We’ve been continuing in our exploration of fall items over the past two weeks with apples and spiders! Last week we went to the library and checked out some books about all about apples to support in our science and art activities! This week, we’ve been using spiders for literacy, math and science! Check out all of the fun we’ve had:
 
Apple Stamping
Here’s an easy one! All you have to do is get an apple, some paint and paper and you have yourself an art project! We sliced an apple in half, dipped it into paint and had the kids stamp the apple onto paper! They love paint in any capacity, so changing it up to fit our theme made it even better! With the older ones, you can identify the different parts of the apple as you cut into them, too!
 
Apple Letter Matching
With Xander, we are just starting to work with him on identifying letters, so I drew some little apples onto red construction paper and put the letters of his name on them. On another piece of paper, I wrote the letters of his name in order in boxes that were the same size as the apple letter pieces. I had him try to match the letters and then glued them down when it was complete! He needed a lot of guidance, but any introduction to letters is going to help in the long run!

Slow Cooker Applesauce
We had a bunch of apples from a local farm, so what better thing to do than make applesauce! It was super easy and ended up tasting like apple pie filling! We had the boys help by turning our apple corer/peeler/slicer machine! They loved this thing!
 
Here are the ingredients:
10-12 apples, cored, peeled and sliced
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
1 tsp. cinnamon
 
We added our apples along with sugar, water and cinnamon and cooked on high for 5 hours! When it was done, I stirred the applesauce an emulsion blender until it was a smooth consistency. I put some into a container in the fridge to cool, and then the rest into a Ziploc freezer bag to save for a future date.
 
Contact Paper Apple with Tissue Paper
To work in a little OT and a fine-motor activity, we drew an apple onto a piece of clear contact paper. Then, Leo tore pieces of green and red tissue paper into smaller pieces and stuck them to the contact paper inside of the apple. When he was done, we stuck the contact paper to another piece and voila, we have a little decoration and some fine-motor work completed! 

Spider Literacy & Counting
The next topic we went to after apples were spiders! We bought some plastic toy spiders to use for the next few activities. On a piece of paper, my mom wrote S is for Spider and then a large S. We then had the boys place the spiders along the large S. We also wrote numbers and drew spider webs onto a few small paper plates. The boys had to count out the correct amount of spiders to match the number on their plate and put the spiders onto it.
 
Spooky Slime
This has been a total hit with both boys! Remember Gak from when we were younger? Well, here’s a way to make your own!
 
½ cup clear Elmer’s glue
½ tsp baking soda
2 tbsp contact solution
(optional food coloring)
Halloween items to stick into and take out of slime! (googly eyes, plastic spiders, etc)
 
Mix the glue, baking soda and food coloring (if you want to add it) until fully mixed together. Add 2 tbsp of contact solution until the slime stops sticking to the bowl and can be picked up without being sticky on your hands. You can also add a little bit of olive oil to make it even less sticky.
 
Then, it is ready to go! Leo has asked to play with this stuff every single day! The putting in and picking out small items can also count as your fine-motor activity! I also saw this slime made with the different colored, glitter Elmer’s glue which would be SO fun!
 
Have some fun this week and try out an activity or two! Happy Halloween!
 

Well, it only took a few months, but we finally finished Taso's nursery decor! My mom, Carol, and my younger sister, Ariel, are the masterminds behind creating these items and bringing my vision to life, so a huge thank you goes out to them for making this room look so great! Take a look at what we did to make our tiny little dino's room perfect!

When I decided on this dinosaur theme, I knew I wanted bright colors! We found fabric that my mom used on several different items to make a crib blanket, changing pad cover and a Boppy Lounger pillow cover. She really did an incredible job on these sewing projects! (I'm trying to convince her to open an Etsy store so that she can sell this kind of stuff!!) The crib sheet is a different dinosaur fabric, but still incorporates the same bright colors.

We found wooden letters to spell Taso's name that we painted and attached above the crib, and I applied some vinyl dinosaur footprints to the wall to finish it off. The large wooden dinosaurs above the changing table were from Hobby Lobby, as is the dinosaur claw hook that we put on the wall. The crib blanket is incredibly soft gray fabric on the back to keep our guy nice and cozy (when he's big enough to use a blanket) and the bright colored fabric in between the dinosaur patterned fabric. The Roar, Stomp, Chomp blocks were created using my mom's Cricut machine and painted blocks.

I also enlisted the help of Ariel and her side-hustle called Artistic Accents by Ariel to create a couple of custom string art signs to hang in the room. My other boys also have their own custom boards (I'll be sharing their room themes in future posts) so it was only fitting to give Taso his "Haley" name board that several of the Haley cousins now own, and a stegosaurus string art to go with our theme. The boards turned out so great and are awesome quality! Ariel designs these boards based on customer request, so check out her website to order one for yourself and follow her on Instagram @artisticaccentsbyariel to check out some other works of art!
https://arielsaccents.wixsite.com/arielsaccents

We also have a few other items left to hang up and one of my favorites is the set of dinosaur cut-out paintings that we created. My mom created the cut-outs using white card stock, and we had Leo create three finger paintings that we placed behind each cut out to give it color! I love that Taso's older brother contributed some works of art! My mom also created a stats sign for Taso using her Cricut (this machine is truly amazing!) And finally, we have our Jurassic Park stuffed dinosaur to complete the theme and use for Taso's monthly pictures to show how much he grows in comparison!

