Kate and I made a cute Thanksgiving place mat, but you could use these directions to make one for any holiday or season!

Here are the materials we used:

1. three pieces 9" x 12" construction paper (any color)
2. self adhesive letter stickers
3. feathers
4. google eyes
5. markers
6. leaf paper punch
7. white school glue or glue stick

We began by talking about Thanksgiving and some of the symbols you see around this holiday. We decided to make red, yellow and orange leaves...

jamie

Kate and I have been reading some books about Fall and I wanted to share some with you. I try to keep a small basket filled with seasonal books in her playroom, so I can change up the titles we read every few weeks.

First, she loves Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson with illustrations by Tiphanie Beeke (Greenwillow Books, 2006.) Fletcher the...

jamie

Cat Nights by Jane Manning (Greenwillow Books, 2008) is a perfect book to read during Halloween week. The story is about a young witch named Felicity (who is turning 263!) who is really excited about her birthday this year. This is the year that she will be able to grow warts, get those really curly shoes, and most importantly turn herself into a CAT!

Felicity LOVES being a kitty. In fact, she may be willing to permanently change into one. Her witch relatives (three cousins who are...

jamie

This weekend Kate, her grammie, grandpa and I went to the Crayola Factory at Two Rivers Landing in Easton, PA. The trip took a little over an hour for us each way. It was worth the ride, though.

For a Saturday, the place was relatively empty. I was expecting a mob scene, but I soon realized there weren't too many people visiting. (Probably due to the fact that...

jamie

One of the newest Halloween books out there has to be Mary Engelbreits's Queen of Halloween. (HarperCollins, 2008.) This book is perfect for young children who may be feeling anxious about the upcoming holiday of Halloween. (I know my 3 1/2 year old loves Halloween, but she is beginning to ask if ghosts and witches are real, so a bit of fear seems to be creeping into the holiday for her.)

Decked out in their finest costumes, Ann Estelle and her friend, Michael, go trick-or-treating...

jamie