One great way to celebrate your family and the rebirth of spring at the same time is by planting a tree, bush, or perennial in honor of the children in your family. You can do this to mark the birth of a new baby, but it can be done at any time. Not only will this plant add beauty to your yard, but it will also be exciting for your child to watch his her plant grow and change over the years.

I have written before about building a family tradition with an annual photo series. Planting a special plant for a child lends itself perfectly to this ritual. Each spring, the child can take a picture by his or her special plant to mark the growth of both. - Sara I.

It is always a thrill to plan my kids' birthdays. Not only is it a time for them to celebrate being a year older, it is a time for my husband and I as parents to celebrate surviving another year of parenthood!

I recently discovered a wonderful website that has all kinds of products to help "green up" birthday parties. GreenPartyGoods touts that they have "planet friendly products for any celebration." Some of my favorite products on their site are their felt birthday hats, "cornware" tableware that is compostable and biodegradable, and goody boxes that can be used in lieu of plastic goody bags.

Actually, I think the greatest thing about green birthday party supplies is how many things are reusable and can build traditions within a family. If the same hats and banners are used for every birthday over the years, it becomes a welcome and exciting part of each celebration. I love the idea of having a special felt birthday hat that my entire family can use as we celebrate each year.

Surf on over to GreenPartyGoods - you can help build traditions with your family and reduce birthday waste in the process! - Sara I.

As the new year begins, so many of us make new year's resolutions. Usually, everything from losing weight to spending less (especially this year) is fair game. As you note all of the things you would like to work on in the next year, you may want to consider family resolutions as well.

Whether your family is just beginning its journey together or well on its way, think of how you would like to see your family. What are your hopes and dreams for your family, for your relationships with each other. My bet is that all of your wishes don't cost a penny.You can reach them all with one simple gift to each other: Time.

Think of your favorite memories as a child, and consider this - I doubt many of them involve toys or money, but rather time spent together. When I think back to my time growing up, some of my favorite memories are snuggling up with my family watching movies, playing board games together, going fishing with my dad, playing in the sprinkler in the yard with my sister, and making family trips to the back yard to pick strawberries from our garden. All of my favorite times are tied to moments when I felt the warmth of my family's love. I want my kids to feel my love, too, to know that I love them not from the toys they have but from the times we spend together.

So this year, our family is resolving to spend more time together. Not just time in the same house, but time actively enjoying each other's company, without distractions and uninterrupted. I am going to let the laundry go more often, and learn to ignore the garbage under the kitchen table a little more. My babies are only babies once, and I want to be sure they grow up knowing how much they are loved. - Sara I.

The holiday season is a time of year during which families often rely on traditions. Even with young children, there are traditions that can be started now and last for years to come. The most important part of these holiday traditions? They bring families and friends together to celebrate their connections and love. Here are some of my favorites...

Holiday Baking: So many holiday traditions center around good food, and many of those dishes are prepared year after year. In my family, it wouldn't be Christmas without my mom's peanut butter balls, seven layer cookies, and peanut butter crinkles with the Hershey kisses - yum! Start a tradition within your own family of making these cookies together year after year. Even the youngest child can help, from pouring ingredients into a bowl to frosting cookies to just going along for the ride in a baby carrier.

Special Stories of the Season: There are books that are unique parts of the holiday season, and sharing them each year can be a family tradition. The Night Before Christmas and The Polar Express were two of my favorites growing up, so I was sure to pick those books up for our family's collection our first Christmas. This story time can also be a good time to share the traditions of holidays other than Christmas, such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. One of my favorite books about Hanukkah is One Candle, and My First Kwanzaa is a great introduction to that holiday for young children.

Reindeer Food: Everyone has heard of leaving cookies for Santa, but this is the first year that I have heard about sprinkling reindeer food in the lawn for his reindeer! The food is a mixture of rolled oats with some red or green sugar (which sparkles so the reindeer can find the food). Sprinkle it on the lawn on Christmas Eve for a special reindeer treat!

Giving: The spirit of the season is really all about giving, and not just the presents under the tree. There are so many people out there who need our help, and this is a fantastic time to start a tradition of giving back. I read of a family who each year made a "global wish list," a list of changes they wanted to see in the world to make it a better place, no matter how big. Then, they picked one to help with. For example, if the family chooses to help end world hunger, they can donate food to a food pantry or serve food at a soup kitchen.

Looking for more ideas on traditions to incorporate into your family's holiday celebrations? Check out the links below.

• Christmas Eve Traditions for Kids - Ways to make the night before Christmas more kid-friendly


• 10 New Holiday Traditions from Family Fun Magazine - Unique ideas to build ritual into your yearly celebrations


• Holiday Traditions: Our Children Need Them Now from NYMetroParent - Outlines the reasons why traditions are so important for children

Have a holiday tradition that your family loves? We would love to hear about it - please share it below! - Sara I.

When my twins were born, my goal was to make each of them a scrapbook chronicling their first year. Well, they are turning three in less than a month, and those books are still not finished. Now that I have a third child, I figured it would take me until he got married to finish his first year book!

Then I heard about How Fast They Grow, an online scrapbooking company that claims that you can create a scrapbook page in seven minutes using your digital pictures and their free online Digi-Scrapbook software.

Seven minutes? It seemed too good to be true, but I had to check it out.

I joined the site (free), uploaded some pictures, and got to work. Sure enough, I was able to crank out some pages that I am really proud of in five to ten minutes per page, depending on how long I spent thinking about what to write.

The sample page I have below is just one of six I created in under an hour.


How simple is the process?

1. Upload pictures to Digi-Scrapbook (the most time-consuming part of the whole process).


2. Choose a layout from over 480 page designs.


3. Drag your pictures into the page - it is easy to zoom in or out and move around as necessary.


4. Type text on the page and add your own title.

That's it! Once your page is finished, you can publish it to share online with family and friends or print. Printing costs just dropped as of December 1, and now pages cost just $5.50 each. When I think of the time saved and the money not spent on more scrapbook supplies, it is definitely worth it for a busy scrapbook lover, especially for such a great finished product. The 12”x12” pages are printed with Kodak printers on 110-lb. cardstock, and they should last for generations if well-stored.

If How Fast They Grow sounds like something you or someone you know might be interested in, check out their website for a ton of great example pages and to view all of their templates. The company is currently running a special with free ground shipping on gift card packages using the code GIFT4U. Each package comes with the gift card as well as a sample 12”x12” page to see the quality of their product.

Maybe there is hope yet for my little one's baby book! - Sara I.