Themes and Plans for October

I think October is my favorite month. There is a crispness to the air, but a sweater is enough to keep you warm, and everybody is back in the school routine, and there is still time to make presents for Christmas. Plus, I love all the colors of Autumn – the oranges, deep reds, browns, dark greens and the smells – apples, pumpkins and berries.


In the Moon of the Falling Leaves

Joseph Bruchac
I was born in the Moon of Falling Leaves,
that time when summer’s harvest
falls from every maple tree,
painting the forest trails
golden as sunlight
and crimson as Great Bear’s blood.

Each October brings back the scent
of fires burning on the hills,
the first etchings of frost
on my bedroom windows,
the departing wings
of a thousand geese
cutting the clear cold sky.

There is no time closer to my heart,
than this season of changes
when the balance tips between
darkness and light,
when the last flowers
nod in our garden,
when so many things
are about to end,
so many about to begin.

So here are our themes and plans for October (from the Latin word octo, meaning “eight”. October was the 8th month of the Roman calendar.):

• Birthstone - Opal
• Flower of the month - Marigold
• The full moon of October is the Full Hunter’s Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can easily see fox and the animals which have come out to glean.

Nature:

• withered cornfields
• pumpkins on the vine
• chrysanthemums in gold, russet and magenta
• acorns underfoot
• National Squirrel Awareness Week (7-13)
• geese flying in V's
• The Full Hunter's Moon (26)
• falling leaves
• the first frost
• Weather Report: On October 3, 1912, the longest dry spell of record in the U.S. began as Bagdad, California, went 767 days without a drop of rain

Food:

• National Taco Day (4)
• National Dessert Day (9)
• World Food Day (16)
• National Chocolate Cupcake Day (18)
• National Nut Day (22)
• National Potato Day (27)
• National Candy Corn Day (30)
• casseroles
• crockpot meals
• chili and cornbread
• baked beans, brown bread and ham
• pumpkin soup
• pumpkin bread
• maple leaf cookies
• popcorn balls
• cinnamon sugar toast
• homemade pretzels
• hot apple cider
• apple butter
• apple crisp
• baked apples
• caramel apples
• cider donuts
• winter squash soup
  

Home & Garden:

• deep clean of family room
• stock up on baking essentials
• rotate mattresses
• change over to flannel bedding
• clean out and restock medicine chest
• put up storm windows
• rake and clean out garden beds
• store outdoor toys and furniture
• organize board games and puzzles
• buy Christmas stamps
• continue working on Christmas gifts
• organize Christmas cards
  

Life:

• Columbus Day (13)
• All Hallow's Eve (31)
• The World Series
• Football games

Stories:

• Nuts to You!
• The Little Scarecrow Boy
• The Night The Scarecrow Walked
• I Spy A Pumpkin
• The Pumpkin Book
• Pumpkin Soup
• Apples and Pumpkins
• Chipmunk at Holow Tree Lane
• Every Autumn Comes the Bear
• Around the Year
• A Picnic In October

Field Trips:

• an autumn hike on the Trail
• Autumnal Festival at the Horticulture Center (4)
• Fire Station (17
• Autumnal Festival at the Nature Center (18)
• Pumpkin Patch (24)

Crafts/activities:

• twig frames
• leaf rubbing
• acorn hunting
• leaf crafts
• homemade seed and suet cakes
• roasting pumpkin seeds
• carving pumpkins

I spent money over the weekend

I tried to be frugal, and I was, sort of, but I always have a sense of guilt and regret when I get home from a day full of shopping. I try to go to the thrift store/dollar store/discount store, etc. only once a month, and only if I actually need things. I always buy things that aren't on my list anyway, so even though I'm paying less than full price usually, going to any store is a dangerous place for me to go when I don't need anything.

(I'll try and get some pictures up soon, but for now, I'll just tell you about my purchases)

Goodwill:

• Two ballerina costumes for the girls' for Halloween. $2.00
• 8 cloth napkins $4.00
• 2 cloth placemats $1.00
• Trinket box $ 0.50
• Glass Leaf $0.50
• Three baskets $3.00
• Jean skirt (for me, I almost never buy clothes for myself) $2.00
• Black dress pants (for me) $2.00
• Born handcrafted leather shoes, in GREAT condition $2 (here they are at the new price - http://www.onlineshoes.com/productpage.asp?gen=w&pcid=123984. These are SO comfortable.)
• Amalfi loafers, in GREAT condition $2 (here they are with the new price - http://zeta.zappos.com/product/7475265/color/27305. I like well-made shoes, but I've never spent more than $70 EVER on a pair of shoes, and I prefer to spend more like $50, and wear them to death)
• Only Hearts Doll $0.50
• Candle Snuffer $1.00
• Magnetic strip with magnets from IKEA $1.00
• Plaid skirt for Jelly Bean $3
• Pink denim jacket for Jelly Bean $2
• 3 long-sleeve shirts for Flower $8

