15 things to do on fall break

Fall Break...

I don't really even remember having a fall break from school growing up.  Now I do remember maybe a half day here or there or one day off in the fall for parent/teacher conferences, but it was never a big deal at our house when I was growing up.  When Big Sissy first started school, Fall Break was a 2 day (Thursday-Friday) vacation from school.  This year our school is now on a balanced calender which means Big Sissy and Bubby started school on August 1st and now currently in the 1st week of their 2 week fall break.  While I must admit I was a bit apprehensive of the 2 week fall break when it was announced (because as a full-time off-farm working mom I wasn't quite sure how it would work), the kids and I have checked a lot off of our fall break bucket list and it is only Thursday of the first week.  (We are in overdrive as this momma will be gone all next week for work.)

I thought I'd share some of the things we've checked off our list as well as a few we are hoping to yet accomplish and although this is a fall break bucket list, a lot of the items could be done on any break from school.  

 

15 things to do on fall break

1.  Go to a basketball game - Big Sissy's first ever school basketball game was last Sunday.  Although the score was a bit lopsided, we know the fun is just beginning.  (Go #20!)

2.  Get your craft on - Heading to Jo-Ann's with this family is often dangerous for my checkbook.  We left with fabric and fleece to make blankets, pillowcases, and maybe even a 4-H project or two for next year.  

3.  Make some of Gal in the Middle's pumpkin chocolate chip muffins 

4.  Go shopping

5.  Visit Kelsay Farms - We haven't made it there yet this year, but we absolutely love visiting Kelsay's and this year they have special fall break hours.  

6.  Get a flu shot - Big Sissy, Bubby, and Little Sissy all got their flu shots yesterday.  

7.  Check out the programs at your local library - Little Sissy has been to a few story times and Big Sissy and Bubby attended a program entitled grossology yesterday.  

8.  Read

9.   Make a new recipe 

10.  Check out The Children's Museum Guild's 49th Annual Haunted House, Wicked Workshop - Big Sissy, Bubby, and I were very lucky to be able to preview the Wicked Workshop yesterday with the lights on.  I don't think I would have made it out alive with the lights off.

11.  Spend the day at The Children's Museum - After visiting the Wicked Workshop, we decided to spend the day at the museum.  

12.  Take a nap

13.  Visit with family and friends

14.  Take a road trip - The kids and I are headed north to The Homestead Resort for this weekend as Uncle A is getting married on Saturday and we can't wait to gain a new family member.  (The Farmer is staying behind for reason #15)

15.  Celebrate the harvest - In our opinion as farmers, it is hard to beat this time of year.  We love harvest.  Although the effects of this summer's drought are making for a less than desirable harvest, we still consider ourselves very blessed to be able to raise food for our family and yours.

I hope your family has as much fun as this pigpen checking these item of your fall break bucket list!

Halloween Craft Time at the pig pen

Not that I have a lot of spare time as a full-time working momma and a Real Farmwife of America, but in the spare time that I do have, I try to do as much as I can.  One of the organizations that I belong to is Extension Homemakers.  This is a nation-wide organization.  In our state it is facilitated by the Extension Service through Purdue University who also facilitates all 4-H activities.  

When I married The Farmer, I joined his mother's club.  (This made my Gramma very happy as she had been a very active member in the county where I grew up.)  The members of our club range from age 33 to 80 so there are a lot of good stories and memories shared by our members at our meetings and we always have fun.  Our club is very big on community service and we are always doing something to give back to others.  

Any way at our last meeting, my mother-in-law and I decided to do a craft lesson for all of members.  After seeing it on Katie at On the Banks of Squaw Creek's blog, we decided to have everyone make a toilet paper pumpkin.  I had never seen these before Katie's blog, but they are super cute and super easy to make so be sure to check it out.  You can make these pumpkins as simple or fancy as you want, so it was the perfect craft for our club.  

Now we always have some kids running around during our meeting including my 3 so we decided to take a craft for the kids to do ... wedding bell ghosts.  We found this is some magazine, but I can't remember which one so I'm sorry I can't link you to their website, but basically you need white tissue paper wedding bells, black construction paper, cheesecloth, and glue.

After assembling each bell, you cut out 2 eyes and a mouth with the black construction paper.

Then glue them to the bell.

Then take a piece of cheesecloth and run the string at the top of the bell through the cheesecloth.

Now you have the perfect Halloween ghost.

 

 BOO!

 

4th of July flip flops from the pig pen

Well as you know, our 3 kids and I loaded up on Thursday night and headed to my mom's for the 4th of July weekend.  Before we left for the weekend, Big Sissy and I decided that we should take a craft for her and 3 of my nieces to work on over the weekend.  When we saw last week's sale ad at Hobby Lobby and saw that their flip flops were 50% off, we knew what we were going to make.

4 pairs of flip flops and one yard of fabric (a half yard of each kind), we were ready to create 4th of July flip flops for the girls.  (We decided Little Sissy was too little to have a pair as she would never keep them on her feet. )  We also needed a pair of pinking shears to make sure the fabric would not fray.

Basically I just cut approximately 1 inch strips of fabric with the pinking shears being sure to pink both ends with the shears as well.  After cutting the strips, I cut the strip in half so that each original strip made two 6-8 inch strips approximately.

Then the girls with the help from their moms (my sisters) and their Grammie (my mom), who also helped me cut fabric, double knotted the fabric on the flip flop strap.  This step was repeated until the entire strap was covered.  

 My nieces went with an every other approach with the 2 materials and Big Sissy decided to do each side of the flip flop in a different color.

This was a very fun activity for all even if the mom's had to do a lot of the work for my nieces as one is 4 1/2 and the other two are 2 1/2.

It was also rather inexpensive especially since the flip flops were half off.  I got each pair of flip flops for less than an $1 and the bill for both kinds of fabric was less than $8.  So for less than $10, we had 4 pairs of custom flip flops for the 4th of July.

It's family craftime at the pig pen

Well it has been almost a week since I had a new post as I battled a chest cold last week that then moved into my head over the weekend.  Additionally, my boss spent 3 days with me last week so needless to say it was a little crazier than normal at this pig pen. 

I don't know how with a sick mom, 2 soccer games and a Sunday brunch with friends from church at our house, but we found time to do a family craft project over the weekend that I had been planning to do for awhile now.

We recently changed the paint and decor in our kids' bathroom.  We went from a color of red named Mickey Mouse's Pants to Botanical Tint and said goodbye to our Mickey Mouse decorations.  It was a tough decision as we love the Mouse at this house, but it had been 5 years and it was time for a change.

While decorating the new bathroom, I decided it would be fun to incorporate a piece of "art" by the kids.  With children from the ages of 1 to 7, I thought creating a painting with their handprints would be the easiest.  (Looking back now, easy is not a word I would use to describe the project, but it was worth it.)

The supply list was rather easy:  acrylic paints, sponge paintbrushes, paper plates, and a painting surface.  (We choose a canvas as our painting surface.)

We used our rug and shower curtain hooks for color inspiration. 

We used a sponge paint brush to apply the paint to their hands and feet as we soon learned that feet were going to be easier with Little Sissy.

 

We then just used the different colors to create a collage of their handprints and footprints and now have an original piece to hang in the bathroom.

It's not perfect, but neither is our pig pen that is exactly why I love it.