It is November 1st so that means it is time to start talking turkey! I am going to put away all of the Halloween decorations today. The kids have gone through all of their candy, picked their favorites, and traded the ones that they wanted to give away. However, between the Downtown Trick or Treat, trick or treating around the neighborhood, treats from friends, school and more, we are innundated with candy. There is no way we could possibly eat all of this nor should we! What do you do with your leftover Halloween candy?
Donate it to the USO Northwest Florida. They have list of candies and other items from 2010.
Check with your children’s school. The teachers sometimes use treats as rewards or during parties.
Take it to a dentist or orthodontist participating in the Halloween Candy Buyback Programs. Bring your unopened candy to Shehee and Callahan (1007 Airport Blvd) from November 1 to the 4th. Everyone who donates candy will receive a free firefly light-up toothbrush and goody bag. Everyone who donates at least a pound of candy will earn a chance to win prizes. The candy will be donated to the local USO and will benefit local military.
Donate to Operation Shoebox. They will go through the candy and ship it to the troops. According to their website, their mailing address is: Operation Shoebox; 8360 E Highway 25; Belleview, FL 34420.
Do you know of any other locations that are accepting extra Halloween candy?
Big S had to read an arts and craft book for his library summer reading challenge this week. He chose Crafts for Kids Who Are Wild about Dinosaurs by Kathy Ross. Yesterday morning, the kids were reading the book and wanting to try a craft. Of course, not being prepared with lots of craft supplies I chose Dinosaur in a Cave on page 31. We modified the directions because we were missing a few supplies. Aren’t they great dinosaur scenes?
Dinosaur in the Ocean!
Supplies:
- construction paper in many colors
- glue
- scissors
- markers or crayons
Directions:
- Trace your hand on construction paper. This is the dinosaur. The thumb is the face and the rest are the legs.
- Cut out your dinosaur.
- Glue your dinosaur on another piece of paper.
- Color a scene for the dinosaur. We colored a volcano scene, a forest scene, and a water scene. Little S drew her dinosaur in Hawaii!
Dinosaur in the sky!
Today is June 1st. Not only does it mean that school is almost over, but it also means that Hurricane Season is upon us! It is time to replenish your hurricane supply! Even though we haven’t had a major hurricane in awhile, we still need to be prepared just in case. I usually purchase our hurricane supplies and when hurricane season comes and goes, we work our way through the supplies so nothing goes to waste and we don’t waste money. Here are a few tips from one of my previous posts:
From the Archives: Are You Ready for Hurricane Season?
If you have small children, it is important to have them help you prepare. This will alleviate some of the stress if a hurricane does head into the Gulf. Here are a few links to help you prepare:
Make sure that you have all of the basic neccessities. These include things like bottled water for a week for each person in the household, non-perishable food for every member, non electric can opener, etc. You can find an example of a list of the things you should have here. You might have heard the saying that the “First 72 Are On You” but do you know what that means? It means to be prepared. Have at least 72 hours worth of supplies. Response to a disaster could be earlier, but you need to be ready to handle the first 72 hours on your own.
Here are some of the things that we make sure we have outside of the necessities. These are not must haves, but we like to have these items around.
- paper goods
- propane camp stove and plenty of mini propane tanks (this is good to have around when you want to do something other than grill out!)
- battery operated fans
- fun flashlights for each of the kids – this year we are going to let the kids pick out their own to put in the kits
- new books and toys that can be brought out when the initial excitement of no power wears off
- a storm radio/tv – We watched an entire marathon of Hell’s Kitchen for a week because we were able to get that one channel on our hand crank/battery operated storm radio/tv
Once you have all your supplies, as a family you can pack them up in a container or put them in a cabinet designated the Hurricane Cabinet. Do you have any additions to this list of things that are not really necessary but make us more comfortable? Comment below!
The Pensacola News Journal ran their annual hurricane guide this week. If you missed it, you can find it on their site. The guide includes preparation information, evacuation routes, recovery, and more.
I can’t keep plants alive. I can’t even keep the ones alive that don’t need any loving care so when my husband suggested we start a garden this year, I laughed at him. Even though my first reaction was to laugh, he seemed so excited about doing this together as a family, how was I to say no? I figured that even if nothing grew, it would be a great family activity.
How on earth do we get started? We have never done this before so of course I turned to the Internet for help! I did some quick research on Burpee Seeds to see what was good to plant right now and I also got some information from this post my sister wrote about planning a garden. Two weekends ago, we loaded up the car and drove to Lowe’s and picked up a few supplies. Here is what we left with:
- 2 2×8′s cut in half
- four bags of soil
- one bag of compost
- seed packets
- three small plants (two strawberry and one pepper)
- a couple of pots for flowers and herbs
When we got home, it was time to get to work! Daddy J built the box with 2 2×8′s cut in half, making the box 4×4. We filled the box with soil and compost. For a 4×4 box, we used all four bags of soil and the whole bag of compost. We probably could have used another bag of soil. We let the kids map out the garden and plant the seeds under our supervision and with our help.
Gardening with Kids Hint: When planning a garden with your kids, be sure to purchase a few seedlings to plant. This will ensure that your children have some plants to keep an eye on when your seeds begin sprouting.
Make sure you take the plant out of the container it came in!
A week later, we couldn’t believe our eyes as all of our plants started to grow. We have watched with amazement as our seeds turned into plants! It only took about a week to get to the what is pictured below. During that week, the kids have watered the garden and kept a close eye on it.
Gardening with Kids Hint: Buy a couple of cheap spray bottles to fill with water. This will make it easy for your kids to water the garden without drowning the plants. It will also extend the amount of time they can spend watering the plants. My children would water the plants all day if we would let them!
Our plants are doing so well that we actually need to move a few because they are so close to each other!
We aren’t quite sure what to do next, but we will keep you updated as our garden grows!
Are you an avid gardener? Have you been thinking about starting a garden but don’t know where to begin? Leave us a comment with your gardening experience and advice (I need plenty of it!).
