Autumn is...

…Salmon Days, our local festival celebrating the return of the salmon. The kids love the big parade but the big treats are even more exciting 

Chocolate coated strawberries with sprinkles and whipped cream = one happy boy (yes, he devoured the whole thing)

…lots of Indoor Arts and Crafts

Finger painting (which inevitably becomes whole arm then tummy painting)

Gack, also known as Flubber. William can't get enough of it, Sara says it's "too yucky" yet has no problem covering herself in slick finger paints

…chilly soccer evenings

...hay rides at Jubilee Farm

…pumpkin patches

…our annual pumpkin carving party with Grammy and Baba

Focused on getting the face just right

So proud that he carved it all by himself

…costumes

…and more costumes

We're going through a Super Hero phase, can you tell?

…and last but not least, our soundtrack these days is "The Monster Mash" courtesy of the singing Frankenstein doll my Mom gave us last year. Wow, those batteries are lasting a long time.

Halloween is still a week away but kids are incredibly good at making the most of it all month long.

This Moment: Hello, Hello, Anybody There?

A Friday ritual. A photo capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment that I want to pause, savor, and remember. Hosted by SouleMama. (If you're inspired to do the same, please leave a comment below with your link.)

A Homecoming of Sorts

If you are lucky enough to find a preschool with teachers that you and your kids love, stick with them as long as you can. Forget worries about travel times, throw away concerns about scheduling, give up any illusions that all teachers or preschools are created equally, just make it happen.

I had so many “good” reasons for enrolling Sara in a preschool 3 minutes from home instead of taking her to the preschool William attended, more than 30 minutes away. Being able to run home on days I wasn’t working in the classroom, being near William’s new elementary school so I could volunteer in his classroom, reducing our car/freeway time, and making local friends that Sara might go to elementary school with all seemed like good reasons.  Boy, was I wrong.

It took me a month to realize the error of my ways but I am beyond thrilled to announce that we’re back where we belong with our beloved Teachers Judy and Nancy. Back to a water table filled with shaving cream, glitter, gel, and water, back to a painting area where 4 to 6 kids can paint at the same time and the colors are always abundant and often sparkly, back to enough wooden blocks to build multiple fortresses, back to flowing fabrics the kids tie on as capes, dresses, and hair, back to caterpillars in lovely little habitats waiting to spin their cocoons, back to a mountain of boxes and recycled goodies that allow kids to build just about anything, back to a place where seeds sprout and carrot tops keep growing, back to a place where they always go outside and say “there is never bad weather just bad clothing,” back where we belong.

Sara at William's school last year, also known as her new school. This simple display of "five green and speckled frogs" captivated the children. Also note the snail habitat and sprouting carrot tops nearby (and don't miss the happy smile of my then just-turned 3 year old)

Getting Sara out the door to the old preschool was difficult. She wouldn’t stop asking “You stay with me, Mom?” Not wanting to lie, I’d say “No, it’s not my turn but I will stay until you say it’s alright for me to go.” That answer wasn’t good enough so my determined girl would always find ways to make it difficult to leave the house… so much for the benefits of being close to home.

Anyhow, tonight I heard Sara explaining to Daddy a million miles a minute “I go to William’s old school now, da one with Teacher Nancy. Dey have lots of paints and toys and things I like. Momma not have stay with me at my new school.” My happy heart nearly exploded (in a good way).

Seeking Balance: Extracurricular Activities

I never thought I’d be one of "those parents" who over-schedules the family, however, we have extracurricular activities on 3 of our 5 school days and frankly, it’s feeling like a lot of running around. The problem (if you can call it that) is that my kids are genuinely interested in a lot of different things and they are enjoying these extra activities even when it means schlepping all over town and back.

Although it’s challenging to get everywhere on time, I’m grateful that I never have to nag or talk them into going to any of their schools (Pre-K for Sara; K and K-Enrichment for William), guitar lessons (“lukelele” at home for Sara), or soccer. In fact, my eldest reminisces about a theater camp he loved last summer and he just asked if he could please take swimming lessons again too. Really?! I guess that’s the biggest difference between 5 and 40-ish… a whole lot more energy.

