A home is a place where we feel safe and loved. The warmth of a home doesn’t depend on its size or decoration (装饰). 【小题1】 So, everyone should take out some time from your busy schedule to spend with your family. Here is a list of some fun things that you can try at home.

·Have an indoor picnic

You want to enjoy a small picnic with your family, but neither the weather nor your daily schedule allows you to go to enjoy a nearby park. How about having a picnic indoors? You can have ice cream or sandwiches made in your own kitchen. The best part is that you don't have to wait for a long weekend for this picnic. 【小题2】

·Role play

Give each family member a different role to play. For example, ask your youngest daughter to play the role of Daddy. 【小题3】 This fun activity can go a long way toward building a strong connection between you and your kids.

·【小题4】

Family meetings are often held to discuss different matters with your family members, share happy memories and talk about interesting stories. It can be a meeting when the family is sitting together at the dining table talking on a Friday night.

·Watch a movie

【小题5】 It will never be as fun as watching it with the people you love. Pick out everyone’s favorite movie, prepare some popcorn, and enjoy a comfortable family night.

This was the first communication that had come from her aunt in Jessie’s lifetime.

“I think your aunt has forgiven me at last,” her father said as he passed the letter across the table.

Jessie looked first at the autograph(签名). It seemed strange to see her own name there. There was a likeness between her aunt’s autograph and her own, a hint of the same decisiveness and precision. If Jessie had been educated fifty years earlier, she might have written her name in just that manner.

“You’re very like her in some ways,” her father said, as she still stared at the autograph.

“I should think you must almost have forgotten what Aunt Jessie was like, dear,” she said. “How many years is it since you last saw her?”

“More than forty,” her father said. “We disagreed. We invariably disagreed. Jessie always prided herself on being so modern. She read Darwin and things like that. Altogether beyond me, I admit.”

“And so it seems that she wants to see me.” Jessie straightened her shoulders and lifted her head. She was excited at the thought of meeting this mythical aunt whom she had so often heard about. Sometimes she had wondered if the personality of this remarkable relative had not been a figment(虚构) of her father’s imagination.

But this letter of hers that now lay on the breakfast table was admirable in character. There was something of intolerance expressed in its tone. It was just like what her father had told her.

Mr. Deane came out of his past memories with a sigh.

“Yes, yes; she wants to see you, my dear,” he said. “I’ve heard she has set up a school and helped many youngsters. I think you had better accept this invitation to stay with her. If she took a fancy to you, you could get a better education…”

He sighed again, and Jessie knew that for the hundredth time he was regretting his own past weakness...

One of the most inspiring features of our mom is her ability to face adversity and not to get defeated. She always emerges with a renewed spirit and a sense of hope. Her attitude to unfortunate events is typically met with: “Hey, nobody died; nobody has cancer; we’ll get through this, too!” But by far, our mother’s most widely used motto is: ”Count your blessings !^”

In 2003, our mother fell ill and had to have surgery. When the doctor told the unthinkable diagnosis to my family while Mom was in recovery - a kind of cancer - my sister called me and said, “Should we tell her?“

As it turned out, we didn’t have to say a word. Mom knew it even before she was told, and she soothed us when we should have been making her less worried. “Hey, let’s count our blessings; the doctor got it all and I’m not dead yet. Let’s have some faith.”

As usual, our wise mother was right. She survived not only the cancer, but five years later, she recovered from another round of cancer - colorectal cancer. She never needed chemo or radiation (化疗或放疗) because surprisingly both cancers were not getting worse and surgically (手术) removed. She has been cancer-free for nearly two years and counting.

“Faith - that’s all you need,” my mom said firmly as she tapped the table. “Feeling sorry for yourself doesn’t help anything or solve the problem. Pity just adds to your problems. Spend your time counting your blessings instead. You’ll see just how well off you really are. That’s my motto.”

Counting blessings is not just a motto drilled into our heads by our mom. It has become a way of life for all of us. So much so that when I count my blessings, my wise mother is always near the top of the list.