I am so pleased to be partnering with Oak Meadow today to bring you this post about welcoming Fall.

Have you ever noticed how it truly is the tiny, little things that bring so much joy?

A cup of hot chocolate after sledding. A quiet moment and a tea while the little ones nap. Even a favourite scent of soap!

I have learned this about myself lately and have started to embrace this fully. One of these tiny, little things that brings me so much joy is the changing of the seasons. I realised this for the first time when I originally received our Oak Meadow curriculum. There is such a strong focus on the seasons in that curriculum and it made me realise how much I love welcoming and saying goodbye to the different seasons.

Just as I get excited about upcoming holidays, I know also get excited about the arrival of seasons. Perhaps this seems a touch silly, but it really adds so much rhythm and peace to my year.

I am so excited to be partnering with Oak Meadow to share with you how I welcome each of the seasons into my home. I will share ideas for winter, spring, summer, and fall – and link them all right here once I have written them.

Today is officially the first day of Fall, so there is no better time to share with you how we welcome Fall into our home.

I thought I would share with you some of my favourite ways to welcome Fall into our home with a decoration idea, a recipe, and a few activities I have planned for my little ones.

Fall is a time of turning inside for my family. While summer is full of outdoor play, gardening, and tending our small farm, Fall is a time for beginning to prepare for our time indoors. While we are still outside a lot, our time outside feels a lot more like wrapping things up.

We are busy winterizing our sheep shed and making plans for our little duck who might or might not fly south this winter (fingers crossed — fly Delilah, fly!!). We are pulling everything from the garden and enjoying the last of those vegetables and then hopefully putting it to sleep. Every year I promise to take the time next Fall to properly prep my garden for the following spring, and yet each Fall it tends to go undone. But maybe this year … (Ha! I am already saying ‘maybe’)

The Fall leaves are just too beautiful to ignore when we are outside, so they soon make their way inside for some crafting.

This Fall we are going to try two new activities from our Oak Meadow Crafts for the Early Grades book.

The first one (which I am so eager to try!) is Dried Apple Dolls! I remember doing this when I was a child and I had completely forgotten about it. The craft, as outlined in the book, looks super simple.

Simply peel an apple and use a butter knife or carving tool to carve a bit of the apple away on either side to form a nose and chin. Then pop in cloves where you would like the eyes. Finally, insert a dowel into the bottom of the apple and allow it to dry for 10-14 days in a warm dry place.

When it is dry, you will have a wrinkly little dried apple head! Then we will decorate it with some yarn for hair, and wrap a little cloth around the dowel for a dress.

The second activity we are going to try to make is Pinecone Critters.

These ones look so simple and cute to make and will be ideal as table centrepieces! I also love the complete creativity little ones – fabulous for stretching those imaginations.

There are two suggestions with this activity in the Oak Meadow book – owls and turkeys. Simply using construction paper, scissors, and glue the creations could be endless.

While my little ones are busy crafting and creating, I have realised that I also love to craft and create. Often I join in with my little ones, but I also like to craft on my own once in awhile.

This Fall I am going to create a beautiful wreath for my front door. I found a very simple DIY Acorn Wreath from Vekoria and I am so excited to give it a try.

Of course the smell of Fall is just about the best thing in this world. Pumpkin pie, apple crisp, yum, yum,yum! One recipe that was a big fit last year was this Crazy Healthy Breakfast Casserole. Yummy cinnamon and apple mix flawlessly with spaghetti squash to give this casserole a very healthy twist. Everyone in my house loves this one – and that says a lot!

So that is how we are planning on welcoming Fall this week.  I love so much that my kids are just as excited about the changing seasons as I am. Finding joy in the small things – wouldn’t it be wonderful to instil this value in our little ones?

Time together welcoming the seasons. Simple, but amazing.

And if you are interested in learning more about Oak Meadow please check out their website.  Whether you homeschool or not – it truly is a beautiful lifestyle to enjoy. There is simply no going back for me!

ALSO! Oak Meadow is offering you a 15% off coupon code for their book Crafts for the Early Grades!

Simply use the code: 2017-fall-hwl

This offer is good through September 30th in the Oak Meadow Bookstore

Happy Autumn friends! Thank you so much for reading.