Crazy Coincidence Between the Kids, Cats and Canines

It took me up until a few weeks ago to make this connection, but the kids, cats and dogs all have names that start with either 'B' or 'M'!  It's a nice even combination of 'B' and 'M' names too and it was totally unplanned!  Actually all the kids and animals were named by either Rich, me or the kids.  Here's the breakdown of the names and their origins:

Kids:
*Morgan: named pimarily by me as it's a name that I always liked.
*Blake: the only boy name Rich and I could agree on.

Dogs:
*Bear: named by Rich
*Mattie: named by me

Cats:
*Busch: named by Rich
*Mittens: named by Morgan

See!  All purely a coincidence...or evidence that we all think alike? ;-)

Making Gardening Fun for Kids: Plant Pumpkins!

Pumpkins are such an easy seed to plant and they make for one of the most fun fruits come fall!  Over the years, my kids have enjoyed pumpkins in several ways which I want to share with you:

1. Numerous Varieties:  Pumpkins come in all sorts of varieties.  Some are tiny, like the Jack-Be-Little, which any child would enjoy picking.  There are more medium sized ones, which are better for pie pumpkins, or for just general culinary enjoyment.  And then there are the huge pumpkins, the Jack O' Lanterns, that are great for carving!  They also come in different colors and shapes.  Let the kids help decide what to plant or plant a different kind each year!

2.  Watch them grow:  Kids will love watching for the first sign of a pumpkin growing on the vines.  Then they'll love counting how many they can find.  At one point they'll ask why the pumpkins are green and anxiously watch each day to see if they're turning orange.  During that time you'll hear "Look how BIG this one is!"  Such simple joys! ;-)

3. Harvest as a family:  Harvesting the pumpkins makes for some great family time that the kids will love and never forget!  Use a wagon to help gather them all.  The kids will love pulling the wagon around!  Gathering pumpkins makes for some great photo ops too!  Be sure to take A LOT of pictures!  Arrange the pumpkins how you like and get some nice fall photos of the kids.

 

4. Decorate:  Either carve the pumpkins, decorate them with push-pins or paint them.  Any one of those ways will be a fun time with the kids.  Also, let them help use the pumpkins to decorate the house or a fall garden!  They'll love taking part in making the house and yard beautiful for fall.



 

5: Make pumpkin treats: I could go on and on about yummy pumpkin treats to make, but I'll keep it short.  Some favorites in our home are pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin coconut bread and pumpkin upside-down cake.  There are all sorts of pumpkin recipes to try, so have fun baking and let the kids help! The seeds also make for a wonderful healthy snack that I'm sure many kids would enjoy...just not mine :-/

 

This is the second installment of my "Making Gardening Fun for Kids" series.  Click here to visit my first post.

Making Gardening Fun for Kids

Spring has sprung!  Although it doesn't feel like it here in Michigan, Spring is well under way and it has me thinking about gardening.  My love for gardening developed from all the time spent gardening with my mom when I was little and now I have the opportunity to pass that on to my kiddos.

Over the past couple years, since the kids have been old enough to help out in the garden, we've found some fun ways for them to help out that I'd like to share...

Fun Ideas for Kids in the Garden:

1. Have the kids help plant!  Kids love to play in the dirt, so let them!  Show them how to dig the holes for each plant and how to gently pack the dirt around them.  Have them help plant seeds too!  They'll learn what an inch (or 3 or 6 inches) looks like and just generally learn about spacing.  Also, it's pretty cool to see the tiny plants pop out of the ground later and know that they helped!

2. Have the kids water the garden.  ALL kids seem to love to play in water!  When it's 90 plus and they need to cool off, they might as well water the garden too!  Just be sure they do it when the sun is setting, so they don't burn the plants by getting water on the leaves.

3. Make a game out of weeding.  Weeding seems to be one of the most tedious parts of gardening, but not when the kiddos are helping!  Put one kid at the end of each row and let them race to see who can pull all the weeds in their row first.  (Make sure to point out what the veggie plant looks like before they start!)  If your kids are like mine, they LOVE to compete anyway! ;-)

4. Give the kids their own garden.  If you have a little extra space in the garden, mark off a spot for the kids.  Maybe give them a couple extra seeds or some flower seeds.  They will love having their own garden and it'll give them something to work on and to be proud of.

5. Plant veggies and fruits that the kids enjoy eating!  Over the next several weeks I'm going to go into detail on specific things we plant that the kids love to help with, but not necessarily love to eat.  (My kids are picky!)  Planting fruits and veggies that the kids love eating, though, is a great start to making gardening fun!

Stay tuned over the next couple months to read about specifically fun veggies to plant for the kids!