Archives for October 2020

Nashville Guide – Our Favorite Easy Place to Get Pumpkins

October 30, 2020 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

I know- I’m writing this on October 30th. The pumpkins are almost gone. But maybe you’ll read this for next year! I will admit- I took the girls in the very beginning of October when the selection was so so good. We went back with Blake as a family just one week later and it had already dwindled down.

But that’s going to be true of any place- go early for the best selection.

I titled this one “easy” place to get pumpkins because this is not one of those pumpkin patches with family activities or food and snacks. This is simply a place on the corner of a middle school that you can stop by and grab some great decorative and carving pumpkins. But they truly have the most unique pumpkins I’ve ever seen. Different shapes and sizes. All sorts of pumpkins and squashes. And if you go early, they have beautiful apples and veggies.

In years past we have gone to the little place on 12 South because that’s our favorite neighborhood and it’s fun to walk to street in the fall. BUT. In all honesty, they just don’t have that great of pumpkins (sorry! I still love you 12 South!). They’re either bumpy or lumpy or marked up and not good shapes for carving.

But this place seriously has perfectly shaped, beautiful pumpkins. And it’s super easy to get to.

Address: 4425 Granny White Pike, Nashville, TN 37204 | Located on the corner of John T. Moore Middle School

Tips:

Park in the circle drive of the middle school
They have awesome carts to carry your pumpkins that also make it super easy to take them to your car
They do NOT accept credit card. They prefer cash, although they do take Venmo payments under “Market Fresh Produce”.

Healthy Chocolate Popsicles

October 29, 2020 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

On Thursdays, Charlie and I bake a lot because Tessy is at school and we get a day to have just us. So I make sure and make it a special day- either with a fun park day, baking or crafts. I talk it up all week so Charlie feels like it’s important and special. She requested chocolate popsicles for this week’s baking day. And ya know what…it’s October. But it’s 2020 and we do the little things that make us happy. So popsicles on a cool October day, why not. I really only like to make healthy popsicles because they’re sooooo easy to make, taste naturally sweet and kiddos and adults all like them. So why NOT make them healthy?

I googled healthy chocolate popsicles and found One Lovely Life’s “Healthy Homemade Fudgecicles”. I chose her recipe because I already had the ingredients at home. This is her recipe below.

Ingredients:

2 large or 3 small ripe bananas (frozen or fresh)
2 cups milk (I use almond or cashew milk. You can use rice, dairy, coconut, etc.)
1 1/2 – 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder*
2 Tbsp chia seeds, nut or seed butter, OR collagen powder

Process:

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until completely smooth, adding more milk, as needed.
Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze 3-4 hours, or until completely firm. To store, transfer to an airtight bag or container and store in the freezer up to 1 month.

Note: I used 3 small fresh bananas + canned full-fat coconut milk. I did use the chia seeds and added a little peanut butter for protein. Charlie wanted blueberries so we added those into the blended mix. She also wanted strawberries so we cut those up and put them into the mold before pouring and freezing. We added some fun Halloween sprinkles after they froze to make it festive!

You can really make these your own! The bananas make them naturally sweet and super yummy. My popsicle molds are from Kitzini and I love them! But use whatever popsicle molds you have + enjoy!

Spider Web Craft with Paint + Tape

October 29, 2020 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

This was such a fun craft day project for Charlie, my 3.5 year old. It was easy to set up and we had all the supplies already at home- WIN/WIN.

Found it on Busy Toddler. The mom from this blog did it with one side of a large cardboard box and blue painter’s tape.

Charlie has eyeshadow on her cheeks from putting on my makeup while I was in the shower-ha!

Charlie and I did it with natural craft paper from Ikea and decorative tape from Michael’s because that’s what I already had in our craft closet. Get creative with what you can use! I also chose to tape it to our front porch floor with masking tape because I knew Charlie would work well like this. And it was a beautiful fall day so I wanted us to be outside. But you could also tape it to a wall or art table- up to you and what works for your set up.

Supply List:

Paper or Cardboard
Tape- scotch tape or painter’s tape
Paint + brush- your choice!

I made the design by making a rectangle first with the tape. Then an X. Then a cross. Then Charlie helped me make the web design by sticking small pieces of the decorative tape to connect the X and cross. She actually loved this part as much as the painting. We used our Crayola Washable Paint and Charlie put some crayons out too but ended up only using paint. I just let her do her thing!

Once it’s dried, pull the tape off and voila! A custom spider web. We put Charlie’s finished project outside on the front porch. Happy Halloween crafting: ) Post your spider webs if you try this project!

Nashville Guide – Dragon Park

October 27, 2020 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

One of the very best parks in Nashville. Simple as that. It’s smack dab in the middle of Hillsboro Village, which is just an incredibly beautiful part of town. This is a kid + family park. Not necessarily the park where people are walking their dogs and setting up hammocks to hang with friends. If you want that- Sevier Park is your place. But if you have kiddos, Dragon Park is a great choice.

It’s a very unique park in that it doesn’t just have a normal slide/swing set up. It has ramps that make it a GREAT park for early walkers and kids who love to just run. Charlie was in physical therapy for a year to help her walk and this was our park where she could practice walking up and down the ramps. There is also a swing bridge that is perfect for learning balance.

There is an area at the end of the green field with many covered picnic tables that would be great for family activities.

Address: 2400 Blakemore Ave, Nashville, TN 37212 | Located in Fannie Mae Dees Park

Pros:

Big + Beautiful!
A lot of shade
Great for early walkers
Variety of activities
Many tables for parents to sit or have lunch
Super fun, colorful dragon that kids love to climb on- it’s fun to find all the hidden shapes and pictures in the dragon!
Safe and large area so it’s not close to any streets
Smaller area for younger kids to play with small slide
Close to walk to Hillsboro Village shopping area

Cons:

No easy or close bathroom options
Not the easiest parking if it’s crowded- I always park in the little parking lot behind the Ruby Event Space (it’s a church on Sundays so that would be full then). There are only a few spaces there, however. So the next option is street parking on the edge of the greenway. Not a big deal at all! But your car will not be right next to the playground if there is a potty accident, etc.

Pro-tip: The tall pole that looks like a giraffe next to the swing bridge is a mister when it’s really hot. So nice in the Nashville heat!

DIY Dried Flower Phone Case

October 27, 2020 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

I’m an iPhone user but this would work with any phone that you pair with a clear case. I think the iPhone is so beautiful. And then we gotta go slap a case on there and…less beautiful. And I like to make things beautiful: ) So this last phone update I got a very thin, clear case off of Amazon. I had some little flowers that Charlie and I had collected and dried/pressed them. If you don’t already have a flower press and love flowers and much as I do- you need one. Got mine on Etsy.

After you have your clear case and pressed flowers, you just place the pressed flowers how you want them on the back and verrry carefully put the case on with the back side up. It might take a couple of tries to place the case and not have the flowers move. Bam! Easy way to have a beautiful, one-of-a-kind phone and case. Wouldn’t it be special to use flowers from an anniversary or birthday? I love that my phone always reminds me of my Charlie girl and collecting flowers together: )

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