I absolutely love how this room turned out and I literally could not have done it without my mom and sister! If you're interested in purchasing items from either of them, leave a comment and I'll put you in contact to create your custom orders! Like I said, my mom hasn't been convinced to start an actual business yet, but hopefully this gives her the push because she is so talented! Hope you all enjoyed the decor reveal and look for future posts to see Leo's Space theme and Xander's Woodland theme!

How’s that for some alliteration?! This week we’ve been doing some activities at home that incorporate everything fall! I am a huge fan of this season and my mom and I have come up with some fun things for the kids to do that uses some of my favorite fall items! Check out these activities and try some out!
 
Pumpkin Spice Play Dough
My kids are obsessed with play dough of any kind, but making your own and adding a fun scent to it is cheap and easy! It has the perfect non-messy texture and our batch has already lasted a couple of weeks! We literally play with this everyday and just throw in different cookie cutters, scissors and even our real Play Doh set toys to change things up! Here’s the recipe:
 
1 cup flour
1 cup water
¼ cup salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp cream of tarter
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
orange food coloring
 
Toss all ingredients together. Turn stove onto medium heat and continue to stir until mixture starts to clump and then eventually into one big lump. Remove from heat, let cool until you’re able to touch it, and knead the dough until soft and pliable.

Leaf Stamps
Another fun art project was stamping leaves on paper using homemade stamps! You can use pre-cut foam leaf shapes or draw and cut your own. Then glue the foam (or stick if it already has adhesive) to one side of a wooden block. Then, use paint (or a large ink pad) to stamp the leaves onto paper! You could also add in some educational pieces to this by having them stamp certain numbers, letters or shapes that you draw on the paper.
 
Dia de Muertos Sugar Skull Decoration
In our house, the movie “Coco” was on repeat for a good month over the summer! I couldn’t get those songs out of my head! But it incorporated some fun culture into our discussion about Dia de Muertos and all of the traditions that go with it! I was lucky enough to be in Mexico studying abroad on that day and went with my classmates to a small village and walked through all of the houses to see their displays called “ofrendas”. To bring some of that into our house, I found some wooden sugar skull decorations and had Leo use his fingerprints to paint them!
 

I hope you try some or all of these activities out with your little ones or in your classrooms! Are there any fall activities that you've tried and loved? Let me know in the comments! We will be doing different themes in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more fun fall (and holiday) activities in posts to come!

It's official...I've become obsessed with this company! Just kidding, but seriously. I've slowly but surely started replacing some of my old household and personal cleansing products with essential oil based products and guess what? They work! Here's a run-down of my current favorites!

Mirah Luminous Cleansing Oil
Cleansing oils have become a pretty popular make up remover on the beauty scene! This one is just as effective as any other cleansing oil that I've tried, but again, contains essential oils like Sandalwood, Rose, and Jasmine and pure carrier oils, including jojoba and argan to moisturize your skin while also dissolving away make up! It is super gentle on any skin type and is formulated without parabens, sulfates, phthalates, petrochemicals, animal-derived ingredients, synthetic preservatives, synthetic fragrances, or synthetic dyes/colorants. If you're in the market for a new cleanser, I highly recommend you try this out!

Seedlings Baby Oil
While I have pretty normal to oily skin, my children seem to have inherited their father's sensitive, dry Irish skin! I have been using this Seedlings baby oil mixed in with the boys normal lotion and it makes such a difference! The rough, bumpy patches on Xander's arms have disappeared since I began this method! It smells so good, and could also be used as a baby massage oil for your little ones! The calming scent of this line make it perfect for babies and helps soothe before bedtime. I'm looking forward to trying out other products in this Seedling Line soon!

KidScents Sleepyize Essential Oil Blend
Nothing quite comes close to a peaceful night of sleep, right? Well, at least that's what I remember before having another newborn! But this oil is specially formulated to create a peaceful, calming aromatic environment for bedtime that is safe to use with kids! (I say "safe for kids" because sometimes oils are too powerful for little ones. This is a blend of lavender, geranium roman chamomile and others that can be diffused in your child's room to give a calm scent that has been a savior on nights where getting the kids in bed has been difficult!


I hope you enjoyed my current favorites from Young Living Essential Oils! Let me know which products you use or if you're interested in any of the ones that I mentioned! Have a great week!

[Disclaimer: The information contained on this website is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products on this site are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your physician before using these products.]