Office Depot:
(School Supplies)

• Card Stock $1o.oo
• Printer Paper $7.50
• Crayons $2.00
• Colored Pencils $2.00
• Markers $2.00

School Shop:

• Easel Paper $5.00
• Easel Pad $5.00
• 2 Geo Boards $7.00
• 3 Eyedroppers $5.00
• Small pumpkins die-cuts $2.00
• Medium pumpkin die cuts $2.00
• Large pumpkin die cuts $2.00
• Fall bulletin board border $3.00

TJ Maxx:

• Sequence Cards $5.00
• Opposite Cards $5.00
• Tying Shoe $8.00

Scrapbook Store:

• Paper to make die-cuts for alphabet for preschool $7

I also had to go to the grocery store TWICE (I hate it when I don't get everything the first time around). It was $30 each time, and I still haven't done our monthly grocery run. I'm strongly considering just living off our food storage this month instead and filling in with some produce, milk and eggs.

I've been a bad blogger

we've been so busy lately with Flower and Super's birthday at the end of September and one last trip to the lake and preschool and well, just life. But I promise that I'll start to get caught up this weekend. Meanwhile, I hope you are all enjoying Autumn as much as I am!

So in honor of Apple Dumpling Day, my sister and I made Apple Dumplings yesterday

See this post (under Food) for why we were celebrating Apple Dumpling Day.

First, we went over to the church and picked apples off the trees at the church. I JUST noticed on Saturday that there were even apples on the trees at church, and on Monday, my sister asked if we wanted to go over there to pick apples. We went out there and it was so much fun. We got out there about 6 pm, and picked apples for a little while, and we found a frisbee and the kids and the dads threw that around for a little while while my sister and I just chatted. There was a cool breeze in the air, and my kids all had hooded sweatshirts on, and the smell, and the giggling, and just being there was just perfect for a late summer night.

Yesterday, my sister came over around 2 pm to help me peel the apples. We found this recipe for Apple Dumplings, but we didn't have the recipe upstairs where we were peeling the apples, so we ended up peeling 16+ apples each because we were each going to make a double recipe and we thought that the recipes said 8 apples, not 8 slices. Whoops!

It was sort of an adventure because my sister had her baby there, who is 3 months old, and her 4 year old and I had the baby that I watch there, who is 4 months old, and then Super and the two other kids that I watch woke up from nap at 2:30, and then Jelly Bean, and my sister's two other kids came here after school at 3 pm, and between taking care of all the children, it took us until 4 pm to get the apples sliced and the pans loaded. I put the leftover slices in the dehydrator, so they didn't go to waste.

I put the two pans (we decided to just make a batch for each of our families, so we didn't end up doubling the recipe for each of us.) in my oven, and she took her kids and went home and ate dinner at their house, and we had dinner at our house, and then they came back over at 6:30 for dessert.

I took one taste, and seriously about fainted. It was SOOOOOOOOO good. I ate a whole piece because it was SOOOOOOOOOOOO good, but I had a tremendous belly ache afterwards. Which was totally worth it, but I think I will stop after a half a piece next time. Everyone agreed that it was one of the best things that they have ever had.

We will definitely be celebrating this holiday next year, and I anticipate that we will have Apple Dumplings a couple of more times during Autumn. Anybody else celebrate the day? If not, go ahead and celebrate it this week. The recipe is easy, and the results are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good (did I mention that already?)

More from Laura

From "A Bouquet of Flowers"

The little white daisies with their hearts of gold grew thickly along the path where we walked to Sunday School. Father and sister and I used to walk the 2 1/2 miles every Sunday morning. The horses had worked hard all week and must rest this one day so with Father and Sister Mary I walked to the church thru the beauties of the sunny spring Sundays. I have forgotten what I was taught on those days also. I was only a little girl, you know. But I can still plainly see the grass and the trees and the path winding ahead, flecked with sunshine and shadow and the beautiful golden-hearted daisies scattered all along the way.

