Family Proclamation Craft Link-up and Fun Family Dinners

I am happy to welcome Amy ~the creative heart and soul behind The Idea Room~ to our Family Proclamation Celebration today!  She has chosen to share some splendid ideas with us about making the most of family dinners!  

Near the end of her post, you'll have a chance to LINK UP your Family Proclamation-Inspired Crafts for this week's Craft Link-up!  Also, remember to check out the new party favors up for grabs this week!

Now here's Amy...

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Hi! My name is Amy and you can normally find me over at The Idea Room. I am excited to be a part of this ongoing series based on The Family: A Proclamation to the World. I feel so strongly about this inspired work and how it can give us guidance for raising a righteous family in an ever changing world.

One of the main responsiblities of a Mother is to provide for the physical needs of her children...and mealtimes constitute a large part of our responsibility.

There have been numerous studies that suggest sitting down together as a family at dinner time is very beneficial and helps to strengthen families. There are several resources like here and here that give specific benefits that result from eating together as a family.

(My family Thanksgiving 2009)

This is something that I absolutely believe to be true. I really try to make sure that my family sits down and enjoy our meals together. Some days this is harder than others. But it is important to make this a number one priority.

Your meals do not need to be 3 course or really fancy. Sometimes we just eat something really simple, or on really busy days, I throw something in the crock pot and let it cook all day so all I have to do is set the table at dinner time. Even ordering take-out and sitting together at the table can count as a family dinner. It doesn't matter what, but that you are eating together.

We try to have dinner on the table at the same time each day. This works pretty well most nights. Sometimes we have to make adjustments due to a sport or school activity. The improtant thing is consistency.

We also have some dinner table rules where no distractions are allowed. For example...No answering the phone, watching TV or texting, reading, etc. Then we eat AND talk! We used to have each child take turns sharing with us what happened to them during the day, but then we started getting some of the same answers every night (do you know what I mean? :)!

Then for Christmas, my friend gave us a set of prepared questions for dinnertime duscussions. We keep them in a jar by the dinner table. Now, each night we take turns pulling out a question and talking about it. It has been so much fun. We have really expanded the things we talk about and are learning new things about each other we otherwise would not have learned.

Some examples of the questions we have already answered are:

What would you spend $100 dollars on today if you could?
What was your last dream that you remember?
What animal would you be and why?
What superhero power do you wish you could have and why?
What was your favorite present ever?
What icecream flavor would you invent?

The possiblilities are endless. All you need to do is come up with a list of questions and then be amazed at all the fun things you will get to learn about each other. Sometimes we can sit and talk about something for quite a while before anyone asks to be excused from the table. It really doesn't matter what the questions are...the point is to get you talking and listening to one another. Sometimes we answer more than one question and sometimes one question will spark a big discussion that lasts the whole time we are eating. It has been fun and relaxing and has taken some of the pressure off of some of our past dinnertime struggles.

Go ahead and give it a try. I really think this will be something you LOVE doing as a family.

Thanks Cocoa and Jocelyn for inviting me to take part in this beautiful series!

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Thank you, Amy!  What a useful idea for upping the dinnertime fun-factor!!

Our guest bloggers have shared some pretty wonderful stuff with us so far, don't you think?

Now it is your turn to share!

For this weekly themed link-up party, we are looking for

Crafts, Creations, or Activities

inspired by The Family Proclamation.

They can be something like the dinnertime discussion jar shown above, or anything that you have created that illustrates some portion of the Family Proclamation or that celebrates or enhances FAMILY.  Tutorials would be extra nice or instructions so that others can do it too!

Please link up to a specific blog post about your craft/creation below...

then scroll down to see the party favors that you could win

by linking up, blogging, and commenting this week:

This link-up will go from TODAY through FRIDAY!

And remember that you can link-up at Chocolate On My Cranium too for more chances to win "party favors" this week!

I will announce the winners of the following prizes on Sunday!

a custom family tree for children

displaying four generations of family names

by The Staker Store

an 11x14 print of "Para Siempre" using LDS Temple Font

Description:  "Para Siempre", means "Forever". The font is made exclusively of LDS temple parts. 

This print can be personalized with your family name and established/sealing date." 

by Pseuzyn's Shop

a quad Scripture Cover

from To Jameson With Love

a customizable Family Proclamation Photo Album

It includes words from the entire Proclamation...You just insert your own family photos!

by Lola Jae's Ink

"I Belong" hand-stamped baptism necklace

Description:  "I BELONG 2010 stamped on one inch nickle silver disc. Attached to 24 inch silver plated ball chain. Chain may be cut down to shorter size. This item is designed with creativity and is custom hand stamped especially for you! That is what makes each piece unique."
By Just Be Jewelry

Birthday Countdown Blocks

This item helps you countdown 31 days until a birthday.  Lettering is customizable.

by Lollipops and Bows

Expandable Temple Tote Pattern in PDF 

(There will be 2 Winners of this pattern!!)

by Terry Ann Heart