Week Thirty-One: St. Valentine's Day

I apologize for getting this out so late. I try to post these on Sunday, or at least have them written up to post first thing Monday morning; but I was working on some deadlines for both home and work most of the weekend.

Love it, tolerate it, or hate it, the Holiday of Love is nearly upon us. Here are some prompts to get you started writing about Valentine's Day holidays past and present:

*What is the first Valentine's Day that you remember? How old were you or what grade were you in?

*Did you have celebrations at school? What were they like? Were there games and refreshments?

*Did you make some sort of individualized Valentine "mailboxes" to hold the greetings you received? Or did the classroom have one big box? How were they (or it) created and decorated?

*Did you buy or make Valentine cards? Did you include goodies such as lollipops, candy message hearts, or Hershey kisses?

*Do you remember the first boy or girl you had a crush on in school? Did you have the nerve to send him or her a Valentine? If so, what was their reaction/response?

*Did your crush send you a Valentine?

*How did you feel about Valentine's Day as a child? Was it fun and exciting, or disappointing and sad? Or were you simply bored with it all?

*As you got older, did you attend any Valentine's Day dances? Tell about your experiences!

*What is the nicest card or gift you have ever received for Valentine's Day? Who sent it to you?

*How do you celebrate Valentine's Day now?

*Do you remember hearing how your parents or grandparents celebrated Valentine's Day?

If you have a written journal, you could decorate it with favorite cards you've received. If you have a blog or computer journal, you could decorate it with scanned copies of your favorite cards.

Journaling Responses to Week Thirty: Crafts and Hobbies

Thomas from Destination: Austin Family tells me he's addicted to these journal prompts! He's no slouch at creating prompts, either, as his Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories prove! Thomas responded to last week's prompts about Crafts and Hobbies in his post by the same name, here.

If you or another blogger you know has responded, please leave a comment below, and I'll add a link to your post.

Week Thirty: Crafts and Hobbies

This past week, we've experienced a lot of snow in my hometown, keeping many families, including ours, homebound. While I love being on the computer, reading, blogging, and researching, I've been feeling the need for a little creativity, lately. I picked up some fabric to make a new throw pillow and matching lamp shade to brighten up the living room, and yesterday, discovered a new cross stitch book at the library. As you've probably guessed by now, some of my hobbies include needlework. Over the past twenty years, I've taught myself to sew, crochet, knit, cross stitch, and do plastic canvas work. I don't do nearly as much needlework as I used to, but it's something I turn to several times a year when I feel I need a creative outlet. Another fun skill I picked up was learning how to create things out of wood in the Industrial Arts class where I assist our special needs students as part of my career with the local school district's special education program. I especially like using the skill saws to cut out intricate shapes in the shelves the students build. Working with wood--with its fresh-cut smell--and shaping it into something the mind's eye sees first, is a love I'm sure I've inherited from generations of carpenters on both my father's and mother's sides of the family. With these things in mind, I encourage you to write about the crafts and hobbies of your life, and share them with your descendants:

*What kinds of hobbies or crafts have you enjoyed over the years? Are they activities that you've created (visual art, needlework, metalwork, etc.) or items you've collected (model railroads, dolls, spoons, postage stamps, etc.)?

*How did you become interested in them? Were you taught them by a parent, grandparent, or other relative? Did you take a class, or teach yourself? Did you inherit a collection that you decided to build upon?

*Do you have a hobby or craft room where you can work or display your collection or store your supplies? If not, what would your dream hobby or craft room look like?

*What is it that your hobby or craft does for you? For instance, I know someone who took up crocheting to keep her hands busy while she was quitting smoking. Another relative knits items to donate to others as a way to give to the community. As for myself, I like the relaxing feeling of a hook and yarn between my fingers.

*Have you ever created your own patterns? Have you ever done a pattern enough that you've memorized it and create the object without reading the instructions? What one item have you made many times?

*Have you ever shown or displayed your hobby or craft at a collector's show or fair? Have you ever marketed your hobby or crafts either in a physical store, crafters' fair or online?

*Where do you purchase your supplies or items for your collection?

*Name your one--or several--favorite things you've created or collected? Why are they a favorite?

*What hobbies or crafts do you remember your parents, grandparents, or other relatives doing? Or what have you learned, if you've researched your family history, about the types of hobbies and crafts your ancestors did?

Don't forget to include some photos of your collections or the items you've made, prizes you've won, or photos of you engaged in your hobby or craft!

Journaling Responses to Week Twenty-Nine: Family Time

The following genea-bloggers have posted their journal responses to "Week Twenty-Nine: Family Time" on their blogs, and can be found at the following links:

• Lori Thornton at Smoky Mountain Family Historian posted "Family Life"

• Thomas MacEntee at Destination: Austin Family also wrote a post entitled "Family Life" and included old and newer photos

I always appreciate hearing from anyone who's been following these prompts. If you are journaling your responses, please let me know by using the comments feature. Remember, you don't have to have a blog to write the stories of your childhood for your descendants!

Week Twenty-Nine: Family Time

Last week there were some great responses to "Games and Puzzles." You could really see the family dynamics as various bloggers wrote about the game times they had with their families. I wanted to continue in the same vein with "Family Time." These times can be referring to your household family, or extended family members.

*Did your family have a regularly scheduled family time?

