Just a follow-up on how fantastic – fun, rewarding, helpful – volunteering with kids can be. 

In Santa Fe this spring, we saw the most fabulously-decorated succulent.  Thinking this photo might inspire some of you (it inspired us!) to hunt down old ornaments, CDs, and other waylaid tchtochkes, we had to share in time for the holidays.

Happy hunting!

Every year we wonder how to usher in the new year with little people in tow.  Whether we’re spending the whole New Year’s Eve with them, shipping them off to their grandparents, or doing a little of both, we always seem to be looking for fun ways to mark the occasion together and to make the changeover special.

So in the spirit of planning ahead so that we’re not stuck at 5 p.m. on December 31 wondering what in the world to do, here are some of our favorite ideas…

'Tis the Season…for running around like crazy, buying a gazillion gifts, putting in the effort to make everything just a little more special.  How about trying to slow down just a tad and spend some time focusing just on the giving?  Not just on giving gifts, but on giving time and energy to make a stranger’s holiday a little more special.  And on teaching your kids how to start doing just that.

We have such a hard time thinking of the perfect gift for the grandmothers in our lives.  It’s a challenge to really show them how much we love and appreciate them.  Add in the fact that they pretty much buy for themselves whatever they want, and we’ve got quite a quandary.

One of our favorite things about the holidays is opening the mail. Every day brings a new crop of holiday cards with smiling faces, some of which we haven't seen since last year's cards. We love seeing the new babies, where everyone's traveled, and who's lost their teeth

We love to give neighbors and friends easy, homemade treats for the holidays. We especially like giving the treats in, on, or with something that can be kept and used again - a classic white tray, a Nambe heart-shaped bowl, a copper cookie cutter, a sillicone spatula. This year, we chose not to actually bake, but to put together a plate of super-easy candy treats. If you're a dentist, stop reading now.

Old and tired holiday standbys these aren't. Turn up the volume, gather everyone together, and have a family holiday party, just for your little crew. Or, use these as a jumping-off point and download a bunch of newish holiday songs to your iPod, bring it to your sister's or mother's, and be the favorite festive DJ.

Our friend just gave us the best idea ever for holiday gifts for our teachers. If you're still undecided (as we were moments ago) about what to give, consider this: gift certificates at a Whole Foods- or Trader Joe's-like store. The cards themselves are clever, printed with little sayings like "peas on earth," and they often come in cute and environmentally friendly paper sleeves. Wrap in cellophane if you want, or just tie on a ribbon, and include a tag that says, "Lunch is on me! Love, Lucy". The teacher can either actually have lunch during the break, or she can use the card toward the purchase of groceries, flowers, bath products - maybe even a bottle of wine.

Happy Chinese New Year! Since it lands this year on the same day as Valentine's Day, we're going to have a Chinese New Year/Valentine dinner. Instead of our traditional Feburary 14 heart-shaped pizza and chocolate, we're having Chinese dumplings, wonton soup, and lo mein - long noodles for long life. Plus something Valentines-y and chocolate at the end.
 

Why have our kids suddenly decided that dessert is something that comes after every dinner? Could it be that chocolate-chip banana bread that our sweet friend brought for a holiday treat? Or maybe the box - yes, an entire box - of assorted homemade cookies we brought home from the cookie exchange party last weekend? Or maybe it's the toffee we're making to give to friends? Oh, the holidays.

The big presents are easy - puppies, dollhouses, Lucy & Michael playtents (!). What's challenging for us is finding all those little gifts to stuff thier stockings or to open each night of Hanukkah. In the spirit of keeping things simple and old-school, here are a few ideas that we're actually using ourselves this year. We think they'll be fun to open and provide some great opportunities for family fun over the holidays.

We've been saying it since day one. First to the babies, gently, to encourage them to give us whatever it is that they're playing with, only so we can give it right back and say, "Thank you!" Then to the toddlers, hoping that asking them to share a toy truck won't prompt an all-out kicking and screaming revolt. And then - and this phase seems like it's going to last a long, long time - to the big kids, begging, "Please, please share with your sister."

Music in the house makes everything more fun. Here's our version of a great Thanksgiving mood-setting playlist. It's a little eclectic, but so are our lives (to put that very nicely!). Let us know what you'd add!

We know - there are just too many yummy recipes to share and make this time of year. We all have our favorites and our families' favorites (green bean casserole, anyone?). But every once in a while a recipe comes along that's too good not to share and too good not to become a new tradition. Move over, green beans.

Another fun family Halloween tradition. Although this one's after the fact, and it leans just a teeny bit toward the sneaky.

While we are the first to put our feet down when it comes to the day-to-day whine for sweets, there's just something about October 31 (and several days before and after) that makes us melt like candy, if you'll excuse our pun. So instead of figuring that the children will get way enough candy roaming the streets and keeping our homes fairly clear of it but for the big bowl of giveaways at the door, we decided to just go all out. Pull all the stops. So for dessert, after trick-or-treating (!), we're having good old-fashioned, homemade candy apples. 

Two days before Halloween, and we're in a spooky mood. The beautiful handmade Lucy & Michael BOO! banners are hanging right next to the creepy (and very plastic) moaning ghosts, the costumes have been worn already to a pre-Halloween party and are ready to go again, and the candy is waiting (in unopened bags, thank goodness!) at the door. We've got pumpkins coming out of our pumpkins. Literally. Take a look at this fantastic "Pumpkin Man" our 5-year-old came up with. (We have to be creative here in Texas with no snow for snowmen.)