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Fall at Freshly Chewed

Autumn is upon us and it's time to snuggle under our favorite quilt, hold a cup of warm cocoa and smell your favorite fall scented candle...oh and read a good book! The ladies here at Freshly Chewed have comprised a fun fall list of children's books we like to read this time of year with our little ones. We've also shared our top ten favorite autumn comforts and traditions.

Our Favorite Books 

1. The Bear Snores On by Jane Chapman

2. The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

3. The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt and Tony DiTerlizzi

4. If You Sailed on the Mayflower by Anne McGovern

5. Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

6.Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgins

7. The Hallowiener by Dave Pilkey

8. Franklin's Neighborhood by Paulette Burgeois

9. Move Over Rover by Karen Beaumont

10. Leaves by David Ezra Stein

Can you smell the smells of autumn? Can you feel the crisp autumn air? Can you see the bluest blue sky go on for miles?  Can you dig that candy corn out of your teeth once more? Oh, how we love to experience autumn. Count it a blessing from God for every year you get to spend soaking in the sites, smells and tastes of autumn and have fun doing all those things you do this time each year. Here's our top 10 favorite traditions or "to do's".

Fall is a very cozy time and everyone has their comforts. Here's our top ten list for the experiences that mean autumn comfort to us. Enjoy.

Our Fall Comforts

1. brewing  our "kitchen scent"- Kristi's kitchen scent brew consists of two cinnamon sticks, one teaspoon of whole cloves, peel of an orange, peel of an apple, I tablespoon lemon juice and enough water to cover the mixture as it simmers on the stove or in a small crock pot.
2. listening to  thanksgiving music that came with the book written by Barbara Rainer titled, "Thanksgiving: A time to Remember".
3. a warm cup of chamomile tea
4. pumpkin pie!
5. pecan pie!
6. a quilt and a good book on a rainy Fall day
7. a soft sweater
8. a fireside evening
9. snuggling in the hammock under a fleece blanket with Hubby
10. the smell of a camp fire

We're glad to share our fall favorites with you and...
We hope we've helped you get in the mood for fall!  We hope you and your family enjoy the blessings of this autumn season!


The Ladies at Freshly Chewed
 

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Moving a Family

We've had some really big changes around here lately.  We moved to a new town! We are just far enough away from our old town to be completely removed from all the old familiar places and faces.  We miss all those familiarities and especially all of our everyday relationships with friends. 

Teaching Kids About Communities and How They Are the Same and Different

However, we aren't in a completely uncharted land.  We have family immediately around us now.  My husband and I met, dated and got engaged here.  We were married not too far from here.  And we actually lived and worked here for a few months before we had children.  We've never lived here long enough to cut our own path in the community.  We are finding a new church, new friends and a new homeschool community.  As I was gathering up my “to call” list that comes with moving, I realized it was a great opportunity to show my kids all the similarities in communities.  

We had to find a new Classical Conversations group, a new pediatrician, a new grocery store, new parks and a new hair stylist just to name a few. While driving around our new town with the kids, I've pointed out that there are still churches, firefighters, police officers and hospitals.  There are a lot of unknowns when you move, but there are also so many things that are the same.  The easiest thing to find after we moved was a homeschool group.  My favorite thing about Classical Conversations lately is that there is a likely a group nearby anywhere you might move in the country.  We slipped right into the local group the day after we moved and it was something familiar and comfortable for my kids.  They felt like they belonged almost immediately because everything is the same, except the people.  We also were able to put Nate right into a soccer team here, and he loves it.  Mae has started ballet at a new studio and we have also found a great piano teacher not too far from our new house.
  
