Learning Through Play
We LOVE our crates from Koala Co. They are science and learning based subscription kits that come with all the materials you need for some great learning time. My 5 year old loves the Koala Crates, and every other month we get a Kiwi Crate for my 2 older daughters. I love that the girls can have hands-on learning time with me and I don’t have to do any prep!!
Our latest Koala Crate came with everything we needed for a play campout. It was a huge hit!!
Focused playtime with the kids is super important, and these crates make it really easy to have a fun activity to do that keeps us entertained and working together. It is also a great way for me to teach the girls how to follow directions, work together, and let them learn how to do the steps themselves.
Do your kids get a monthly subscription box? What are your favorites?
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Reading
✨Reading ✨
I have always loved to read but in the last few years it has definitely been put on the back burner.
This month, I am making it a priority to READ- for fun and for some (lots of) new parenting tips…because two and three year olds are hard 😬
I had found a lot of these books a while ago and was dragging my feet to start them. Sometimes, starting new books or opening yourself up to new ideas and methods can be overwhelming…but I decided the time is NOW!
I’ve been rereading the Traveling Pants series for fun, light reading.
And the books in my parenting stack include 1-2-3 Magic by Thomas W. Phelan, Parenting Scripts: When What You’re Saying Isn’t Working, Say Something New by Amber Lia and Wendy Speake, Triggers: Exchanging Parents’ Angry Reactions for Gentle Biblical Responses by Amber Lia and Wendy Speake, You Can’t Make Me But I Can Be Persuaded: Strategies for Bringing Out the Best in Your Strong Willed Child by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias and Grace-based Discipline by Karis Kimmel Murray
*I found some of these on thriftbooks.com for great prices!*
I found the rest on Amazon and at Focus on the Family
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Pumpkin Patch
The Cutest Pumpkins in the Patch
Who doesn’t love a pumpkin patch! My kids love it and wanted just about every pumpkin in the patch! I will just pick them, they are my cute little pumpkins. Fall is such a beautiful time of year and enjoying the outdoors and time together is such a joy. And who doesn’t love an area full of orange and white pumpkins that you can sit on, carry, and take to your own home to carve. My kids each picked out their own pumpkin, mama and dada got one too. Big pumpkins, small pumpkins, white pumpkins, cinderella pumpkins, and multicolored pumpkins… there are so many different types you can get. Then you buy pumpkins and bring them home and get to discover what is inside them and carve a design in them. They are so fun! The pumpkin patch is always a blast! Go get your pumpkins this year, and rather than buy them at a store, find them in a patch!
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Farm to Table Dinner with Dear Old Friends
Bucket list items that involve getting together with long ago friends are often very difficult to implement. So, when about 8 girlfriends from our Elementary and High School days found a date that worked, we put it on our calendars and a beautiful afternoon and evening of food, fellowship and fun ensued.
I offered to come over the day before to the beautiful location where we would be gathering. My friend, who was hosting had a menu planned and the two of us went to town. We shopped at a lovely Farmer’s Market and visited a few specialty shops in her town to find just the right ingredients. We prepared all the parts of the meal that could be done the day before and then we went on a lovely walk and talked until bedtime. We did have a delicious meal together that first night but with the anticipation of all the “farm to table” food that we would be preparing and eating the next day we kept that dinner fairly simple. The next morning we arose early, dashed out for the last minute items we needed and began our preparations. We had so much fun cooking together.
As the saying goes…”A picture is worth 1,000 words” so here is our story in pictures…
The appetizers were local cheeses, farm fresh vegetables and fruits and an artichoke bake. For dinner, we made unique salads with figs, melon, herbs and a lemon thyme dressing, a caprice salad with fresh heirloom tomatoes, a lemon herb baked salmon and hot sourdough bread form a local bakery. Dessert featured fresh peach, berry cobbler. We had a glorious time feasting on delicious and nutritious food and reminiscing about “the good ole’ days”
Bucket list item checked off the list-new memories made and wonderful times of …
Read MorePack Early for a Grand Adventure
One habit that I have tried exceptionally hard to accomplish is packing early before an adventure so that the last few days before I leave can be less stressful. When you pack early, you have time to check, check and double check. I keep a running list of a few things that I need to add to my carry-on right before I leave. I make sure to order the foreign currency I need and get some US dollars as well. I check with the airline I am traveling on to make sure I am within the weight limits. I have a luggage scale that I use throughout the packing process.
