Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts

Thursday, October 14, 2010

You've Been BOO'd

Usually sometime in October during the evening after darkness has settled over our development, our doorbell will ring.  But it will ring only once. We will not rush to the door but wait and listen for a possible second ring which will never come (and it gives whoever rung our doorbell plenty of time to get away).  We will turn on the lights to the outside confirming our suspicions that no one is there.  And then we will open the door...


...to find a bowl of goodies on our doorstep...


...and to find that we have been BOO'd.




This is a ritual every year around this time in our neighborhood.  It usually begins around the middle of October.  People will sneak around delivering the goodies under the cover of darkness. This may require stealth, dark clothes, running shoes, and the ability not to dissolve into fits of giggles (especially if you are just running across the street).  I sometimes have trouble with the last one.

Once the goodies arrive, you have 24 hours to BOO two more people.  In addition to the goodies left on the doorstep, two papers are also left.  One is a picture of a ghost to hang on your door so others know that you have already been BOO'd and the other is a poem describing the game.

It reads:

A friendly ghost has come your way
To wish for you a wonderful day.
He left a small gift and something sweet
Never heard him come cause he's light on his feet.
You must be light on your feet too,
Cause this is what you have to do:
Choose two friends, and choose them well.
Now this is a secret, you musn't tell.
Copy this poem, and the sign twice,
If you do it by hand, make sure it looks nice.
Take a couple of gift bags down from the shelf,
Or a plain paper bag, you can design yourself.
Fill them with sweets, and a gift of your choice.
Leave em' on your friends porch,
without any noise.
Hang this sign on your door, for all ghosts to see.
They'll know you've been "BOO-D",
and will leave you be.
This is only a game, to have a little fun,
Let's see how far it goes, before the month's done.
Now you have 24 hrs. to visit your friends.
Please don't be the cause of our games early end.


I know who I am going to BOO, do you?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Train Ride to the Pumpkin Patch

My family loves fall.  It doesn't hurt that we live close to the Poconos so we get to enjoy the mountains changing from a lush green to the crimson, russet, amber, and gold colors of autumn. 

This year we took a ride on a train to a pumpkin patch.  It was the girls' first train ride. 

 Madison and me (and my super-short haircut)

The pumpkin patch consisted of a little clearing along the railroad tracks where hay bales were set up with pumpkins.  The pumpkins, of similar sizes and shapes were sitting waiting to be plucked up into the arms of the children.

"Mom, what about this one?" 

That particular pumpkin was rejected for some reason known only to Em after some very serious consideration.  Apparently it didn't meet her specifications.

"No.  This one."

Nope, not that one either.  That one was set down, discarded by a very discerning three year old.  Running off across the clearing, she spotted another one that seemed to be "The One".

"I think this is the one"

Luckily it was the one.  Back onto the train we went with Emmy's chosen pumpkin.

This past weekend we went to the local farm that actually takes you on a hayride to a real  pumpkin patch where we tripped over pumpkin vines looking for the perfect pumpkin.

I told you we really like the season! 

Where do our pumpkins sit?  In the garage waiting patiently to be carved while two little munchkins are having a hard time containing their excitement at the prospect that Halloween is right around the corner.  Our little jack-o-lantern will be greeting all the local trick-or-treaters who knock at the door. 

How do you celebrate the fall?

Friday, November 6, 2009

Free Letters From Santa For Your Little Ones

I visited my mom today and we took my daughters to her work. At the service desk there was a pad with papers for people to take to send in for their child to receive a personalized letter from Santa. They cost about $4. Online there are some good resources for getting a free letter for your child.

There is a wonderful site called Free Letters From Santa Claus where you can personalize a letter from Santa for your child. There are about 5 different letters to choose from and 5 different designs. You can download the letter or send it via email. There is also Best Santa's Letter.

Also, there is a site where you can copy text for a letter from Santa that you can personalize yourself in Word. They also give instructions for how to get a North Pole postmark.

Free letter From Santa and AAA are other sites that offer free letters from Santa.

When constructing your letters, after you input the information, double check the grammar and make changes if possible (or choose a different template without errors). My favorite site was AAA's. It was simple to input the information and free of grammatical errors. Also, it was worded simply so I think my two year old has a better chance of understanding it.

If you would like someone else to send your child an actual letter through the mail, check out Letters From Santa. All you do is plug in the information that they are asking for and they will send your child a letter from Santa. A sample template is provided so you can see what the letter will look like.

If you don't mind not having a personalized letter from Santa, Christmas Letter Tips.com and Santa Printables are other sites that have printable letters.

To send a letter to Santa, play online games (many are educational), check out Santa's Naughty or Nice List, hear stories, see Norad's Santa Tracker, and see many other features, check out Northpole.com.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Halloween Events

Not only can you go trick-or-treating door to door with your young ones this Saturday but there are a lot of other events taking place.

Toys R US
  • Participating TRU stores will be having Geoffrey's Trick -or- Treat Parade for children from 12 pm - 3 pm
  • Children 3 and up will receive a bag to collect goodies and giveaways as they parade around the store

Michaels
  • The Knack FREE Halloween Family Event 10 am -2 pm
  • Each child will receive a trick-or-treat pail, 3 activities (coloring activity, Crayola pencil topper demo with Crayola Model Magic Fusion, and a Make-It Take It Halloween Frame), candy, and a balloon

Macy's
  • The first 100 customers in the store On October 31st will get a $10 card
  • The Coolest Costume Contest will take place in the Kids Dept. at 11 am
  • Kids can also get their own trick-or-treat bag to color in the Kids Dept.
  • Kids can get their faces painted by the pros at participating makeup counters throughout the day