Happy Halloowwweeeen!

I just wanted to wish all of you a safe and fun Halloween.  And remember, don't do what I am doing: dress your kid in all black.  What the hell was I thinking?  Anyway, get out the glow sticks and flashlights.  And get ready to haul the kids and bags in tow.

And just to get in the spirit, here is a rendition of a story Boog recited for us last year, word for word, that he must have listened to at school.  Don't mind, it is black since he was in bed.

Whats in your candy bowl?

"Hello, Halloween! What a glorious day and a glorious night to go trick-or-treating...for candy-candy-candy-candy-candy-candy-candy-candy!"-Garfield

It is the age old dilemma:  Do I get what I want to eat or do I get what I don't want to eat?

Snickers?

Kit Kats?

Lollipops?

Dots?

Pencils?

Because really what ends up happening? You fill the bowl with 45 bags of candy, get maybe 10 trick or treaters, and then what? Ingest 300,000 calories and grams of sugar and sat fat in the matter of a week?

Yes.


So what's in my bowl? Milky way. Kit kat. Twix. (and Snickers for Kyle)


Does that make me a bad person????

Halloween, old school

I do love Halloween. I love seeing all of the costumes, creativity, and excitement in the faces of the children and the brave adults who join them. I can clearly recall the pictures of my sister and I dressed up like punk rockers and cats. It was easy. Cheap. And you made it. I miss that. There are so many premade options out there that it is just easier, because who has time to make a Spiderman costume?

But this year we had no choice on the matter. The boys decided to pay homage to Monster Bug Wars and be insects for All Hallows Eve. Not just any insects, but a Giant Rainforest Mantis and a Bull Ant.

Check out the videos the kids are soooo obsessed with....

Note the large pinchy mandibles, that Mudge so desperately wanted

So we had to come up with some ideas on how to create the creepy crawlers because we would paying out ass for a decent costume So home came extra cardboard and tubing. Out came the paint and exacto knives. Off to Micheals for some random extra large pipe cleaners and foam visors. And voila! A true homemade Trick or Treating delight.

The boys are soooo excited and we are too. Kyle put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into forming the wings and spiny front legs. So we shall see the true outcome in just a few days....

Foster'ing Good Times at Cucumber Hill Farm

Our good friend invited us to go to a corn maze tonight, out in Foster, Rhode Island.  Cucumber Hill Farm is a beautifully revamped farm that has a little extra to offer this time of year.

Located wayyyyyy out off Route 6, right near the Killingly, Connecticut border, is where you can pick your own pumpkins and gourds, do a few pony rides ($3), or do some fall photography.

Open weekends,  September 24 to October 30th, Cucumber Hill Farms offers free hayrides, free kiddie hay maze, and tonight they had some complimentary hot cocoa and coffee.  For a $8 for anyone over 12, $4 for 4-12, and free for under that, you get to enjoy a corn-y trip through the Land of Oz.

Kyle had the kids running around throughout the maze looking for the Wizard of Oz based questions.  We found 8 of the 10 posts with questions about the movie.  And since it was supper time, we didn't go back to see if we could find anymore.  

 Right.  Supper time in Foster.  Where to go?  Amazingly enough, we had heard of a little place called Pizza King.  Just a local joint, located off the beaten path (moreso than we were) on a pond.  For under $40, we fed 3 adults and four kids.  Not bad.  And neither was the food.  In fact, we decided we wanted to go back another night when the kids weren't so tired and wired to try some of the funky pizzas, lobster bisque, and grinders they had on the menu.  And it looks like it would make a great summer stop, since you can eat outside overlooking the view of the water.

So if you are looking for something to do out in the land of "No School Foster/Glocester", take a ride down route 6, pick some pumpkins, get lost in OZ, and find some tasty food less than 10 minutes away from the farm.

Pizza King
430 Ledge Road
Dayville, CT

Cucumber Hill Farm
39 Cucumber Hill Road
Foster, RI

Think Green this Halloween......

While we were putting out the trash tonight, we noticed something: we don't have that much.  For a family of four, we only put out a standard 13 gallon bag along with a mini one from the bathroom.  We have managed to cut down our waste greatly over the past year with increased recycling and composting.  Now, I am setting my sights on a greener Halloween.

Green Halloween promotes and celebrates eco friendly holiday ideas.  The Costume Swap is by far one of their largest ventures helping more than 24 states (RI not included yet) host National Costume Swaps on October 8th.  Besides saving money, costume swaps help prevent tons of wasted fabrics, plastics and other assorted nasties from entering the rubbage receptacles.  Like a yard sale, hosting sites may have various items, styles and sizes from which to pick, trade, or purchase depending on the site.  If you think you might be interested in checking out a swap, click here for registered sites.  If you are interested in hosting one, Green Halloween has great tips on how to get started.

 Want some other tips?

• Paper towel holders can be painted and decorated to become accessories for pirates, scientists, rock stars, and more.
• Non toxic Piggy Paint can let your child coordinate his/her nail polish without the harsh chemicals
• If you want to not use a mask, but are concerned about face painting, The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics provides natural home made do-it-yourself recipes for face paint
• Decorate your own goodie bag from a used paper or plastic store bag, or even better, the reusable ones probably in the back of your car.  
• Make decorative scarecrows and ghosts with old tee shirts, pants, and stuff the kids and you may have outgrown
• Instead of decorating windows with paper goods, there are many brands of window crayons, like Crayola

Instead of Black and Orange for Halloween, Think Green

It's not even September and I am already thinking Halloween.  If you are like me, you probably have a quite a few barely-worn costumes sitting in the basement or attic, just calling out to you to “Wear me please. Let me help you collect as much hyper energizing candy as humanly possible…”  But the kids have outgrown them and don't feel like using them for dress up.  What to do?

Well maybe you should host a Costume Swap.  The people at Green Halloween think you should too.  Green Halloween is a program of the EcoMom Alliance which works to empower moms to help do their part to be environmentally conscious.  It was established in the summer of 2007 to help cut down on the excess waste in the land fills from the discarded costumes.  And then the National Costume Swap Day (on October 8th), a partnership of Green Halloween, Swap.com and Kiwi magazine, launched in 2010, and was met with enthusiasm and over 70 registered swaps across the U.S. and in Canada, as well as a 1 minute, 38 second spot on Good Morning America.

If you think you might be interested in participating or hosting a swap, whether between friends, family or neighborhood, you can get some great tips on how to do so on their website including:

•                Asking consignment shops and thrift stores if they want to get involved.

•                Have a section for accessories; mismatched pieces of costumes that creative kids can use to put original get-ups together.

•                Stage a dressing-room area. Or, you may want to encourage parents to bring kids dressed in a leotard or swim suit to avoid having to undress.

•                Ask people to bring a shopping bag. Do not provide them.

•                State that costumes should be in good to excellent condition, no significant spots, holes etc. (unless they are supposed to be there!). You should note on written materials that you have the right to reject costumes based on whatever criteria you like.

It's a great way to reduce, reuse, recycle and save some cash too.