I have successfully eaten every Almond Joy and Heath bar within a 6 square mile radius of my house.
It might have something to do with the fact that I told my children those candy bars don’t taste good.
Or maybe it’s that I keep stealing them out of their Halloween buckets.
Either way, I was in line at the grocery store tonight and actually thought about buying an Almond Joy.
Now that’s a real sickness.
We had our annual Halloween party this past weekend and it was a lot of fun.
As well as being quite tasty.
But….not too healthy (only some of the butter we used).
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.
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.
I then glued on a piece of cloth to the outside which covered a hole I had cut out in each box.
Each box on the inside was lined with tin foil. One had a cup and another had a bowl which held the food items.
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.
This picture of my son reaching into the box is my favorite one from the party.
Here’s a sample of the sheet with their guesses on it.
Here we all are talking about what each of their guesses is for the food items.
And the reveal….
In case you are wondering…
Witch Hair = Ramen Noodles
Frankenstein Eyes – Olives
Mummy Intestines = Lasagna Noodles
Troll Ears = Dried Apricots
___________________
Mystery Boxes = Silly & Slimey Fun 🙂
After dinner the other night, the kids were amusing themselves with something so my husband and I went on a hunt.
“We need dessert. We need dessert.”
And then we spotted it in the pantry.
“Eureka! It’s a miracle!”
Do you see it? The mother of all hidden candy?
Cue the angels singing.
Oh yes we did find that hiding.
Bless my children and their complete failure to remember they have any holiday candy three days after they collect it.
Reese’s peanut butter eggs are like crack cocaine for me.
I. Just. Can’t. Get. Enough.
I . Must. Have. A. Hit. Right. Now.
Go. Play. Outside. Right. Now. Cause. Momma. Needs. A. Fix.
I just ate 2 pounds of toffee in the last day and a half,
proving that buying desserts at Costco should be outlawed.
Fortunately, those calories have been completely negated
as I drank skim milk with said toffee
thus insuring I have successfully maintained my “eat reasonable through the holidays” goal.
Starting to mentally prepare for our Halloween party:
List of food possibilities
Fixing up the patio area
Finish Decorating House
Clean House
Front of House Decorations
And within each of those projects listed are twenty-three million things to do.
But I have taken some time to find some inspiration in blogville and thought I’d share with you some of the wonderful ideas I’ve found.
Harry Potter Free Potion Labels at Over the Big Moon
Halloween Lunchbox Notes from Kiki & Company
Tutorial to make “Eye” Candy Jars from Pink Polka Dot Creations
Black Widow Spider Bites from Mom On Timeout
Silhouette Pumpkins at Uncommon
Halloween Directions Post at Young and Crafty
Candy Corn Cupcakes from Our Best Bite
Mummy Dogs from Our Best Bite
and
Caramel Apple Bites from Echoes of Laughter
I love all of these ideas and plan on incorporating many of them into our Halloween party.
Hungry and inspired yet?
So I’ve spent the last few months thinking about Halloween.
Believe it or not, I started putting together these cards in June and am so excited to finally say they are done!
The Halloween Dinner Conversation Set includes: 31 cards with conversation starters and 5 blank cards (this allows you to add topics unique to your family)
Our family has enjoyed discussing these prompts and laughing together as we brainstorm and reminisce about Halloween.
These cards are wonderful for a table of two or ten – young and old!
Hurry and order your set of the Printable Halloween Conversation Cards and let the fun at the dinner table start!
This weekend we pulled out our Halloween stuff and started decorating the house. I found the following printable which we used at our Halloween party last year.
Just find an empty jar, count candy corns as you fill up the jar, write down the total somewhere you will remember, and let the party goers guess away.
Click here to download the Estimation_Candy_Corns Page
Enjoy!
It happened again.
But this time my husband was the victim.
If you ask me though, he was kind of asking for it.
Caroline was loose and there were consequences.
I’m thinking of possibly buying a cage to stick her in when I shower.
