We had a very FALL themed week. We are going to be incredibly busy closer to the end of October with my brother’s wedding!!! So, we decided to dive into our pumpkin celebration early.
Never marry a man until you check to make sure he can juggle pie pumpkins! OK, just kidding, but isn’t he cute!
You can see most of our pumpkin activity pictures in Pumpkin Day Celebration!
We also went to our church Fall Festival, which is the perfect size for my little ones.
They are even old enough to play some of the games this year.
Ladybug rocked the ring toss.
As did little Owl. He was big into his windup!
Ladybug was also a pretty good shot at the fish bowls even if she did kneel on the table š Owl stood for his turn!
She completely blew us out of the water when she popped two out of three balloons with darts at the game booth!
Both of my “big kids” LOVED the hayride. We rode it three times. Grandma watched Guppy.
Ladybug got her face painted – I cannot believe she sat still that long.
She was very pleased with the tiger on her cheek and her lollipop.
Guppy was of course dressed super cute for the occasion!
Owl had his very first sucker. Blue of course!
Both big kids had cotton candy for the first time. They both finished their own bags š
We ALL had a fantastic time!!!
Our Daily Must Do’s
There are three main things we ALWAYS accomplish every day even when things are busy or off kilter.
- Read
- Get Outside
- Play
We also pray, eat, and take care of our bodies, our house, and our pets.
Anything else is purely extra š
Read
We are almost done with our family read aloud, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, by Beverly Clearly. I’m trying to decide what book to read next.
One of our favorite new picture books this week was Trick or Treat Marley! by John Grogan. He is the author of the adult novel,”Marley & Me.” This sweet book is hilarious with an adorable dog up to antics that must have been committed by Marley himself. There is no sadness is this kid book as there is in “Marley and Me;” however, he is dressed as an angel on the last page, which I admit made me tear up a little. Apparently, there is also a Marley book for Christmas and Thanksgiving. I’m going to have to grab them to read with the kids!
We were particularly grateful for “Apples and Pumpkins,” which explained that a pumpkin must be cut from the vine, not simply picked, which was our original plan for the pumpkin we grew in the backyard. Eh, live, learn, read š
Do you have a favorite Fall/Pumpkin book?
Get Outside
This was our best purchase from the consignment sale last week. Guppy is loving being outside with the “big kids” without having to stay in his swing the whole time.
Ladybug is loving the deck building process. She is fairly certain it’s the coolest balance beam ever!
Owl is working on his hammer skills. Fortunately, he has decided to practice on some climbing stumps we have in the back yard.
The kids were fascinated by this sunflower that had run it’s course and spent quite a bit of time digging out the seeds and inspecting the remains of the flower. We left it out front and have watched several squirrels feast, including one that tried to carry the whole thing off.
Ladybug was all over helping with the pumpkins this year.
Ladybug and Owl did a great job emptying the flesh, pulp, and seeds of their homegrown pumpkin!
Given the wonderful weather, we took a ton of walks this week including one ALL the way around the block, which the kids looked at as a great adventure š Owl cracks me up; walking his vintage McDonald’s truck, which he has named Dizzy in the baby doll stroller. He takes this car everywhere. If you ask him about Dizzy, he’ll tell you that Daddy had it when he was little and now, he is little and it’s his truck. Dizzy is special because Daddy gave it to him.
They were pretty happy with our final pumpkin display as well. The jack o’lanterns will never make it to Halloween, but we’ll enjoy the heck out of them anyway!
Play
Ladybug is into this food cutting kit from Melissa and Doug that we picked up at the consignment sale and has been serving us all kinds of delightful treats. We are typically cast as “waiters” and “eaters.” š
We also colored these Happy Halloween window decals from the dollar store and hung them up in our dining room window. They actually look really good!
Extras
All About Reading
We reviewed the Letter H with All About Reading. Salt and water colors fascinate me. Ladybug too apparently : )
Poetry Tea Time
We learned Five Little Pumpkins as a finger play this week!
Mama Moments
Sometimes I get really caught up in imagining all the things I want my children to know and all the things I want to teach them and I forget to simply pay attention as they learn all by themselves. This week Ladybug initiated two very fun learning experiences with me. She created her very own scribble drawing, which we had read about in a read aloud earlier this week.
Here’s the finished “scribble” drawing.
She also created her very own game using our Mother Goose Time pumpkin number cards and her Timberdoodle Farmland Math figures. Each pumpkin could feed a certain number of animals; the number listed on the pumpkin. She placed the corresponding number of animals on each numbered pumpkin card and then counted the remaining animals, telling me that we needed to order food for them, since there weren’t enough pumpkins left.
Sometimes learning just happens š
Mama Gratitude
This week, in addition to all the big things I have to be thankful for, I am also grateful for
- The incredible, amazing, larger than life deck that was just added to the back of our home
- My kids being so innocently jazzed about making it around the “whole neighborhood” during our walk together
- Reading fall themed books with my family has been so much fun this week.
Our Family’s Week in Books
Our Current Family Read Aloud
On Dad’s Shelf
On Mom’s Shelf
On the Kid’s Shelf
I try really hard to include links to all the goodies we are playing with at our house! If there is ever anything you want to know about please ask in the comments. Or feel free to recommend something. I love trading fabulous finds and good ideas!
You can also check out our big box curriculum picks and some of our favorite home school resources on the blog!
What has your family been doing and reading this week?
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