november

bring it on november. we are ready for you. i closed out October throwing two kids their class fall celebrations, three back to back teacher conferences, and one second grader who is almost finished with his first official book report. and we’re talking all this in the course of 3 days. throw in there a foot ball game for gunnar and a field day for the two littles and a successful trip to the flea market, and there you have our weekend.

this fall project for sawyer’s class was a huge hit. parents were oohing and aahing over their kids’ awesome artwork and this is definitely a frame worthy project. and super cheap and easy to do. i didn’t have time to take photos during the art project because I was leading, but basically it’s easy peasy.

supplies are:

crushed leaves

straws

black watercolor

watercolor paper

That’s it. You start with a half a spoonful of the black watercolor. I poured it in bowls and had spoons for the kids to use. One half spoonful was plenty. Pour it near the bottom of the page in a tiny puddle. Then use the straws to blow the watercolor upward and outward. This creates the trunk and the branches. Once you are satisfied with your tree, follow with white glue and leaves. You can make the leaves on the branches, falling from the tree, gathered on the ground near the base of the tree, etc. It’s really cool and kids can get really creative. Here’s Sawyer’s fall tree.

We had a delicious feast picnic style outside. Fall dishes that were a huge hit: apple cider, pumpkin muffins, zucchini bread, pumpkin cookies, sliced melon. We decided to do it as eco friendly as possible. We used melamine plates instead of paper goods, and toothpicks and finger foods instead of forks. It was very fun and the kids loved it.

Greta’s fall celebration thankfully was on a different day because there is no way I could do both in the same day. For Greta’s class, another mom led the craft which was very sweet. They painted wooden picture frames with leaves in seasonal colors. Then they came outside to enjoy a similar picnic style feast. Another mom snapped this photo because I was busy prepping the food table, but how happy does my girl look? Boy does she love school. And she sure looked forward to this class party all month long.

Hits of the day were the carrots with pea eye balls on top. Guacamole with homemade tortilla chips in the shapes of pumpkins, pumpkin bread, more apple cider, and apple slices dipped in caramel.

tgif

Hoping all of you have a wonderful weekend. FYI, it’s Old Navy’s stuff and save time, 30% off everything. I had no choice but to indulge, not for myself, but my boys have managed to lose almost every single hoodie that they own. And hoodies are THE ONLY type of sweater Gunnar will put on. It’s finally crisp and chilly here. In fact, the last few mornings I find myself huddled up against Aaron in bed only to find he’s cold and not the heater he normally is. It’s that cold when we wake up people.

Sawyer’s class is having his fall celebration today so I can’t wait to watch the kids do a fun autumn project that I have been gathering supplies for, and then watch them stuff their faces with goodies like apple cider, zucchini bread, pumpkin muffins, and other fall treats.

Crossing fingers I manage to get to a flea market on Sunday. It has been months since the last time I went and I have a sweet little stash of cash that I have been saving just for this occasion. Looking for nothing in particular, which is the best kind of thrifting.

And hoping the Trojans have a good game tomorrow so that all my men are in happy moods this weekend. Happy Friday!

 

blog love for My Life at Playtime

I always get a kick at how and from where my blog visitors find this little piece of us. Here’s some recent blogs that have featured My Life at Playtime.

New Life on a Homestead posted the boys’ pallet beds

and

All for the Boys which is an adorable blog for moms of little boys gave a shout out for our backyard fort

I don’t know the authors of these blogs, but stumbled upon their sweet affection for our little projects over here in this house.

life according to my iphone

Homework

Too lazy to write book titles down so next best thing, photograph them.

The little bean not so little anymore

More homework

Prepping for Sawyer’s class’ fall celebration

Besties

outdoor cinema (aka backyard movie night)

The ingredients you will need for a successful fall outdoor cinema night may include:

a milk station for parched mouths

s’mores baskets for each family and a s’more station

plenty of camp blankets to keep you warm

a fire pit for roasting those s’mores

fresh popcorn for when the movie starts

a group of 25 kids who don’t get to see each other enough and enjoy impromptu pre-movie dance parties

and don’t forget to throw in a few edible babies to complete the night. oh and a screen, projector and great movie helps too.

s*mores

We took our fire pit for a spin a few weekends ago before the heat wave. Now it’s cooled off quite a bit and we foresee many more nights like this in our future. Starting with this coming Saturday night.

