Mystery Boxes…Do You Dare (Halloween Party 2013)

We had our annual Halloween party this past weekend and it was a lot of fun.

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As well as being quite tasty.

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But….not too healthy (only some of the butter we used).

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We may have cooked ourselves silly making sugar cookies, pumpkin whooopie pies, banana bread, oreo mummies, cupcakes, chocolate faces, pretzel witch fingers, pretzel eyeballs, marshmallow sticks, rice krispie treats, snickerdoodle cookies, and pumpkin muffins.

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We also played a game which I think the kids enjoyed – Mystery Boxes

The idea of Mystery Boxes is to reach into the box and try and figure out what food is in there.

For example, I told the kids that I had witches hair. Once they felt it, they needed to decide what food my witches hair really was.

I took 4 boxes (Cheezits, Amazon, shoe boxes) and spray painted them or covered them in fabric with Modge Podge.

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I then glued on a piece of cloth to the outside which covered a hole I had cut out in each box.

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Each box on the inside was lined with tin foil. One had a cup and another had a bowl which held the food items.

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Before starting the game, I handed out a piece of paper to each child and told them what was in the mystery boxes – witches hair, mummy intestines, troll eyes, and Frankenstein eyes. Then I had some parents hold the boxes for me, not letting the kids peek inside the boxes.

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This picture of my son reaching into the box is my favorite one from the party.

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Here’s a sample of the sheet with their guesses on it.

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Here we all are talking about what each of their guesses is for the food items.

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And the reveal….

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In case you are wondering…

Witch Hair = Ramen Noodles

Frankenstein Eyes – Olives

Mummy Intestines = Lasagna Noodles

Troll Ears = Dried Apricots

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Mystery Boxes = Silly & Slimey Fun 🙂

 

 

The Rabbits

I’m sure you are familiar with the phrase, “Anything for your children.”

Well, that phrase is the reason why my husband and I have turned our backyard into a  rabbit sanctuary.

Yes, a rabbit sanctuary.

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Really, if it was up to us, we’d let our dog eat the baby bunnies.

OK, maybe that’s a little harsh.

My husband would most certainly shoo the bunnies away before the dog got outside.

Because two little bunnies and their momma have moved into our yard, and because my eight year old animal loving son discovered their nest, my husband and I have taken to walking the dog three times a day.

This is the same dog who wants to spend all day outside now that it’s not 100 degrees but cannot because of Flopsy and Mopsy Cottontail.

So maybe it’s really three of us sacrificing for our son.

Roughly 20 times a day I hear the back door slam signaling to me that it’s only a matter of time before I have a bunny update.

When I asked my husband how we should move the bunnies he said, “I don’t think we should move them, we’ll wait till they grow up to let the dog outside.”

What the beep, beep, beep?

Are you kidding me?

I’m going to let you guess who promptly got sick shortly after those words were uttered and went to bed early, completely forgetting about taking the dog out. And then let you guess who was the person who went out walking the dog at 10:00 that night with a steak knife in one hand and a dozen plastic bags in the other.

And so we wait for the bunnies to grow up.

I’m giving them 3 more days before I let the dog out.

In the meantime I’m scouting out places where I can rent The Lion King.

Not sure if I’m going to focus on, “Hakuna Matata,” or “Circle of Life.”

We might let the dog decide.

Prehistoric Park Videos

When my oldest was little he was fascinated by dinosaurs.

At three, he knew more information about dinosaurs than most adults.

We read so many dinosaur books, I’m fairly sure I could have become a paleontoligist with just a little field work experience.

In fact, one day while reading the newspaper I read about dinosaur tracks discovered 30 minutes from our house. I loaded up my three year old and  ten month old and we went hiking until we found them – the large group standing around them helped us find them 🙂

For Christmas that year we bought him the Prehistoric Park videos .

These are the BEST dinosaur & prehistoric animal DVD”s EVER!

The 6 DVD set  focuses on Nigel Marvin and his travels back in time to capture prehistoric animals and bring them to the future. The concept might sound quirky but these videos are fascinating. They are filled with tons of information and humor.

My 7 year old is now obsessed with these videos and requests them constantly while our three year old daughter loves them too. What about my oldest who’s now ten? Yep, he still sits down and watches them.

If you have a child who is interested in wooly mammoths, saber tooth cats, or dinosaurs you must get these videos immediately. I promise your kids will love them.

Fun with Rolls

The last week of summer vacation was a little bit of a challenge in our family.

Everyone had been around each other just a little too long.

Arguements errupted for no reason, whining occurred at record amounts, and my patience was shot.

I knew I needed a project for the boys to work on so I scowered my house for ideas.

When I came across these fabric tubes in my guest room I was inspired.

Presenting..the Two Story Challenge

Using these tubes, get your hot wheels cars downstairs without using the steps.

And no, you may not throw your cars down.

After removing the fabric from the rolls, they got right to work.

A simple design was developed and executed using lots of duck tape

3…2…1….Go!

The tubes were taken apart at one point due to the two year stuffing objects at the top

Towels were placed at the bottom of the chute in order to protect the floor

A few hours into the challenge the basket was added

The basket was a necessary component to rest their weary legs

Eventually the picture was removed for fear of car and basket damage

If we ever need to get water from a well my kids are ready

This entertained my kids for three days! Obviously there were interuptions due to meals,  trips to the pool, and sports practices but listen to me when I say THREE DAYS!

There was even talk of adding a loop next time.

Go beg, borrow, or steal some fabric tubes from your local fabric store!