I love children’s literature. I appreciate those authors that can pen a good story and admire the illustrators who can bring the story to life through their art. When our elementary schools have a book sale, I am right there looking for a new children’s book to add to my collection and I love rainy days because my children aren’t as busy and will cuddle up and read with me. It has been a tradition in our family to purchase a new children’s book every Christmas season for our book basket.

As I was reorganizing my little “library”, I noticed that I had collected several books about family reunions. Some of these books are precious gems that I think most families would enjoy reading together whether it’s a rainy day or not.

My favorite is a book by Patricia Polacco called “When Lightning Comes in a Jar”

12.00 at Amazon

In the beginning of the story Trisha’s family is coming for a family reunion. At the party Trisha meets Lydia and Sandy and they eat gazillions of Jell-os and Meatloaf, that are each a different kind that represents each of the Aunts cooking. Then after they eat they have their annual baseball game, croquet, bag races, Watermelon- seed -spitting contests, and rides on grandpa’s horse. They also see how tall everybody is. But Grandma promises that this year she will share a new family reunion tradition- lightening in a jar. I love the quote Ms. Polacco put at the end of her book. “We need to put the lightening of our stories and our heritage into the jars of our children’s minds so that they, in turn, can pass them on to future generations.”

Amazon- $6.99

My second favorite family reunion book is also by Patricia Polacco. I love the illustrations in this book. It’s about Great Gramma Anna who left Russia to come to New York City, with only the clothes on her back. Soon she had outgrown her dress and babushka and her mother used these and other family member’s old clothes to make a colorful quilt. "It will be like having the family in back home Russia dance around us at night." The only colored illustrations in this book are the parts of their clothing that are used in the quilt. As author Patricia Polacco explains, this quilt tells the story of her family from generation to generation, and has been present at all their life events, births, deaths, weddings and other special family celebrations. It is the glue that binds her family together.

$15.95

Everyone in the Puckett family loves music, plays an instrument and sings. But every time Emma Jo tries to sing the family’s old hound dog raises a terrible howl — no matter how softly she sings! Then comes the day of the big Puckett family reunion with its sound of fiddles, banjos, and kinfolk singing. When Emma Jo’s brother suggests that she get up and sing "This Little Light of Mine", she jumps up, faces a whole houseful of Pucketts, opens her moth to give her song voice — and lets out a quivering squeak. However, all eventually ends well when Emma Jo gets a little help from a friend. Kind of a silly story but since it combines music and family reunions I have to claim it as one of my family reunion favorites.

Amazon- $7.99

My favorite part of this story is the last line, “When they finally had to leave, they were sad, but not for long. They all knew they would be together next summer.” Children are always sad to give up their playtime with favorite cousins but if you have an annual family reunion like we do, they always know they can be together “next summer”.

“The Relatives Came” is story of relatives from Virginia (who leave when their grapes are almost purple enough to eat but not quite) and come for a visit. They stay for "weeks and weeks". Can you imagine as family reunion that lasted weeks and weeks? I wouldn’t want to be in charge of the food at that gathering.

Amazon- $13.49

A new addition to our library is, “Some Kind of Love: A Family Reunion in Poems” and is author Traci Dant’s first book. I love the poetry in this book and the illustrations are beautiful. One line in her poem, “Come Home” says, “Must be some kind of love that moved my Grandma to say, Always come home. Come home so I can see your faces.” Now doesn’t that sound just like something a Grandma would say? This is a book that gave me pause to reflect. .

Any of these books would be a fun “quiet time” activity for the children at your family reunion. Invite Grandma to read a story to the children and then maybe she’ll tell a few stories from her own childhood and memories from family reunions when she was a girl.

Aunt MO

"Cousins by blood – friends by choice."

We’re always looking for easy and delicious ways to feed a crowd at our family reunions.  It’s just no fun being the person left cooking or cleaning up while everyone else is having fun.  We used to cook Dutch Oven for every meal and then one year thought, Hey, this just isn’t fair, we want everyone to be part of the fun things we are doing.  So we decided to find some easy, no mess meals we could incorporate into our family reunions.

