Tree of Growth Autumn fun!

Kids grow up so fast!  Each season it seems like they have already changed so much that the moments I just had are already being replaced with new moments.  Trying to capture those moments can be hard, but with some kid powered imagination it can also be a lot of fun!

Milk Carton Turkey

Why not start a new tradition of Thanks Cards?  You can have the kids make a card all their own of why they are thankful for each person attending your thanksgiving dinner to be read around the table!  Even better, you can make a great centerpeice with the kids to double as a card holder! Check out a great way to get your turkey of thanks on this year!

Time to Buy Candy, Again! It can no longer be resisted the Holidays are here!

I hate buying a mass amount of candy that will sit there, just staring at me. It talks to me, telling me sweet things about how good we are together.  It wouldn't be so bad, but getting all that candy not only costs me a slight amount of sanity during the holiday season, but it costs my wallet a lot as well!  It doesn't just happen during Halloween either.  Halloween is just the start which is why we notice it so much!  After Halloween comes the candy dish out for Thanksgiving treats and stop in guests, we don't notice it, but we refill it frequently!  Then comes the Christmas parties!  The kids have parties, work has parties, and friends/family have parties that we usually end up setting or giving candy too!  Forget it if someone has a birthday!  Yeah, Halloween is just the start my friends, the candy is calling and my wallet is starting to weep!  So, this year I am at least cutting down the costs.  I got this idea from someone asking me if I knew of any Pinata mixes they could get instead of having to buy ten different bags to mix up.  Curious if my suspicions were right I check out sites that deal with Birthday Bargains by searching Birthday in a Box.  I found that by buying a few of one of these sites mixes I could avoid having to get ten bags for variety and just get a few bags of mixed choices!  This way no matter the holiday I can grab a mixed bag from my stash and fill that dish or the party favors or fill a cool paper-mache pinata you made special for the occasion.  I was also excited that a lot of these sites has free shipping if you order a certain dollar amount.  This means if I'm going to be spending $50 bucks on candy anyway for this holiday season, I can get more for my buck!  Bonus!  So, where are you getting your candy this year?  I ordered mine off line! 

Head-dress full of Thanks!

If you think about thanksgiving you have to remember the kindness offered on that day.  The pilgrims were in need of food and were unprepared for the weather of the season.  The Native Americans offered a feast to them which helped them service.  In memory of that kindness we decided to make head-dress.  Many Native American tribes created headdresses specific to their culture.  The items on the head dress had meaning and gave a message about the person wearing it.  So, I combined the idea of making something special and giving thanks into one!

Corny Craft

Autumn is here and that means crops the crops are in!  Living in Arizona, growing anything, with a black thumb like mine, means a lot of trips to the local grocery store and local landscaping store.  I found one way that I can grow some crops and entertain the kiddos!  Corn anyone!

Scented Pine Cones!!!!

 Go on a Pine cone hunt!  Have the kids find as many pine cones as they can!  Take a wagon or garbage bag if you can and have them fill it up!  They will love hunting around and discovering the different things in nature and you can talk about how the big trees come from the pine cones they are finding!  I love duality!

Tis the season for Gravy, caramelizing foods, and marinading meat!

Ah, tis' the season to cook fatty wonderful foods!  I love the smells and tastes of the holiday season!  As much as I love good tasting food all of you know that I love even more multi-purpose items.  I recently stumbled upon a product which can be used to spice up any dull meal.  It is called GravyMaster!  You can use it on turkey or mashed potatoes for your gravy or you can use it in a ton of other recipes!  One idea that I had was how to get kids to eat their veggies when there are so many sweets just lying around!  Why not make the veggies a sweet treat themselves!  You can use this product to caramelize the veggies!  Add some caramelized veggies to some pan fried fish or BBQ's chicken and you have Master the meal!  (they have a great recipe on their site for some ways to use this to BBQ as well!)  I don't know about you but I think caramelized anything sounds amazing!  

Dead TIRED!

All that turkey and it's lethargic chemicals is enough to put us all in a coma for the winter.  No hibernation here though!  We just got back from a trip to Oregon to see some of my family and we are all exhausted.  We left early Thursday, dropped fur-babies off at our across town pet sitter(we do not trust just anyone with the babies and even with her I still worry about them because they are my fur-babies), then back across town to the airport.  Unload the car of our carry-on's, monster luggage and two babies and we are off.  Crowded flight later, on the last changes of clothes for the baby boy(he was having blow out diarrhea on the plane, let the awesomeness begin!) and the second to last for the baby girl (she had a blow out and a pee out, yeah thought that was odd too?).

Thankful

This Thanksgiving I would like to share with you what I am thankful for!  We have had a crazy month with issue after issue, stress after stress, and at the end of the day I realize I have a lot to be thankful for.  For starters, if you have been reading our random updates of our fur-babies you'll know that, our youngest fur-baby had surgery for a lump which luckily was not cancer.  More recently he was diagnosed with Valley Fever and is now on meds.  So, to start off the thanks I am thankful for fatty deposits, medication to keep ancient spores at bay, and healthy fur-babies!

Pine-cone Turkey!

Turkey in the oven, roasting away!  The smell is everywhere on Thanksgiving Day!  Little one’s are waiting for their turkey dinner delight!  If you can keep them busy it will make for a peaceful Thanksgiving Night!  Let’s keep out little one’s busy this thanksgiving with a fun craft!  Sorry spouses but I’m going to put instructions to DVR the game for this one! 

Start by bundling the kids and spouses, set the DVR, hand them some bags and head them out the door to find pinecones!  Fill the bag even though you’re only going to need a few for this craft. (HINT: I will be talking about making scented pinecones next month, so you will use the rest of what is gathered then!)  While they are gone enjoy the cooking peace and set out the supplies.

Well, Hello, Pilgrim!

Thanksgiving time is here and there are lessons to be learned!  Chances are your kids know about the Turkey, football, and all the family gathering round to eat way too much food, but do they know why you’re having all that?  Why not have them do a fun craft and talk about it!  The best part is this craft can either be a decoration, snack holder, or dress up hat!

Let’s get started!