November Leaf Piles

I've been sick and not keeping up with this blog at all! The week of Jo's birthday, we were all so sick with a stomach bug. As we got over that, we had runny noses and sore throats that kept on going and going! Mine got worse, and then I was tossing and turning all Tuesday night with a high fever and aches & pains. All I can hope for is that we're getting exposed to all of the seasonal viruses now, and we'll be happy & healthy for the rest of the season!

Here are some photos and a video of us playing in the leaves on November 1. All of the leaves are off the tree now. I had thought about doing a toddler activity post regarding just letting little ones have fun outside in the leaves, but I was too sick to execute it (and now it's too late!). Giving kids time to just explore and play outside is so good for them, though. I usually try to get my kids outside (almost) daily, but that definitely hasn't been happening this month at all. We are cooped up with cabin fever!

                     

Crafting with the Kids: Leaf & Wax Paper Lanterns

The kids and I decided to try out a fun project recommended in my MOMS Club newsletter this month. We made lanterns using leaves and wax paper!

                                                                               

The best part of the project was collecting leaves. We went out front and filled our jack-o-lantern bucket! Both kids really had fun doing this step, and we ended up with a whole lot of leaves.

Once we were finished collecting our leaves, we went inside. Oliver helped me sort through them, and we chose the best ones. I set up an ironing board and an iron (careful with little ones around!). Next, I laid out a sheet of wax paper. I couldn't figure out which side was waxed and which side wasn't. I tried to scratch each side, but I was stumped. Perhaps both sides of my wax paper were coated because that's what it seemed like to me! Anyway, the leaves I had were pretty big, so rather than folding the paper down in half, I just used two sheets and sandwiched the leaves inside. I set a dish towel on top and ironed the whole thing for a few minutes.

After that, I used some double-sided tape to stick the sides together, creating a tube. The kids placed some flameless LED candles inside, and--voila!--we had our lanterns.

Bonus video of the kids:
                                                         

Preschool Kids' Craft: Easy Fall Wreath

Twice recently, I've taken Jo to MOMS Club, and she's gotten to play with foam stickers. She has had the best time with them! Just yesterday, we were at a mom's house, and Jo stuck a bunch onto a paper plate. It gave me an idea...

I went out to Michael's and found a bucket of those stickers. They were $7.99 but on sale for 40% off for Columbus Day. They usually have 40% off coupons on their website. I also picked up a glue stick and some paper plates from the grocery store. Then, I took & printed some photos of the kids. I cut them down to the size of the center of our paper plates.

Here are our supplies:

Jo quickly jumped into the project and stuck leaves all over the center--not exactly a wreath. I wanted her to have fun, though, so I lightly glued some parchment paper on the center of the plates. I figured I could just peel off the parchment paper at the end to get any excess stickers off the center. Turns out, that step ended up being unnecessary for Oliver. He was very eager to do the project "right" and stuck all the stickers around the edge of his plate.

He really loved this project!

Here's Oliver with his finished wreath. He even glued the back of the picture himself using a glue stick.

Joanna discovered it was better to put the stickers on herself and the table. She decided putting stickers on the plate just wasn't cutting it anymore.

It looks like she's putting more stickers on the plate. Nope! She's pulling them off.

So, Oliver got busy making an extra wreath frame for Jo!

I stuck magnets on the back and wrote their names and ages on the front. Everything else was done by Oliver! Afterwards, he begged to make more, so we are about to get busy making one more. This was so cute and simple, and it's a huge hit! I have tons of stickers leftover, though, including some turkey stickers, so we're going to have to figure out what to do with all of them.

Bear Creek Pumpkin Patch 2012

The Bear Creek Church's pumpkin patch (benefiting Bear Creek High School) is back! It was supposed to start this past Saturday, but they didn't get their pumpkins in until Monday. We took a stroll there Monday afternoon. The temperatures were warm but windy, and leaves blew rained down on us from the neighborhood trees. 

I love being able to walk to the pumpkin patch for a few weeks out of every October. It's a nice change. Here are the kiddos picking out a pumpkin:

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 84: Pumpkin Finger Painting

A few weeks ago, while browsing Pinterest for ideas for the kids' birthday/Halloween party, I found a pin with a unique pumpkin decorating idea (here's the original pin). The woman used a spray adhesive to stick leaves onto her pumpkin, and then she spray painted the whole thing black. She peeled away the leaves, leaving behind an orange space in the leaf shape. It was neat!

I decided to make a toddler version of the pin. First thing was first. We needed leaves! Good thing Oliver and Jo were up for the task. Note that dry leaves won't bend around your pumpkin, so you'll want green leaves for this project.

Then, I used Mod Podge (which is non-toxic) to stick the leaves to the pumpkin like so:

Weekend in Aspen

Andrew and I took the kids on a long weekend to Aspen, Colorado. We made a few stops along the way in Vail and Glenwood Springs. The mountains are stunning at the end of September due to all the changing aspen trees. The highlight of our trip? Maroon Bells! I wrote about our trip on my travel blog here, but I thought I'd share my favorite photos from our mini-vacation here.

A mountain drive with my mom

My mom and I took a drive up Mount Evans yesterday. It's the highest paved road in North America. We met some bighorn sheep along the way!

My First Giveaway: Candy Corn Hats

I've been busy with my knitting needles! Over the last few months, I've knit half a dozen candy corn hats. I love candy corn decor in the fall! I thought it would be a cute, personal first giveaway for my blog.

Keep reading to find out how to enter!

Check out my little kiddos in their candy corn hats! And, yes, I knit a matching candy corn colored dress for Jo, too. It's a little big, but she's still as cute as a button.

The giveaway starts now, and it will end at noon (mountain time!) on Tuesday, September 25. It's open to people in the US. To enter, just leave a comment below with your first and second choice in hat size (I have 3 month, 3-6 month, 12 month, and a couple in the 2T to 3T range). You can get one extra entry by following me on Google Friend Connect (on the right-hand sidebar). Just leave a second comment letting me know you follow me through GFC. Don't forget to leave your email in the comment so I can contact you if you're a winner! On Tuesday, I will choose two winners through a random number generator. You will have until Friday the 28th to get back to me with the address I should mail it to, or else I'll pick a substitute winner. The first person I choose should get their first choice in hat size. The second winner will get their second choice if I'm out of their first choice.

Thanks for following my blog. I'm excited to send these out to show my appreciation to you all!