The recipes below are our family reunion favorites.  We like to have a big breakfast one morning and another morning do “Omelets in a Bag”.  It’s great for breakfast because everyone can eat on their own schedule.  We usually serve them with fruit in season.

“Tacos in a Bag” are perfect for your family reunion lunch.  Cooking the hamburger in advance makes them extra quick and easy.  We usually serve them with cold watermelon slices.

Omelets in a Bag

2 eggs per person
Meat- ham, sausage, bacon- precooked                               Vegetables- chopped onions, peppers, mushrooms
Cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Individual freezer plastic bags with some sort of seal or lock (some name-brand makers of these bags don’t recommend their bags for boiling so look for store brands or off-brands)and a large pot of boiling water.

Each person makes their own omelet by putting their choice of ingredients into the zip lock bag.  Be sure to seal the bag and get as much air out of it as possible. Put bag in a pot of boiling water until eggs are firm and cooked- usually 13 minutes.

NOTE: We use a permanent marker to write our names on the bags but sometimes they will come off,. A pair of tongs works best for removing the bags from the pot when cooked or for turning the bags in the water.  For younger children you can set the bag inside a paper cup while filling to give it more stability.

Fruit Salad in a Bag

Add a can of fruit cocktail with juice, a can of pineapple chunks with juice, a cup of coconut, a box of instant vanilla pudding, and a banana to a one gallon plastic bag and seal. Squeeze the bag and serve the salad right from the bag. For best flavor put in fridge or cooler to chill. Kids can help make this salad.

Tacos in a Bag

Browned hamburger
Individual bags of taco chips or corn chips
Shredded cheese
Shredded lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
Sour cream
Salsa

Take an individual bag of Doritos and smash them up without opening bag. Then open bag and put in what you like to eat on a taco from the ingredients above. Hold the bag closed and mix up. Eat right out of the bag.  When you’re done just throw the bag away.

Aunt MO

“Father’s Day and Mother’s Day are alike, except that on Father’s Day you buy a much cheaper gift.”

Help your Dad feel like the great Dad he is by holding a special party for him on Father’s Day.

We have always held our Dad’s Day party the Saturday before Father’s Day and invited all the Dad’s in our family – uncles, grandpas and cousins. If you don’t have enough family members that live close, invite a few Dads in your neighborhood to join the fun.

At one time we had four families that lived within 20 miles of each other so we went from house to house, progressive dinner style. We ate appetizers at the first house and played a few games, salads at the next house and played a few more games. The main course was next and we did the fun father’s relay finishing our party with dessert at the last house and watching the video we had made.

Family Reunion Helper is now offering a free download of Father’s Day games and activities including a printable “Famous Fathers” game, recipes for Snicker Brownies and Dad’s favorite Potato Salad, Father’s Day lei, bow tie, boutonniere and the ever popular “Father of the Year Relay”.

Don’t worry about using all of the activities in the download- choose the ones that will best fit your family. Be sure and include a variety of activities so that every Dad will have fun participating no matter what their skill and interest level is. Using the ideas at www.familyreunionhelper.com will help you can honor your Dad by throwing him the greatest Father’s Day party ever!

We had the cake, the presents and the decorations but we needed something really special and unusual to help my grandmother celebrate her 95^th birthday. An official document proclaiming her birthday, “Martha Hooton” Day, seemed to be just the thing, but we were sure that obtaining a proclamation would be difficult, if not impossible.  To our surprise-  it wasn’t! Let me walk you through the process.

Everyone has someone special in their life that deserves their own official holiday. Proclamations can be issued by mayors, governors, state legislators, city, county or town officials as well as the federal government, to commemorate special events.

A proclamation will highlight your family, organization, cause and issues, and potentially get media coverage for your organization and event. It can be a special honor and it’s really fairly simple to get an official proclamation.

