Category Archives: Family Fun

Setting a Lovely Thanksgiving Table

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For most people, Thanksgiving is about food and family – generally in that order! But with a few extra minutes of time, you can also make it about the beauty of the season.

There’s a saying that people eat first with their eyes, and building a Thanksgiving table that captures attention and represents the best of autumn can make even a rather dry turkey taste better.

The photo to the left shows a fully-planned table. With fresh sunflowers, votives, tablecloth, plates, napkins and napkin rings all coordinated to create a Thanksgiving feeling, it looks like a decorator was hired to fix it.

If you have the skills, budget and time to put something like this together, that’s wonderful. But many of us don’t have the Martha Stewart gene, and are rushed just trying to get the dinner on the table let alone make it look this fancy.

Instead, consider something like the photo on the right. A simple gold tablecloth, one or two interesting candles, a pumpkin or two and some apples and pine cones and you’re finished.

White or neutral plates allow you to decorate for any season without needing closets full of dishes. Add the good silverware and some nice glasses and you have a beautiful table with minimal time and effort.

If you’re going to present Thanksgiving buffet-style, how about a simple display among the dishes? A few fall leaves, a couple of candles, one of those mini-pumpkins and some nuts and dried plants and you quickly add charm to your buffet table. Walk through your yard or visit a hobby shop and pick up just a few special items that you can use and rearrange every year to make your Thanksgiving table as special as the holiday itself.

Start Planning for the Holidays

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We’re headed for the holiday season, and it’s easy to get caught up in everything you want to do until you’re overwhelmed. One helpful approach to make sure you are ready to make your holidays merry and bright is planning. Take the time now to create the framework for making holidays fun this year.

Budget your dollars: Many people end up in January with more bills than they expected. To head off this situation, spend time with your spouse or family agreeing on a budget. Be sure to include food, entertainment, cards, and any decorations as well as gifts. Add a cushion to cover unexpected expenses.

Budget your time: You may want to bake holiday cookies, decorate with abandon and write long notes to friends. Add that full-family Thanksgiving, volunteering and attending everyone’s holiday parties and you may end up too tired to enjoy everything. Combine some favorite events and projects with some time to recover and just have fun and the season will be pleasant instead of hectic.

Work ahead: Do you love homemade Christmas cookies? How about mixing up the dough and freezing it for later? Grab your cookbooks and recipe box and develop your menus for Thanksgiving and beyond. Plan for each event with grocery lists and all the recipes organized in files.  If you are going to ask Aunt Margaret to bring her sweet potato casserole, now is the time to call. Pull out your holiday card list before it starts to get hectic and address envelopes and write that newsletter. You don’t have to send them yet but wouldn’t it be nice to be ready when the time comes?

Take a few hours to plan your holidays this weekend, and you will help ensure a holly jolly time for everyone.

A Fulton Neighborhood

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Finding the right home can be exciting and fun. And it’s just as important to find the right neighborhood for you and your family.

Fulton Homes recognizes that, and focuses its efforts to creating each community to suit the needs of its homebuyers.

Here are a few things to consider when choosing a neighborhood as well as a home.

Location: Are you close to good schools for your children and shopping to meet your family’s needs? You may also want to drive your commute to work, so that you know how long it will take and can plan accordingly.

Amenities: Does your community offer parks, pools or other features that your family will use and enjoy? With a community pool such as the one shown above from Fulton’s Ironwood Crossing that includes a splash pad for the younger ones separated from the main pool area with a fence, children of all ages can enjoy this center. Parents can appreciate the benefits of this neighborhood pool without the cost and effort of owning one.

Neighbors: With a new home community, everyone moves in at about the same time and many people will look forward to getting to know others on their block. Consider starting a block party with pot-luck food and games for the kids to help them get comfortable with each other. This is also a great chance to find babysitters and learn more about restaurants and shops close by.

Take the time to explore your options when it comes to neighborhoods as well as houses. Look for a place that will work well for you and your family and you will feel as at home outside your front door as you do inside.

November is Good Nutrition Month

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Wouldn’t you know it, the day after Halloween is the start of Good Nutrition Month! Here are a few suggestions to use your Fulton Homes kitchen to promote good eating for you and your family.

Ration Halloween candy: Of course chances are your little ones ate too much candy yesterday – and maybe you helped yourself to a bit more than you should have, too! Now that you’ve all had that indulgent experience, let your children know that this happens only once a year. Negotiate a specific number of pieces of candy every day. Here’s a hint – you start the negotiations at one piece and they will feel good if they can get you up to three, which is about where you want them to be anyway.

