The Year That I Made Santa Claus Cry

The Year That I Made Santa Claus Cry

ByKori
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Holidays with a non-verbal autistic child have never been easy. In fact, some holidays have fallen by the wayside completely- I’m looking at you Easter and Halloween. That’s not for a lack of trying because we did try. And maybe some holidays were salvaged or at least scaled down. Easter just couldn’t work for us and Halloween required a little bit of savvy on my part. Thanksgiving… well, we’re mostly okay. It’s a food related holiday, after all, and as long as we had food that was okay for Sweet B; we were fine. I just never expected for her to eat what everyone else was eating. Knowing what I know, it just wasn’t realistic. So that brings me to Christmas. My favorite holiday and…

6 Easy Steps to a Clutter Free Home

6 Easy Steps to a Clutter Free Home

ByKori
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When you first move into your home it seems like you have so much space. Unless of course you’re downsizing and then it may seem like you don’t have enough space! As the years pass, you might find yourself becoming a pack rat.  What are you going to do with all the stuff you have accumulated?  Perhaps it’s time to weed out the unnecessary items and organize your home. Don’t panic at the thought of organizing your home, it’s really not that difficult, I promise! In fact, I want to share 6 easy steps to a clutter free home. Home organization is a step-by-step process. It will take more than a day or even a week to get everything to a manageable level, but once…

Where to Find Almost Everything For Family Caregiving

Where to Find Almost Everything For Family Caregiving

ByKori
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As the parent and primary caregiver of a non-verbal autistic child, there are many hats that I wear. First and foremost, of course, I am her mom. But I am also her advocate, her voice when necessary, and her caregiver. I will wear these hats for the rest of her adult life. And I embrace the challenges and roles that come along with it. As her primary caregiver, it also means making the most of her SSI money each month. We are a one-income family still and even when I am able to contribute more to the household; we still need to be mindful about our monthly expenses. Things can definitely add up quickly, so that means looking for every opportunity possible to make the…

50 Pumpkin Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers

50 Pumpkin Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers

ByKori
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We are a family that loves books. And we definitely have our favorite authors and non-seasonal favorites but we also have plenty of holiday and seasonal reads. Around this time of the year, we love to explore apples and pumpkins. Our home library grows a little bit year by year and here are just a few of our favorite pumpkin books for toddlers and preschoolers. We will also be sure to integrate a few of these books into our toddler friendly pumpkin activities. And of course, they’ll come in handy when we start our Halloween stuff! I tried to pick out books that were both general pumpkin themed and some that are more Halloween. Halloween is one of those holidays that I want to approach…

My toddler is really starting to enjoy a daily craft time. And thanks to Oriental Trading, I can provide that for her when my own creativity is sapped.

Toddler Friendly Pumpkin Themed Crafts for Fall or Halloween

ByKori
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I would love to say that I’m a hands-on craftsy person. But, there are definitely times that I’m more prone to gluing my fingers together than completing the actual craft. Still, that doesn’t stop me from trying. Especially when it comes to finding toddler friendly crafts for the holidays. With many thanks to Oriental Trading for supplying us with some easy to use kits, we had a really fun day with these toddler friendly pumpkin themed crafts that are just perfect for Fall or Halloween! Pumpkin Themed Crafts and Activities for Toddlers I combined the Pumpkin Bead assortment, Plastic Pumpkin bead, and Colored Pumpkin beads in a small baking pan to let Squeaker explore a bit. We talked about colors, shapes, and different sizes. She…

Super Easy Baked Maple Glazed Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Super Easy Baked Maple Glazed Pumpkin Spice Donuts

ByKori
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Do you like donuts? I’ll admit, it’s not one of my favorite foods but mostly because I tend to eat too many. I do have my favorites though (Boston Cream & Maple Glazed) and like to treat myself every so often. I wondered though how difficult it was to make donuts at home instead of going out to buy them. After some googling, I found a tasty recipe for baked donuts and decided that I would use that for my base to make my own baked pumpkin donuts with maple glaze.  And with my love for all things pumpkin spice, I also wanted to see how I could add that flavor into the mix. I also looked for a simple glaze recipe to make these extra…