Organizing Mission Monday Link Party – Week 45

Halloween Revisited from 2005

I was looking through old Halloween photos and realized how fun this Halloween was with the kids.  The triplets were 4 years old. I think Drew was 11 and Tim was 12.  We went to Boo at the Zoo that year at the Columbus Zoo.

I think this one is my favorite. One of my older son’s John came with us. Elise thought it was so funny that she was on his shoulders along with her horse! I just love the laugh!

Hope you all have a fun Halloween.  Our trick or treating is tonight, so I didn’t have any pictures from outfits this year. But what can beat the young kids costumes?

Link up to My Linky Party

What is happening in your life this week? But as always you can link up any organizing or cleaning or DIY post to my link party.

You can find the link for my button and also my “Proud to Be Featured Button” on my top “Buttons” Tab.

1) Link to your specific post – not your blog
2) Please Link back to my blog with my button or link (link just above underneath my button)
3) I’d love if you’d follow me on google and/or FB. The google is new and I’m trying to build it
4) Blog post related to Organizing or Cleaning or DIY or decorating
5) No sales pitches or web sites.
6) If I feature you I will use one or more of your pictures with a link back to your blog.
7) Feel free to link up more than 1 post.

Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list. If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple. If You Are On A Reader and Want to View All the Great Link Up’s on this post please Click Here.
This party will be open until November 13, 2011

I’ve Been Boo’d! #DontBeTheDarkHouse

What a Cool Halloween Surprise!

The kids and I got home from running some errands this morning and I found this box had been delivered!

The kids were saying, “Open it.. I think someone has Boo’d us!”  They were practically jumping up and down with excitement!  I knew we had were had some Boo’s going on at Collective Bias called Don’t Be The Dark House-  but I had NO idea I would get one!!  (I was excited too… just sayin)

Look how cute!  Then there was a bit of a thank you from my “Boo-er” .   I’m pretty sure I know who it is from the last name on the return label…
Now to see what is!

Oh look… there are five boo bags!!!  Plenty for the kids!

When I actually told them to sit down and handed them each one you would have thought it was Christmas morning!  They were SO excited.  I just realized looking at this picture that 2 of them don’t even have their coats off yet from when we came in the door.

Then they went to it…

Mini Snickers and Snickers Peanut Butter, MilkyWay and 3 Musketeers bars!

There were also little decorations in each bag..

and some mini pumpkins.

I was going to leave the other two bags for my teenagers…. but the dogs were driving me crazy. They kept sniffing one of the bags left in the box…

Look what we found… the dogs got a Boo bag too!!!  lol  Love it!!

I had a hard time getting any good pictures of them.  Sadie (the one in this picture) is scared of my new camera.  When I first got it, it was programmed with the “beep” when I took a picture. She is scared of that tone due to a shock collar for an invisible fence we had when she was younger. Anytime she hears it she gets scared. Even though I immediately reprogrammed my camera without the beep… the damage has been done.  So I had to get a couple quick ones when she was almost more enticed by the food than her fears.

 I have to tell you this… in total honesty. I asked Alex to bring me out the candy so I could see exactly what was in there for this post. I heard Zach saying, be careful Alex. I said.. why do you have to be careful bringing me in the bowl of candy?
“Because… look what we did with it!!!” he said… I was shocked!! Absolutly no lie I had NO idea they had arranged it like this. Isn’t this cool?

Thank you much Lisa from East Texas Saver – I know for sure it is you after I just found your post!!!  You totally made our day!!!

Organizing Mission Monday Link Party – Week 43

Halloween Is Fast Approaching

Are you a big Halloween buff?  Have you started decorating the outside of your house in lights and accessories?

I have seen several houses in my town that have up more Halloween decorations than most people do for Christmas!  It is amazing how big this holiday has become.

I have to admit that I’m not a huge Halloween participant.  We have fun with a few little decorations, carve jack-o-lanterns and take the kids trick-or-treating – but I don’t have major parties, or do the blood & guts decorating or costumes.

How extensive do you do Halloween?

Here are some photos from our recent visit to Pigeon Roost Farm. We just discovered this place this year and loved it.

They had So much for the kids to do. There were a couple gift shops, food to eat, animals, and all kinds of pumpkins of course.

The corn maze was huge!!  If you looked at it from an airplane you would see the outline of a rooster.  There is Alex & Elise coming out of the maze.

 These tubes were a favorite of the kids.  There was a big area and several of these tubes that everyone took turns in.

The kids each picked out a pumpkin before we left. It was a pay per pound system.  I think they averaged out to $5 per pumpkin, which was pretty much the going rate for the sizes they picked out.

