Our Fall 2025 Bucket List

 Hello Frugal Friends!

Many of you enjoyed reading our Summer 2025 Bucket List and now that we've completed it, I wanted to share our Fall 2025 Bucket List.

As a reminder, the kids choose these items without any kind of prompting or guidance (clearly). I LOVE seeing what they actually want to do...it's always so simple! So instead of running myself ragged giving them alllll the fall fun this year, we are just going to do what they want. Here's to affordable family fun!

Riley Family Fall 2025 Bucket List

Register for 4H (October 1)

Start 4H Projects

Take photographs for 4H

Annabeth's Birthday (October 5)

Chicken Fingers/Mashed Potatoes/Gravy/Corn Dinner

Make Homemade Starbucks

Vacation with Kuhns (Scheduled)

Apple Orchard with Cousins

Fall Camp (Owen and Mark)

Go on a Fall Hike

Go to a Football Game (Scheduled)

Bake a Pie

Playdate with Neighbors

Zoo Teen Sign-Ups

Trick-or-Treat with the Sichting Family (October 31)

Throwback to Fall 2017 and my favorite

picture from October ever!

I am looking forward to a busy fall filled with the things we want to do!

What's on your Fall Bucket List? 

Frugal Friday 307

Happy Frugal Friday!

Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- Friday night we had dinner at home (beef stew and my first try at Yorkshire Pudding - Annabeth had chosen British food as our international dinner of the week) and then we had an Author Signing. Annabeth had written and illustrated a children's book. We did that and then had family TV night while eating homemade cookie dough. The boys camped out and watched an extra movie in the living room and us girls read and slept in our master bedroom. Fun doesn't have to be big or expensive to be memorable.

- We made some big changes to our homeschool area. A few weeks ago my parents found a desk and chair at a consignment store and got it for Annabeth. She is really enjoying having a "big girl" desk for 3rd grade. Owen has moved to the schoolroom table full-time and we decided to let him choose the paint for it since Annabeth had chosen the paint during her preschool years.

 Owen, enjoying his "new" table

Purple with his name and green glitter

 - Saturday afternoon, Annabeth and I made a run to the library for new books and board games. We also popped into Hobby Lobby for some fall paper craft items which we got 40% off.

- Saturday evening the kids and I went to the splash pad in Greenwood for a birthday party. It was our first time there all summer since we've had so much rain and then we were gone most of July. The kids had a great time!

- Sunday after church we ran by Barnes and Noble. Annabeth turned in her Summer Reading form and got her free book.

Not a great selection for the 3rd/4th grade readers

but we'll see what she thinks of Judy Moody

- Sunday after church we enjoyed lunch at the afternoon at Mark's parents' house. Both of us grew up visiting our grandparents on Sundays and we're thankful to be able to do this with our own kids.

- Sunday evening we went to the Indy Eleven game. It was the first time that Annabeth and I had been inside Lucas Oil Stadium which was really neat for both of us. It was the first professional soccer game that all of us had been to. We had gotten special price tickets from the Central Indiana Police Alliance - Thank you all!

Front row - before the game began - many more fans piled in!

- I had an item I needed to use just for the week. Thankfully our neighbors Ed and Gloria let us borrow theirs. I love sharing with neighbors!

- The kids and I all went to the dentist on Tuesday. Our insurance covers the visit but I still pay for my fluoride treatment. I also had a doctor's appointment that morning and I am so thankful my friend Jeanette came over to watch the kids. Thank you!!

- Wednesday afternoon after school, we went over to visit our neighbor Mrs. Whealtley. She had been cleaning out some closets and gave us two new board games. Again, I am so thankful for sweet and sharing neighbors.

We are looking forward to a weekend of fun!

Happy Savings to All!

Frugal Friday 266

Happy Frugal Friday!

Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- Last Friday, we celebrated Annabeth's 7th Birthday! In our house the birthday person chooses all of the meals of the day with the only rule being that only one meal can be an "eat out meal." Annabeth chose to have breakfast and dinner at home. Her eat-out meal was at her birthday party with friends. We met up with some of our favorite school friends at our local bowling alley for a unicorn-rainbow party. Our bowling alley is SUPER generous and allowed us to use a Fall Break coupon deal on our party. Instead of being the usual $139 party deal it was just $39.99 (shoe rental, lane, pizza, and drinks!) We also added the bowling pin for her friends to sign for $10. Thank you Hi-Way Lanes!!

