Day: October 30, 2020

Halloween Countdown Day 30: Reverse Trick or Treat

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We’ve reached the penultimate day in our month-long countdown to Halloween! That meant it was time to teach the kids about giving back this year, not just taking all the treats for themselves.

This is a project we actually started two weeks ago. Since Travis loves animals, we decided to host a cat food donation drive (get it, for black cats in honor of Halloween?), but truly you can pick any charity or cause and start collecting donations toward it.

We printed up a flyer and distributed it in Travis’s grade at school.

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Within one day, the donations started pouring in. His teacher even made a donation bin decorated to look like a black cat!

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We were overwhelmed by his schoolmates’ generosity. In ten days, Travis collected 172 cans of cat food (plus one huge jar of treats!).

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Now all we needed to do was deliver. We bagged the cat food (while listening to our favorite spooky tunes of course), turning it into a whole family affair.

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The next afternoon, we drove over to make the delivery. The sign on each bag read Happy Halloween to the cats!

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This activity was so purr-fectly rewarding that we might just make it an annual event.

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Which organization would you reverse trick-or-treat? Please share in the comments!

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Pumpkin Risotto

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Pumpkin Risotto

If you’re looking for new pumpkin recipes to add to your seasonal repertoire, this savory recipe is a nice alternative to sweet pumpkin desserts.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon Earth Balance butter
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 1 minced garlic clove
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 cup Arborio rice
  • 3 cups vegetable broth
  1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a 3-quart casserole dish over medium heat. Add the sage and garlic; cook for 1 minute.
  2. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover, transfer to the oven, and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.
  3. Stir before serving!

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Birthday Memory Book

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Veronika’s birthday has come and gone, so we thought it would be fun to put together a memory scrapbook. Not only is this a perfect art activity for toddlers (markers! glue! glitter!), but you’ll have a wonderful keepsake at the end.

I put together several sheets of construction paper and folded in the center to make a crease. Together, Veronika and I went through all her cards and photos from the day and we taped them into the book.

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She loved looking back at party images. “There’s the sheep!” she said, remembering her tractor-themed tour at a local farm.

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Now it was time to decorate each page. Don’t worry about making this scrapbook look professional; messiness is encouraged here!

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Veronika then wanted to dribble glue all over the cover. “More glue!” she kept insisting.

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When we had a nice big goopy layer, we sprinkled glitter on top. Shake off any excess and let dry.

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A few more stickers and scribbles inside completed the book.

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I love knowing that she can leaf through this booklet for fun memories in the years to come.

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