Ah well! That was years ago and there have been so many changes since then that it would seem such simple things should be forgotten, but at the long last I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.

Some more September lists (m)

Food Storage Plan for September (Taken from The Idea Door)

Week 1 Sugars: Replenish your supply from canning, also powered and brown sugar
Week 2 Canned chicken.
Week 3 Dry beans, peas, rice, and legumes
Week 4 Sweeteners, Honey, Corn Syrup, Molasses, maple syrup etc

Provident Living things that I'm working on in September:

• Literacy and Education: Continue Reading Plan
• Career Development: Find a mentor in my area of interest
• Resource Managment: Read a book/article about financial planning
• Home Production: Collect extra fuel for gas grill
• Health: Everyone goes to the dentist
• Social-Emotional Strength: Read about parenting

Simplifying My House in September:
Continue working on drawers and cupboards in kitchen

Themes for September

I saw this idea at By Sun and Candlelight, and I used many of her ideas, and then added my own to suit our family. (And yes, I know . . . it's already half way through September. Oh well. I'll get October's themes up at the beginning of the month, all right?) I'm sure I won't get to all of these ideas, but it is nice to be able to have choices.

Themes for September

• Birthstone - Sapphire, for wisdom
• Flower of the month - Aster, for memories
• The full moon of September is the Wine Moon, symbolic of grape and fruit harvest, protection, confidence, strength, and life's blood. It is also known as the Harvest Moon

Nature: Lingering summer, a first taste of fall ...

• goldenrod ~ appearing alongside the road, a sure sign of summer's end
• seeds ~ in so many forms - bristles, burrs, whirring helicopters, bursting wildflowers
• milkweed pods ~ soft white fluff floating by
• apples ~ ripe in the orchard at last
• honey ~ It's National Honey Month!
• bees ~ busily gathering the last bits of summer
• cool misty mornings, hot afternoons ...
• a first tinge of color in the foliage
• at the doorstep: chrysanthemums, cornstalks, and kale
• Michaelmas daisies ~ tiny wild asters at the end of the month
• The Full Harvest Moon (15)
• Visit Autumn on the Prarie at Nachusa Grasslands (20) to see fame flower, Hill’s thistle, kittentails and forked aster. It is also home to the gorgone checkerspot butterfly, grasshopper sparrows, dickcissels, and Henslow’s sparrows, badgers and other wildlife.
• The Autumnal Equinox (22)

Food:

• applesauce ~ homemade, with just a touch of cinnamon
• granola ~ homemade, for cereal or bars
• blackberry jam tarts ~ before Michaelmas, not after
• baked apples ~ a cozy breakfast on a chilly fall morn
• pies filled with the last fruits of the season
• National Cherry Popover Day (1)
• National Date Nut Bread Day (8)
• National Hot Cross Bun Day (11)
• International Chocolate Day (13)
• National Apple Dumpling Day (17)
• National Pancake Day (26)
• National Mulled Cider Day (30)
  

Home:

• clean the kitchen thoroughly (well ahead of holiday baking)
• organize art materials
• work on September food storage items
• buy new shoes, and make slippers and pajamas for the fall
• put fall/winter clothes in closets/drawers and pack up spring/summer clothes
• review chores
• work on homemade Christmas gifts
• decorate the home with colors of the harvest: Orange, Dark Red, Yellow, Indigo, and Brown
• review harvest and decide what to plant for next year
• move fall in season produce lists to front in food management journal
• reflect on life and the “seeds” of thoughts/actions that you “planted” in the Spring

Family Life:

• Labor Day (1)
• Gramma Susan’s Birthday (1)
• Aunt Nancy’s Birthday (2)
• New academic year kicks off! (4)
• New NFL season kicks off - Go Bears! (7)
• Grandparents Day (9)
• Lisa’s Birthday (18)
• Flower’s Birthday (22)
• Super’s Birthday (26)
• Michaelmas (29)

Stories: (Themes ~ harvest, seeds, bees, apples)

• Hello, Harvest Moon!
• The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive
• The Life and Times of the Apple
• Apple Picking Time
• Johnny Appleseed

Crafts/activities:

• make leaf crowns and name the Autumn King!
• make a Harvest Queen
• dry apples and hang on a string
• tell apple stories (find the stars inside)
• plant spring bulbs in the garden
• make up a fresh batch of homemade play dough
• make blackberry jam
• bake homemade pretzels
• make harvest “stone” soup