Yo-Crunch Pumpkin Pie Parfait

What can I say, I'm a "pumpkinhead!" I'm obsessed with all things pumpkin spice that come out during Autumn; I am pretty much drawn to anything in the store that has to do with pumpkins; and here is our latest find.

With only 120 calories when you use the topping (90 if you don't) this is a delightful guilt free snack. Let's face it, most fall and winter treats aren't exactly kind to our waistlines. I had been following Weight Watchers from January-September and I have successfully lost over 50lbs; October-December are my hardest months so I allow myself some slack, but if I am not careful I will put a lot of that weight back on! I'm happy to see there are healthier options out there now for some of my favorite flavors.

What is your favorite pumpkin spice goody or recipe?

Right Place, Right Time

I am so excited y'all! So we took the boys into the city today for lunch, some shopping and the science museum. And here we are on our way out when it was closing and a magazine caught my attention (they have all kinds of magazines, newspapers and flyers for people to grab on the way out) and right next to the magazine was a little postcard announcing a Knufflebunny Musical at one of the colleges here, starting this weekend and every weekend for the next month! *Squeel* We LOVE Mo Willems and my boys adore the Knufflebunny stories, so naturally I grabbed a card and of course my youngest wanted to hold onto it right away ;) and once I got into the car I got on their website to check ticket prices and lucky us they were not ridiculous! I told him I was going to buy tickets so the whole way home (over an hour) he was asking if we were going to buy the tickets now? lol I did order them once I got home and have printed them already. I cannot wait to take them! I get really excited when there is any type of event like this for my children (I've also taken them to two Max & Ruby plays.) There just aren't always many events for young children.

If you have never read the Knufflebunny books (or any Mo Willems for that matter) I encourage you to pick some up! He's a great author! :)

Let's talk tablets (and e-readers)

We live in a very electronic age, smartphones and tablets are a part of daily life. My husband and I remember when we were in high school and we actually hung out with our friends; our teenager sits around and texts his friends and talks to them on facebook. And people wonder what is wrong with the world, we've all become way too dependent on technology and not enough on one another!

With that said, I'd like to talk to you about some of our favorite electronic vices. And I'd love to hear your opinions as well!

Kindle
This was our first purchase, I bought it for my husband before his last deployment. Much easier than lugging dozens of books around! We just have a basic model and we both enjoy reading on it, as does our oldest. I much prefer the anti-glare and "book-like" look of the original kindle, it is easy on the eyes. Some people cannot get used to an e-reader and much prefer to have that crisp book in their hands. As for myself I think I prefer an e-reader; it is less bulky and so easy to bookmark your spot. There are also SO many free kindle books available on amazon! This however, does not stop us from having an abundance of books in house however. Mostly children's books but my husband and I have a good collection as well. I do love the look of a bundle of books on the shelf! I have not tried a kindle fire or any of the other models, I had considered getting myself a kindle fire until my husband said I could get myself an ipad as a present. Bingo!


ipad
I absolutely love the apps in the app store so I was ecstatic to get my hands on one! We all use it as well, my husband uses it for web browsing as do I when I do not feel like sitting at the computer. I also use it for homeschool as there are endless educational apps out there. And I also have the kindle app installed on it, as well as a couple of children's book apps for my boys. I absolutely love FarFaria, it is a monthly subscription children's book app and there are SO many stories available. Your child can read the stories himself or have them read to him; which is what my youngest does while I am doing lessons with Gavin. I highly recommend getting your hands on an ipad, you can do so much on it (you can even blog from it, there is a blogger app!) ;)


I would love to hear about your favorite tablet/e-reader and some of your favorite apps!

My Father's World

The curriculum we used for Gavin this past year was My Father's World first grade curriculum and I absolutely LOVE it! We had also purchased the preschool curriculum for Brent but will only begin to use it regularly this fall. The price is a little higher than some others out there but it is all ready for you; they send you all the books and materials you need plus a teacher's manual with the lesson plans written out for each day. It takes all the guesswork out of scheduling and planning, with our busy lives that makes this girl pretty happy! That makes one less thing to worry about and we absolutely loved the material covered. We didn't supplement very much aside from the subjects not included in the package (health, geography, foreign language.) Gavin absolutely loved reading his Bible stories every day and illustrating them in his Bible notebook. Along with the Bible stories are weekly Proverbs verses for them to memorize; Gavin can still recite most of them off the top of his head. There are even materials for music and art. The lessons are easy to follow and Gavin moved along quickly; I did eventually add some supplements for math because he does so well in this subject (he's even tested high enough to start with their level 2 of 2nd grade math) but there really is no need for extra textbooks or worksheets aside from that. I plan on ordering his second grade curriculum from them next month and will be adding the Rosetta Stone French program which comes with lesson plans from MFW when purchased through them. I cannot say enough good things about this company. They are very customer friendly and ship quickly. At this point my plan is to teach with their curriculum all the way through high school! I love that my son is getting all of his basics along with learning all about God. If you haven't checked them out yet, please do! There are also forums and several facebook groups to discuss the material and simply network with other parents who use their program.

PB2

I don't really think my blog needs an introduction post so I'm just going to jump right in with all the great stuff I want to share with you! One of the products I have recently discovered on my journey with Weight Watchers is PB2. It is a powdered peanut butter, I know  you are probably thinking YUCK! But to give you an idea of why I love it so much; it has 85% less fat than regular peanut butter and for 2tbsp of regular peanut butter on WW it is 5 points plus, for 2tbps of pb2 it is 1 point plus! Simply mix powder with a little bit of water and spread onto whatever your little heart desires. I enjoy mine on a couple slices of WW rye bread or some banana slices. You can find PB2 in most health food stores or even order it right off Amazon. If you decide to try it I would love to hear your opinion! I have not been very adventurous with it yet but I have heard of people using them in protein shakes and smoothies as well. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!