Pumpkin Pie Gelato Parfaits

 

You all know how obsessed we were with gelato this past summer. Well, we weren't ready to give it up just yet. Head over to Honest to Nod today to checkout our super yummy Pumpkin Pie Gelato Parfaits!

Kane's "Everything is Awesome" Lego 6th Birthday Party!

I have a real love/hate relationship with legos. I love that they can inspire so much creative building, but I personally cannot stand putting together kits after they break apart time and time again. So I generally stick with the "free building" sets for our kids, but then you still have the super fun problem of stepping on those little suckers when they inevitably get scattered about the house, hiding in every nook and cranny just waiting for unsuspecting bare feet. Needless to say, when Kane said he wanted to have a lego birthday party, I knew it was not going to be at our house. And we've almost always held birthday parties at our house because we consider them a great occasion to get all of our family and friends together as well.

Cameron's Favorite Fall Looks

If you've ever followed me over at A Feteful Life, you'll be familiar with my love of "faux shopping." It's where I get to scour stores for my favorite fashion finds (for me or our kids), put everything together, and ... then never buy it. I do this a lot. Because in the middle of a particular season I get bored with the kids' clothes and start looking for next season. Which means by August, I've already purchased all of their fall clothes. So when it actually is fall (now), they don't need anything else, but I still like to look at all the new fall clothes and pretend I'm shopping. Plus a friend asked when I was finally going to post on the kids' clothes, so here you go, J.

Cameron is a girly girl, but with some edge. She likes preppy and polished and sparkly, but strong. And that girl loves dresses and flats. She actually packs gym shoes to take every day and changes when she needs at school. Too funny. We have definite store favorites and I'd say that these are her three fall looks in heavy rotation -- some she has, some she wants (and will be wanting until they go on sale), but all of it she'd wear. What's your little lady into these days!?

Glam Cam -- This is Cameron's most favorite look and it's not limited to special occasions. She wears this to school, to the playground, to 6:30 am IHOP breakfasts. It's her thing. So we have lots and lots of jeweled dresses, which I buy on sale at the end of a season for the next one.

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Early Fall in Rock Creek Park

 

As I've lamented sufficiently to almost anyone who will listen, this fall, I've found myself spending a significant amount of my day driving criss-cross around town. Between having the kids at different schools, with different pick-up times, and everyone in new activities, I'm putting in a lot more time behind the wheel. On the upside, two large chunks of our commuting time are spent driving almost the entire length of the city through Rock Creek Park. No stop lights, little traffic, and pretty gorgeous scenery the whole way. It's actually been a relaxing way to start out our daily conversations and close the loop at the end of the day. And recently we've started stopping when weather and time permits at a particular point on our way home -- just to stretch our legs and breathe in a little nature (with, you know, the city still looming close by). I thought it would be fun to try and keep this up and to take seasonal snapshots of our visits. So, here's early fall.

DIY Sun Print Pop Art

As you might have noticed in our Final Summer Bucket List Update, one of our favorite art projects is making sun prints with materials we collect while out and about hiking, geocaching, and at the beach. This summer, Cam and I were working on some feather prints when I spied a pile of "guys" Kane had left nearby (we all refer to the endless number of toy policeman, ninjas, knights, cowboys, etc. generically as "guys") and thought they might be fun to try. Crisp, pop-arty images from the toys' silhouettes emerged -- I LOVED the result! And thought I'd share this super easy way to make some quick art for your kiddo's room.

Jack O'Lantern Macarons

I don't know about everyone else, but my kids are OBSESSED with everything pumpkin from Trader Joe's this season. I feel like a fall Forrest Gump at the checkout line: pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bars, pumpkin granola, pumpkin croutons, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin bagels, pumpkin cream cheese ... it's honestly a little ridiculous. But as soon as they spotted the pumpkin macarons, it was, well, macarON. Everyone ate their dinner the night we brought those home, and as we had them for dessert, the idea to make them into little Jack O'Lanterns popped into my head. It's so cute and so simple, and is taking a little edge off the kids' general requests to decorate the entire house. No need -- we have festive macarons!

Yummy Veggie Recipes

Did you know that today is World Vegetarian Day!? I have my friend Suzanne to thank for dropping that knowledge (check out her yummy vegetarian recipe over at AFL today), but it got me thinking about my kiddos and vegetables. They both eat them, but can be a little particular about sticking to a limited number. Cam will eat random vegetables -- kale (as kale chips), seaweed, and tomato soup are her favorites. Kane has been more adventurous since getting access to his new school's salad bar, which they have to hit up before going to the much more enticing bread bar -- he'll now try "leaves" (salad) and claims to love broccoli. And they are both pretty good with carrots, edamame and corn. But that's about it. So I decided to try and think outside the box a bit -- not necessarily hide vegetables from them, but try to make them more interesting, show off their colors, and make it fun. First up on my list is those veggie gummies!

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