- Friday we also gifted Annabeth her gifts from us. This year her "big gift" was a new bed and beautiful bedding set which we gave her a few weeks ago. I was able to give her some great Usborne books using my rewards and an adorable stuffed unicorn that I won from A GALIi on a Mission (thanks Susie!) Her wish-list was: JoJo Bows (a friend helped me get them through a co-op for just $3/each), Matilda Jane (I was able to get three pieces for $40 during sales this year - If you are a Matilda Jane fan I encourage you to shop with my Trunk Keeper Lauren Keeling ), and an American Girl doll. We don't think she is quite ready for a full size doll so we got her the Kirsten books (sourced used for $13 for all 6) and the Mini-Kirsten Doll. We love giving our kids the things they really want but also love saving as much money as possible so they can have the next fun thing as well!

- Saturday we met my family down at Apple Works for some pumpkin patch fun. It was 90 degrees and too hot and too sunny for most of us. My dad treated the kids to a quick train ride and then we headed back to Franklin for an afternoon dessert at the Hoosier Candy Cupboard. My parents also treated us all to dinner at Kumo for sushi where Owen and Annabeth ate more than the adults! Our friend at the sushi place surprised Annabeth with a birthday dessert. Our friend at the Greenwood sushi place was right, my kids are Asian!

- Sunday evening we had Mark's family over to celebrate Luke and Annabeth's birthdays. They each chose take-out food for dinner so Mark's parents brought Luke's and we supplied Annabeth's choice of Chicago's Pizza. Once she decided that, I hopped on Facebook and asked friends if anyone was selling the Chicago's giftcards as a fundraiser. We found a student who was and bought two from her. They are just $13 (less than the price of one pizza) so we didn't spend any extra per pizza but we were able to support her class trip.

- Our dryer broke, again, last week. It died about a year ago and Mark was able to work on it. It started this terrible squealing last again last week. Mark ordered a $32 kit and spent an evening fixing it. We saved the cost of a minimum $80 service call and/or the cost of buying a whole new dryer. I am SO thankful to be married to a man who can fix just about anything!

- I deep cleaned our linen closet since my Mama just brought us beautiful new towels! I exchanged a huge bag of new towels for a bag of ratty old towels. We plan donate them to our local animal shelter as they collect them for the animals there.

- Annabeth handmade all of her Thank yous. Some she painted and some she wrote on thank you cards that we had on hand. She also handmade glitter stickers for them. I am very serious about thank yous and insist that we all write them for all occasions. I hope that this means the kids will do the same even if I am not there to tell them to.

- Wednesday we had Annabeth's fourth, and final, birthday party with our best friends the Eblings. Rose and the boys came up for lunch, play, and one more birthday cake. Annabeth asked for roses, unicorns, and tie-dye and I made it happen!

Happy #7 Annabeth Sage!

- The absolute highlight of my week was a morning out with Mark, alone! My parents and sister took the kids to the park and Mark I went out to breakfast and then to coffee. We were able to have about 4 hours to ourselves to just sit and talk. We hadn't been on a date since March and it was much needed! Thank you all for keeping the kids for us!

We are all looking forward to a weekend of fun!
Happy Savings to All!

Mark's 28th Birthday

Mark's 28th Birthday was Thursday.

Mark bought a new-to-him truck last fall and as he has spent quite a bit fixing it up he asked that we not purchase him any birthday gifts. We followed his wishes but the kids and I did have fun making him homemade birthday cards.

