Fall Happenings

It's hard to believe that it will be November in 4 short days.  Worse yet, daylight savings is in ONE week...gross!  We've been staying busy this fall with school, football games, a trip to the pumpkin patch, yard work, and attempting to "declutter" the closets.

If I'm not working (or sleeping), I try to engage Harper in an educational activity or craft each day.  Harper loves "doing homework" and enjoys any extra activities that we do together.  Her newest love is a glue stick :)  

Playing a number/matching pumpkin puzzle

counting!

more counting!  She did this ALL by herself!  My little smarty pants!

We've also done a few pumpkin crafts and paintings this fall.

Adam has also been staying busy this fall by joining a group called Sideliners.  Sideliners is a group of guys that get together the Wednesday before every home football game to have a meal with the football team.  Each football player is paired up with a member of Sideliners for the entire season.  The 'sideliner' is there to support the football player and serve as a role model.  For all home games the Sideliners line the football field entrance to be the first to welcome the players to the field.  It's a very neat organization and both the kids and adults enjoy the companionship.  

We are looking forward to carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating later this week.  Pictures to follow :)  

Harper's 1st School Picture

I am a horrible parent and forgot to order Harper's very first school picture.  However I don't think it's too late, as Life Touch Photography is located here in Clarion, so I'm pretty sure I can go up to their office and work something out.  

Here is a composite of what her picture looked like :)  FREAKING HILARIOUS!!!!  We knew she wouldn't smile - which makes this picture so funny.  We definitely need to order one just to have, and to remind us of how shy was at the age of 3!

Update: I just got a note from Harper's teacher stating that picture re-takes are tomorrow!  Let's see how round 2 goes :)

no-mess tacos

We love tacos in our house, except they are so messy for little ones.

I read in a parenting magazine a few years back about using a chip clip to secure the end of a taco in order to avoid everything falling out of the bottom.

This little tip honestly works wonders.  Harper did not have a single piece of meat on her plate after eating her taco, seriously not.one!

{She is distracted by the TV - I believe she is watching Mickey Mouse, although we usually have the TV off during meals.}

Another little tip when making tacos is to add in 1/2-1 can of beans to the meat mixture.  (I have used garbanzo beans and black beans.)  I promise you won't be able to taste the difference (and either will your kids) and the beans add volume, adding extra servings to your meal, and the beans pack in some extra protein!

Cheap Christmas Cards

I know it may seem a little early to be posting great deals about Christmas cards, but they say "the early bird gets the worm."

York Photo is offering 20 4x8 photo cards for only $1 plus S&H.  I took a minute to look at the designs and they are actually really cute.  This offer expires November 15th.  {I'm secretly hoping that they decide to extend this offer for procrastinators like myself!}  Use coupon code: 1CARD at checkout.

They also have baby announcements and birthday invitations that qualify for this offer as well.

Pick A Better Snack

Harper's school district participates in a healthy living program called 'Pick a Better Snack,' which is sponsored by hospital here in town.  Pick a Better Snack encourages children to pick fruits and vegetables for snack choices.  Once a month hospital employees volunteer their time and introduce a new fruit or vegetable to the kids.  Each student is strongly encouraged to try the monthly snack.

This month Harper tried turnips....and liked them!  Who would've thought?!  In addition to taste-testing the snack, they also get a hand-out to take home containing information about nutritional value, how to store, and how to prepare!

Next month's snack: Parsnips

I think it's a great thing that schools are incorporating 'healthy living' into the curriculum.  Now if only they could do a course with all of the parents...........

    

Who is right for YOU?!

It's hard to go a single day without thinking about the election thanks to the never-ending commercials, phone calls, and mail flyers.  I can't name one person who enjoys the campaigning.  With the plethora of information that is thrown at a person, it is hard to know who one should vote for.  Democrats will be Democrats, Republicans will be Republicans.  However, there is no black and white in politics, there is a lot of grey area.  Meaning, you may support certain policies/ideas of a particular candidate, but also disagree with others.  It's a catch 22.

Four years ago I couldn't decide what side of the fence I was on - an elephant or donkey...so I registered as Independent.  I don't pay enough attention to politics to truly understand what's going on.  Which is why I have found a few quizzes to help you decide who to vote for this year.  Each quiz matches your views to the candidate that is most like yours.  You may be surprised to find out which candidate YOU should vote for.

My results on all 3 quizzes came up Mitt Romney.  (There are a lot of other no-namers that I matched up better with though)  I was surprised at this.  So guess who this girl is voting for????  I'm curious to see if you all get matched up with who you were intending on voting for - feel free to leave me a message!

Here are the quizzes:

Quiz 1

Quiz 2

Quiz 3

Present Hiding: Fail!

We bought our first Christmas present of the year on September 29th - almost 3 months early.  This NEVER happens.  I usually do Christmas shopping 1-2 weeks before the big day.  However one of the stores in our town has been bought out by Shopko, which means everything is deeply discounted to make room for the new inventory.  

So we bought Harper a new bike, a "big girl" bike with training wheels.  It was supposed to be one of her Christmas presents, however Adam did a terrible job 'hiding' it.  He basically just plopped it down in the garage, expecting her not to find it.  I think he may have forgotten that she is a curious 3-year-old that is always looking for trouble ;)

And so the 'present hiding' already begins.  I just didn't expect it to happen so soon!  Lesson learned.

Bambi

My poor little Harper.  I think she has watched Bambi one too many times.

If you live on planet Earth, then you know that Bambi's mom dies at the end of the movie.  

I don't know if Harper is worried about me dying, but she has said a few things in the past weeks that really make me sad,

"Mommy, you're not gonna die, right??}

"I would be so sad if you died."

Aww - it breaks my heart just thinking about it.  I reassure her that I am not going anywhere.  Then she will say "Bambi's mom died."

Who knew a Disney movie would be so upsetting?!

PS - Did you know that Bambi is a boy?  I did not.