Instagram Created a Guide for Parents

Are your teens using Instagram? Do you understand what it is and how it functions? Instagram has created a new resource for parents with teens who use Instagram. It is called the Parent Guide. Part of the Parent Guide teaches parents about the options in Instagram that are designed to help keep teens safe. Instagram suggests that parents have a talk with their teen about whether their account is going to be public or private. Make sure the teen understands that they can have control over who can see and interact with what they post on Instagram. Users with private … Continue reading

The Slime Craze is Causing a Glue Shortage

Has your child taken a sudden interest in slime? It seems to be the newest, hottest, trend among children, tweens, and even some teenagers. The slime craze is so popular that it is causing craft stores to run out of glue. Slime is a homemade substance that can be made in any color. It starts out sticky and becomes a gelatinous substance that can be pulled, stretched and squished. There are plenty of recipes and photos of slime on Pinterest. A pastel rainbow colored version is called “unicorn poop.” Some kids are making slime that corresponds to a holiday (such … Continue reading

Large Family Savings

A friend of mine is expecting her fifth child. I am so happy for her. She is a great mom, her husband is a great dad, and their children are all smart, talented and kind. They are also expensive, and with a fifth child on the way, the parents are wondering if they need to take extra work in order to make ends meet. Maybe and maybe not. There are ways to save money when you have a large family. Large families don’t have to consist of two parents and a bunch of kids. These days, it could also include … Continue reading

Tips for Taking Family Portraits

Comfortable and Simple Clothing.  A family portrait should capture the essence of your family.  Leave the days of stiff portraits with everyone in their Sunday best in the past, unless of course, you are a formal type of family.  There is nothing wrong with glitz or formality.  Just as long as your family is natural and everyone gets to show off their individual style.  Yet, make it simple because too many members in patterned clothing or clashing colors will be a distraction. Morning Shoots are Best.  With children it is important to schedule portraits in the morning and well before lunch.  Hungry … Continue reading

Family History in the Christmas Tree

For some families, decorating the Christmas tree is a trip down family history lane. While I do not yet have a tree for my home, and I am not sure whether my parents have theirs yet, I do have many memories of decorating Christmas trees with them. Some of the memories even involve the event of choosing a tree and bringing it home. When I was growing up, we did not have a specific plan regarding where we got our Christmas tree. Sometimes, my dad would come home with one on top of the car. Other times, we would go … Continue reading

Five Free Fun Ideas Your Family Probably Isn’t Doing

By now you know how to save money on family fun, but are you really taking advantage of all of the fun family free stuff that is out there? There are plenty of things to do, to see and to learn that can be geared toward the different talents and interests of yourself, your kids and the family as a whole. If your family isn’t doing them, you could be losing out on a lot of free fun. 1. Join free classes and clubs. There are a number of free classes and clubs out there, just waiting for someone to … Continue reading

MyHeritage is Having a Halloween Family Photo Contest

Families that love to dress up for Halloween will want to enter this competition. MyHeritage is holding their second annual Halloween Family Photo competition. Take a photo of your family, all dressed up in costume. You could win a one year MyHeritage annual data subscription. Does your family dress up for Halloween? In some families, only the children and teens dress up. Other families will have adults joining in on the fun and dressing in costume as well. It’s always adorable to see a young child in a costume accompanied by a parent who is also dressed in a costume … Continue reading

Will You Attend the Family Story Slam?

The very first Story@Home conference included a Story Slam. The second annual Story@Home will take place in Feburary of 2013, and it will have a Family Story Slam. Are you going to participate? It sounds like it will be exciting, fun, and amusing. Story@Home is a conference that focuses on story. It is an excellent resource for genealogists who want to learn how to incorporate their family history into their genealogy research. You can learn how to preserve family stories from the past, and how storytelling helps to connect living family members. The second annual Story@Home conference will take place … Continue reading

MyHeritage Introduces Record Matching

MyHeritage is a genealogy website that you can use to create your family tree for free. If you want access to more, then you need to purchase a subscription. A few months ago, they unveiled something called SuperSearch. Now, they have added Record Matching to the SuperSearch system. MyHeritage is a genealogy website that has been around since 2005. It is run by a company that is based in Israel. It has memberships from people who live all around the world. You can use MyHeritage to create your family tree and to do some genealogy research. There are ways to … Continue reading

Where to Start Your Family’s Genealogy Blog

Are you considering starting your own, personal, genealogy blog for your family? One of the first things you need to decide is where that blog is going to go. Fortunately, there are several simple online resources that can help you get started. Here are a few good ones to choose from. You’re ready to make a genealogy blog. The first thing you are going to need to do is figure out where online you want that blog to be. Here are some options to choose from. One of the easiest ways to make a genealogy blog is to go with … Continue reading