Give government officials plenty of time to issue the proclamation- I recommend three months. For most proclamations, you will need to send a letter stating your request. Submitting your request early gives you time to correct any problems there might be with the proclamation such as spelling or incorrect dates.

I found that the proclamation certificate we received used the exact wording I had used in my letter. They basically just added the words "Whereas or “Therefore” to the first of each paragraph. ("Whereas" sentences state the problem or issue and are followed by a phrase beginning with "Therefore.") So, put some thought into your wording when you write your letter.

When writing your request be sure and include the purpose of the proclamation, the date when the proclamation is needed and a brief history of the organization or biography of the person.

Be sure to include your name and phone number so you can be contacted if additional information is needed.

You can ask for a proclamation for many reasons including the date of your family reunion. You could ask that the day of your reunion be declared, “Wells Family Reunion Day” or “Stewart” Family Reunion Day. Use a proclamation to recognize an ancestor or a special family member. Dignitaries are anxious to grant such requests especially if the family has a long history of service in the community. Some communities will even dedicate a week to your special event, cause or industry.

Don’t forget to let your local newspaper know that it is officially your ancestor’s or families’ day. Make it interesting and they may just want to do a write up in the newspaper.

My Grandma’s birthday came and went, the birthday cake was eaten, the crepe paper thrown away, and family and friends returned to their homes, but forever and always, November 1^st, 1997, will be “Martha Hooton Day” in Lyman, Wyoming. It’s an official proclamation!

You’ve sent the invitations, prepared the food and planned the activities and now your family is arriving. How do you make everyone feel welcome, relaxed and ready to participate at your family reunion? Ice breakers!

Sometimes when families first come together, after a year of being apart, they feel a little timid until they get reacquainted with the group. Ice breakers are designed to create a welcoming, open atmosphere and can really accelerate the process of getting reacquainted with each other.

Don’t limit ice breakers to the beginning of the reunion, use them to revitalize the group at any time. We have an Uncle Scott in our family, and anytime a family reunion or party starts getting a little slow, he will get everyone playing “Do You Love Your Relative”. It’s a high-energy game and will inject a little life back into your family reunion.

Here’s a couple of our favorite “high-energy” ice breaker games for your family reunion:

DO YOU LOVE YOUR RELATIVE?

The group sits in a circle with room in the center.  The person that is “IT”
does not have a chair and stands in the center of the circle. “IT” walks up to one of the people in the circle, points to someone and asks, “_________, do you love your relative?” The individual pointed to can say one of two things:

“Yes I love my relatives (everyone sitting in the circle must move to a new chair)

“No, I don’t love my relatives but I love everyone _____________________.” Fill in the blank with things like- everyone that is wearing green, everyone that likes chocolate, everyone that has a dog or everyone that wears glasses. (Only the people that meet the requirements move to a different chair.)

In both situations, the person that asks the question runs to sit on a chair. The person left standing, without a chair to sit on, is the new “IT”.

ELECTRIC CHAIN

This is such a fun game!  You will need a quarter and a set of keys!

Players make two equal teams, facing each other in two long lines. Everyone sits down cross legged (for an older crowd, you could sit in chairs). The two lines should be about 4 feet apart. The game leader sits at the head of the line. This game is played in silence. Begin by introducing yourself to the person sitting on each side of you.

All players join hands with the person beside them. Everyone closes their eyes except the two players sitting by the leader (the lead players). When everyone has their eyes closed and is silent, the leader flips a coin in between the two lead players. Heads, do nothing. Tails, the lead players squeezes the hand of the person beside them. The squeeze passes as quickly as possible (remember, eyes closed) down the line.

When the last person feels the squeeze, they grab for the keys which are placed in between the last two players. The team who gets the keys rotates…the head player goes to the end and everyone shuffles up one spot. If it was a false alarm, (accidental squeeze of the hands – no calling out “OOPS” allowed!) it doesn’t count. Game continues until one team has been completely through its’ lineup and the original head player is back at the head of the line.

