Weekend Wrap-Up: Tricking and Treating

Another Halloween Night has come and gone, but the candy wrappers remain. It was a fun, busy day and it reminded me that this season too will pass. Meaning, it is such a "holiday" for the little ones. Sure, you can get all dressed up when you're older and hit the bars. Sure, you will give out candy as an adult and oooh and ahhh over the little kids that come to the door dressed as the latest princesses or video game characters. But it's not the same. That excitement you see in your children's eyes and all the ramping up for this sugar-filled night of dress up? It's just not the same.

I appreciate these days.  

Hectic as it was.

Pink's parade was at 9:00 am. The costumes were amazing at her school, which is grades 4 through 6. Simply amazing. Lots of homemade. Lots of creativity. Lots of quirk. Loved it. 

After that, I raced a few towns over to pick up my 50 rolls from the bakery and rushed back home. There, I did my last minute cleaning and food prep. Though I stayed up until 1:00 am to do the lion's share the night before, there was still a bit to do in anticipation of the  40-plus people that would be congregating at our house for the "post trick or treat" party for our neighbors!

Then back to the elementary school to help in Rella's class with the little party, the changing into costumes, and the parade. 

Since I was marching IN the parade with Rella's class, I wasn't able to see Tink in the actual parade. But, luckily, I caught her queuing up in the hallway and snapped my picture (to her mild embarrassment). 

I've never had the chance to volunteer in the classroom on Halloween before. It's a very coveted spot reserved for the room moms and one extra volunteer. This was probably my first, last and only time and I was grateful to get the chance with my last little girl. 

Upon arriving home it was the last minute pre-party frenzy while trying to keep four kids out of my hair. But luckily, it was a nice day so they could stay entertained outside.

Pink the Nerd.

Tink the 50s girl. 

Rella the "Swiss Miss Girl"... who looks like she's been a bit wind blown.

And CB, the ticked off cat. 

Her school has a Halloween party, but the kids don't dress up and parade anymore. At the ages of 19 through 21, it's just a bit juvenile I suppose. 

But, I kept her in the spirit with the cat ears. She's thrilled, as you can tell.

Our whole street trick or treats together, along with a few of their friends who live around the corner. This year, Dr. Fabulous went out with the little ones while I stayed home with CB who doesn't 

a) like to walk 

b) like candy or 

c) like crowds and chaos.

So, this is clearly not her holiday. Nor are any of the others.

Hence, the many photos of the other girls and only one of her. 

I did sneak up the street with the group, because I'm the dork who thinks "I'm gonna miss these days" and just don't want to squander them. 

The post-party was super fun, as it always is. I don't say that to take credit for it.  It's the company, not my stellar entertainment skills. We all 'pot-luck' it and I supply the seasonal beers and local apple wine which gets warmed in a crock pot with mulling spices and just screams FALL!

I also doctor up some of the best homemade hot chocolate for the kids which is simply decadent. 

We partied like rock stars... kids passed out on the couch while parents talked until after midnight. That's the beauty of a Friday night Halloween.  

I didn't really take photos because I was too busy having fun and hostessing, but this one of the two 'besties since pre-K' cracks me up. If you fast forward a few years and substitute red solo cups and a sorority house background? Yeah... it's funny.  And not. 

The girls know the drill with the candy. They pick out a few days worth and then donate the rest to Operation Gratitude. We have donated our excess Halloween candy every year for the past six years to this organization. 

Operation Gratitude is a non-profit organization that assembles and distributes care packages to our active soldiers overseas, veterans, wounded soldiers recovering in hospitals and their families/caregivers. This past year, Operation Gratitude delivered 150,000 care packages. Inside they will have items specific for the soldier's particular needs, like toiletries or magazines and books. They include a homemade card and often a bit of candy... like the candy donated from Halloween! 

Three years ago, a local dentist office started a Candy Buy Back program for Operation Gratitude and we have happily donated our loot to them - I simply LOVE these guys! They make it a big party with a card making station for the soldiers, free hot dogs and lemonade and prizes. They are the warmest, friendliest practice! My girls look forward to the candy donation every year and never balk about giving up so much of their loot. 

Two years ago, we donated about 28 pounds between us and a few friends. The next year we spread the word even more to our friends and neighbors and collected 66 pounds. This year? Thanks to the generosity of so many people and the help of our local coffee shop who set up a donation collection site for us, we were able to donate 81 pounds of candy to the troops! Whooopppppeeee! Can I get a fist bump?

All in all, it was another fun Halloween.  I love my neighbors and friends. I love my kids friends. I love this time of year. I don't love all the candy, necessarily... but I love that we can do something good with it and make this random holiday a little charitable.  

I'm feeling the love, if you can't tell. Feeling it something fierce. 

Post-Halloween Charity: Our Candy Drive Was A Success!

My absolute favorite day of the year was this weekend. What is it you might ask? Daylight Savings, where we "fall back" and get that extra hour. I swear to you, when Dr Fabulous reminded me of Daylight Savings on Saturday morning, I threw my arms in the air and started doing a happy dance.  With a whoop.   It was especially fortuitous that I planned a birthday dinner in the city with my mom and sister (we all have Fall birthdays) on Saturday night. So when I got home at 11:30 it was really 10:30 and I got into bed all like "Boo-yah!" 

