Liv's Tree House

If you haven't noticed yet, I LOVE finding out about new technology in general, but finding new apps that make my life easier is the best kind!! SO the tool I bring to you today is Qeepsake ----- Qeepsake is an app my sister introduced me to a few months ago and I immediately fell in love. It was built to be a modern day baby book, but I've found that it can do much more than that.  All you have to do is signup and set up your account to get things rolling. They have a free version or subscription versions.  The free version is totally adequate, but of course I've found myself on the paid plan because some things are just simply worth every penny, this one definitely is!! What problems does it solve? Documenting important events in your kids' lives; Tracking milestones; Capturing the cute things your kids say; Journaling to let your kids know how you feel about them. Asking the question you wouldn't have thought to ask. Providing great oppor...

I haven't joined the blog link up for a while but I really didn't want to miss this one because I LOVE the topic.  Admittedly, I could step up my game when it comes to teaching my own children genealogy skills, but as I got to thinking about the topic I realized that while I haven't ever sat down and tried to work on the family tree with them, I have taught them some valuable skills through regular play. I'm honestly pretty averse to a lot of the family history for kids ideas out there because so many require a lot of front end work just to prepare said activity before you can start doing it with your kids.  Due to my #CrazyBusy life, usually finding an activity like that just ends up NEVER HAPPENING. :)  So . . . over the years I've found some great games for teaching and learning family history alongside my kids, which I love!!  So for this post I'll share 5 of my faves: Roots & Branches : Built for ages 4 and up, Roots & Branches is an awesome way to...

Why do you think it’s important to share family history with children? Admittedly, I struggled with this post. Not because I don’t believe that it’s important to share family history with my kids, but it’s hard to put my finger on WHY. In preparation for this post the following video kept coming to mind, so I dug it up to share with you. If just the simple concept of the importance of family to kids can be so powerful  (all for a food commercial, might I add), how powerful then can family be if you include generations of them? Generations of ancestors who came before, who sacrificed, who worked hard, who both succeeded and failed…generations of love and of hurt…generations of pressing on, and generations of families. It's been my personal experience that Mulan isn't too far off.  I say that with a bit of a tease, but there is something true about drawing on your ancestors' power, their strengths, and their help; and if you don't know them, and you don't know their...

 So I had the coolest experience when I originally created this book about 4 years ago.  I had been really wanting to find a way to get my kids engaged with their family tree, but they were 5 & 3--how . . . . ?? Then came one late night after attending a genealogy conference.  I was struggling to sleep when the words to almost an entire poem just started coming together in my head, totally unsolicited (at least at that moment).  The poem was what I ended up putting together into a book for the kids. The gathering took some time, getting all the grandparents' input and all the photos together, but I used a program called Mixbook , and everything came together pretty slick.  I ordered it and got it delivered in the mail a short time later. When it came, I had a picnic with the kids and gave them the book as a present. They've used it a lot.  Ella has kept it in her church bag and they use it as a quiet book at church---SUCCESS!! BUT--Here I find myself 3 ...