share ideas about a certain topic. We LOVE it when our readers join in... please share your ideas with us!!

As I was looking at my calendar, I noticed that there are lots of reasons to celebrate in the upcoming days!!  I'm ready for some fun, especially after the cold weather and sickness the last few moths.

Time easily sneaks up on us!! Often we aren't anticipating that, and we miss opportunities to make a day more of a celebration.   I don't think we need to go all out for every single holiday, but it's nice to plan a little something to make that day more special or fun.


Here are some of our plans and ideas to celebrate the upcoming holidays and events...


St. Patrick's Day:


Jan:
1.  Our family has all sorts of fun on St. Patrick's Day! Click HERE to find some fun things we have done over the last few years... shamrock party, rainbows, green lunch, a Leprechaun pot, and more!

Nancy:
2. My favorite dinner to serve on St.Patrick's Day are these Corned Beef Sandwiches by Our Best Bites. They are scrumptious, and "Irish." The kids aren't crazy about them, but grownups need a little celebratory goodness too :)!

3. These Ribbon Shamrocks are a staple for our home and hair!

4. The Leprechauns visit us several times the week before. They do a little mischief and leave a few treats and trinkets.

Maren: 
5.My family always loves a reason to get together and celebrate. A few years ago we started a St. Patrick's Day party. Everyone brings a green or Irish-esque dish and we sway and sing about the good old days in the motherland. And no, we're not quite Irish.

Lauralee: 
6. That tricky little Leprechaun is always causing trouble, so what do we do? We build traps every year hoping to catch him!  While this years traps are still in the works, here are a few prototypes we are drawing inspiration from:





First Day of Spring:


Jan:
7. A couple of years ago, we rode our bikes to our local SUBWAY, ate lunch and rode to a park and played.  Even though we were still in pants and  warm jackets, it was so nice to realize Spring was on it's way.

Nancy:
8. My kids love these flower cupcakes to celebrate the first day of Spring (shown above).

9. We take a walk and collect things that remind us of Spring....without picking thing we're not supposed to, like the neighbor's flowers. (Sometimes though...eh hem, I'm apologizing in advance, Lauralee).

Maren:
10. First day of spring....when is that again?

Lauralee:
11. While everyone else is celebrating the snow going away and digging out their shorts and t-shirts, we do the opposite. We throw on our jackets (not coats), gear up and head to the mountains and ski! Nothing beats the soft slushy snow and warm sunshine hitting your face while spring skiing!



Easter:


Jan:
12. We always look forward to decorating Easter Eggs. Find 18 fun and beautiful ways HERE at U-Create.

Nancy:
13.  A few years ago I bought THIS BOOK that has really helped us celebrate and learn about the true meaning of Easter. It's phenomenal!A week's worth of great REAL Easter activities.

14. We also like to do fun projects like these Jordan Almond Easter Eggs and Chicks. The kids think they are so fun to decorate and especially eat!

15. Our extended family has an Easter egg with a TWIST... one of the eggs has a $50 bill hidden in it. Yep, the adults get into it every bit as much as the kids!!!

Maren: 
16 I LOVE Easter! It's so much fun. Growing up we always lined up from youngest to oldest at the door to go out back for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. That meant I was front and center and could beat my older brothers to the eggs at least as far as the back patio.

Lauralee:
17. We always have a spectacular Easter celebration at Grandma W.'s house, with the best sweets in the world. Including homemade chocolate bunnies. We look forward to Grandma's Easter egg hunt every year!

April Fool's Day:

Jan:
18. I stink at April's Fools Day.  I hate practical jokes played on me so I don't usually do them but I have seen some really fun ideas on Pinterest.  My oldest daughter, on the other hand, loves practical jokes and likes to perform them regularly.  This daughter also hates to be late.  So one year, we set her clock in her bedroom late so when she woke up she started running around freaking out that she was late for school.  It took us a while before we told her since she was freaking out so much.