Pass the Hoop

This great game requires tactical thinking and encourages team work. Instruct the group to form a circle with a 12-inch space between each participant. Once everyone is in place, add a Hula Hoop to the circle and instruct everyone to pass the hoop between each other and around the circle without it touching the ground. Once it gets to its original position the game is over. To make this game a little trickier add more than one hoop to the circle.

Don’t introduce an icebreaker game that will make others uncomfortable- physically or mentally. I HATE games that leave me feeling embarrassed or like a fool. Only choose games that help your family members feel welcome and comfortable at your family reunion. Some very non-threatening “icebreakers” are listed below:

LICENSE PLATE:

License plate is a fun game that family members can work on as they arrive at your reunion and then can come together to share answers. You can download a copy of the game and the answers by downloading this file license-plate-game.

After writing down the state that each license plate comes from family members are given additional points for each state they have visited- 1 point, and 2 points if they were born in one of the states.

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

All participants are given a bag with pennies (each participant should have one penny for each member in the group – if there are 20 people, players each should have 20 pennies).  Participants go around the room to each other and trade “a penny for a thought.”  Participants trade pennies – and positive thoughts. Activity continues until all participants have shared with every member of the group and have a new bag of “pennies for thoughts.” 

COLORS OF LIFE
Take a bag of M&M’s or Skittles candy and tell everyone to grab a handful…or specify a number (I prefer this if you have a large group so it doesn’t take so long- I suggest each family member take 5) You might also choose to split up in smaller groups such as children under 12, 12 and over, young adults etc.

Assign a different meaning to each color, blue= family, green=hobbies, yellow=animals, brown= work or school etc. Participants must tell one thing about themselves for how many candies they have in their hands using the colors as their guide. They may also eat them as they share their information.  (“Blue…I have two sisters.”, then eats the candy. “Yellow…I have a dog named Kodi.”, and eats the candy etc.) 

Icebreakers are a great way to learn the names and interests of your relatives. Try some of these “getting to know you” activities:

NAME TAGS

As people arrive at your family reunion give them a name tag and ask them to write the following on it:

1. Name in the center of your card.

2. In the upper left corner, write one thing that you like to do.

3. In the upper right corner, write your favorite color.

4. In the lower left corner, write your favorite hobby.

5. In the lower right corner, write your favorite food.

At some point in your reunion, ask family members to find someone in your family that likes the same color as they do, has the same hobby etc. You may also ask them to find the person they have the most in common with. You don’t even need to play a game with the name tags, but by listing some of your favorite things on your name tags you will learn a little more about your family members.

NAME TAG VARIATION

Participants are given a name tags and a magic marker.  They are asked to print their name on the upper portion of the name tag and then to draw four objects that represent who they are on the in each corner of the tag. 

GETTING TO KNOW YOU POSTERS

You will need a poster board for each family group attending your family reunion and a large stack of magazines that you don’t mind being cut up. Each family group is given a large sheet of poster board and are asked to decorate it (using magazine cutouts, stickers, markers, whatever!) in a way that best represents who they are.  Display the posters during your reunion and encourage family members to look at the posters on your “Wall of Fame”. At various times during your reunion (maybe before each meal), ask a couple of questions about family members and give small prizes to the first person to shout out the answer.

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE The group sits in a circle and each person has a paper and a marker. Everyone writes down on their paper three things about themselves, two that are true, one that is a lie. Give people about two minutes to do this. Encourage them to be creative and try to make it difficult for everyone to determine the lie. Take turns around the circle showing everyone what is on your paper. The group has to guess which one is the lie (spouses and siblings are usually requested to remain silent!). This game helps people to reveal interesting things about themselves in a fun way. If it is a large group (over 20) you might want to divide into two groups if time is an issue.

NAME BOP!

This is a test for once everyone thinks they know everyone else’s name. The group sits in a circle, with one person “it” sitting in the middle. “It” has a soft club (like a long sock with stuffing in it, a swim noodle or a rolled up newspaper) The leader begins by saying someone’s name. That person must say their own name and the name of someone else before they get “bopped” (softly on the leg). And so it goes ‘til someone messes up, or gets bopped, then they become “IT”.

