Today marks the official “start” of our fall routine around here…May God Bless our family and yours on these new adventures we are about to step foot into!!! There is a large part of me that is excited about the “what’s to come” and I would say an equally large part that is “saying….what have I done…”? I am a total control freak so when things get a bit crazy and spiral out of control I feel totally overwhelmed. So starting this Fall I’m counting on some new help aids around here to get me through any tough patches.

Pumpkin will be 4 next Sunday and loves to help so we have taken her lead and she has become quite the “helper” around here. We have implemented the “snack pack” in our home. Pumpkin picks one morning snack and one afternoon snack (mostly healthy…some organic…some just plain not nutritious (shocking I know). The intent here was to give her a choice and get used to making healthy ones at that. She loves her snack pack! I fill it 1 x a week with new goodies everyday she gets to “pick” her snack and when all her favorites are gone that’s it!!

I have started filling the girls water/milk cups up the morning or evening before to have a head start on the “Mommy I’m thirsty” or in K-bear language everything is “ummmm-ummm”. Pumpkin has the pink cup and K-Bear is purple!!

I know I have mentioned before how much Pumpkin loves to cook and help in the kitchen so this is her year to shine. She is officially on our family dinner menu…that’s right as “Chef Pumpkin!“

Her “cooking day” is moving from Tuesday to Wednesday because of soccer practice but as you can tell by her little smile she loved her “big night”. I sit down each month and plan our “menu” for the month I included Pumpkin in the the “picking” of her meals. I must say she has quite the palette for food because when asked what she would want to make she said “hmmmm how about Salmon?” What 4 year old says that?

So we compromised on Salmon Melts!!! I think she used a stick of butter!!

And of coarse life wouldn’t be complete with out a few “samples” below Pumpkin is tasting something Daddy made!

And well…..K-Bear is always eating so it is not hard to get a picture of her in the high chair! She will eat anything you put in front of her from cabbage-seafood!!