Happy Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner. This will be my 14th Halloween with children. Along the way I've learned a few tips to make the evening more enjoyable for everyone:

1. If you live in the north, plan a warm costume.
Face it, it's always cold on Halloween. You spend a fortune on a costume and then no one sees it because your child has a jacket covering it up.

Also line up the costume a day or two before so it's not a hassle to get everyone out the door on Halloween.

2. Enjoy a good, warm dinner before the kids go out trick-or-treating.
Have a healthy, warm meal (chili or hot soup is our frequent choice) before going out for the treats. If the kids have a full stomach of healthy food, they'll eat less candy later in the evening.

3. Lighten up with glow sticks or flashlights.
Tie a glowstick on your kids or buy a Halloween flashlight from the local dollar store. This way you can spot your kids from everyone else's and drivers can see them too.

4. Go early.
Start as soon as your local neighborhood allows trick-or-treating to begin. You can catch a little daylight and you'll be finished before it's too late. It is always hard to get sugar-high kids to bed on Halloween, and it can be a problem if there's school the next day.

5. Let the kids pass out treats at your house.
My children enjoy this almost as much as getting treats themselves. Keep a tally of how many treats you give out--it's fun to keep track of the number of trick-or-treaters.

6. Take advantage of Harvest Festivals or mall trick-or-treating.
If the weather is inclement, indoor Harvest Festivals at church's and schools or local mall trick-or-treating is a fun option (even if the weather is good). These offer more than just candy. There are usually games and non-candy prizes. Some even serve dinners. We sometimes do both--trick-or-treat with good friends and neighbors and then take in special event.

7. Get in the spirit.
I sometimes dress up with the kids. You're never too old to have fun and your kids will always remember the time you dressed up as Mickey Mouse or a mummy.

Happy Halloween!

Products We Love -October

Stop the Stink

This month's favorite products are all types of air fresheners that we like:

Odor-Cide
My favorite odor neutralized is one that I discovered while working in a hospital. One day the hospital morgue ventilation system failed. My office sat directly above the morgue, so you can imagine the stench. The housekeeper started spraying something, and immediately the odor vanished. I asked her what she'd used, and she showed me the bottle. The product was Odor-Cide and I've been a believer every since. You can purchase the product at Wal-Mart, or if your store is out or doesn't carry it, you can order it direct from the manufacturer, Winston Company. I use it on pet stains, litter boxes, gym bags and as a general air freshener.

FreshMatic

A new product that I like for air freshening is from Air Wick. It is their new FreshMatic air cleaner. The unit is similar to ones used commercially in public restrooms. It comes with batteries and can be wall mounted or sit on a shelf. It releases air freshener in pre-selected intervals (from twice to about 4 times per hour). It is much better than the electric wall units for continous air freshening.

Glade Scented Oil Candles

Another new home fragrance product we like are the new Glade scented oil candles. They come in a beautiful bowl that can be used as a centerpiece. The oil candles burn completely away and will fill an average sized room completely with scent. If you're disappointed with how candles don't "scent" the room, you'll be very happy with these scented oil candles. Another plus is that there's no cleanup. The candle oil burns completely away. Also, the holder has a magnet in it to hold the candle firmly in place.

Have a "scent-sational" time enjoying this month's products!

Online Grocery Shopping

I've discovered the next best thing to picking
out sliced bread in person. Online grocery shopping.

I've been waiting for a local grocery to come up with an affordable and decent system, and one of our groceries, Farm Fresh, has done it. I've been shopping online for the past month, and it is a wonderful time and money saver. I just click, tell them what time I want to pick them up, go into the customer service counter and they have my order waiting for me (the cold stuff is in the back and they bring it out). They generally pick better produce than I select and will substitute items if I want that option.

Total time for a big weekend grocery shop is about 25 min. compared to about 1.5 hours in the store. If I spend over $150 the service is free. Under $150 and there's a $4.50 service charge (a small price for the convenience).

There are a few tips I've discovered about online grocery shopping that may help you venture into the virtual grocery aisle:

1. Make certain you recheck your list before clicking "complete order." Last time I ordered bananas, I accidentally clicked bananas, plantain. These are definitely NOT the same thing.
2. Know the weights of the products you want to buy. I ordered canned green beans. The 8 oz. size seemed right, but when I got them home they were the tiny cans (the regular size I found out is 14 oz.)
3. Don't be afraid to make notes about the products you want to help store personnel make selections for you. It helps you get what you really wanted.
4. If the store doesn't have what you want online, ask for it anyway. They are happy to sell extra products even if it isn't online.

Look to see if any of your local groceries offer this service. Most will also deliver to your house for an additional fee. I don't mind driving to the grocery when the entire roundtrip is only 15 min., but if I were sick I would certainly have the groceries delivered.
Happy shopping!