Halloween Night

Papa Sam came for a visit. We had a ton of fun!

Carving Pumpkins

It's all about the process, not the product!

The kids were so excited that I could not get many pics.
Gracen was a "Fifties Girl".
Sam was a "Zombie Fairy".
Wes was Buzz Lightyear.
Maya (our neighbor friend) was a pirate.


Because Buzz has a broken foot, he got wagon service.

Simply Made Sunday: Halloween Treats

New to SMS go here!

This week Gracen and I made some Halloween treats for her to take to her class party. I got the idea from another blog. In fact, I believe it is one that was linked here, at Simply Made Sunday. To whomever it was ~ thank you! The class loved them! I loved them, too, because they are super easy.

Here are the ingredients:

Halloween Sprinkles
Oreos (or store brand) ~ I used the mint kind.
Green Candy Melts ~ I got them at Michael's.

To make them you just melt the candy melts in the microwave,
dip the Oreos into it,
and put on the sprinkles.
Told you it was super easy!

And they turn out super cute!

OK, now it's your turn to share some fun from your kitchen. I can't wait to see what you've done and get some fun and yummy ideas too!

Halloween Fun

This week Wes and I did some fun Halloween activities.

1. We made scented dough ornaments in Halloween shapes. We painted them, put seasonal ribbons on them, and gave them to our friends and family.



2. We did this fun alphabet game. Wes had to match the letters (visual discrimination).


3. We played this Halloween grid game from Teach Mama. For counters I used glass pebbles that I found in the craft section at the Dollar Tree. Wes loved this and we have played several times.

4. Here are the books we have been reading. We planned to do the following activities to go with them. However, this incident sidetracked us, so we didn't finish them all.

Room on the Broom

Activities and Printables:

A little booklet from The Itty-Bitty Bookworm to go with the book
A Cut and Paste Witch (Made out of Shapes)


W is for Witch Trace and Color

Go Away, Big Green Monster!

Activities and Printables:
Happy Monsters from 1+1+1=1
Big Green Monster Cupcakes - Printable Recipe

Sam is currently reading Clementine.

Clementine is having not so good a week.
- On Monday she's sent to the principal's office for cutting off Margaret's hair.
- Tuesday, Margaret's mother is mad at her.
- Wednesday, she's sent to the principal. . . again.
- Thursday, Margaret stops speaking to her.
- Friday starts with yucky eggs and gets worse.
- And by Saturday, even her mother is mad at her.
Okay, fine. Clementine is having a Disastrous week.

Gracen is having fun with Go, Dog. Go! (Beginner Books).

Whether by foot, boat, car, or unicycle, P. D. Eastman's lovable dogs demonstrate the many ways one can travel. The new text emphasizes the concept element of the original while maintaining its rhythm and charm.

For more What My Child is Reading visit Mouse Grows Mouse Learns.
For more Learning Through Love visit My Family My Forever.

Friday's Gracious Giveaways: Lee and Low Children's Books

New to FGG? Go here.

The winner of last week's FGG winner is
The Trenches of Motherhood.
Thanks to all who entered!
Good Luck this week!

You all know that Sylvan Dell is one of my very favorite publishers. Well, another one of my favorites is Lee and Low. They focus on diversity and their mission is "to meet the need for stories that all children can identify with and enjoy".

In addition to fabulous books, Lee and Low also has a website full of useful resources. They have an educator's section with pages for teachers and homeschooling families, a calendar page that offers book suggestions to correlate with particular dates and holidays, and a page of fun, educational activities that correlate to Lee and Low titles.

For this giveaway, one lucky winner will receive these three Lee and Low Books.

See what kind of mischief two Latino sisters get into when they decide to make their own tortillas—out of mud!

Kids will love this book about a multicultural version of mud pies ~ mud tortillas.


In a story told through poetry, two girls–one African American and one Latina, become friends and plan a way to honor special members of their families.

My mother passed away when I was nine years old. Therefore, I completely connected with this book. It is a wonderful story about how two friends help each other through hard times. It also demonstrates positive ways of handling grief, loss, and sadness.