Elise got one of those gross warty pumpkins. I can hardly stand to look at those things!!  It should be interesting carving that one. She plans on making it into a witch.

Next up will be carving the pumpkins!

 

Link up to My Linky Party

What is happening in your life this week? Feel free to post your halloween preparations this week! But as always you can link up any organizing or cleaning or DIY post to my link party.

You can find the link for my button and also my “Proud to Be Featured Button” on my top “Buttons” Tab.

1) Link to your specific post – not your blog
2) Please Link back to my blog with my button or link (link just above underneath my button)
3) I’d love if you’d follow me on google and/or FB. The google is new and I’m trying to build it
4) Blog post related to Organizing or Cleaning or DIY or decorating
5) No sales pitches or web sites.
6) If I feature you I will use one or more of your pictures with a link back to your blog.
7) Feel free to link up more than 1 post.

Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list. If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple. If You Are On A Reader and Want to View All the Great Link Up’s on this post please Click Here.
This party will be open until October 30, 2011

Halloween Safety Tips from FedEx and Safe Kids USA

Since many of you are going to have kids out trick or treating this week I wanted to pass on some safety tips. FedEx is teaming up with Safe Kids USA and child pedestrian safety expert Moira Donahue, to help keep your kids safe. Night time, excited kids running from house to house thinking only of the candy they are going to get at the next house and costumes….it is one of the most dangerous times for little trick or treaters. Please keep the following tips passed on from Safe Kids USA in mind:

* Always trick-or-treat with an adult until age 10.
* Only trick-or-treat in familiar areas that are well lit
* Cross streets at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks
* Look left, right and left again when crossing; always walk, don’t run, when crossing streets
* Make eye contact with drivers and watch for cars that are turning or backing up
* Walk on sidewalks or paths; if there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible
* Never dart out into the street or cross in between parked cars
* Wear light-colored, flame-retardant, costumes decorated with retro-reflective tape or stickers
* Wear well-fitting, sturdy shoes to prevent trips and falls
* Carry a flashlight or glow stick to increase visibility to drivers
* Wear face paint and makeup; a mask can restrict a child’s vision

Driving Safely on Halloween
FedEx reminds motorist to please be extra careful this Halloween and recommends that drivers:

* Be especially alert in residential neighborhoods
* Drive more slowly and anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic on and near the road
* Be sure to drive with your full headlights on so you can spot children from greater distances
* Take extra time to actively look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs
* Remember that costumes can limit children’s visibility and they may not be able to see your vehicle
* Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully
* Remember that children are excited on this night and may move in unpredictable ways
* Remember that popular trick-or-treating hours are during the typical rush-hour period, between 5:30-9:30pm
* Reduce any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and pedestrians

The above picture has some violations in it! This picture was taken of my kids at Boo at the Zoo.  When they were walking…their masks (except for the red Ninja Turtle) came up so they could see. (honest! LOL)

Disclosure – I was asked if I could pass this valuable information on to you. (Duh? why wouldn’t I…this is great stuff) I am being sent Halloween safety bags for my kids but it was not a condition of posting and that is not the reason I am posting this. I did not get paid for this post.

Holiday Decorations

Holiday Decoration Storage

Is Your House A Mess At Holiday Time?

Storing Holiday Decorations

What do you do with all those Thanksgiving, Christmas decorations, Halloween ghost and goblins, Easter baskets, New Years Eve and 4th of July decorations? They can take up a lot of storage space (especially Christmas if you are anything like me). But stores are gearing up and selling a lot more decorations for all holidays and it is easy to jump into the decorating phase. I saw a house this Halloween that had more decorations and blow up characters and lights than you usually see at Christmas.

**You need to make sure you have the room to store them if you buy them.

 

Clear Colored Plastic Containers work best.
I suggest that you look for the clear colored containers they have out for that holiday. I think these are great!! I can go down and immediately find my Halloween decorations because they are the ones in the orange and black (clear orange) containers. Of course they are still labeled..but it makes it so easy. My Easter containers are pink and Christmas is red and green. Again I still go for the clear over solid non-see through bins. So if you can’t find the colored clear ones, then just get clear. Being able to see what is in the at a glance is time saving!
So before you buy any more decoration, make sure you have the room to store them, then find clear colored bins to store each separate holiday in. Still label it and getting out decorations will become a very simple thing!

If you realize that you do not have the storage space for the decorations, that you have decorations in many different areas of your home (due to lack of adequate storage)… then what you more than likely need to do is to sort out your holiday decorations into what you really need each year and what you haven’t used in several years.