Show & Tell: NieNie Asks -- What Do You Love to Do With Your Children?

I love to cuddle up and watch a good movie. They are GREAT cuddle bugs! http://theapels.blogspot.com/2011/04/cuddle-bugs.h...

I love to read books to my boy's.

We play dinosaurs. I run around the house and chase them roaring loudly. It ends with a tackle, tickling and laughter.

I love to make food faces for them: http://theapels.blogspot.com/2011/03/lot-of-fun-wh... That gets some laughs out of them.

I love to make instruments for them out of pots, pans and empty coffee containers: http://theapels.blogspot.com/2011/03/wordless-wedn...

I love to make cookies with them: http://theapels.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-ice-crea...

I love to dance with them!: http://theapels.blogspot.com/2011/01/mica-dancing-... ( http://theapels.blogspot.com/2011/01/mica-dancing-... )

I love to camp with them. Even if it's in our living room: http://theapels.blogspot.com/2011/02/wordless-wedn...

So much to love, so much to do.

Last year I loved reading the Fablehaven books to my kids. That was really exciting, and memorable for us.

I love doing puzzles with my kids, making cards (we do rubber stamping together at the classes I teach), and going on dates with my kids. Most of all, I like playing board games with my husband and kids on Sunday evenings. Our favorites are Zooreeka, Chutes and Ladders, and Cadoo (a Cranium game). Someday I look forward to playing Scrabble with them :).

I really enjoyed everyone's comments so far, especially the ones about laughing about the funny things their kids say. I love to laugh with my kids too, and try to keep a journal of the funniest things that they say. For example: "Did you know that butter is a sticky food glue?" and from one child to another in the back seat: "You see that blinking arrow [the turn signal]? All Mom has to do is follow the arrows and it will take us where we want to go." Those funny kids!

I love going on road trips with the kids. Whether it's going to the zoo, aquarium, or a museum, they appreciate it so much. It's a time for all of us to relax together, enjoying a stress free day. Lots of laughs and love.

I just love spending time with them! I have 4 boys from 7-13 and I can hardly believe all that they know and how kind they are to others! I love when my 10 yr old shares his knowledge of Ancient Rome with me, or when my nine year old plays a little tune on the piano. I love when my 7 year old just about knocks me over with his great big hugs and I love watching my teenager play all sorts of sports! I am so blessed to be the mother of these four boys!

I love to do a lot of things with my kids, but one thing I will always remember are the conversations we have had at the dinner table. Especially on Sundays after church when we discuss the things they have learned at church. The older my kids have gotten (all teenagers now) the better and longer our conversations. They are the best! my kids are so smart and observant. It has been a joy to watch them grow spiritually & physically. What an awesome job we have as Moms! I am so lucky! I love being a Mom to my kids!

My family (three boys, one husband) just spent a week in the Smoky Mountains of TN, and I don't think I've laughed so much in months. From our 5-year old saying, upon seeing the king-sized bed my husband and I were hoping to share (alone), "Wow, that looks so cozy! Can I sleep in the middle?" to the 12 and 14-year olds having this exchange: 12--"Oh no, that street is called Whites School Road." 14--"Welcome to Tennessee!"

I laugh at how they are quirky, observant, funny individuals. On one of our hikes when the 5-year old had to pee and only wanted to do it sitting down, the 12-year old said, "Stand up and use what God gave you!"

At some point on the drive, the 5-year old said, "When I drive this long I want to explode my head."

And when we pulled up to our cabin, this was the dialogue between the 12 and the 12 and the 5-year old: 12--"Is that our cabin?" 5--"Actually, cabbage is food."

Leslie Srajek blogs at http://heartlandwriting.wordpress.com and has a therapeutic writing practice called Heartland Writing in Urbana, IL.

I love doing just about anything with my kids. When I saw the question I asked them what they thought I liked to do with them. They were all yelling responses at once...ice skating! hiking! going places! hanging out with our cousins! They're all right...and my favorite answer was from my 14 year old who said, "You like to give back my iPod." (Can't blame him for trying.) But that leads me to what I really, really love to do with my children. I love to talk with them, especially as they get older. I love hearing what they think, and love that they are forming ideas and beliefs about the world, and love, love, love their humor. Some of our best times are just hanging out talking.

My son is one. We love to play a game where I balance a toy on my head and he climbs up and takes it off. Then we giggle and he puts it back on my head, or on his own head. That's the game of the moment!