After a day away from home, will Nonie reconsider her move and return to Momma, Daddy, and baby brother? Maybe . . . maybe . . . if she can make a deal about breakfast!

This book fully captures the the soul and spirit of the African American community. It will be appreciated by children and adults.

First Entry Requirement ~ Tell me about your favorite multicultural children's book.

Additional Entries:

1. Subscribe to my blog. (1 entry)

3. Follow Lee and Low on Twitter. (1 entry)

4. Become a Lee and Low Fan on Facebook. (1 entry)

*Make sure and leave a comment after this post for each entry so I can give you all the credit you deserve (and don't forget your email address too)! Winner will be announced Friday, November 5, and contacted by email. Winner has three days to contact me at contact@ittybittybookworm.com. After three days another winner will be drawn.*

~ If you have a giveaway on your blog that you'd like to share (or know of one you're posting about), link it up with "Mr. Linky" below. *Please read FGG rules for participating* ~

The First Break

It happened!

Wes broke a bone.

In his foot.



He "fell" (or, more likely, jumped) off of his bunk bed ladder.

This is how my daring little one will look for the next three weeks.

They Really DO Love Each Other

This is the birthday card that Sam made for Gracen.

The Front

The Inside

The Back

Warms my heart!

For more WW visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Gracen's Littlest Pet Shop Birthday Party

Saturday was Gracen's long-awaited birthday party. Although, it rained cats and dogs and we had to play all of the games inside, everyone still seemed to have a good time.

The Outfit
Gracen absolutely loves this outfit.
Yes, of course, that is an LPS on the shirt. They all over the skirt, as well.
This custom, hand-made outfit from Lillian's Closet
was the perfect birthday party outfit.
It made Gracen feel so special.
She kept spinning in circles in front of our full length mirror
because she loves how the skirt twirls.

The Bling
This Petunia the Piglet LPS neckalce was made by Kara Creates.
It is an actual LPS figurine on a ball chain necklace.
The girls at the party loved it and all had to try it on.

A better picture!
So cute!



The Activities Everyone adopted one of these adorable little puppies.

The girls decorated little boxes to create houses for their puppies.

I helped the girls make collars and leashes out of colored Duct tape.
They decorated them with Sharpies.


An LPS mask


The Party Favors
Puppy Chow
Go *here* to print the recipe and tag.

We also included little LPS notepads, keychains, and magnets
from Tracie76 Photography.
They were a huge hit.

The Cupcakes

These beautiful cupcakes were from Bredenbeck's Bakery of Philadelphia.
The girls were so excited about how many sprinkles were on them.
The cake was lemony and the icing was smooth and creamy.
Pure perfection!


The Wish

The Gifts
(among many)

The LPS Adoption Center (Thanks Me-Ma!)


An LPS Twirly Skirt
(At least that is what Gracen calls it.)
She loves this handmade skirt from Little Ichigo.



For more information on the planning of this party,
ordering/purchasing info, and printables ~ go here.

Now I have to start planning Samantha's birthday party.
She wants to have a "Spa Night" theme.
Any suggestions?

Simply Made Sunday: Puppy Chow

New to SMS go here!

For Gracen's LPS birthday party, we made Puppy Chow to put in her party favor bags. It is super simple, and so yummy!

Our Ingredients


Nine cups of corn chex in a large mixing bowl


In a separate bowl ~
1 cup of chocolate chips


1/2 cup of peanut butter


1/2 stick of butter
Microwave for 45 sec.- 1min.
Stir in 1tsp vanilla.


Mix and pour over corn chex.
Stir to coat the chex.


Pour 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar into a large zip-loc bag.
Add the chocolatey chex.
Shake until coated.


Yum!

Here is a printable recipe and the tags that I made to attach to the bags of puppy chow.
Puppy Chow

OK, now it's your turn to share some fun from your kitchen. I can't wait to see what you've done and get some fun and yummy ideas too!