Family Nights.

I have to say that I am quite excited to be posting about this. Family Nights are one of my favorite things. When we first started to implement the family nights I would wrack my brain trying to figure out something extra-special and amazing for us to do. I quickly realized that the kids were just happy that we were doing something as a family and that it didn't really matter what we did. The goal we set for family nights is just to be together doing something. In this day and age, our lives can be so fast-paced. Family night is one night a week set aside to do something fun together. Our night is usually Fridays but, depending on what we have going on it could be another night as well. I came up with a list of some of the things we've done for our family nights. Most of them cost little or no money at all. Remember...it's the time you spend that matters.

• Movie and Popcorn- this is one of the kids faves. We rent a fun family movie, pop some popcorn and have a good time.
• Game night- play age appropriate board games or other fun games that your kids might enjoy. One of our favorites is Hullaballoo.
• Art Projects- one of our first family nights was going to Wal-Mart and picking out little plaster figurines for 50 cents and going home and painting them. It was a blast.
• Kids Choice- this one is self explanatory. Let the kids pick what they'd like to do.
• Theme Dinner- This one is great! Our most recent one was a "Cowboy Theme" dinner. I announced the theme that morning and then we all dressed up as cowboys/girls and came to a dinner of chili and cornbread. We've also done a "Wacky" dinner where we all dressed up in silly outfits and I got out a bunch of leftover mix and match birthday party stuff and decorated the kitchen, and we just had a regular dinner. Another cool idea would be to do a backwards dinner with dessert first. I read about that somewhere and thought that might be fun to try!
• Read after Dinner- pick a special book to read to your family at the table after dinner while you all have tea (for the kids) or coffee.
• Go out for dinner- Sometimes we'll go someplace fun with the kids to eat.
• Go out for ice cream- this one is just as much fun for us as it is for the kids.
• Go to a movie/matinee- we have a dollar theater near us so this makes it a little more economical.
• Invite another family- It's always nice to get another family in on the fun. Have a make your own pizza night and have the other family bring their own favorite toppings!

The ideas for this are endless. One night I decided to put tape on our floor downstairs and have a "long jump" competition and measure how far each of us jumped. I played fun music and it was a blast. We've also done the limbo. It can be as simple or as crazy as you want. I love seeing the kids have fun and see how much they love just being with Kent and I know matter what we are doing. If togetherness is your goal...it doesn't matter what you're doing. I'd love to hear some of your ideas for spending time with your family. Perhaps it will give me some more ideas!!