8 Halloween/Fall Traditions that I Have With My Kids

Tradition, it reminds me one of my favorite movies of all time "Fiddler On The Roof". Tradition is so important, its the Thing we reminisce on when we are older and the thing that our kids will remember and talk about as adults too. For me its very important to bring some of the traditions I grew up with into my family as well as create some new traditions of our own. I will be sharing with you some of the traditions we have created and continued to share with our kids for this Fall/Halloween season and come Dec. I will write a post of our Winter/Christmas Traditions.


        OUR TRADITIONS:

  1) Go to a Pumpkin patch/hay ride. I remember as a young child going to the pumpkin patch with my mom and dad. My mom would always say "Only pick a pumpkin you can hold." Looking back now what I remember most is how much effort I put into getting the BIGGEST pumpkin I could but one that was still light enough to still hold. It makes me smile thinking about those times and the ones I have created with my, now 2 year old and 3 year old kiddos.

  2) Make Homemade caramel Apples (Recipes to follow in another post)

  3) Carve Pumpkins. Man did we make a mess doing this as a child oh but what fun...This year since my kids are still little we decided to decorate our pumpkins using Halloween stickers and colored makers. It was still a ton of fun. I love watching how creative my kids can be.

  4) Make my Great Grandmothers Pumpkin cookie recipe ( Recipe to follow)

  5)  Drink Apple Cider

  6) Attend Eat n Treat at church and dress up for Halloween. When I was younger we went door to door for our Halloween Fun and Candy, but as mom with my own Family, my husband and I have decided to Attend our churches Eat n' Treat. Its a ton of fun and everyone participates. People bring soup and chili and others  volunteer to decorate rooms and give out candy. We brought Cheddar Broccoli soup this year

  7) Have a campfire with some S'mores and have some homemade cocoa to warm up with (I have an amazing cocoa recipe, I will share with you also in another post.)

  8)  Collect Leaves on a nature walk, to make fall pictures with. I loved doing this with my kiddos this this fall season. They learned about different colors and shapes of leaves and then made their daddy some leaf pictures.
    


 Well thats all Ya'll --Happy Fall

My Beautiful view this morning after the rain storm last night

My Tips For Grocery Shopping On A Budget

 

 

  As a Low income family of 4, staying on a budget for food is essential. I have tried and failed many a time, but I think I finally have an effective system, which I will now pass onto you. As a mommy with a very busy schedule I know the temptations of fast food, but I am hear to tell you NO MORE! It has probably been about 6 months now since being strongly convicted not only by the amount of money that we were wasted in buying fast food but the mentality and example I was teaching my kids. I found that anytime I went out all my kids would think about or ask for was chicken nugget and french fries. What had I taught my kids? Well for one they started becoming very selective eaters and second I was aiding my kids into becoming obese adults. Since my epiphany I have created a new system for grocery shopping and some helpful tips for staying on Budget.


   1) Create a Food Budget. Mine for our family of 4 is $200 a month

   2) Create a Monthly meal plan Calender. I Bought a Giant $4 Calendar from Walmart and attached magnets to the back of it a stuck it to our Refrigerator for everyone to view. This allows my Husband and I to be on the same page as far as events going on in our life as well as keep me on track and aware of what our daily meal plan is going to be.

   3) Go into the grocery store with a WRITTEN grocery list and stick to it!

   4) You need to Create constants ei: Friday Nights are always Pizza Night, Mondays are meatless Monday etc.

   5) Design your Meal plan to keep you and your family intrigued in what the are eating. If you always eating the same old same then you and your family will both get bored with what you are making and it increases the likely hood of you grabbing fast food and spending more then budgeted. 

  6) Keep goodies/snacks in the car. This keeps you from being tempted to stop as you pass one food place to anther on the road.

  7) Make Things from scratch. Its always better for you and cheaper, and you tend to get more for money.

   8) Don't be afraid to make larger amounts of food at a time. You can always just freeze leftovers or use them for lunches.

   9) Last but not least Send your hubby/yourself off with breakfast and lunch. I can not tell you how important it is for our bodies to have breakfast it kick starts our metabolism and keeps you from starving and over doing it at lunch time, when your most likely to go out to eat and spend unnecessary money.