Another fun way to get acquainted with relatives at your family reunion is to mix things up a bit. Following are a couple of fun “mixers”:

CLUSTERS All players move about the room. The leader calls out a number. The group must then make clusters of players to match that number. Whoever doesn’t get into a cluster is out. Variations can be clusters made of players with the same shoe size, the same sock color or the same eye color, etc.

SIGN HERE This a fun game to help family members more comfortable at your family reunion.  Give each participant a sheet with various tasks and ask them to complete it when you say, “GO!”  Here are some ideas:

Find someone to do five push-ups and sign here ___________

Find someone to give you a kiss and sign here ___________

Find someone to whisper the pledge of allegiance and sign here ___________

Find someone to do five jumping jacks and sign here ___________

Find someone to recite a nursery rhyme and sign here __________

Find someone to shake hands with and sign here ___________

Find someone to do a cartwheel and sign here __________

Find someone that likes chocolate ice cream and sign here ___________

Find someone who is your same age and sign here ___________

BACON AND EGGS

In a sitting position in a circle, designate one person to be “it.” Go around the circle and tap each person on the head and say “bacon” each time. When “it” says, “eggs,” that person that got tapped must run the opposite way. When they meet together, they must stop, shake hands and say, “Good morning. My name is__________. They continue around the circle and sit down in the empty spot before the other. The one that is left standing is “IT” next.

It’s best to keep “Ice Breakers” simple and short, about 15 minutes. Remember your goal is to make family members feel comfortable and welcome at your family reunion and to get your reunion off to a fun, energized start!

Aunt MO

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it.” – George Moore

For a girls camp my daughter attended, she was asked to create a “Wheel of Doom”.  The idea was that the girls would spin the wheel to determine what kind of utensil they would eat with for dinner.  The girls had so much fun with the wheel that we decided to use it at our family reunion.   We used it several times and the family loves it every time!

Our Wheel of Doom is made out of piece of particle board.   You can easily change the wheel to fit whatever your family reunion theme is.  We printed off pictures that go along with each category  and taped them to the wheel.  You can even repaint the wheel for each reunion theme.  For instance we painted the board in different camouflage colors for the Boot Camp family reunion and we painted it with glitter paint for the Medieval family reunion.   As you can see, our wheel is not too fancy but it’s given us some fun and SUSPENFUL moments at our family reunions.  It’s fun to watch the children as they anxiously wait to see where the arrow will land.

If a wood wheel is not an option for your family you could easily make one out of poster board and laminate it.  We made our wheel from wood because we wanted to use it over and over again and adapt it to various family reunion themes.

A visit to the dollar store or thrift store will provide you with all the “silly” silverware you will need.  Look for tongs, melon scoops, ice cream scoops, pasta servers, ladles, anything, the stranger the better.

We let each family member spin the wheel for themselves and there are NO “do- overs”!

For our Medieval Family Reunion (see the store to purchase this reunion) we used the following categories:

Emperor or King- fork, spoon, knife

Princess- tiny spoon only such as teaspoon

Knight- knife only

Giant- large serving utensil such as a large ladle or spoon

Peasant- no utensils

Jester- funny utensil such as whisk, spatula, ice cream scoop, measuring cup

For our Boot Camp Family Reunion (see store to purchase this reunion) we used these categories:

5-star general- fork, spoon, knife

Colonel- spoon only

Captain- tiny spoon only such as teaspoon

Sergeant- knife only

Corporal-  funny utensil such as whisk, spatula, ice cream scoop, measuring cup

Private- no utensils

We have also tied two family members together, tied an arm behind their back and blindfolded them.  Use your imagination!  Our families have been really good sports and nobody has complained about using the funny utensils in fact, they have enjoyed the challenge of trying to get through the entire meal.

If you need further details for creating your own Wheel of Doom send Aunt Mo at the email address under “contact us”.

Aunt MO

"Crazy is a relative term in my family!"