Halloween Treats and Tips

Halloween is here, and we have decorated as usual: graveyard, strobe lights, heads hanging, giant spiders covering the house and the fog machines ... it's not Halloween without the fog machine.
This year decorating was a special moment with both the little ones being able to pitch in.

As always, Stella, now 4-years-old had her own ideas about what she was going to be this year. I have found it increasingly difficult to keep her focus on age friendly costumes when the options out there look like small, adult get-ups.

I finally got smart and asked her what she would like to be, then went out and bought her a costume. Perhaps I took a little bit of the fun out of it for Stella but, each year, I get tired of vetoing all of her choices because they are too skimpy, or too “adult” for her. And, it turns out, she is very happy with her more than appropriate witch outfit.

As for Carter, I could never have imagined how much easier having a boy would be. His mind changes constantly, which to me translates to mean that he really will be happy with anything. So at this point, as long as it doesn’t require him to wear a hat or headpiece for too long and it involves him going from house to house, we are in the clear. A dinosaur will be walking the streets tonight.

As always, making sure that Halloween is a safe and happy holiday, I will be taking some steps. While we all know the safety tips on checking the kids’ candy, it is equally important to make sure that the kids are safe while walking around trick or treating.
 Cross the street at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks.
 Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross.
 Put electronic devices down and keep heads up and walk, don’t run, across the street.
 Teach children to make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them.
 Always walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible. Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.
 Watch for cars that are turning or backing up. Teach children to never dart out into the street or cross between parked cars.

See more at: http://www.safekids.org/tip/halloween-safety-tips#sthash.MIhjlWkm.dpuf.

Cheers to all you parents out there as you fold, zip, tuck, and pin your little ones into their Halloween costumes.
Have a safe Halloween and don't be afraid to eat some of that candy, after all, it's no good for the kids!

Halloween Thoughts

Happy Halloween to all! 

I thought about posting the usual blog hop today - an extra spooky one - but when I turned on the news this morning, it just didn't seem right.

Stella's first pumpkin.

With all the devastation on the east coast, where many of you haute moms live, I just couldn't help but think about all of the families and children who will not be celebrating this holiday today.  If they are lucky to celebrate, I am sure it will be in a way that is drastically different than what they are used to.

There are so many events that remind me of the need to be prepared, especially now that we have two little ones. Every day I put it off thinking that I have time.  I wonder how many families experiencing the devastation thought the same.

I feel funny celebrating this holiday today; it seems so...unimportant.  At any rate, as you haute moms know, nothing squelches the excitment of little kids so we will, of course, be channeling our inner Halloween spirits.  Stella will be a memaid this year.  Last night she carved her first pumpkin (with a liittle help of course.)

Wishing all the children out there a safe and spooky Halloween!

Halloween Happenings

Halloween sure does change when you become a mom! I was looking through a friend's pictures from an adult Halloween party over the weekend and felt strangely disconnected.

I had done this party thing for years and this weekend was spent carving pumpkins, teaching Stella to say "trick or treat", and putting the finishing touches on our decorations. Today I will be going to Stella's Halloween party at her day care and later, ordering pizzas and having another family over to trick or treat.

I can't wait to get home and spend our first year taking Stella trick or treating, watching her expressions, and seeing her in her costume. Halloween is my favorite holiday and being a mom has brought it to a new level!

To kick off Halloween, my first article as a parenting columnist for a local newspaper came out yesterday and guess what, it's about Halloween.

Please take a look!
Gazette.com - The Mom Column

Have a happy and safe Halloween!




Pumpkin Patch Fun

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Happy Halloween!

So it's the morning of Halloween and I have been up so early, you would have thought I was a kid on Christmas morning. No, I didn't have anything to do. I guess the smell of snack size candy must be floating through the air. Stella is going to be a lady bug tonight and will be joining fellow cutest baby club member, Jake Stone. He is going to be a spider. His mom and I didn't plan it but I thought it was really cute. We had a dress rehearsal this morning and she seems to be warm and toasty in it. I hid the candy from myself a few days ago because I had already eaten about five bags of Take 5. (For those of you who have never had one, they are heaven on Earth. It is a pretzel with peanut butter, caramel, and chocolate. Yup, you heard me and for some reason, I can only find them around Halloween.) Guess I better start combing the cabinets for those and the giant size bag of variety M&M's. Gee, I hope we have some candy left! Have a safe Halloween!

Haute Halloween

Halloween has always been up there on my list of fabulous holidays. There is nothing like dressing up in costume and getting some candy as a reward. As the years went by, the Halloween parties got more fun and my costumes got a little sluttier. That's right. I didn't work out for nothing. When my hubby and I got married, we really got into the holiday and started decorating the house. Not decorating with paper cut-outs like the ones you used to tape on the inside of your window but decorations like nobody's business! Dead bodies, a graveyard, spiders, bones, lights, fog machine, you name it. People actually drive by our house and take pictures. We also got into the whole couples costume thing and always went all out for our seasonal Halloween parties. Last year we went as Ghostbusters and I was 10 weeks pregnant (and the designated driver).

Well, as you can imagine this year will be a little different and this Haute Mom is not only OK with this, excited as well! We have decided to bypass the Halloween parties (1. Babysitting is not cheap and 2. Our main babysitter is not available all weekend.) Stella is going to be a little ladybug and we are going to a baby party where the little ones will dress up and the haute moms will drink wine (thanks Stone family)!

I am a little confused at this Halloween etiquette now that I am a mom. I need to stay haute and don't want to commit any "Do Not's" on my first Halloween. First, can I take Stella trick-or-treating and eat her candy? Or does she need to be able to say "Trick or Treat" all by herself? Also, what's up with the pumpkin patch? We took Stella to get her first pumpkin and I had to stop and wonder if I had stumbled upon a carnival of some sort. Since when are there tickets, and games, and rides, and bouncy houses? What happened to the good ol' pumpkin patch? You know, the empty lot filled with straw or dirt and rows of pumpkins? And were pumpkins always that expensive?! If so, sorry mom! I mean the ones at the grocery store are so much cheaper but obviously, this haute mom will not get her daughter's first pumkin at the grocery store. Maybe next year...which is also when I plan on learning to sew so I can make costumes. No, that was not a joke. Anyone know what the easiest costume to make is? I may need to start on it now.

Stella with her first pumpkin ~ she found it right away and wouldn't let go of it!

I hope all of you and your families and a safe and terrific Halloween!