The Joy Of Family Traditions

When a special activity evolves into a tradition within a family, it creates meaning, connection, and community and makes common occasions more momentous and memorable. Establishing a sense of stability and shared history has never been more important to parents than it is today, as families become more fractured and scattered. THE JOY OF FAMILY TRADITIONS offers more than 400 fresh ideas and creative approaches to cultivating birthday, anniversary, holiday, and other rite-of-passage and seasonal traditions that strengthen personal bonds and reflect a family's individual style, spirituality, and values. Inspires and instructs families on how to create, personalize, adapt, and preserve relevant traditions that reflect how we live today. Explores the historical, cultural, and often quirky origins of holidays, customs, and milestones, both uncommon and familiar. Includes holidays, holy days, annual events, once-in-a-lifetime occasions, and personal celebrations. Reviews"A lovely new book that pays tribute to hundreds of celebrations from around the world and offers new ideas for marking important occasions."—Pregnancy Magazin "Be inspired to preserve, personalize and create meaningful holiday and year round traditions with the more than 400 multi-cultural activities found in The Joy of Family Traditions."—Senior Wire News Service "...read The Joy of Family Traditions by Jennifer Trainer Thompson, so you can celebrate the holidays even better than you celebrate them now."—Washington Post Recommended in Q&A Column"If you love family traditions, you will take pleasure in The Joy of Family Traditions by Jennifer Trainer Thompson."-Tom McMahon's syndicated "Kid Tips" Column appears in 62 newspapers nationwideFeatured in two wedding themed pieces on 5/1/08 and 5/8/08.-Content That Works

A season-by-season journey through the year that presents ideas for family-oriented holidays, holy days, milestone events, curious customs, and once-in-a-lifetime occasions.

Suggestions for today's busy families of activities and rituals that can be used to start family traditions.

FAMILIES PERFORM RITUALS each day without knowing it. Celebrating birthdays, eating a meal together, taking daily walks to the park, making French toast on Sunday mornings, donating to the homeless during the holidays; all are examples of the rituals families use to become closer and strengthen their bond. The Joy of Family Rituals is a recipe book for families who wish to enrich their lives with rituals by reflecting on their significance and making them a part of daily life. Rituals can help a family communicate, foster spiritual connections, and provide a secure foundation for growth. The Joy of Family Rituals makes it easy to incorporate rituals into family life. Barbara Biziou explains the meaning and history of each ritual, many of which date back to our ancestors, and gives advice on purpose, timing, ingredients and follow-up. Biziou encourages readers to adjust the rituals and introduce their own traditions to suit the family's needs. Finally, each ritual contains a true-life story of how it has affected a family, providing a template for ways in which your family's life might also be enriched and strengthened. "Consciously creating rituals can work miracles in our lives. The Joy of Ritual tells you exactly how to get started."-Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom "The Joy of Ritual is a road map to celebrating life. This book will be a great companion on your journey to attaining clarity, balance, and calmness amid the chaos of life."-Donna Karan BARBARA BIZIOU is an internationally acclaimed teacher of practical spirituality and global rituals. She is a life coach, voice dialogue facilitator, interfaith minister, and motivational speaker. She has lectured and taught around the world. She currently resides in New York managing her company, Blue Lotus Productions.

"Fill your home with beautiful aromas. Have you ever noticed how a single whiff of a familiar fragrance has the power to carry you instantly back to your childhood?" One of America's best-loved artists, Thomas Kinkade is known as the "Painter of Light." In his new book Family Traditions, Kinkade's beautiful paintings complement his own words and those of other great writers and thinkers, including Margaret Mead, Ben Franklin, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, to celebrate the bonds and traditions of family. Families keep us grounded with subtle reminders of our heritage and, at the same time, serve as a springboard to help us embark on new adventures. Our families provide love, support, and strength. Whatever our family tree looks like, Family Traditions recognizes the unbreakable ties and irreplaceable relationships we share with these special people in our lives, and reminds readers to "Make home a priority in life. Invest time and energy in creating a warm refuge for yourself and your family, a place where everyone can feel nurtured and cared for, safe and protected, free to be exactly who you are". -Thomas Kinkade Copyright 2005 Thomas Kinkade, The Thomas Kinkade Company, Inc., Morgan Hill, CA

