What a fun week!  So many great pumpkin ideas and activities were shared on the Discover & Explore linky — it was really hard to choose which to feature.

So I thought I would share a little bit of everything pumpkin — crafts, activities, art, learning and a great recipe too!

Today I need to tell you a story.

It’s all about how sometimes life can move too quickly and you may miss one of those “this is important — PAY ATTENTION” moments.

They don’t all scream out at you like that, otherwise we wouldn’t overlook them, right.

But this was a biggie — and it had an impact on my child’s health.

Sometimes science and math can seem to be foreign concepts to our kids. 

It’s so important to give them hands-on opportunities to learn these subjects.  And why not also get them some time outdoors too as you explore the concepts too!

  We really enjoy using natural items to create and craft, especially in the fall.  And of course, if you’re using items from nature for a project, you should really hang out outdoors to DO the project! There were some wonderful Outdoor Nature Crafts shared at last week’s Discover & Explore the Forest linky — …

All I can think of while I write this post is “Old McDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o” — funny how music always creeps in on you and gets stuck in your head 🙂

Last week’s Discover & Explore Fun on the Farm linky turned up some really fun crafts that can be paired with great kids books for some ‘hi-ho the dairy-o’ fun (sorry, just couldn’t resist). 

And we’ve included affiliate links if you’d like to check out the details on any of the books too!

We had so many fun ideas for learning letters and numbers at the Discover & Explore ABCs & 123s linky last week! 

Learning letters and numbers is a long process for kids and one that requires us to introduce a variety of activities to keep them engaged.

During our vacation to the Black Hills & Badlands of South Dakota, we decided to enjoy some of the sights in Rapid City. 

The Black Hills/Badlands area is very expansive and Rapid City is the closest city to Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore. 

Don’t you just love when you can reuse or upcycle something for the kids! 

We needed a back-up backpack for the year {you know, for the days that the regular one gets left at school or to use as a bag for afterschool activities}.

I really didn’t want to purchase another one since we have so many old ones from previous years.  But the issue is many of the older ones have ‘little kids’ pictures on the front or are pretty worn out. 

Welcome to our End of Summer Keep the Kids Reading giveaway! 

Our wonderful hosts – Mother Daughter Book Reviews and Youth Literature Reviews – have coordinated more than 60+ blogs that love reading & kids lit for an awesome way to win great books for your home library!

The kids are back at school and that means lots of catching up to do once they head in the door each afternoon.

I like to have some snacks for them after school (food always seems to increase the details I get about their day 😉 but I’m a big one for healthy eating.