Brown Eyed Kiddos

Jonathan returned to school today and I always miss him so much when his breaks come to an end. So the littles and I decided we had to do something fun! So once the kiddos and I dropped him off at school we came home and got right to work. Jordan still enjoys doing crafts and he is my inspiration. I love how he is so creative and willing to try new things, even if they don’t work out as he planned. We made ghosts using cotton balls, skeleton hands out of q-tips, painted pumpkins and made tiny ghosts out of coffee filters and dum-dums. We made a huge mess and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

These types of days are the best. The kiddos are stimulated, helpful and eager to do more. With Halloween approaching and so many fun and festive things to do crafting will always be one of my favorite activities to do with the kids. There are so many really easy and fun ideas if you search Pinterest that I am sure you will come across something that will inspire you and your little one to dive into.

I hope you have a wonderful Monday! Xo

Happy Friday!!! With Jonathan being home all week since it was his school’s fall break I had some extra time to make the kiddos a festive breakfast and treats throughout this past week. Putting a little extra time (if you have it) by throwing some stickers on their table, using a washable marker to make a jack-o-lantern on their orange juice glass or putting a fake spider next to their lunch are just a few fun and festive ways to get all the Halloween feels. The kiddos love it when they come downstairs and see a spooky shaped pancake for breakfast. I bought these pancake molds from Williams Sonoma a few years back (they are sold out currently), but you can find similar ones here. It took me many attempts to come close to getting a decent mold (the trick that worked for me is don’t fill the mold so full with your pancake mix and use plenty nonstick spray).

Another really easy and fun treat is peel cuties and cut a small piece of celery or in my case, I used a pretzel stick for the cutie/pumpkin stem. Also, turning bananas into ghosts and using small chocolate chips for their eyes or you can make different faces. Whatever speaks to you.  Another yummy seasonal snack that we love is cutting up slices of apples and melting caramel over them. You can add chocolate chips or small nuts (if your little one is not allergic). I notice when I am taking pictures the little one’s hands are always sneaking in the picture.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Over this last weekend, Jonathan was recovering from a cold. I had to pick him up early from school on Friday so his Fall Break started on the wrong foot. However, he bounced back pretty quickly on Saturday which I was very happy about. I don’t know about you, but when your kiddos aren’t feeling well no matter how old they are I just want to scoop them up and hold them.

Saturday we decorated our front yard, graveyard theme. In our area, we get pretty high winds so we have to secure everything we put out so the wind doesn’t sail it away. We secured the tombstones by gluing PVC pipes to the back of the tombstones (using gorilla glue) you first need to wipe the back of the tombstones with a damp cloth so that the glue is on a clean surface. Before we glued though we cut and spray painted the PVC pipes (grey) so that they would blend in with the tombstones hiding the obvious white color. The PVC pipes dried quickly and then we proceeded with the gluing phase. For a permanent hold, the glue needs to dry for 24 hours. We placed a piece of wood and used a brick to put pressure. The next day we hammered in 12in rebars in the grass (2 of ) and placed the tombstones through the PVC pipes over the rebar. This will sustain the high winds and allow us to have a graveyard display throughout October. Hopefully, this is helpful if you live in a region that tends to be windy.

Have a wonderful week!

Hello October! I am so excited that October is here. We have been starting to set up our haunted garage and it is going to be so spooky this year! It is so much work, but come Halloween night we always have the best time.

Our October is going to be filled with lots of festive activities. We plan on going to the pumpkin patch, making a homemade apple pie, jumping in piles of leaves, and of course, carving pumpkins. Also, Jordan turns 5 at the end of the month. These are just a few of the things we have on our fall bucket list. Jonathan will start his fall break next week so we plan on tackling a few of these activities then. These are all the things that make October so fun and festive!

Another fall favorite I am going to try to do is make a new soup recipe every Sunday. Sundays are usually pretty low key for us and I love to try to incorporate new meals for the family. I get most of my recipes from Pinterest and I have this Soup Bowl book which has some great recipes. This weekend I am going to try to make either a traditional pumpkin soup or this Indian pumpkin butter chickpeas. I know it’s not a soup, but looks delicious!

Kids Pajamas / Jasmine’s cat ear headband (similar here)

I hope you are enjoying the first few days of October!

This past weekend we got a cold front and our beautiful warm weather was nonexistent. We had soccer for the boys early Saturday morning and by the afternoon the temperature dropped by almost 20 degrees. We got rain and even a little snow! It didn’t stick, but still, snowflakes were coming down. I love the first snow of the year, but in September??!!

With the cold weather over the weekend, we stayed cozy inside. We brought fall touches from outside, inside. I cut a few branches off our trees and put them in a vase. Also, with apples in season, nothing screams fall to me like apples and beautiful fall leaves. Plus I notice the kiddos will always eat more fruit if it is displayed where they can see it. So it’s a win for all!

On Sunday evening I made homemade chili, cornbread, and baked cinnamon apples. I used this chili recipe found here. It was so delicious with just the right flavors. Jonathan also loves when I make the baked apples. It’s his favorite. It reminds me so much of my Grandmother.

I hope you have a wonderful Monday and can you believe tomorrow is the start of October? I am so shocked at how quickly time is flying but overly excited for all the spiderwebs, Halloween treats, and Hocus Pocus on repeat!

Happy Wednesday! With every changing season, I always try to add a few new books to our collection. I have to admit that fall / Halloween books are my favorite to pick out. The kiddos always look forward to seeing new books on their bookshelves. It’s so much fun to read to Jordan and Jasmine and talk about the similarities from the books to what is happening in our current weather and environment. I love when we are driving around from either picking up Jonathan from school or heading to the grocery store and a discussion starts about the leaves changing colors and how its getting cooler in the mornings because the season has changed.

The other night we were at Jonathan’s soccer practice and Jordan was looking around a tree and he ran over to me with such urgency that I thought he was hurt, but come to find out he showed me all the acorns he found and he was able to recognize them from our book, Because of an Acorn. He filled his pockets with them and thought it was the coolest thing that he found an acorn. The next day we examined them and he colored some pictures and practiced his writing.

I just finished reading You’ve Been Volunteered which was so cute! It is the follow up to Class Mom. It was a light, relatable and funny read. I have a few books that are on my fall reading list which include In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. I have read a few of her other books and enjoy reading thrillers in the fall. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is another book that has caught my eye. I love to curl up after the kiddos have gone to sleep, make some tea, and escape into a good read before bed. What is on your fall reading list this year?

Cozy Autumn Colors/ Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn/ Leaf Man

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves/ Because of an Acorn/ Fall Mixed Up

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday, only two more days until the weekend, yay!

Happy Fall! I am beyond excited that everything fall-related is acceptable now since fall is officially here! A little recap of our weekend, which was pretty busy. My best friend came to visit and the kiddos were so happy and of course, we had soccer. Also, our pool is completely drained and put away. That is always such a time-consuming task so it’s nice that it’s done.

Jasmine and I dropped the boys off at school and came home and made homemade playdough. Our playdough supply needed a boost so I thought it would be fun to make fall colored and scented playdough. I always use this recipe, but this time I added  (powder food coloring which I added it to the water so we didn’t have to stain our hands, not sure why I never thought of that before, ha) pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon so our playdough would smell just as yummy as it looks. Jordan will be so happy when he comes home that he gets to play with fresh playdough. Playdough is a big hit around here. There are so many great recipes that you can find one that suits your preference.

I hope you are enjoying the first few days of fall! I will share our fall books and bucket list later this week. Who is watching This is Us tonight???!!!