Wednesday, October 25, 2017

10 Activities For Little Ones in The Fall

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year, the leaves are changing color, it's starting to cool off, hot chocolate is acceptable and you can cuddle without dying of heat. Now that I have a little one, I want to share my love of fall with him, so I compiled a list of activities for little ones in the fall.

1. Go to a Pumpkin Patch/Farm
There are so many amazing farms that have pumpkin patches and other activities for children. Usually, they cost anywhere from $3-$10. The one I like to go to has a corn maze, a pumpkin patch, a corn pit, a petting zoo, and a slide. It's a lot of fun for kids of all ages and a good way to get out of the house and teach kids about farms!

2. Carving/Decorating Pumpkins

This has always been a tradition in my family, and I am sure it is a tradition in many other families. Depending on the age you may want to carve pumpkins or paint them, or put stickers on them! Painting pumpkins is a good alternative for little ones who aren't quite old enough to use a knife or carving tool. You can buy paint and brushes for cheap at Wal-Mart, Joan's, or any craft store. At Wal-Mart acrylic paint is $.50 each so you can usually get away with spending less than $5 on this craft! If your little one is under or around one it's always fun to carve a pumpkin for them to sit in! I think these make the cutest pictures to keep for years to come.

3. Playing in the fall leaves
 It's always fun to get outside and run around. And your yard needs to be raked up anyway, so make that chore become a little family fun. Work together to rake up leaves into a pile and have some fun jumping into the fall leaves. Then when you're done you can re-rake the leaves and finish the chore.

4. Arts & Crafts
whether is closer to Halloween or thanksgiving there a lot of fun crafts for little children. There are printable coloring pages you can get online of almost anything. Hand turkeys are always a classic around Thanksgiving time and you could ask them what they are thankful for as you make them.
For Halloween, you can turn the hands upside down and make them into monsters!

5. Collect Leaves and Make Leaf Art
Use the fall leaves for art! take a leaf put in behind a piece of paper, then use a crayon to color where the leaf is when your done coloring it will look exactly like the leaf!

6. Trick or Treating
Don't forget to visit family and friends on your trick or treat route so they can see your cute little ones in costumes!

7. Go On a Fall Nature Walk
Show your children all the different colors of leaves, take in the cool air and get some exercise.

8. Have a Campfire Before it Gets to Cold
I love fall campfires, cuddling under the stars watching the fire, making smores. If you are worried about your little one wanting to touch the fire because they are too little to understand, us a booster seat, high chair or bouncer to keep them from crawling into the fire. My little guy wouldn't let me hold him, all he wanted to do was crawl into the fire, so we used this hack and it worked great!

9. Make Festive Treats
You could make Halloween or Thanksgiving shaped sugar cookies, caramel apples, or popcorn balls. Don't forget to listen to The Monster Mash, and The Purple People Eater while your cooking!

10. Read Holiday Books
If you are closer to Halloween read books about Halloween, one of my favorites from growing up was, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! By Lucille Colandro. 

Monday, October 23, 2017

A Mom in College

Well, It's been a while since I have posted on my blog. Life get's busy and it's hard to find time to write sometimes. I mean nobody is paying me to post, so I don't have that motivation like a lot of other bloggers do. So life gets crazy, I can't find time to post and that's ok.

Anyways... I'm back! YAY! So here it goes.....

My husband and I are both enrolled in full-time college classes at SUU. (Southern Utah University) GO THUNDERBIRDS!

And let me tell you, it is hard. Trying to find time for homework, to take care of your child, clean the house, and find family time, is hard as heck. I shouldn't even complain because my poor husband is doing all that plus working 3 jobs. (He is absolutely amazing, I know!)

But no matter how hard it gets, it is doable. For me, I just need to remember the reasons why I am there. For example:

1. I am there to make a better future for my children.
2. So I can have a career that I enjoy and has more opportunities.
3. To show my children that no matter how hard it gets you can achieve your dreams if you work hard
4. I have always had goal to go to college
5. I am lucky to have this opportunity and be given a grant to pay for it.

By the time I get to number 5 on that list I am feeling a lot better and ready to get to work typing my essay for English while simultaneously making sure Elijah is staying safe in the bathtub. Because multitasking is something I have had to learn to do to be able to care for Eli and do homework at the same time.

My life has become a delicate balance between the most important things and I have to work hard to stay on top of them. But as my first college midterm passes I feel like wonder woman. I can go to school with a 10-month-old son, and I can get good grades while doing it. No, it does not take away from his childhood and he isn't going to be scarred for life that I left him with a babysitter while I go to class. It will teach him the value of education and that if you work hard, no matter your circumstances you can achieve just that. And that is priceless compared to what I have to give up.