Or maybe I should just shower when she’s asleep.
 I left her watching TV on my bed so I could step in the shower – it’s roughly an eight foot walk.
I left the TV on and gave her some stickers with strict instructions to only put them on the paper I provided.
As I got out of the shower I saw she had moved from the bed to the floor.
She apparently listened because there were stickers on the paper.
But at some point while I was in the shower, she eyed my husbands Easter candy.
And ate it.
Notice the white chocolate flecks around her mouth?
Maybe I should be mad but frankly, who leaves Easter candy on their nightstand and expects it to be there in the morning? Plus, she didn’t put the stickers on the wall so I’m calling it a victory!
Let’s see, where were we when we last left off…
7:24 am – Oldest Bunny decides to change attitude
7:27 am – Shoes are on and baskets are empty – let the games begin. First up, the front yard.
7:38 am – The backyard. Happiness overtakes sleepiness when candy bar is found.
7:39 am – “There’s even an egg up here!”
7:47 am – The examination begins.
This is the dumper. Each egg is opened and emptied into a pile.
The examiner. Each egg is opened. Looked at. And closed again. The candy will be removed at each eating session. This technique is quite frustrating to Momma Bunny when she’s searching for a quick treat in the pantry.
The Eater. Open an egg. Eat whatever’s inside – all of it – as fast as you can.
8:02 am – Yep, she’s still eating.
8:25 am – Momma Bunny jumps into the shower throwing Dad the kids outfits, yelling that they need to leave in 35 minutes if they are to get to the 9:15 service.
8:30 am – 8:55 am – Pleading, negotiating, threatening all take place.
9:14 am – Bunny family slides into pews two rows from the back.
9:17 am – Momma Bunny pulls out a pad of paper and a pen for Littlest Bunny to play with.
9:19 am – Momma Bunny is tracing Littlest Bunny’s hand for entertainment.
9:24 am – 30 pieces of paper later Littlest Bunny decides she needs a new distraction so Momma Bunny pulls out some magnets and paper clips.
9:26 am – The priest tells all of the children of the church to answer him this question, “Doesn’t the church look beautiful now with all of the flowers in it?”
Middle Bunny shouts out, “No!”
Momma Bunny quickly brings her hand to Middle Bunny’s mouth while Poppa Bunny gives him a stern look.
9:28 am – Oldest Bunny and Middle Bunny start arguing over who gets to hold the hymnal so Momma Bunny takes hers and gives it to the Middle Bunny. Momma Bunny and Poppa Bunny just stand now and move their mouths as if to show they have memorized every Easter song.
9:30 am – Littlest Bunny starts talking loudly. She is escorted to the front yard by Poppa Bunny for a prolonged botany lesson.
9:58 am – Church is over and Momma Bunny is ready to leave. Unfortunately, Littlest Bunny has been outside for the last 30 minutes watching the egg hunt being set up so there is no chance of that.
10:04 – Littlest Bunny mentally prepares for the challenge ahead.
10:05 – Middle Bunny and Oldest Bunny talk strategy with the Littlest Bunny for the hunt. There is talk of pushing and shoving if deemed necessary.
10:08 am – The hunt begins. Littlest Bunny is not keeping her eyes on the prize. This frustrates Middle Bunny and Oldest Bunny who are doing their best to form a human wall discouraging other Bunnies from snatching eggs in the vicinity.
10:11 am – The victory walk.
10:14 am – Champions Easter egg hunters
10:30 am – Bunny family arrives home.
10:31 am – All designated Easter clothing has been stripped off and thrown to the ground by little bunnies.
10:32 am – Momma and Poppa Bunny tell the bunnies to go put some clothes on and stay upstairs. Momma and Poppa Bunny have designated this time as mandatory quiet time.
10:33 am – The Bunny children just laugh at their parents. They know their sugar high will last until right before dinnertime when all three will meltdown at the same time at the sight of their dinner.
Easter 2012 is deemed a success!