We hopped on Pinterest for ideas. I made him a cute stick figure card and Annabeth made a cute monster card. The monster had lots of googlie eyes and said "I only have eyes for you!" We were so proud as she handwrote "Happy Birthday, Love, Anna" all on her own! Since we both already knew what we wanted to make, I scrolled through for ideas for Owen's card. That's when I found a "No ifs, ands, or buts about it...you are the best Dad!" card. Instead of the word "but" it had a behind print. Not many things are cuter than baby bottoms so Annabeth and I painted Owen's little behind and stamped it on the card. It was absolutely adorable and SO funny and perfect for Mark. Annabeth and I kept laughing about it all day! We ended up having to give Mark his card a night early because we kept laughing about it! :)

 Birthday Eve Cards

In our house, the birthday person gets to choose the meals for the day. Mark had breakfast and lunch during the workday but chose dinner. We had Italian meatloaf, stuffing, and brussel sprouts.

Last year, Annabeth and I made Mark the cutest candy sushi for his birthday dessert. We haven't made it since then and since it was such a hit, I had planned to make it again. Annabeth had other plans. She said that Daddy had to have cake for his birthday - I think she was just very interested in eating the icing. Again, I got on Pinterest and found the most fun anti-gravity-illusion cakes. I wasn't sure how long the assembly would take so we used store bought cake and icing (funfetti and vanilla) and then decorated with M&Ms. I used this tutorial and I think it turned out SO neat!

Happy 28th Birthday to Mark! I am so thankful for this man who God has allowed to be my husband and Annabeth and Owen's Daddy. We love him so much!

Owen Merit's Woodland Baby Shower

Yesterday, my sweet friends Rose and Sarah hosted a Woodland Baby Shower for Owen.

They are both so creative and the party had so many unique touches. I am thinking that they should go into business together with Rose's mom, who helped so much as well, and do parties!

They created the most adorable woodland animal themed cake, cookies, and food:

We shared the day with some of the most special women, and little men SJ and Asher, in our lives. I am so thankful for friends and family who are so generous as Owen was gifted some very wonderful items. I am also so thankful for people who share our lives so closely. We really could not ask for more!

The party favors for the adults were tomato seeds with a cute little note:

We feel so incredibly blessed to be a family of four and we are so thankful that the Lord has seen fit to give us two beautiful children! We look forward to welcoming Owen in about 8 weeks. To God be all the glory!

Our "Taste Tested" Pinterest Board

Want to know what we have been baking and cooking lately?

Check out our Pinterest Board Taste Tested.

*These are all of the recipes that we liked. Any that I had pinned that we did not care for I do not pin on this board.

Happy baking and cooking! :)

Homemade Peach Pie Filling

This past week, we overbought/underused our fresh produce.

Mark did the grocery shopping Sunday afternoon before us girls were back in town and by today, Saturday, we still had two apples, four peaches, and green grapes left in the fridge. We ended up eating away from home more than planned this week as we ate out one night, went to a potluck, and did some more visiting than we had planned. In turn, I had fruit that I needed to use up!

I knew the apples and grapes would get eaten but that was a lot of peaches! So, I hopped online and Googled "Fresh Peach Pie Recipe." I found an easy recipe that I had all of the ingredients for. I was also excited because it was just a recipe for the filling that could be refrigerated for up to one month!

Fresh Peach Pie Filling

(The link goes to the original recipe

but here it is for easy making for you!)

Ingredients:

1 Cup Water

1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

1 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Cornstarch (I used Rapunzel Organic GMO Free)

1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3 Cups, Peeled and Chopped

Instructions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine first four ingredients. 

2. Stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Cook 2 minutes more,

stirring constantly.

3. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and peaches. 

4. Cool to room temperature and use immediately or refrigerate.

**The original states that this is not for canning due to the cornstarch.

Also, storing in the fridge may cause ingredients to separate. 

Reheat until combined and

thickened again. **

I am looking forward to using this filling next weekend to make a pie for a homeschool craft day that we are hosting at our house. I think it should be quite good with vanilla ice cream! Yum! 

Our "Pinned-It-Then-Did-It" Pinterest Board

Curious about what we have been baking, cooking, and crafting lately?

Check out our "Pinned-It-Then-Did-It" Pinterest Board!

Happy Pinning! :)

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Today is Mark's brother Luke's 22nd Birthday!

Luke is not only Mark's brother but he and his wife are also some of our best friends. Luke is also Annabeth's Godfather.

