I enjoyed getting emails from many of you, reinforcing the importance of tradition and routine in your house. It IS important. After working with kids for the last 10 years, I have seen the difference between kids that have meaningful traditions and schedules, and those that are simply run into the ground with activities.
HUGE difference.
A love of the Lord, close knit family, loyal friends, traditions, moral appreciation and normalcy (aka routine) (sitting around and having meals each night–can you imagine that?!?!?!) are what create healthy children.
That being stated, one of our family fun traditions is cinnamon roll Sunday. We enjoy some tasty business each Sunday before church and it is fabulous. And trust me….it doesn't have to be all Cinnabon and fancy. I buy whatever packet is cheapest at the grocery when i go shopping on Mondays and that is what we have, but it is FUN! And fattening.
We have grown to expect the deliciousness each Sunday morning and I look forward to when Kensington and my other children are able to sit around the breakfast table and all eat "cin's" (as we like to call them) and discuss what we think the sermon might be about or what our day will hold.
So…..
*If you have a good (And easy….Because I'm not going to be trying to be Martha on a Sunday morning with children to get ready) recipe for cinnamon rolls, leave me a comment!
*If you have a fabulous family tradition you would like to share, leave that too!!!
One of my favorite traditions I received was from a friend (Gina), who has Friday night movie night with her family. They take baths, get in PJ's and scarf down some popcorn together while watching a fun movie. Her kids are 3 and almost 2. She mentioned it is a wonderful time with her husband and her as well.
I even got a text one night that they were watching Mary Poppins! Perfecto!
no. 17 cherry tree lane 
Yeah, we had cinnamon rolls today too! I read the label the other day and was informed just how fattening they are!!
For Christmas morning this year, I tried Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon roll recipe…they were delicious and SO easy! Here is the link: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/
I just made a basic powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla frosting.
Hope all is well!
emily ecklund
Sorry to post twice in a row. I just read the rest of the blog :o) Our favorite family tradition (though very simple) is “Pancake Saturday”. I found an easy recipe and our 2 year old knows what it means when we say it’s Saturday!
we have “saturday night dance party” at our house twice a month – dad downloads music to the itunes while cam & i practice our dance moves in the kitchen!friday night is generally pizza and a movie night.
we all snuggle together on the couch and watch a family friendly movie.
I have an easy recipe that can be done the night before and baked on Sunday morning…if you’d like to look, here’s the link to it on my blog….
http://oldcentennialfarmhouse.blogspot.com/2008/12/do-you-covet-my-warm-cinnamon-rolls.html
It just involves thinking ahead to thaw the bread dough, once that’s thawed, it takes ten or twenty minutes to prep it for the fridge to rise for the next morning.
ENJOY!
My children are grown with babies of their own, but one of the things we insisted on was mealtimes together. We nearly always had a hot breakfast before everyone headed out in the mornings. The exception was Saturday when Dad went to pick up donuts.
THE ABSOLUTE BEST RECIPE IS SANDRA LEE’S RECIPE for Cinnamon Rolls! They are easy incredible and taste pretty much exactly like Cinnabon. I make them on Christmas morning and I have made them for our Fellowship group and they are gobbled up quickly! Here is the link. You use that BRIDGEFORD frozen bread loafs thawed fill them with goodness and bake. Top with homemade cream cheese icing. š
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/cinnamon-rolls-recipe/index.html
Several Saturday mornings a month – Jake makes his yummy chocolate chip pancakes and we all watch I Love Lucy together. The kids crack up every time they watch it! I grew up watching Lucy, so I’m so thankful that my kids enjoy the show too! We’ve also implemented a “classic” movie night once a week – some of our recent movies are The Happiest Millionaire, That Darn Cat & the Birds.
what a lovely sunday morning tradition. so simple, but very precious. you are right, it is the simplest, the most obvious things that make a healthy family.
for a cinnamon treat, i sometimes roll out store-bought puff pastry, sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon, roll it, cut it, bake it. sometimes i do it with raisins or other dried fruit, chopped hazelnuts, chocolate shaivngs…
we have a sunday evening tradition. it is hard for everyone to know our weekend is ending, so we make that evening special. we turn off the lights and light some candles in the “big bedroom”. we look at the lights in our neighbours’ windows (we can’t see in, they are too far) and tell nice stories about what those people did during the weekend and how they are preparing for their sleep now. there is usually a chocolate treat for each of us, too.
We stop at the doughnut store each Sunday after church. When my youngest was little her vocabulary had not yet caught up with her enthusiasm for these treats. When we would walk into the shop she would clap her hands and yell “Happy! Happy!” so now we call doughnuts “happys”.
We have cinnamon roll Saturdays! It makes missing the sleeping in days a little bit better knowing that we are indulging in some “cins” (I’m totally stealing that!) and coffee!
You’ve probably already seen this, but she swears they’re DElightful. I have yet to give them a try… I think the Blancos are going to have to start the “Cins” tradition this weekend!!!
http://theblackapple.typepad.com/inside_a_black_apple/2009/02/cinnamon-rolls-for-two-insane-people-or-four-sane-ones.html