Use your kitchen space to drive your family to good snacks: Set up a shelf in the refrigerator with washed carrots and dip, sliced apples and cheese, peanut butter and other healthy choices. Let your kids know that those snacks are legal without getting permission. Place some whole-grain crackers on the counter or kitchen table along with bananas and other snacks that don’t need refrigeration. Make healthful snacks easy to access and junk food hard to find or simply nonexistent in your kitchen. Soon your family will automatically reach for the good stuff that’s in sight.

Get help with meal-planning and cooking. Make it fun for everyone and cook with the kids! Use your kitchen counter or island to plan and track meals for the week or even the month. Assign coupon searches to one child and grocery ads to another, with the promise that they will receive the savings as an addition to their allowances. Or you could have a contest with the one who saves the family the most money getting to choose a favorite meal for the next week. Print a copy of the food pyramid and have your whole family use it to plan meals that are well-balanced.

The holidays have started and it’s easy to get into bad food habits with entertaining and attending parties. You can create the opportunity to keep yourself and your family on a good nutrition path for the rest of the year and into the next!

Unique but Simple Halloween Decorating

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If you want to decorate the outside of your home for Halloween but would like to create something much more unusual than the choices available in stores, here are a couple of ideas to spark up the front of your home that rely on imagination and creativity rather than a lot of effort or dollars.

This first choice requires you to expand beyond the standard rounded pumpkin. Look for pumpkins, gourds and squash with unusual shapes and colors such as the three elongated ones shown here. You could also add one of the newer white “ghost pumpkins.” You only need to carve a few of them, but create unique faces. Set in front of a group of uncut pumpkins and gourds, you create a gathering of Halloween creatures.

Another option that is a bit more complex but very entertaining is placing two pumpkins together to show a conversation between them.

The pumpkin on the right has a more complex carving approach. There are directions and patterns on the Internet to help you create one of these, but you could stick with the standard carving style and still get an interesting vignette.

The stick hand on the right pumpkin also pushes this Halloween display out of the ordinary. Adding hands and feet to your carvings adds personality and charm.

You could add fall leaves to these arrangements, use props such as hats or other accessories, and even tell a simple story with your pumpkins. Halloween provides a terrific opportunity to stretch your imagination by thinking outside the squash.

Warm Up your Dining Table

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With autumn bringing family holidays, adding some special touches to your dining table or buffet can turn a simple dinner into something special. A fall-themed centerpiece or other elements also provide additional warmth to your home. Here are a few ideas.

Table runners: Catalogs, home shops and even discount stores all can be great resources for lovely table runners. Place a runner on your table and add a couple of candlesticks and brighten up your dining room very simply. Add placemats and dinner is ready. Table runners also work well to embellish simple tablecloths. Switching a runner is one of the fastest ways to change a room’s mood.

Flowers: Chrysanthemums – either in a pot or a vase – say fall easily and inexpensively. Place a few pots on either side of your buffet or one large vase in the center of your dining table. For a simpler and easy look, cut flowers shorter and put in a series of juice glasses. Use rubber bands to hold the stems together – making the small flower arrangements appealing and organized.

Centerpieces: Don’t limit your ideas to flowers and candles. Gourds, a bowl of mixed nuts, fall leaves – real or silk – and some apples or pears can be combined with baskets or pottery bowls and platters to create a tablescape that catches the eye. Just add place settings and you’re ready for a party or family gathering.

Candles: Whether you choose tall tapers or small votives, candlelight adds warmth and charm to any room. if you are concerned about fire and small children, look for battery-powered LED lights that mimic flames.

With just a few minutes and a little thought, you can turn your dining room from a place to eat to an inviting and appealing space. Take the time to make your dining table special and your family and friends will appreciate the result.

Take Advantage of Autumn

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It’s here – halfway through October and we’re finally starting to get the weather that makes us glad we live in Arizona. After a summer living in air conditioning, it’s time to expand your life to take advantage of our autumn weather. Here are a few suggestions.

Open your windows. Although it’s still warm in the middle of the day, the weather in the early morning and later in the evenings provide free cooling. Open some windows and any doors that have security screens. Look for opportunities to create cross ventilation. Run a few fans to draw in the cool fresh air.

Take a walk. Once again, early mornings and evenings are lovely. Have you been thinking of starting an exercise program? Walking is a great way to begin. Start by walking around the block and then add distance over time. If you have a dog, take him or her along. Exercise is important for pets too.

Visit a farmer’s market. Locally grown produce and meats, homemade baked goods, crafts, herbs and other surprises can be found at farmer’s markets all over the Valley. Many of the food trucks that are popping up in Phoenix and communities all over the country take advantage of these markets to park and sell their wares, so you can snack while you shop.

