Fall Decorating

For our family, this time of year is about Fall traditions.  My boys happily help choose gourds and pumpkins to decorate our home inside and out.  While I do enjoy decorating our home, the task is mostly about welcoming Fall.  I'm aware this year of not taking too much time and energy on the task of decor, because I'm much more excited about baking fall treats, updating photographs of our family,  and making memories with my boys whether on a hike, in a pile of leaves, or around a warm fire on a cool night.

I have to admit, however, that I was touched when a friend recently wrote: "I'm decorating for fall and thinking of you and your cute house! Hope you are enjoying your fall."  Honestly, I was especially grateful because she has an amazing talent for decorating and hospitality!  I was honest when I responded with the following: "I did a little decorating before my party... meaning Al was looking for something in the fall box and the boys dumped it and put a few things out around the living room.  I'm doing some deep cleaning this week, and then I think I'll do some decorating this weekend after we go to the Gays Mills apple festival."  Well, we are back from the festivities with apples, gourds, and small pumpkins. The photos at left are what we have done so far to welcome Fall to our home.

I love decorating with the beauty and bounty that God has provided.  It really reminds us to enjoy this time of Fall colors and harvest.

Fall Traditions

There are so many things that I love about Fall !  The crisp, cool air means I can keep out my capris and sandals, but I also get to bring out the sweaters and hoodies.  Of course, it's the perfect time of year for a backyard fire.  The air smells of cookouts and campfires and of crisp leaves under foot.  And the house smells of apples and cinnamon.

I love baking every month of the year, but there is something about buying apples and picking pumpkins that makes me a little more ambitious.  In October I look forward to sharing some new pumpkin recipes with you.  While I'm not freezing bushels of apples like last year, we have already been filling our freezer with bags of apples.  I'm also excited to share a variation of my traditional apple crisp that's healthier but still sooo delicious.

There would be no apple desserts without the apples though.  Last year we started a new tradition of visiting Wisconsin apple orchards.  We were joined this year and last by a number of family members from the Midwest.  The drive this morning was especially beautiful as the fog burned off while we drove through the hills.

Never Enough Time

I will openly admit that I was more emotional than I thought I'd be about my youngest starting Kindergarten.   How is it that it's already time for my baby boy to be in school all day?  Mid-August I started seeing posts and pictures of friends' children smiling brightly and heading off to school.  That's when the emotions started to set in.  That's when I publicly admitted how I was feeling.  That's when a handful of friends and family admitted that they too were in the same situation and feeling the same emotions.  What a pleasant surprise!  Thankfully, this was not the first time that I was honest and found out that I was not alone.

I will also admit that I had big plans for what I would do with all the time I would now have. 

Organizing Time: Weekly Meal Planning

Credits: #1, #2, #3, #4

This year I've been doing weekly meal planning, and I'm writing today to tell you it's well worth the effort!

So, why bother with meal planning?  It saves money and it saves time.  I'd say that is a win, win!

Our family saves money because we plan meals based on what's in season and on sale.  Also, planning ahead means we get all the food we need in one trip to the grocery store, instead of shopping multiple times a week.  Well, sometimes I go to a few stores on my errand day, depending on who has the best deals.  But, I have a list and stick to it.  

Not only does it save time to be prepared when I'm out running errands, but it saves time each night to know what we are making for meals and to know we have all the necessary ingredients.  I don't miss the talks a half an hour before supper is supposed to be ready, when everyone is hungry, and we're trying to decide who wants to eat what only to find out we don't have what we need anyway!

Everyone will have their own preference as too how much they want to plan ahead.  Simply do a Pinterest search for "weekly meal plan" to find a wide variety of meal planning methods, menus, and free printables.  I have included some of my favorites at left.  {Click the number below in the "Credits" caption to link to the website for each form.}

Of course, I couldn't just decide right away which form would fit our family... It was a process.  I have seen a variety of ideas similar to #1 and just love them.  Talk about cute and practical! {Some of them even listed the recipe or ingredients on the back of each meal card.}  But, I had to be honest about whether I would actually take the time to get this system all together... Not at this stage in our busy life.  Many people prefer a simple sheet with one column on the left for daily supper ideas and one column on the right for a grocery list {see #2}.  I did know that I wanted to plan for more than just supper, at least some days of the week.  I liked the design of #3 {because it's pretty} and it serves the purpose just described, but I think you could also use it to list more than one meal for each day down the right column.  In the end though, I figured that we would need something more like #4.  I did use this format for a little while.

Household Helpers

Morning place mats have been working wonderfully for two years now.  But, with summer fast approaching, I knew it was about time to set up some sort of system to let the boys know what chores I expect them to help with.  At 5 years and 7 1/2 years old, they are able to help out more around the house, especially when they are home all day.  Also, we have been discussing starting to give our boys allowance. 

All of this got me thinking about what would work best in our home.  A great excuse to look at Pinterest for inspiration!  You can see some of my favorite ideas saved on my Parenting board.  There are lists of developmentally appropriate chores for different ages, commentaries on linking allowance to chores (or why you might choose not to), and many creative ways to create chore charts.