*g list

Today I am grateful for…

-modern medicine and doctors, greta woke up one day last week coughing like a barking seal, no voice, and by the time she went to sleep later that night she was on her way to feeling better. thank you dr. ross

-my daughter receiving a play iron and ironing board and not knowing the purpose of these items

-an afternoon of homework minus the arguing

-boys who can spell really really well, which means no spelling test practices

-a good book

-a husband who didn’t let me wake up before 9am on sunday morning

-prospects of new lands and adventures to be had

-my husband receiving vacation time for our next two trips

-pumpkin muffins fresh out of the oven

what are you grateful for today?

pinterest love

you still aren’t on pinterest? here’s some reasons you should be.

you all know my love for ombre, and ombre balloons + ikat tablecloth + dinner party = love

rock + felt= diy hot pad

embroider a trip on a map and frame

wrap bricks with scrapbook paper and you have diy bookends

straws + paint + crumpled leaves = next art lesson for the kids

tomorrow is friday right?

And. How. Thank goodness for Fridays. Especially Fridays where all children are at school and we are houseguest free. Not that having my brother in law was a burden, but a Friday where I don’t have to think about anything but my list of to dos and checkmarks that will follow. Greta ended up coming down with croup this week so that kept her home from school. Fortunately, you’d never know she was sick, other than the 12 hours of barking seal sounds coming from her mouth. She never ran a fever or was irritable. That is until today. Maybe I kept her home one afternoon too much. The girl needs school. Let me tell you. It’s hard to talk someone who doesn’t feel sick into laying on the couch and resting.

I have nothing fun to share on the blog, no posts written. The kids’ classes are all consuming at the moment. I even had to go teach art to Greta’s class without Greta on Wednesday. Of course that meant I came home and had to the same lesson for her because that girl was not going to miss out on an art project, especially one her mama created. I had no choice as there were 6 parents who were scheduled to watch the lesson. So I even had to be actually prepared! Three kids, three classes, three art lessons, room parent times three. It’s a lot. I told myself I will do art for all three, and be room parent for all three and that’s it. That is until I get last minute calls for cancellations at computer lab or gardening or library. Last week I volunteered all 5 days there! I don’t think I thought this through, somehow I have to coordinate being at and planning three fall class celebrations. It may be tricky. I really thought I was going to plan ahead and coordinate all 3 kids’ art lessons to happen on 1, max 2 days. Yeah, no go. I am there three separate afternoons. But I do love it and the kids enjoy it. Walking into their class and seeing their eyes light up and getting questions flown at me immediately with, “what’s art today? what are we doing? who are we learning about?” It’s special so I’ll keep my complaints to a minimum. There I’m done. I should be thankful that I have a work schedule that allows me to be flexible. I should be thankful that my kids attend a school where they value my volunteering. I should be thankful that all 3 kids are at the same school.

Afternoons are no joke in this household too. I cannot have another child. There. I said it. Three kids’ worth of homework is my ultimate max. I can’t even do all 3 at the same time. We have to work in shifts. I can only do Greta and Gunnar or Sawyer and Greta. Gunnar and Sawyer cannot be a combination at the same time. From the moment we walk in the door at 2:45-3 I am blending smoothies, and filling snack plates. By 3:15 we are at the table and working. And we don’t finish til 5 usually. And somehow we’re supposed to eat dinner at 5:30. Fortunately Aaron walks in the door at 4:30 and he will take whichever kid is left. Then there are spelling words to practice, book reports to work on, sight words to learn, and don’t forget each kid has to read 20 minutes. That’s an hour worth of reading in this house. Which honestly I could care less about. My kids read too much. Yep. I have to argue with them to stop reading or not to bring their book to the table. But just the act of filling out reading logs takes me more time. I cannot imagine next year where I will have a 1st, 3rd, and 5th grader. I have no clue how working parents can get it all done. I’m holding on by a thread over here. Fridays is a no homework day and the afternoons are oh so lovely.

So yes, tomorrow is friday right?

wordless wednesday- our backyard fire pit- ta da!