Naturally, I want to nurture my children’s curiosity and support their efforts but finding the right balance is tricky, not to mention finding classes offered in the right time frames. And here I am fretting over this when it’s mostly my 5-year old with these extra classes. What about when my 3-year old is ready for dance, gymnastics, lacrosse, skeet shooting and who knows what else?

For now I guess we’ll just take it one season at a time. Soccer will end soon then we’ll consider Basketball. Music lessons will remain constant but we’ll find time for swimming lessons and skeet shooting (kidding) somewhere in there.  

Yes, a theater camp may be in this young Thespian's future

Five “Oops” and One Big “Oooo La La!”

Ideas and enthusiasm abound in our house, organization… not so much.

A great example of this unfolded when I tried to copy an incredible melted crayon project I saw on another blog (thank you for illustrating it so beautifully, Meg!) Anyhow, the whole effort was a comedy of errors but it turned out well anyhow. Now that’s my kind of project.

• Step 1:  Secure crayons onto foam core in a somewhat organized fashion. Oops, can’t find my glue gun so tried double stick tape instead. It sort of worked until…
• Step 2:  Turn warm blow dryer onto crayons. Oops, crayons went flying so I tried securing them better with another piece of tape across the top of the crayons (this is actually a double-oops because I wanted to use plain old scotch tape but couldn’t find that either so double-sided had to do).
• Step 3:  Turn blow dryer to hottest setting or the wax won’t melt. Focus on the paper-covered portion of the crayon. Another double oops, crayons still shifted all over the place and blowing on the crayon tips made quite a melted crayon splatter.

But here is our happy ending! Even with all of our little blunders, look at the finished product:

Oooo La La!

William calls it "Colors, Colors All Around Us"

The splatter made an interesting display and my sweet boy was thrilled that his art came out looking so explosive. All in all, this is something we’ll definitely try again. Perhaps I’ll be a little more organized next time.

The Wisdom of Daddy: Math Time

“OK, who wants to do some math?” he enthusiastically inquires after dinner. “Me, me, me,” they both answer as they clamber to the table where he sits with an abacus, paper, pencils, and an agenda of having fun.

Math time with Daddy has become a little after-dinner ritual that the kids look forward to. We talk about it during the day when counting and numbers are naturally part of our activities. "Oh, tonight you can tell Dad that it took 13 steps to walk across the kitchen," for example.

Tonight was extra special when Sara realized that her Princess sticker book has many pages featuring addition and subtraction. Daddy usually steers clear of Snow White but tonight, Sara had him at “look Dad, numbers ones!”

Nature Craft: Autumn Crowns

In search of uses for droopy golden sunflower petals and fun fall crafts, we just discovered one more reason to love duct tape. Thank you, Maya of the creative and inspiring Maya Made blog for this wonderful idea.

All you need is duct tape, brown paper grocery bags, scissors, and a colorful mix of leaves, flowers, and anything else you’d like to use for embellishments on your crowns.

• Step 1:  Measure the circumference of each queen or king’s noggin. Use that measurement (plus an extra couple inches for the “seam”) to cut a two inch wide strip from the paper bag that will fit around their heads.
• Step 2:  Cut another paper bag strip of the same length, but this time cut one side straight and one side in whatever pattern that you’d like to appear along the top edge of the crown (we did a simple zigzag cut).
• Step 3:  Tear off a piece of duct tape of the same length then lay it down on a flat surface, sticky side up. Attach your plain strip of paper bag at the bottom edge (make sure any printing on the bag faces down) and the shaped strip along the top edge (again with printed bag side down), leaving most of the sticky tape area exposed. This adhesive strip is where you’ll attach all of your beautiful fall adornments to create a glorious crown!

A Max (Where the Wild Things Are) moment for William

Queen Curly Sue. Look closely for the huckleberries (one green and one purple). My silly Sara insisted on using them saying "I put a huckleberry on my crown and people see it and dey say 'look, there a huckleberry on her crown!' Ha ha ha ha ha"