When Julia Ridley Smith’s parents died, they left behind a virtual museum of furniture, books, art, and artifacts. Between the contents of their home, the stock from their North Carolina antiques shop, and the ephemera of two lives lived, Smith faced a monumental task. What would she do with her parents’ possessions? Smith’s wise and moving memoir in essays, The Sum of Trifles, peels back the layers of meaning surrounding specific objects her parents owned, from an eighteenth-century miniature to her father’s prosthetics. A vintage hi-fi provides a view of her often tense relationship with her father, whose love of jazz kindled her own artistic impulse. A Japanese screen embodies her mother’s principles of good taste and good manners, while an antebellum quilt prompts Smith to grapple with her family’s slaveholding legacy. Along the way, she turns to literature that illuminates how her inheritance shaped her notions of identity and purpose. The Sum of Trifles offers up dark humor and raw feeling, mixed with an erudite streak. It’s a curious, thoughtful look at how we live in and with our material culture and how we face our losses as we decide what to keep and what to let go.

"Culinary Harmony: Nurturing the Joy of Home Cooking" is a comprehensive guide that invites readers on a transformative journey through the world of cooking. With a focus on fostering creativity, developing essential skills, and embracing a nourishing culinary lifestyle, this book empowers home cooks to embark on a lifelong adventure in the kitchen. The book begins by highlighting the importance of home cooking and its numerous benefits, from healthier eating habits to fostering a sense of connection with food. It emphasizing the value of reclaiming the joy of preparing meals from scratch. The book delves into the world of flavors, offering guidance on incorporating herbs and spices to elevate dishes, as well as providing basic sauce and dressing recipes that can enhance any meal. It explores the diverse cuisines of the world, highlighting signature dishes and flavors that readers can recreate in their own kitchens. Throughout the book, readers are encouraged to embrace experimentation and creativity, as well as to incorporate family traditions and heirloom recipes into their cooking repertoire. The importance of creating memorable cooking experiences and sharing the joy of cooking with loved ones is emphasized, fostering deeper connections and creating lasting memories. In addition, the book provides practical tips for optimizing workspace, storage, and labeling ideas, enabling readers to create a functional and organized kitchen environment. It also offers insights into efficient cooking tools and techniques to streamline the cooking process and maximize efficiency. Finally, "Culinary Harmony" concludes with a recap of key concepts and takeaways, reminding readers of the valuable lessons learned throughout the book. It concludes with an inspiring reflection on the value of home cooking and encourages readers to embrace a lifelong love affair with the culinary arts. In "Culinary Harmony: Nurturing the Joy of Home Cooking," readers will discover not only the art of cooking but also the immense satisfaction, connection, and self-discovery that comes from preparing meals with love and creativity. Whether novice or experienced, this book will guide readers towards a deeper appreciation of the culinary journey and inspire them to create culinary masterpieces that nourish both body and soul.

Here you will meet Mrs. Victorianna Sharp, a noted 19th-century 3literary domestic,2 and the delightful creation of Sarah Ban Breathnach1s imagination. Guides readers month by month through the year, encouraging them to turn away from the stress of modern life and embrace the enduring pleasures of a gentler, more reassuring era. From organizing a New Year1s Day open house to arranging a midsummer strawberry regale to reviving traditional holidays like May Day or Martinmas, Mrs. Sharp is on hand to offer an abundance of joyful simplicities and seasonal suggestions that will enchant and engage everyone. Full of heart and insight, this sourcebook reveals century-old customs and rituals for bringing a family closer together. Full-color illustrations.