Nancy:
I love making this a fun day to attempt to trick my family. Here are a few tricks my husband has fallen for:
19. chocolate covered cottonballs (I told him they were marshmallows... he bit into them and got a mouthful of cotton, haha!!)
20. Placing a rubber band on the sink sprayer. He got so wet!!
21. I told him that a Mr. Lyon had called out home phone and left a number to call back a.s.a.p.. The number I left for him was the zoo. (It took him a minute to get it, but it was pretty funny when he did).

20. My absolute favorite  April Fool's Day  activity is to make fun food for the kids. Sometimes it really tricks them, and sometimes it's just whimsical and fun. The cupcakes from the book Hello Cupcake. Thankfully, Our Best Bites has a tutorial  to make them HERE.

Maren: Wow, now I know to beware of Nancy's house on April Fool's! Thanks for the heads up!
21. April Fool's is such a fun nonsense holiday. I always text everyone I know and tell them I'm pregnant. Gets em every time...they may have caught on to me by now...

Lauralee:  
22. It seems like every day is April Fool's Day around our house. We don't reserve the practical joke just for April fools. My son's ultimate childhood dream is to come up with something so good, that America's Funniest Home Videos will reward him for his efforts! 




LDS General Conference:
If you don't know what this is, go HERE to read more.

 Jan
23. I love General Conference and will be doing another post soon with more ideas. Click HERE to see seven of the activities we've done in the past (shown in the picture above).

Nancy: We do different things from year to year, but we ALWAYS:
24. Build a tent or fort for the kids out of couch cushions or blankets.

25. Make a yummy breakfast so that our children will associate General Conference with good, happy, yummy feelings.

26. Print a conference packet like THIS with games and coloring pages.

Maren: I have two favorite General Conference traditions.
27. One is inviting family and friends over and eating an enormous breakfast. I love trying out new breakfast things, it's pretty much my favorite meal of the day. Unfortunately it's usually boring oatmeal so this is a great time to pull out that fried french toast recipe I've been eying.

28. We always go to my parents house for banana splits after priesthood meeting. This tradition started as a treat from my brothers. They would "share" with us what they learned at the priesthood session. We all knew WWIII would break out if they didn't. The tradition still stands even though my brothers all have families of their own who they have to bribe into doing their brotherly duties.

Lauralee: 
29. General Conference always means having lunch with pajamas at Grandma's house.

Just Spring
All of us:
30. At least one new item for our wardrobe. Be watching for more about this!!!

Please share your favorite Spring celebrations and traditions with us!! We'd LOVE to know!




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7 comments:

  1. This might be more of a summer tradition but one of my favorite activities is the 4th of July Family 40 mile bike ride. We watch the hot air balloons, have a picnic at Vivian park & on the way home we stop at Maverik for icecream because dad has good bowl filling skills. What a great day. Happy B-day USA. PS all activities are accessed via the bicycle.

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    1. Thanks for sharing, Justin! You guys are so awesome with traditions! I love it!!

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  2. Replies
    1. Thank you, Dorothy. I'm glad I found your blog last night... I can't even describe how much I wanted everything to jump off the page and enter my mouth! AMAZING!

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  3. My husband thinks the best thing about Easter is when he dies 24 boiled eggs by himself. I usually take pictures. He lines up glasses of colors he's created and usually writes messages on with a white crayon. He takes some of the eggs for his lunch the following week and loves to see his co-workers reaction.

    My most favorite spring activity happened a couple of years ago. I went around and took pictures of the tulips at the Jordan River LDS Temple. I went to the back and even laid on the sidewalk so I could get a good shot of just the flowers. I am glad the security didn't come and reprimand me.

    No April fools or St. Patty's day traditions. But I would love some new spring clothes. Sometimes I wear my spring shirts in the winter just to brighten up my day. Fun post.

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  4. Thanks for Sharing, Mackay Memories!! What an awesome husband to get into the Easter eggs!!! That's such a fun idea. I would LOVE to see the pictures of your tulips, too!

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  5. i like green breakfast on st. patty's day! it seems like the easiest thing to turn green without making it look gross. we usually do green pancakes or waffles with green whipped cream

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