I sort my clothes and place in Eagle Creek compression packing sleeves. This helps me stay organized when on the type of vacation where you are moving from one hotel to another. Shorts and capris go in one pouch, swim suits and cover-up in another, shirts go in a separate pouch etc. The hardest part for me is deciding how many of each item. My rule of thumb is if I know I have 3 days at at least one hotel…I can do laundry so I can take less shirts and tops. I also use clear zipper pouches for all my accessories so they are easy to find. I love Stasher bags. Although they are marketed for food storage, they are great for storing things that are in containers that might spill like lotions, face creams, shampoo etc.
The end result of packing early is rest and calmness in the days before the trip.
So for my next trip in less than 2 weeks, I can rest assured that I will not be running around like a chicken with my head cut off the few days before we leave.…
Read MoreDecorating Your House for Fall Festivities
I love this Bucket List Challenge. I have been motivated “to do” so many things that I always HOPE to do, but often just can’t seem to get done in the time frame I desire.
I absolutely LOVE fall colors so this year I decided to decorate early and enjoy my colorful house for all of October through Thanksgiving. I used many simple things, most of which I picked up over the years at post holiday sales.
Colorful garlands of fall colored leaves
Fall leaf wreaths
Mini pumpkins from Trader Joes
A few larger pumpkins
Cloth pumpkins some from Target and some from an artist we love (find her on instagram-@mattiesmakings)
Wooden signs that remind me to be Grateful and Thankful
Candles-pumpkin scented are the BEST!
Small potted plants that I will plant outside at the end of the fall season
Have fun decorating!!!! Now that my house is all decorated, I am having fun inviting friends over. Accomplishing Bucket list items open doors for fellowship and blessing others.
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Signing up for new things: Let’s try SOCCER!
Look at that cutie in his soccer outfit, all suited up and ready to go! My little boy, growing up so fast. I signed Garrett up for soccer this month, and it could not be more fun! While he’s not ready for a real game, he is having alot of fun. It gets some energy out, he’s getting instruction from someone and playing with other kids, and enjoying it! Even if his skills don’t improve, it is something new. And we are all having fun!
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Baking and Teaching
Baking cookies is one of my favorite things. To be included as a “Favorite thing” however, cookies must include chocolate. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about why I love cooking with my kids. For one thing, it is a great lesson in patience. One I need often. It is also a super fun way to teach math! I like to have the kids practice counting and I always give a quick lesson about fractions (hoping one day the lesson will stick). Baking is also a great way to teach cooking skills in a safe environment. I handle the oven part, but there are lots of measuring, stirring, pouring opportunities for the kids.
I’m listening to a great book that stressed how important it is to teach our kids something, then give them the opportunity to figure it out (remember the patience lesson I talked about. here it is!!). Yes there will be messes and mess ups, and the process will be slow, BUT letting them do it themselves builds their confidence and problem solving skills!
My favorite part about baking together is of course, eating together at the end!
This Oatmeal Chocolate Chip recipe is one of our favorites. It just so happens to be the recipe on the back of the bags of Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Oats. This recipe is also gluten free. HORRAY!! As a happy accident, I didn’t have enough sugar for the recipe so I substituted maple syrup. BOY OH BOY was it delish and perfect for FALL paired with the oats and peanut butter in this recipe!! I hope you enjoy these as much as we do.
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tps vanilla
1 1/4 …
Read MoreTry a New Fall Craft- Coloring Pumpkins
When I saw the idea for coloring pumpkins, I thought we must incorporate this into one of our preschool days for our color theme that we have been working on the last couple of weeks. It was very simple- only needing white pumpkins, crayons (old, broken ones worked well for the smaller pumpkins), and a blow dryer- but the end result was so unique!
At first, we were a little discouraged because the crayons kept blowing off of the pumpkins. But, we stuck with it and realized that the crayons needed to melt a little to get grounded into the pumpkin to start dripping down to make the melted colored strips. It did take longer than we expected for the crayons to melt so the little ones did lose interest after the first pumpkin, but they loved seeing how the colors mixed together and melted down the pumpkin.
Another check off our Bucket List! 🙂
Check out our instagram @growingweisser to see a Time-lapse video of the process!
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Eat something fun!
Bucket List Challenge is here!
One of the things I have been thinking about doing more with the kids is spontaneous treats. It is easy to get into habits of eating treats at birthday parties and special occasions, or for potty rewards… but when you get to go to a place and experience the environment through food it can be a wonderful thing. I love apples, and the season of fall in my area where I live brings all the people up to apple hill. There is apple picking, amazing apples, apple pie, apple fritters, and of course APPLE DONUTS. We cannot go up to apple hill without experiencing apple donuts. Whether its winter time and we are sledding down the hill last winter, or this week when we get to go experience the beautiful fall weather and the actual apple season, it is always a hit! I love seeing the joy on my son’s face as he gets his own SPECIAL donut. And my daughter even got some bites this time too! So check of my bucket list for eating something fun, just because!
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