*What sorts of things did your family do together most often?

*Where did you spend your family times? At home or elsewhere?

*How important were family meal times?

*Did you ever go for "Sunday drives"? Where did you go?

*Did your family have a favorite place at which to eat out together? What made it a favorite?

*Was there a favorite television show you liked to watch together (or a radio show to listen to together)? Did you ever read together?

*What kinds of things did your family talk about when they got together?

*Were there certain kinds of sports or activities that you participated in as a family?

*Did you ever have a family portrait done by a professional photographer? Was this done on a regular basis, or just occasionally?

Understandably, if you grew up in a household where the family dynamics were not the best, the above questions may not apply. Some people may find it therapeutic to write honestly about this, while others may find it helpful to write about how they determined to have things be different when they raised their own families.

One of my great-great-grandmothers, Jana "Jennie" (TON) HOEKSTRA, was orphaned at an early age. She lived with her step-father, but once he remarried after her mother's death, she went to live with an uncle and aunt, and worked as a maid and a laundress at a young, young age. She had a very hard life. One of the most precious possessions I own is a little scrap of paper on which she wrote about some early memories she had of her immigrant Dutch parents:

I, remember when my mother was kind to me, and took the long walk, with her, Sundays after-noon and her Love.

I, remember the walk, my Father and I took one evening in Cincinnati Ohio. The Father's day, and mother's days are a blessing.

Sunday Feb 14--1943

This is all I have ever seen in Jennie's writing, and it is so significant that the one thing that has been saved of all she ever wrote was about her family! Make sure your descendants have a record of your family times, and copies of your family portraits or snapshots.

Journaling Responses to "Week Twenty-Eight: Games and Puzzles"

The following genea-bloggers have posted their journal responses to "Week Twenty-Eight: Games and Puzzles" on their blogs, and can be found at the following links:

• Thomas MacEntee's "Games and Puzzles" at Destination: Austin Family

• Lori Thornton's "Games and Puzzles" at Smoky Mountain Family Historian

• Tex's "Games" at All My Ancestors

I've really appreciated and enjoyed reading these responses. When people talk about their families, you really get an understanding of the dynamics of these families and the individual's growing up years. Comparing and contrasting those similarities and differences with one's own family is fascinating!

If you know of anyone else who has posted a response, please let me know by using the comments feature. Remember, you don't have to have a blog to write the stories of your childhood for your descendants!

Week Twenty-Eight: Games and Puzzles

With all the snow we're having here in Spokane this winter, nothing sounds like more fun than gathering the family around the table to play a few games on a winter evening. Here in the Midkiff house, we have three shelves full of board and card games, a collection my husband started building not long after we were married. He wanted to have a variety for our future family to choose from for family nights. We don't play as often as we used to, so maybe it's time we started that back up. A Midkiff family tradition we've started and continue every summer is to play Balderdash nearly every evening of our week up at the lake with my brother-in-law's family. My brother-in-law usually comes up with the funniest definitions, but I usually end up winning! We always get silly and adults and kids alike thoroughly enjoy this tradition!

When I was in college, our high school and college youth group enjoyed playing Spoons, Charades, and especially Pictionary, long before the latter became a board game. It was supposedly created by Gonzaga University students here in Spokane.

*Did you have a regular game night or family night?

*What games (board, card, dice, or acting out) did your family enjoy? Was there a favorite you played time after time?

*Did your family have a family or game room? What was it like? What kind of game equipment did it have (foosball, pool table, etc.)?

*Do you have any funny stories or a particular memory (good or bad) that stands out of game-playing time?

*What's the first game you remember playing?

*Were there any games you disliked? Why?

*Were there any games that were not allowed to be played? Why?

*Did your parents have a regular night when they would play games or cards with friends or extended family?

*Did you ever have game nights with groups, clubs, or neighbors on a regular basis?

*Was game playing associated with certain annual events, like holidays, birthdays, or vacation times?

*What kinds of snacks and beverages were enjoyed during game playing?

*Were there prizes awarded to game winners or even to losers? What kinds? Did everyone chip in towards purchasing the prizes?

*Did your family or you ever do jigsaw puzzles? What's the largest--in terms of number of puzzle pieces--jigsaw puzzle you've completed?

*What did you do with completed puzzles? Did you display them or simply put them away?

*What about puzzles such as crosswords, cryptograms, or others found in puzzle books? Are you a Sudoku fiend?

*Did you ever go to an arcade and play pinball machines or other arcade-style games? Or did you ever shoot pool?

*Do you remember seeing your first video game, either in an arcade or on a television (Pong, Atari or early Nintendo games)?

*What kinds of video games did you like to play, if any? Do you play any now (gaming station or handheld)?

*What was your first computer game? Do you ever play computer games now, either on your computer or online?

*What about the present? Does your family or do you personally play games or do puzzles? Do you participate in game nights with others, such as poker or Bunco?

*Here are some other game ideas to write about: lawn games (horseshoes, croquet, badminton); kid games (marbles, jacks); betting, casino games, and bingo; party games (pinata, pin the tail on the donkey), etc.

*What do you know about your parents', grandparents', or perhaps even great-grandparents' game playing? Do you remember them saying anything about games they played when they were young?

*Do you have any photos of either your present or your childhood families playing games? What about ancestral photos?

I'll have more prompts about other family times in next week's post.