Today we’re finishing up our Halloween decorating. I have so many boxes of decorations…and so many bags of fake pumpkins. Plus, every time I go to the store, I come home with another (real) pumpkin. Annabel said, “Mom, are we going to have a pumpkin patch at our house?” Pretty sure her dad told her to say that. One of these years I really am going to attempt growing my own pumpkins. I just need to figure out what time of year I need to plant them, and then set a reminder on my calendar. It will be such a disaster, hahaha.
Around The ‘Net
~Hiker Discovers an Abandoned Town Inside Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park
~Homework: An Unnecessary Evil?
~Can Second Graders Appreciate a Seven-Course, $220 Tasting Meal?
~Why Are America’s Postpartum Practices So Rough on New Mothers?
~10 Costumes You Can Make In 10 Minutes For Under $10 (DIYs on some While You Were At Preschool costumes, plus a couple new ones!)
The bee chases the beekeeper…they played this game for hours and James’ nap was awesome.
Helpful
~Cool features in the Google Maps app.
~Mike got a “mighty mug” and I’ve totally claimed it as my own. You can’t knock it over!
~These pumpkinsteins are right up my alley (except for the price tag, no thanks).
Wedding Weekend!
~My cousin’s wedding is THIS WEEKEND! AAHHHH I should probably work on my Matron of Honor speech…but it’s much easier to figure out what everyone is wearing. Obviously, the kids and I have our wedding outfits planned and Mike is wearing a suit, so I just have to figure out what we’re wearing for the rehearsal dinner. James is going to wear jeans and a shirt that looks just like this red one, but with a bow tie. I bought this midi-length tulle skirt on a whim, so this seems like as good a time as any to wear it! I just have to figure out what to wear on top. Annabel saw this striped dress at Nordstrom when we were buying shoes for her brother, and while I admit that it’s cute I think we’ll be shopping my dress queen’s closet for her dinner ensemble.
Discovering Sales
Lots of sales this weekend (I’ve already started Christmas shopping, don’t hate me):
~asos up to 50% off
~j.crew factory 40%-50% off
~Old Navy up to 50% off everything
~GAP 40% off your purchase with code NEWOUTFIT
~Banana Republic 40% off your purchase with code BRWEEKEND
~Madewell 30% off fall styles with code OHFALL
~Macy’s 30% off with code FALL
~Williams Sonoma 20% off with code SAVE20
Happy Sunday, everyone!
Jordan says:
being from TN, I’ve heard quite a bit about the abandoned town. So interesting!
As for the homework article… as a future teacher this is what we’re being taught in education classes (mostly): There are going to be things students HAVE to work on at home (papers, books to read, projects, etc.) but if there’s no reason to give additional work to do outside of school, don’t. Studies have shown that skill and drill assignments and worksheets do nothing to help students learn. There are certain things students should do to help their learning in the classroom, but hours of busywork is not one of them.
If students don’t finish what is assigned during the school day, or if an assignment is too large to finish, then they take it home. Otherwise, teachers need to focus on teaching them in the classroom and providing useful instruction and assignments so that students don’t need the reinforcement of homework.
Also: LOVE the tulle skirt! So pretty. Happy wedding week to Leah and Ted!!
Jerilynn says:
I agree with Jordan’s take on the homework article. I am middle-aged, and I’ve had homework since I was 6. There are always things I’ve had to take home from work (within reason), and life is full of things we just don’t like. I also feel it reinforces learning and enables students to practice what they learned in school and to solicit additional help and home as needed. Frankly, we are way behind other countries in science and math and I think a lot of this endemic of a society of whiners who want a ribbon just for showing up. I also love the tulle skirt and wish your cousin a wonderful wedding!
Jerilynn says:
meant to say, “is endemic”-sorry.
Susan says:
I think I saw the Mighty Mug at Bed Bath & Beyond cheaper plus use 20% coupon. I think And I love the skirt your wearing to rehearsal dinner. Super cute.
Heather says:
This is awesome news because I have a few people I want to buy this for!
Lynn says:
Just FYI – I’m in NJ – don’t know how CA weather would effect this…But we had a tomato garden that wasn’t producing well we figured we had over used it (area about 3’x8′) so we decided to rest it and just started throwing our pumpkins and gourds there – I figured they would break down and be good for the soil. Well we did nothing to it and by the second year started getting a mix of gourds and pumpkins it was great – the area is sunny!