Last Year On This Date | Day 5 of Fall Back Into Blogging

***Today is Day 5 of the SITS Girls Fall Back Into Blogging.  Our prompt for today was to re-post something that we posted last year on today's date.  I didn't post last year on the 28th so I went for the 27th.***

Do you get those little Scholastic Book Club order forms from your child's school?  We do.  They are always at the front of the school.  I have looked at them before but never ordered.  I am not even sure why I haven't ordered.  The prices are great.  Each grade level has a $1 book selection and there are about 4 different levels that we can order from.  Starting in October, we can order online and the school gets more points and free books.  Plus - parents and grandparents can order books for the children even if they don't live close by.

Taft's class has themes each week and for two weeks in September they are studying apples, autumn, and trees.  The Biggest Apple Ever was one of the $1 books so we got two.  One for Taft and one for his class.  We did the same with the Five Little Pumpkins.  I told him that we were getting some for his class and for him.  He seemed excited.

When I got to the school yesterday, the book orders where in their cubbies.  I picked up the books and he only had three.  Ms. Erin told me that he was so excited and wanted to give her the books.  He said, "Ms. Erin, these books for you."  She said that the class told him thank you and she had already read them both to the kids.  And Taft and I read Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch in bed last night.

I plan on doing the same this month with the book order.  I think that it teaches Taft how nice it is to share so that his friends can enjoy books that he likes also.  It also helps to built the library for his class for years to come.  He is making his mark on the world.

Favorite Falls Recipes & Crafts | Day 4 of Falling Back Into Blogging

Our favorite fall recipe has got to be Sante Fe Soup.  It is just about the easiest thing ever to make.  I mean, it does great in the crock pot and feeds a lot of people.  It would be great for tailgating too.

And Cranberry and Apple Pork Chops have to be a close second.  They are just wonderful!

As far as favorite crafts for fall - I love apple stamping for kids.  You can make all kinds of things with apple stamping.  I am hoping that Taft and I will do those in the coming weeks and make an apple pie together.  You can't get much more fall than that.
I also have a few things on my list to get finished this season.  All of which are on Pinterest of course.  Here a few of my favorites:
I have used the same fall wreaths for a few years now.  Very simple ones with leaves.  I really like the look of this one and I am thinking about making two for the front door.

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I also need to come up with a great way to display photos of Taft's past Halloween costumes.  I really love this frame and I think that it would be perfect for at least one of the photos.

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And these coffee filter pumpkins are wonderful!  I would love to make a few different colors.

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What are you cooking and making this fall?

What We Look Forward To Each Fall | Day 3 of Falling Back Into Blogging

Today is Day 3 of the SITS Girls Fall Back Into Blogging Week.  Our writing prompt for today is to write about what we look forward to in the fall season.  So I thought I would just do a little list of my top 5 things that I look forward to:
1.  I am looking forward to Trunk Or Treat at Taft's Preschool.  Last year was the first time that we did it and it was so much fun.  I am still working on what or car will "dress" up as but here is a photo from last year when were a monster.  It was very simple and the little kids seemed to love it.  You can read a little more about that here.

2.  I also love to pick out a costume for Taft.  He has had some cute ones in the past years.  My favorite was his first Halloween when he was a golfer.  One day he will hate me for it, but we didn't see another kid in the same costume all season.  Here is my post from last year with a few years worth of costumes.

3.  I love to carve pumpkins.  Taft is still pretty small but I think that this year he is finally old enough to enjoy helping.

4.  The Great Pumpkin is another big tradition for us.  You can read more about that here and here.  It seems to be working well for us but I know that it is only a matter of years before he will no longer believe.

5.  I love going to fall festivals, craft shows, and pumpkin patches.  We don't really have pumpkin farms here for you can pick a pumpkin, but some places try pretty hard to give you a fall experience in Florida. I believe that we will be going back to this farm in October. It is the Stanley Pond Adventure Farm.

What do you look forward to in the fall season?

What Fall Looks Like Here | Day 2 of Fall Back Into Blogging

Fall here does look like fall.  We live on the east coast of Florida and seasons don't necessarily look like they change. We don't have the lovely changing leaves with all the red, orange, and yellow.  Instead, we have flowers blooming, pools that are still in use, and temps in the high 80's and low to mid 90's.
Fall here is based entirely on the calendar and the decorations that people put out. Otherwise we would never know the difference.  The temperature doesn't start to change that much until on into October.  We do have fall festivals and activities but I have to say that it feels a little weird going to them in shorts and flip flops. 
So here are a few photos of the flowers outside my window at work.  Lots of buds ready to open and even butterflies and friendly little lizards.

Today is Day 2 of the SITS Girls Fall Back Into Blogging Week.  What does fall look like where you are?

A School Memory | Day 1 of Fall Back Into Blogging

Today is Day 1 of the SITS Girls Fall Back Into Blogging Event.  You can see more about that here and even join in.
This came at a great time since I have not blogged in almost a month.  And as you can tell, I didn't do so well with Day 1 since I didn't get this post done until after 10 pm.  Hopefully I will have more luck with the remainder of the week.
We were given a writing prompt today.  It was to write about a school memory or story that you have not shared on your blog in the past. I wasn't sure what to write about.  I have a lot of school memories that I love.  I started to look through the few photos of my childhood that I have at my home.  I was hoping that I could find a photo to go with a story and when I saw this photo I knew that it was perfect.

Yep - that is me.  I was five years old and this was the clown costume that was made for my Kindergarten class play.  My mother and grandmother made the costume and I only just now noticed that my "hair" and accents match the lovely gold color of home decor.  You really have to love the colors of the late 70's.
Every child in my Kindergarten class wore a clown costume.  It is hard for me to believe that every parent made or bought a clown outfit for a play that was at night and not during school hours.  It's hard for to believe because I don't think that it would happen in today's world.  In thirty years, parents have changed.  I see it with Taft's classes and with those of friends.  Parents don't participate like they did once.  I know that there are lost of reasons why.  More families have two parents working than in the past and the economy is different.  I just never remember my parents not being active in what I was doing.
Back to the costume - I remember watching my grandmother and mother work on my costume.  What I don't remember is what the play was about.  I remember being on the stage that night but not what we did.  I do remember that at the end of the program, each child walked across the stage, alone, on the way to the tunnel.  (We had an awesome tunnel that was a half circle.  It lead from the main part of the school to the side entrance to the stage. Perfect for getting kids to the stage without anyone in the audience seeing.)  When we walked across, we were supposed to do a little trick.  I remember stressing about this a A LOT.  Some of the kids were doing cartwheels.  I believed that cartwheels were amazing, but I could not do one.  I walked across the stage and jumped on one foot.  Yes - I was totally lame but I had a rocking costume.
I also wore this for the next Halloween.  It still fit and we were frugal.  If I still had it I was so put Taft in it.
I wonder if there are any videos of that play?