Program Possibilities: Pumpkinpalooza!

Hi, my name is Alyssa and I LOVE pumpkin.

Yes, I’m one of those people who revel in this time of year and all of the pumpkin flavored things that saturate the market (granted, some of them are gross).  I start hording canned pumpkin in late July and have a good stash going by the time Starbucks rolls out their PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte for you newbs).  It doesn’t get added to everything I cook…but many of my plastic containers start to take on an orange hue this time of year.

My love of pumpkin has even stretched into library program with our yearly Pumpkinpalooza programs.  I do one for the Tweens (9-12 year olds) and one as a Super Saturday program for kids ages 5-11.  Pumpkinpalooza has occurred every October for the past three years.  I usually have the Tween program early in the month and the Saturday program closer to Halloween (twice the Pumpkin Fluff leftovers for staff!).

What do we do at Pumpkinpalooza?  We craft and we snack.  The crafts are always pumpkin themed and the snacks contain pumpkin.  Simple as that.

What don’t we do at Pumpkinpalooza?  Craft with real pumpkins.  The first year I planned the program, I thought it would be fun to paint little pumpkins.

And then I saw what tiny pumpkins cost in my area.

Oriental Trading pumpkin-themed craft kits FTW!  Maybe we’ll try to work with real pumpkins in the future, but for now the craft kits are much more cost effective.  Plus, I’ve been able to use the leftovers in between the Tween program and the kids program the following year.  Not so easy to do with a real pumpkin.  Here’s what we made this year:

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For snacking, I make White Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Hot Chocolate and Pumpkin Fluff dip.  This year, I tried something different with the Tweens and we made Pumpkin Juice from this recipe.  It was a hit and I may be using it more in the future.

The One Liner Book Review: September

I’ve had another busy month of reading! It hasn’t been that long ago that I realized that I wasn’t reading as much as I had in the past. The whole taking care of the Tiny Human, full-time job, and other aspects of adulting kinda put a damper on things. It was when I hit a pretty good bout of depression and anxiety that I realized I NEED to read. It’s one of the few things that keep me calm and relaxed. No matter how crazy the day has been, I’ve got to set a little time aside for my reading.

Moment over, now to the books:

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up– Marie Kondo

Interesting ideas and practices.  Chances of me following through with it: 0.

If You're Reading This

If You’re Reading This– Trent Reedy

Sobbed through a big chunk of this!

March: Book One (March, #1)March: Book Two (March, #2)

March: Book One and March: Book Two– John Lewis, Andrew Ayden, and Nate Powell

If you only read one graphic novel in your life, it needs to be one of these.  Stunning.  Absolutely stunning.

Switch (Savvy, #3)

Switch– Ingrid Law

The Beaumonts and their savvies are back!  Great little read.

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1) Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2)

Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight– Sarah J. Maas

I’m gonna need the rest of the series to binge-read….

Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy, #1)

Red Rising– Pierce Brown

Holy cow, this is EPIC.  Have the second book in my TBRP at home.

A Tale Dark & Grimm (A Tale Dark & Grimm, #1)

A Tale Dark & Grimm– Adam Gidwitz

Ready for next month’s book club!  Loved this!

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)

City of Bones– Cassandra Clare

Blech.  I may watch the movie because Aidan Turner and Johnathan Rhys Myers.

Poison

Poison– Sarah Pinborough

First in a trilogy of fairy tale retellings.  Definitely NOT for kids!

How was your September reading?
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