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I love all of the holidays, but Christmas is my favorite. It makes me sad that so many people forget that it's a celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Some will argue that it isn't even His real birthday. That's true. Nobody knows when Jesus was born. Some believe it was in the spring or summer. That could be true. Many argue that our beloved Christmas traditions are of pagan origin. That's also true. The newly converted Christians didn't want to give up their colorful and festive holiday traditions. The church was wise enough to to see the problem and offer a solution. They started a new holiday close to the old, to honor the birth of Jesus, as told in the books of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament of the Bible. They gave new meanings to old symbols and customs. They named it Christs Mass. The people embraced the new holiday and many of us celebrate it still today. Many people want to reduce it back to a pagan holiday. They have ...

This is something I made up for E and M this year. I sing it to the tune "The Ants Go Marching". Trick-or-Treat The pumpkins go rolling one by one, Hurrah! Hurrah! The pumpkins go rolling one by one, Hurrah! Hurrah! The pumpkins go rolling one by one, The little one stops, to look for the sun, And they all go rolling, Down the street, To go trick-or-treat. The witches go flying two by two, Hurrah! Hurrah! The witches go flying two by two, Hurrah! Hurrah! The witches go flying two by two, The little one stops, She lost her shoe. And they all go flying, Down the street, To go trick-or-treat. The skeletons go rattling three by three, Hurrah! Hurrah! The skeletons go rattling three by three, Hurrah! Hurrah! The skeletons go rattling three by three, The little one stops, He lost his knee, And they all go rattling, Down the street, To go trick-or-treat. The zombies go shuffling four by four, Hurrah! Hurrah! The zombies go shuffling four by fo...

Halloween is a good time to watch scary movies. There are so many movies for kids, it's hard to know where to start. I couldn't possibly name them all. There are several that made a hit with my family, so I will name a few of the favorites. "When Good Ghouls Go Bad" is just a little scary, but mostly funny. Danny Walker (Joe Pichler) and his dad (Tom Amandes) move back to their hometown of Walker Falls. His dad plans to reopen the family business, Walker Chocolates. They move in with Danny's grandfather, who acts more like a kid than an adult. Everyone calls him Uncle Fred (Christopher Lloyd). All of the town's people are unfriendly and seem a little weird. Nobody celebrates Halloween anymore due to a mysterious death of an 8th grader, Curtis Danko, and a curse on the town if they ever celebrated Halloween again. Uncle Fred gets killed when a tower of pumpkins fall on him. After his funeral, he comes back as a zombie to save Halloween. That's when the...

When taking a baby Trick or Treating, be prepared. Naturally you have to have bottles, wet wipes, diapers, all the things you would normally carry. If you live in a cool or cold climate, you have to also be prepared for the weather. It could be warm, cool, cold, raining, or snowing. It is a very unpredictable time of year. Usually Trick or Treating is done in the evening when it is cooler anyway. It is best to layer the baby's clothing. If buying a costume, many Halloween costumes for infants are warm and fit over clothing. If baby is too warm, you can take part of the clothing off. If it is too cold, you can add more clothing. Always take along an extra outfit in case of accidents. Making a costume can sometimes be better. It doesn't have to be complicated or hard. Winter pajamas with cartoon characters make good costumes for babies. So do a set of sweat shirts and sweat pants. A black set can become a black cat, a red one could be a little devil, a brown set a little puppy...

E loves finger painting, and M gets jealous. Unfortunately, he eats everything. While non-toxic finger paint won't hurt him, it's all chemicals, so it can't be good for him, either. I read about mashed potato finger paint, and thought it was worth trying. I put paint shirts on them, got a helper, and we went out on the patio. E tried painting on paper, but it really didn't work. No problem. She used it like playdoh and had lots of fun. E liked squishing it between his fingers. And, of course, he ate it!

When the kids are little, it doesn't take much to make them happy. This summer I packed up a little picnic for the little ones. I spread a towel under in tree out front. I sat one on each end (they hate the feel of grass). They ate their picnic lunch with gusto. They loved it!

Anytime you reuse something instead of just throwing it away, it's cool. E and M thought this was a really cool way to recycle. It was one of those really hot days and no AC. We didn't have a pool, so I just did something we used to do when we were kids. We didn't know we were recycling, but it worked. That's all we cared about and that's all these little ones cared about. I put holes in the lid of an empty milk jug. I filled it with water, then hung it upside down.The kiddies cooled off and had a lot of fun!

I looked at a lot of other recipes for DIY Moonsand, but none of them were edible. I knew that M would end up eating it. Everything goes straight to his mouth. I didn't want him to eat sand or baby oil, so I made my own. I mixed 6 cups of flour, 2 cups of cornmeal (for a little bit of texture), and 1 cup of canola oil. The little ones loved it! E made sandcastles. M ate it. It kept them busy for a long time. Next time I may add food coloring.