Brian and Kristi offered to bring dinner down to our house to celebrate and Mark offered us to do dessert. As soon as Mark offered, I thought of a time when Luke and Cassidy took us to a fancy cupcake place in Indianapolis. Luke and Mark both really enjoyed the bacon cupcakes so instead of buying them (they are around $4 each!) I decided to bake them ourselves.

I found this recipe (midway down the page) on LDS Living's website. It looked very close to what we had eaten at the cupcake place and also fairly simple. So, this morning Annabeth and I included baking cupcakes in our homeschool lesson.

I did modify the original recipe some, here's mine:

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Vanilla Nutmeg Cupcakes:

1 box white cake mix

1½ tsp. nutmeg

2 jumbo eggs

⅓ C. oil

¾ C. milk

¾ C. sour cream

1 T. vanilla extract

Maple Buttercream:

1 C. butter, softened

4 T. milk

4 C. powdered sugar

2 tsp. maple flavoring

6 slices cooked bacon for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line pans with cupcake liners.

2. Sift cake mix and nutmeg into a bowl; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, milk, sour cream, and vanilla extract.

4. Add cake mix and nutmeg mixture; stir until smooth.

5. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and bake for 17–22 (19 for our oven) minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

6. For Maple Buttercream: Beat butter for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and stir in 1 T. milk. Slowly add powdered sugar until buttercream is the desired consistency. Add maple flavoring; adjust for flavor depending on the brand of flavoring you use.

7. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes; top with crumbled bacon to give cupcakes a salty and crunchy taste.

Made 20 cupcakes. 

Annabeth helped by counting out the cupcake liners

and putting them on the cupcake pan.  

She also helped taste-test the frosting.

She approved!  

 Our finished cupcakes!

I only made a third of them with the bacon on top 

because I was not sure that everyone would like that. 

Happy Birthday Luke!

Sweet Beet Cookies!

Last Novemeber, we realized that Annabeth is allergic to peanuts. We had followed our doctor's advice and had not given her any nuts or nut butters until she was 2. We gave her a piece of a Reeses at her 2 year well visit and she did not have a reaction so we knew that even if she did have a peanut allergy it was not going to be extremely severe. But, when we spread peanut butter on a bagel and gave it to her for breakfast, she broke out in horrible hives across her face and down her neck, chest, and arms/hands. Thankfully Benadryl cleared the hives after two doses. We are not going to give her any more nuts until she is 3 and then we will see if she has outgrown the allergy or if we need to see an allergist.

Since then, we have been very careful with the foods she eats since each exposure can potentially make the allergy much more severe. One of the things our doctor said to avoid was all restaurant desserts because while they may not have peanuts on the ingredients list they were most like processed on the same machinery. We also have to be very careful about prepackaged snacks. SO we have been making our desserts and snacks at home. It's been a fun challenge to make new desserts and to try to make healthy snacks for her as well.

This week I received a food processor for my birthday from Mark's parents! We were so excited! Mark opened it and and began chopping anything he could find in the fridge. He made a lovely "carrot soup" the first night! :)

My first adventure with the processor was to make these Sweet Beet Cookies I found on Pinterest.
These cookies were a great find as they are dairy, egg, and peanut free! Annabeth and all of her cousins can eat them!

Pouring the shredded beets from my FOOD PROCESSOR into the flour mix!

It was so much easier to use the machine! 

 Cookies cut out into one star and the rest hearts.

I love the pretty beet red for Valentine's Week

Baked Sweet Beet Heart Cookie - Yum!

Not ones to waste anything we threw the greens from the beets out to the little

rabbit that comes to visit our yard. Enjoy Bunny Rabbit! 

Toddler Fruit Cookies

As we have recently discovered Annabeth's peanut allergy, I have been searching the internet for peanut-free snacks that I can make at home. So many crunchy and sweet snacks at the store have nuts! I discovered this one on Pinterest over the weekend and since I had everything on hand we whipped up a modified batch on Monday. I put just a few chocolate chips instead of the full 1/3 cup and subbed soy milk for dairy milk for Annabeth and Mark's sake.