It's the little things. Like, an extra hour of sleep once a year.  I'm living large over here.

****

Well, the Halloween madness is over and our annual candy drive for the U.S. troops a huge success!

Each year since Pink was four, we have donated our extra candy to the troops. Most years we also organize a drive in our community and it's always met with great success. 

Last year we found a closer Candy Buy Back program that participated with Operation Gratitude. This  local dentist office is run by some pretty fabulous women. Operation Gratitude is a non-profit organization that creates care packages for U.S. Soldiers overseas and they collect many items from toiletries to magazines to treats like candy that get packaged up along with cards for the soldiers. 

Last year the girls and our Kids Care Club, collected 25 pounds of candy for Operation Gratitude.  

This year we rocked it even harder and collected 66 pounds of candy!!

Those blurry 5 boxes of candy were ALL us! 

The dental office makes it a big party - free hotdogs, popcorn and lemonade, prizes and a card-writing station. Everyone is so nice over there, I swear I'm in love with them!  I love them almost as much as I love Daylight Savings Day.  

The kids are off the rest of the week for the New Jersey Teacher's Convention, so I'll get to have them home all day on my birthday tomorrow.  That is great, right? 

Yeah, we'll go with that. 

A Day of Service

Okay, there technically is a "Day of Service" and November 8th was not necessarily that day.  In our household, though, it sure ended up being a full day chock full of giving back in small ways.

The girls are all off for the NJ Teacher's Convention Thursday through Monday. (Even though the actual convention itself was cancelled due to the hurricane, our district continued to be off).  I drove CB to Maryland for a long weekend with her Dad, so it's just me and the three little sprites. The days off were good because our first official snow fall came on Wednesday.
 

Not quite enough to do much with.  This was our snowman.  

What I love about kids is that they get so flippin' excited over anything - even 1 centimeter of snow!  

So, on the first morning of our long weekend we hosted a 2-hour Kids Care Club meeting.



I just started this Club in late August in conjunction with another organization I am part of.  It is a little group of 'young philanthropists' who meet once a month and work on a service project.  Our first couple of meetings have had modest attendance but this meeting had 19 children!  It was so encouraging and rewarding to see many of my friends bringing their kids out to discuss our month's philanthropy project and get prepared.  We made signs, read a story, talked about Thanksgiving food and those who go without, made cards for the soldiers, and collected donated halloween candy for Operation Gratitude.



After the morning meeting my girls and I grabbed a quick lunch and ran to the VFW to sort clothing donations that will go to Brick Township on an 18-wheeler for those in shelters from Hurricane Sandy.  My kids and I helped sort, fold and pack mounds of clothing for almost 4 hours.  They had fun with some friends who were also volunteering their time and got all jacked up on soda (which I never let them have) so they actually really hung in there!



We then went directly to the dentist's office to drop off our 25 pounds of donated candy from the members of the Kids Care Club!  Turner-Wood Dentistry did such a nice job with this event by providing free grilled hotdogs, warm soft pretzels, lemonade, and a letter writing station for kids to make cards for the soldiers.  This was a "buy back" program which paid out $1.00/pound (up to 5 pounds) for donated candy.

The staff was super friendly with the kids and it really felt like a party complete with little goodie bags.  All of the collected candy gets sent to an organization called Operation Gratitude who use the treats in care packages for the U.S. Soldiers overseas.  They do great things to help support deployed soldiers all year long.  Visit their website to see what Operation Gratitude does and bookmark them to find a participating dentist NEXT year and start your own candy drive!!  We put the five bucks we made on our candy in the Kids Care "Kitty" and are saving up for a project later on to benefit those in need.



It was a really, really busy day.  The kind of day that makes you feel really tired... especially if you are four feet and under.  I know I was draggin' ass by 5:00... tired, thirsty, hungry and a bit mentally fried from all those hours surrounded by my own kids and their usual shenanigans.  But, it was the kind of "tired" that made you feel good.  Like it was a day well spent.  A day that mattered.  A day that benefited others more than it benefited yourself.  I want my kids - who are rather over-priveledged I must confess - to understand that it is important to take time to be there for others and make a difference wherever and whenever you can.  I hope they get it.







I cooked some vegetarian chili after arriving home and then headed out to a friend's house to participate on a committee which is raising awareness for Mental Illness in 2013 by sponsoring educational workshops and other fundraising events.  I'm really excited about this great opportunity to be involved.

I have to say though, that from 10 am to 10 pm I was going non-stop with no break.  So, I think the girls and I deserve a little R&R for today.  I'm planning to take them to see Wreck It Ralph this afternoon, and then I have a birthday dinner in Philly with my sister which will be awesome.  But for now, we're loungin' around recouping...

To start your own Kids Care Club:

Visit The Kids Care Club program at generationOn and sign up.

Or, browse the free lesson plans and creative ideas at generationOn and create your own club or just use the ideas for your own family!