Eat outside. You can plan breakfast or dinner in your own backyard, or dine al fresco in one of many restaurants with patios and other outdoor spaces. And as you sit down to enjoy a meal with the sky above you; you can remind yourself why you chose Arizona for your home.

At Fulton, we love it here too.

Dress Your Home for Fall

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It’s hard to believe that autumn is upon us when we’re still dealing with triple-digit temperatures. But you can start bringing the season into your home. To get into the mood, select colors, shapes, products and even foods that create the feeling of fall.

Start with the produce department of your grocery or warehouse store. Look for pumpkins, winter squash and gourds or decorative Indian corn. Set up a display in your foyer or on your buffet. Or if you want to go simpler, just put a large basket or pottery bowl on your dining room table filled with apples and pears – fall fruit.

You can introduce the season to your home right at your front door with a fall wreath or hanging. Many stores have ready-made door decorations, or you can create your own easily. Stop by your local hobby store and select a grapevine or other wreath shape in fall tones. Look for garlands of fall leaves in silk, and wrap it around the wreath. Finish with a bow of wire-edged ribbon in fall colors.

Another simple door option involves selecting three complementary ears of Indian corn and tie them at the top with ribbon or raffia. Hang and your home announces the season to everyone who enters.

If you make a trip north to see the colors, bring some old books with you and press the best of the leaves you discover. Add some pine cones and branches and you have a ready-made centerpiece. For other decorations, press the leaves and scatter them on side tables and in bowls.

Even with our hot summer temperatures, your home can carry the feelings – if not the temperatures – of fall.

School Organizing

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Are your children well prepared as they start school or are you dealing with missing assignments and notebooks that seem to disappear every morning?

You can help your children stay organized for school by setting up personalized “lockers” at home. These can range from space on a bookshelf to storage containers or bins. Even a small file cabinet would work. By making sure school materials have an assigned place, getting ready in the morning will be less stressful. Here are a few hints to make this work.

Choose a good location. Your children are more likely to use the assigned space if they pass it as they walk into the house. Find space near the front door or inside by the kitchen and label each child’s bin or area so there are no arguments. It’s OK if they just dump their books and papers inside. At least they’re all in one place.

Have one bin for school supplies. This makes it easy for everyone to stay stocked up.

Make sure the spaces are large enough. If your kids run out of room, the overflow may end up on the floor or a counter near-by, which defeats the purpose. Remember that they will accumulate more materials as the school year continues. You may need two bins eventually – one for current work and the other an archive for past notes and papers.

Leave a treat in each child’s assigned spot for the first few weeks. A mini candy bar or a small toy rewards your children for putting their school materials away. Be creative to keep it surprising and exciting. After three weeks – the time it takes to make or break a habit – move to occasional treats.

Have a clean-up day once a month. This gives everyone the chance to get rid of papers or notes that they will no longer need or move some things to the archive bin, keeping the current bin under control.

Why not try this approach? With just a few steps, you can reduce the tension of tracking down school materials and make the school year easier and more organized.

Getting Ready for Fall, Arizona Style

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In other parts of the country, September is a reminder that winter is coming and people will be spending more of their time indoors. For those of us who live in Arizona, though, September is just the start of temperatures  that invite more outdoor living. As the heat diminishes, it’s time to prepare for the beautiful weather that’s just around the corner. Here are a few suggestions to make the most of fall.

Look over your outdoor furniture. During the summer, the sun, heat and chlorine from post-swimming use may have caused some damage. Now is the time to stock up on new cushions or consider spray-painting to revive your current furniture. Visit a good hardware store to get insights into what kind of spray paint can perk up your outdoor look.

Consider adding lighting. Does your backyard have the lighting you want for entertaining? How about stringing lights in a tree for a year-round festive look? Inexpensive paper lanterns with LED votives in them can be hung anywhere to add interest and an inviting ambience.

Plan an outdoor party. We’re lucky not to have to worry about bad weather in the fall. In the next few weeks as the weather cools we’re all likely to enjoy getting outdoors again. Host a potluck at your home and pull out some outdoor games such as croquet, bocce ball, or badminton to play.

Include al fresco dining as part of your regular plans. Eating outside is one of the best features of fall in Arizona. Pick up an inexpensive tablecloth and start scheduling some meals outside. At first breakfast may be your best choice but as we reach the end of September almost any meal is more enjoyable out-of-doors.

Take the time to get ready for fall Arizona-style. No leaf turning yet, but the weather we’ve been dreaming about all summer long is just around the corner.