School has started and Labor Day is past. Time to get ready for the holidays. You don't want them to sneak up on you. It's time to prepare, so you'll be ready. Fall festivals and street fairs are starting everywhere. Most of them are free. I don't know about all of them, but many have contests you and your children can enter. There are contests for canned foods, baked goods, homegrown fruits and vegetables, needlework, art, costumes, just to name a few. S is entering a pet parade with her german shepherd pup as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. A plans to enter it with his grown german shepherd as Batman and Robin. M plans to enter her zucchini, and maybe a loaf of zucchini bread. If that is not your cup of tea, some people will be entering horse pulls, tractor pulls, or demolition derbys. Some places even have kiddie tractor pulls. Some of these may be free to watch, but some may charge a fee. To keep down costs if you have children, make sure to pack...

This is such an easy craft, even a two year old will enjoy helping. E and I made these last year. There are so many ways to make them. Start by collecting toilet tissue rolls. We glued construction paper around the rolls; black and white for the pilgrim, and brown for the Indian. I drew the faces on with markers. This year we added two more. E loves to paint. She painted one roll black and one brown. E glued the construction paper faces, hats, collars, and hair on. I poked holes on each side. We pushed pipe cleaners through the holes for arms. And they're done. Older kids may use fabric for the clothing. If you have them, real feathers would be a nice touch. Of course, these work well for other holidays, as well. Bunnies, leprechauns, and Uncle Sam are all fun ideas. We are going to try making a Nativity scene next month.

Things you will need: Scrap paper, Brown paper bag or construction paper, Several different colored sheets of tissue paper, Elmer's glue, Water, Small bowl or cup, Small paint brush, Wax paper, Scraps of colored papers, markers, or paint for details, Tissue paper sun catchers are easy to make and cost very little. They are also a great hit with your little crafters. I help my granddaughter, E, make a craft almost everyday. It's also a good way to recycle scrap paper, paper bags, and torn or crumpled tissue paper from gift bags. (I also reuse my gift bags.) E and I are making a turkey. Start out by making a pattern on scrap paper. If you are not an artist, trace your turkey from a book or print a couple of copies off the computer. I did. You may need to improvise some to get the pattern just the way you want it. Don't worry if it's not perfect. I've seen a lot of turkeys, and believe me, they are anything but perfect. Now ladies, I'm not talki...

Trick-or treat night is here. The weather is horrible! It's cold. Rain, snow, and wind are whirling around the house. The kids want to go trick-or-tricking. You want to stay in where it is warm and dry. What should you do? If you have school-age children, wrap them up warm under their costumes. Maybe they, and you, can hold out for a little while without freezing to death. Most kids will be ready to go get warm in a little while. Younger children will be just as happy to stay home and have a small Halloween party in the house. Everyone should dress up, even the adults. You can set up little areas inside the house for them to trick-or-treat at. Family members can give out the candy. Have a costume parade and march around the living room. You can make cookies or popcorn balls. Play games, like bobbing for apples. Then end the day with some Halloween cartoons, or read some stories. All of these ideas will be fun for the older kids when they give up and go home to get warm...

Some people don't believe in celebrating Halloween. It is often hard for children when all of their friends are getting so excited about it. There is no reason for them to miss out on all the fun. You can have a Happy Autumn or Happy Harvest celebration instead. Decorating is easy. Just stick to the basics. Uncut pumpkins, gourds, squash, hay bales, corn stalks, Indian corn, mums, colored leaves and scarecrows all make good decorations. Window clings with leaves, acorns, and scarecrows are sold in many places. Children can make a lot of their own decorations with construction paper or felt material. To make decorations water proof, cover with Contact adhesive plastic. Another perk to these decorations is that they will fit right in with Thanksgiving. There are a lt of fun places to go and things to do with the kids. Many places offer corn mazes, the apple or pumpkin farm, and hayrides. Some towns and schools have fall festivals. You can also make your own fun....

There are a lot of different ways to decorate a pumpkin for Halloween without carving it. One of the easiest ways is to paint it. You can simply paint a traditional jack-o-lantern face. That is simple and anyone can do it. However, if you would like something more creative, you can paint a cartoon face. There are several that are quite easy. Spiderman is one that is relatively easy. Paint a large red oval on the front of the pumpkin, or paint the whole pumpkin red. After it drys, paint lines for th spider webs, and copy Spiderman's eyes, also in black. There are others you can paint, like Tigger, or Garfield that don't require as much paint. Turn your pumpkin into a bat or spider. You can paint the pumpkin all over with spray paint and let dry. However, another way to do it requires only a can of some of the sparkley black hairspray from the Halloween isle of your local department store. With this, you must be careful not to smudge the hairspray. It is faster and ...