October 21, 2009

Fall Wreath

Activities that have a physically active as well as a sit down fine motor component gives you more bang for your buck! This leaf wreath starts with a hunt for leaves outside before you move inside to get your crafty on!

1. Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate, scissors, glue ,a container to collect leaves and ribbon.

2. Head out side and gather a variety of fallen leaves.

September 2, 2009

Fall’s Colors

The summer's humidity is losing its fervor and the mornings are nearly cool.

It’s almost Fall.

September 1, 2009

Labor Day activities

Labor Day is Monday, September 7th. So congratulations to everyone who has survived layoffs and job cuts in this recession, time to celebrate. For all you slackers, get to work! Just kidding. Labor Day is bitter sweet for me. It's a bummer since it marks the end of summer, but autumn is my favorite season and we get a long weekend! Hooray for long weekends!

How do you plan celebrating Labor Day?

October 31, 2008

Spinning magic

Looking back on yesterday's preschool Halloween party, I think it's fitting that my last preschool Halloween party for my kids ever (sniff!) would be not unlike the first one ever, when L. was three. I didn't make those whoopie pies that year, but I did make sandwiches and cut them into pumpkin shapes with the same orange pumpkin cookie cutter I used this year. The year L. was three, I raced home after teaching my one and only class that day (I was still a part-time adjunct instructor back then) and I had a few hours in the morning to get things ready.

October 30, 2008

Whooped

Halloween has taken us completely by surprise this year. I don't know what happened, but we're just not as ready as we have been in the past. Last year by this time we had carved the pumpkins, made our toasted pumpkin seeds, eaten our toasted pumpkin seeds, completely decorated the house and yard, and bought our candy for the trick-or-treaters. This year we have the pumpkins, but we haven't carved them yet, and I certainly haven't made the seeds or bought any candy, and the house and yard still need some tender, loving Halloween care.

October 20, 2008

Balance

This weekend was a long and difficult one, because we spent much of it doing the dirty work of parenting: enforcing consequences (also known as punishment). L. did hardly any work at school last week, and his teacher sent it all home ("Who's being punished here?" Scott wanted to know, which was a pretty good question), and we had to exact consequences on L. for a moment of extreme folly last week that ended up costing us $120. But enough said. Remember that adage parents like to pull out when they're discussing consequences with kids?

October 16, 2008

Getting back to (Halloween) basics

Every year around this time, I look at the calendar with a start and realize that my kids need Halloween costumes. We usually start thinking about Halloween in theory months in advance (T. started talking about Halloween back in August), but as with all things, actually getting down to doing something about costumes doesn't happen until the 11th hour. I don't think I'm completely alone in this.

October 15, 2008

When Martha Stewart and Mother Nature meet...

On Monday, while the kids were having "rest time" and watching WordGirl in the family room, I slipped out to check the mail. I had almost made it to the mailbox when a huge acorn fell from the oak tree in the middle of our yard and smacked me square on the top of my head. It hurt! Our neighbor was out in her yard and she shouted something to me about the killer acorns and how bad they are this year. And really, I've never seen so many of them my whole life. This is what our front path looks like right now:

October 6, 2008

Time to make the doughnuts

I had an attack of Fall Fever this past weekend. On Thursday, while the kids and I were waiting in the waiting room for T.'s speech therapy appointment, I leafed through a local magazine and saw pages of fall events for this month: apple-picking (here?), the state fair, corn mazes at local farms, street fairs. I love the fall--it's my favorite time of the year and, while I'll say again that I am happy about the life we've made here in NC, I'm not happy about sacrificing my favorite season.