Toddler Fruit Cookies

(Dairy, Egg, and Peanut Free)

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

2 cups, uncooked quick-cooking oats

1/3 cup applesauce

1/3 cup raisins or craisins

1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional, omit to make dairy free)

1/4 cup skim milk (we used low-fat soy milk to avoid the dairy)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

Instructions:

1. Mash the three bananas in a large bowl.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir.

3. Let sit for 5 minutes to moisten the oats.

4. Put onto cookie sheets and bake 15 minutes at 350.

Hot out of the oven!

I thought these were very quick and easy to throw together. I like that they are not filled with flour or sugar AND that they have so many kinds of fruit hidden inside!

Annabeth loved them! 

Enjoy!

Linked up to: Teach Me Tuesdays @ Growing Home Blog

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies

You'll Need:

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

2 Eggs

6 oz Chocolate Chips

Mix all in a large bowl. 

Place on cookie sheets by the tablespoonful. 

Bake 10 min at 375 degrees.

Yields about 24 cookies. 

Enjoy! 

*Variation: Chocolate cake mix and white chocolate chips*

I started making these cookies for birthdays when I worked at the Sheriff's Office. They are so easy and fast to make so I love that I can throw them together quickly. I also love that they are inexpensive - especially as I usually get 4 to

5 "Free Cake Mix" coupons from Kroger each year!

In our house we call these "Schiller Cookies" for a friend who always asks me to bring them for cookouts OR "Da Bomb! Cookies" as our very former Jail Commander yelled this phrase from his office upon trying them. 

We hope you enjoy them too!

What are you baking this week?

Our Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last night I baked our favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies!

McCormick Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cookies

- from McCormick & Co. Inc

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/3 cups butter, softened

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

4 tsp. McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract

1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips (we like the mini ones best for these cookies)

MIX flour, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl. Set aside.

BEAT butter and sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy. 

ADD in eggs and vanilla, mix well.

GRADUALLY ADD the flour mixture.

STIR in chocolate chips.

DROP by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.

BAKE in preheated 375 degree oven 8-10 minutes or until brown.

Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute, then cool completely on wire racks.
ENJOY!!

Chocolate Chip Pie

This weekend is our church's annual Fish Fry so I have been baking pies today. This is Mark's favorite pie that I make and so I thought I should share the recipe. It is so, so easy and yummy warm or cold!

Chocolate Chip Pie 

- from the Old North UMC's 2003 "Taste of Heaven" Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 cup chocolate chips

1 pie crust, homemade or from the store 

Directions:

 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2. Beat eggs until foamy

3. Mix in sugars and flour

4. Mix in melted butter

5. Spread 1 cup chocolate chips across the pie crust

6. Pour batter across chips in pie crust - batter will be runny

7. Bake 1 hour

8. ENJOY :)

It is an easy, inexpensive pie for times I am making quite a few pies for an event like Fish Fry.

My pies lined up to cool before I take them to church. 

A slice of pie, crumbled crust because it was too hot to cut but I was ready to taste test it.

What are you baking this week?

Kicking Off Fall With Apples!

This past Sunday Mark's parents invited us over for dinner with a trip to the orchard before. We visited the Pleasant Valley Orchard, which last time we were all there was called "Anderson Orchard." We enjoyed their playground, a (HOT) hike out to the trees we were allowed to pick from, and a nice visit to their store for Annabeth's apple slush and our nutty caramel apple.

The three of us enjoyed a cheesy nice photo op:

Annabeth really enjoyed spending the afternoon with her PawPaw and Nana.
Happy Grandparents' Day!

She also loved loved hauling her handpicked apples.

Brian and Kristi were kind enough to treat us to a whole bag of apples! We quickly realized that we would not be able to eat them fast enough so last night I searched online "What to do with lots of apples" and found some yummy recipes. Today Annabeth and I made Cinnamon Apple Bread to take to Tuesday Night Dinner at Brian and Kristi's. It was a hit! We'll be baking more tomorrow to use up some more apples!

How do you use apples? What recipes can you recommend? 

Happy Beginning of Fall!