The thing is that my husband and I don't want our children to think of their helping around the house as "chores."  More important, we want them to understand that certain helpful behaviors are their responsibility as a member of our household.  This mind set applies to both jobs around the house and to routine responsibilities.  Here are a few examples of responsibilities that I expect my boys to take care of without my asking: put your shoes away when you come inside, flush the toilet, clear your dishes after you eat, throw your dirty laundry down to the basement.  So, we decided to extend the idea of our morning routine and also establish summer afternoon and evening routines where the children are reminded of their routine responsibilities.  Here are the cards:














So many ideas on Pinterest were very cute and definitely practical.  In the end, however, I decided I wanted the boys to be responsible for more than just a half dozen of the same daily chores.  Inspired by how another mother used mailboxes, I came up with our non-chore non-chart Household Helpers kit.  {BTW: The boys helped me decide on the name.}

Morning Place Mats

What parent wants to follow their children around reminding them to take care of basics like getting dressed or to pick up after themselves?  What parent wants to nag about getting everything together before school or getting their chores done?  We're not perfect and yes my children sometimes leave a trail of dirty clothes, leave a room a disaster, or leave their lunch at home.  But, I don't want that to be our norm.  I want to raise boys with awareness and responsibility.

My children work best with routine, so I work with that.  When my oldest was in 1st grade and my youngest started 3-year-old preschool, we started setting out a place mat for each boy at breakfast.  Our oldest has always been an excellent reader, so his place mat has words.  Our youngest has a picture schedule.  The left column labeled "To Do" is their morning routine.  The right column is our version of "Get Your Gear," which is a list of what they need to gather to be ready for school.  If they are not staying on task in the morning, I simply say: "Check your chart.  Are you all ready?"

Morning place mats work for us for a variety of reasons: The boys like it.  If they are off task, I can ask a basic question and I do not have to remind them about specific responsibilities all morning.  They like being responsible and independent.  I, of course, like this too.  Also, they are motivated to get ready so they can fit in some free time (like playing or reading) before school.  Sometimes, when they don't need reminders and have been very responsible, we even let them have a little screen time before school.  It's so nice not to have rushed, stressful mornings!


This system has worked wonderfully unchanged over the last 2 years.  As the children got older, they've helped with more "chores" throughout the day.  In the morning and after school, the boys have gotten used to looking for dishes or silverware to put away, laundry to fold and put away, or another way to help out around the house.  The great thing is that jobs have gotten done with very few reminders!

So Simple Dessert: Chocolate Soufflé

My favorite dessert that is oh so easy... Really!

Mission Project Completion

So, we've already established that I don't really set resolutions at the start of each new year.  I do, however, find myself thinking of projects.  Today's project has been tidying up my Pinterest boards... Okay that may take more than one day!  I don't know about you, but I do tend to start one task and then get distracted by other only slightly related tasks.  I still have not found that school lunches template that I wanted to print out... and I didn't like any of the other meal planning sheets I found... but I did find a great daily and weekly task chart to personalize.

So, today I'm going to share a few resources that I hope will help me stay focused and get things done.

New Year: Healthy Choices in 2014

Fact: I'm not one to make New Year resolutions.  But... I have been missing Zumba, and I do want to find ways to be more active (especially now that it's sooo cold outside).  And... I do want to eat healthier foods, and I need to have more energy.

Thing is, I've struggled to figure out what is actually "healthier" to eat.  As is usually the case for me, a lot of different influences have come together to change my life for the better.  The end result is that I'm starting to eat and feel better, and I have so much more energy! 

The key concept I keep coming back to again and again is BALANCE.

Baking Fall Treats: Bushels of Apples

What's the best way to celebrate the start of Fall?  Well, until this year I may have answered differently, but now I must say it's with all things apples!

Why so much excitement about apples?  Well, last year Iowa didn't have many, but this year my parents' neighbor's trees were very bountiful!  And this weekend starts all the apple fun, because my mom was awesome enough to bring us up a bunch of yummy Iowa apples.

Living Room: Pops of Color (version 1)

Finally, finishing up some rooms!  While my laundry is still all over the bedroom floor (well, nothing new there), I did get the boys' rooms unpacked fairly quickly.  After two weeks, we are finally adding the finishing touches to the living room and the boys' bedrooms. It feels great to no longer have bare walls and to feel a sense of accomplishment having totally decorated a few rooms. 

I've always loved wood floors.  There's something comforting knowing there's wood throughout the main level, but I have to say having carpet in the living room has really grown on me.  The boys have done a great job of leaving their shoes and food in the kitchen and keeping the beige carpet clean.  It was interesting decorating an all vanilla room though without having wood on the floor and a colorful area rug to pull all the colors together.  So, I stepped out of my comfort zone and decorated with bright pops of color and played with asymmetrical design.  I also stepped away from relying on dark brown wood tones to ground everything and added touches of black throughout the room.