So, we aren't wasting any time “plugging in” at our new location.  That's huge when you make a move.  You do need some time to adjust, but don't wait too long to bring some normal back into the family life.  It's important to get back to business as usual.  Obviously there's a little bit of sadness that comes with moving, because you miss the comforts of “home”.  But I've noticed that the kids played together so much better right after the move.  It's like their bond grew stronger because they knew that everything else was changing, but our family was staying the same.  The other day we happened to be reading the story of the hidden treasure from Matthew 13, and it gave me a chance to remind the kids that the most important part of life never changes.  I told them that no matter what we do or where we go, our treasure stays the same.  Our treasure is our home in heaven with the Lord.  That is something that can never change, and we can never move away from God's love or the love of our family.  God is constant, never-changing and always loving.



So, on the practical side of the move.  I felt like a huge “sticks and sand” hypocrite when I noticed how many boxes it was taking to pack up our school supplies (mostly books).  I definitely use more than a stick and some sand when I teach my kids, but I like to think that if I had to teach them on a deserted island with only sand and a stick that I could probably do it.  Maybe I should try that for a week...

 Practical Adjustments: Charting out the Grocery Store Meal Planning

Also practically speaking, one of the things that had to give during the whole moving process was my meal planning and preparation.  I became really unorganized with our meals. I took about a two week sabbatical from any kind of formal cooking.  My husband even had to mention to me that maybe I should plan more meals at home since he noticed we were eating out a lot more.  When I actually was making meals at home, I was  reverting back to convenience foods that I had banned from our diets long ago.  Things like toaster strudels, capri-suns and bagel bites.  We also live really, really close to the best Chinese place in town making it really tempting to order take-out.  Ugh, my stomach is churning just thinking about all the junk we were eating.  Anyway, I used a really useful printable to help me departmentalize my grocery list.  Since we shop at a different (and larger) grocery store now, it was becoming challenging not to back-track through for forgotten items.  The shopping trips were taking way too long and I needed some organization.  My usual plan is to stay on the outer aisles of the grocery store, but the Kroger we shop at now is a “Super Kroger”.  So everything is laid out a lot different making even that simple route challenging.  I also started making a written meal plan for three meals a day for seven days a week.  As a stay at home mom, I'm in charge of every meal, every beverage and every snack.  We go through a lot of groceries, and two out of three of my kids are gong through major growth spurts right now.  So, there has to be a plan and a loaded grocery list when I venture to the grocery store.  Next week, I'm going to attempt to start making and baking snacks and breads again.

We've been in our new place for about three weeks now.  Just last night I was sitting with Jacob while he had *ahem* cereal for dinner.  We were sitting quietly for a few minutes then he looked up at me and stated, “This my house.”  I said, “Yeah, buddy.  This is your house now.”  I guess he thought we were on vacation at first.  I do seem to recall him asking about the beach when we first moved into the new house.  Poor little guy.  It makes me a little sad knowing he won't remember the home we brought him to when he was first born.  But my other kids won't remember that either, we brought each baby home to a different house.  Hopefully all the kids will know the house we build, as their childhood home for the rest of their lives.  That is comforting to me.  Packing up and moving one more time isn't quite as comforting.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

 

Links and Ideas for Helping Families and Children Adjust to a Move

 

Preparing Your Child for A Move 

My New Town: Create a picture book of your new home and the places you explore in the first weeks in your new town. This helps gets kids excited about the new adventure their life is taking and will help them feel like an active part of the move instead of a passive victim. 

Community Map: Create a community map using construction paper, real photos or illustrations of places in the new community to help kids get orientated about their surroundings. This will create comfort. 

Top Books to for Kids Who Are Moving
 

These are the Same: Talk to your children about the ways their new home and community is the same as the previous one and some ways it is better. Point out material items in the home that are still with them. Encourage them daily by reminding them you love them and that God is the same everywhere too. 

Community Helpers: If you have younger children, help them understand the helpers he or she will see and visit in the community to which you move. Doing a community helpers activity packet is a fun way to get them excited about their new home. 
 
Grocery Store Planner  for Mom : My Paper Brain featured earlier on Freshly Chewed 




What are some ways you have helped your family with the adjustment of moving?