Thankful in November: Day 5 & 6

Day 5: Color by Number turkeys and a peanut butter turkey snack!

Color by Number pages are becoming increasingly more popular with the boys these days, especially Owen. I have to get a little more creative with Eli, letting him use the easel, or pretending to race him to color a certain space or rolling dice to decide what color to use next, but the end products turn out great and they are so proud of their work.

Day 6: Scarecrows! We used a Color by Number page, a leaf coloring page and a 1-20 maze today, all from here. There are so many cute resources available!

Thankful in November: Day 3 & 4

Our theme this weekend was Apples! 

Day 3: Homemade applesauce and Apple Cider Caramel Cookies. The boys were excellent caramel unwrappers and cookie stuffers! (Great fine motor skill practice ; ))

Day 4: Painted apple cores and a roll-an-apple game from Mama Jenn's blog. We play this game in so many different ways - each person chooses a row and tries to fill it first, everyone gets four caramels and we all try to roll the same color, everyone works together to try to fill the whole page and the person who rolls the last apple color wins. So simple, and they love it!

First Place Apple Cobbler Recipe

We held the Annual Chili and Dessert Cookoff at our house last night and had almost 50 people over! There were seven chilis and three desserts that competed and my (mom's) apple cobbler won! It is de-lic-ious, super easy and pretty fast to make. Perfect for the fall, hot or cold, fresh or leftover and for dessert or breakfast (or any time really!)

Here's how I made it...

Peel and slice 4 Granny Smith apples and 5 Jonathan apples. You might need more or less apples depending on their size, but you want them to fill a 9x13 casserole pan. Toss with 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar, depending on the tartness of the apples and up to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon (or more, if you love it like I do!).

In a bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Scramble an egg in a seperate bowl and add it to the dry mixture. Combine until crumbly and sprinkle over the apple slices. Melt 6-8 tablespoons of butter and pour over the topping. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the topping is slightly browned and the apples are fork tender. We ate it just like that, but it would be awesome with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream too.

Unfortunately, as soon it was declared the winner, the rest of it was gobbled up... I'm going to have to make another one today!

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Here's a must try recipe for this fall. I was able to whip them up while making dinner for the boys, which proves that it's a pretty easy recipe. My taste testers LOVED them!

Cookies:

2 c flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground ginger

1/2 t salt

1/2 c butter, softened

1 1/4 c granulated sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten

1 c pumpkin puree (I used Libby's)

1 t vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Filling:

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

6 T butter, softened

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 1/2 c powdered sugar

Directions for cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two baking sheets.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bown on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Stip in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. A total of 72 cookies are needed for the recipe)
3. Bake 10-13 minutes or until springy to the touch. Cook on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Directions for filling:

1. Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Spread a heaping teaspoon on filling onto flat side of one cookie; top with flat side of another cookie.
3. Store in covered container in the refrigerator.
4. Try not to eat them all in one sitting! : )

Autumn Scavenger Hunt

Halloween decorations are starting to rival Christmas decorations! Why not make a game out of it?! Create a scavenger hunt list or a BINGO card with all the things that your kids think they will see during a walk around the neighborhood. You can include pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, tombstones, spiderwebs, ghosts, colored lights, blow-ups... anything! Then go for a walk and let your kids find the items on their list or card. Get little toys as prizes, or make coupons that are "good for one piece of candy" that they can cash in after trick-or treating. As a family you can get some exercise, play a game and use your creativity. What do you think? Image from FamilyFun.com

Fall is Upon Us

Fall is my most favorite time of year. The smells are better than any other season, the weather gives you the much needed break from the summer, and what can beat snuggling up under the covers, but still having a cool breeze coming in from your open window? In addition to that, Halloween and Thanksgiving both arrive in the fall, which give tons of opportunities for crafts, recipes and activities for kids.

Here's the first craft project that I came across - it's for a pine cone owl with acorn cap eyes. The instructions say it's best for 3-8 year olds, but I'll bet that with your help, younger kids can make it too. Cute and easy - kids will love it!

What you need:

• Pine cone
• Fall leaves (for the feathers)
• Felt (for the wings, nose, feet)
• Acorn caps (for the eyes)
• Large pompom (for the head)
• Glue and scissors

Collect fall leaves, pine cones, and acorn caps on a nature walk. Glue a large pom pom to the top of the pinecone for the head. Cut two tear drop shapes of felt for wings and glue to sides of cone. Cut felt ovals for feet to balance the pine cone. Glue to bottom of cone. Add Fall leaves to create feathers on wings. Glue two acorn caps to the pom pom for eyes. Fold a small piece of yellow paper in half and cut into a diamond shape. Place between the two caps and glue to pom pom for a beak. Cut out two tiny brown triangles for ears. Glue to top of pom pom.