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Category: Kids
- Chilling Ideas For Frightening Fun
  
  Posted at 9:00 am by Lisa Cavallari
  
  Oct 3rd
  Halloween is less than a month away so here are a few ways to spark some inspiration and get into the scream of things.
  
  Fun activities for you and the little ghouls:
  - Watch Teeny Tiny and the Witch Woman. This short story is read aloud by an old woman whose scratchy voice lends to the spookiness of the tale. My girls watch this one over and over again. Of course, there’s always Hocus Pocus, The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Spookley, The Square Pumpkin, and Hotel Transylvania.
  - Play Halloween Bingo. Crazy Little Projects created an adorable free printable Bingo game.
  - Take a stroll around your neighborhood to check out what people have done to decorate their homes for Halloween. A fun way to get some fresh air and gather up good ideas.
  - Decorate a gingerbread haunted house. Who says Christmas gets all the fun with gingerbread? Add a gnarled tree made from a brown paper bag and some black sugar sprinkles around the lawn to complete the look.
  - Check out some spooky stories at the library. Old Man Wind, Room On The Broom, The Runaway Pumpkin, Five Funny Frights and The Costume Copycat are some of the girls favorites.
  - Crank up some spooky tunes on Pandora. They have a kids Halloween station that you could play while decorating your haunted house.
  - Print off some pages from Activity Village. They have coloring pages, games and all sorts ideas to celebrate Halloween..as well as many other holidays celebrated around the world.
  Ideas to get yourself psyched:
  - Relive the 80s and watch Weird Science, Ghostbusters, or An American Werewolf In London. If the 90s was more your style, there’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Edward Scissorhands.
  - Read some Edgar Allen Poe. “The Raven,” “A Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Premature Burial,” and other creepy stories and poems are sure to give you the shivers.
  - Bake some pumpkin bread or pumpkin cake. These two recipes were my very first post from almost a year ago.
  - Make pumpkin soup. I have been dying to try this recipe.
  - See what Martha, the Queen of Halloween, is up to this year.
  - Try some salty caramel apple vodka by UV ($13/1 L). Another thing I have been meaning to try…with guests over of course. 😉
  Are you ready now?
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  Posted in Kids | Tagged Halloween Activities, Halloween Ideas for Kids
- School’s Starting Giveaway
  
  Posted at 10:00 am by Lisa Cavallari
  
  Aug 20th
  With football season beginning and the start of school today, I wanted to offer my very first giveaway to celebrate. One lucky reader will win this Official NFL Game Ball from Wilson. All I ask is that you post a favorite childhood memory of school, whether it was a particular subject, something amazing that happened at school or a favorite teacher, let’s reminisce a bit.
  
  I’ll go first. My favorite childhood teacher was Mrs. Parrish in first grade. She was always impeccably dressed, wore expensive perfume and left the biggest impression on me at a young age. Her laughter was infectious. Mrs. Parrish definitely made learning fun.
  
  Here she is wearing one of my favorite outfits. I believe my mom took this photo on Valentine’s Day when school was about to let out.
  
  Here is Sydney with her new first-grade teacher, Miss Moxness.
  
  Best wishes for an awesome school year to all of you parents and your children!
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  Posted in Kids, Uncategorized | Tagged Giveaway, NFL Game Ball, School, Wilson Football
- The Art of Writing The Thank You Note
  
  Posted at 9:00 am by Lisa Cavallari
  
  Jul 28th
  Thank you, Merci, Gracias, Grazie, Arigato, any way you say it it’s a phrase or word uttered to express gratitude.
  
  My last post sparked an idea: to focus on the process of writing a thank you note. Many people today think that they are too busy or that these notes have become old-fashioned and therefore they don’t need to bother with this form of etiquette. Wrong! If people can take time out their busy schedules to do something for you, such as attending a party and come bearing gifts then it’s important to send out the message that you appreciate it. It is apathetic and rude to think that thank you notes don’t matter anymore.
  
  Still with me? Have I struck a chord?
  
  I recently received a thank you note for my thank you note. How cool is that?! A mom who attended Sydney’s party said it was one of the nicest thank you notes she had ever received. I know she was being sincere because I put some thought into my note. She was gracious enough to help out with the birthday party and I wanted to let her know that I didn’t just take that effort for granted and it meant a lot to me.
  
  So, here are 5 ways to make writing thank you notes painless and even memorable among family, friends and colleagues. Who knows, it could make you stand out enough to land that new client or get on your mother-in-law’s good side. 🙂
  1. Organize. List who gave what at large birthday parties. Whether you choose to open gifts while your guests are still there or you wait until after everyone has left your child’s party, make sure you make a list of which child gave which gift. It will take the stress out of trying to recall who gave Bobby the red truck. If you were interviewing or meeting with potential customers, make sure you grab everyone’s business card and write something on the back of each one to make your attention to detail stand out.
  2. Personalize. Write about the gift and how you or, if it’s for your child, she or he will use it. This is your time to dole out the compliments too. ‘What a perfect gift for Sally. She loves horses and the book you gave her has been found next to her while she sleeps on more than one occasion. She loves looking at it before bedtime.’ Of course, don’t feel the need to make anything up, but grandparents or friends would be delighted to hear their gift made the recipient happy. You could also have your child draw a picture on the card and sign his or her name.
  3. Stock up. Buy plenty of stamps, envelopes and cards. Do it now before the holidays hit and things get even busier. You can use personalized stationary or cards with Thank You printed on the front. Let your imagination and creativity go wild. Try to make it reflect your personality somehow. A woman I nannied for back in college….a long time ago…loved monkeys so her stationary always had a monkey on the front and people immediately knew who it was from when they received a card from her.
  4. Make time and delegate. The task won’t seem as daunting if you carve out some time during the day or even write a few notes each evening in front of the T.V. Have your children seal the envelopes, put on the stamps and take them out to the mailbox. Try to get them out within a week or two of when the gift was received.
  5. Sign off. Some people struggle with how to end their correspondence. Try these: Cheers, XO, Blessings and Prayers, Take care, Yours respectfully, Sincerely, or Your friend.
  Nobody ever said it was easy to leave a good lasting impression, but I promise you that if you put in the effort, these notes will make a positive difference in your life and others. Besides, when has anyone ever said, “That b&tch sent me another thank you note. That is the last time I will ever talk to her again!”
  
  For more etiquette rules and ideas try ‘Emily Post’s Etiquette’, 18th Edition. She also has some great books for kids.
  
  Lastly, has everyone seen Jimmy Fallon’s Thank You notes? Too funny.
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  Posted in Etiquette, Kids | Tagged Etiquette, Jimmy Fallon Thank You Note, Thank You, Thank You Note
- Sydney’s Art Party
  
  Posted at 10:00 am by Lisa Cavallari
  
  Jul 22nd
  My oldest daughter is turning 6 today! We celebrated her birthday last Saturday and the party theme she chose was arts and crafts.
  
  I am not that adept (yet) at creating signs and printing them from my simple Epson printer so I just added some clip art, slapped the sign on a painter’s palette and used a giant pink clothes pin to keep it from blowing away from the front door.
  
  When the kids first came in we had a table set up to create sand art.
  
  Then the painting began. Each child had his or her own canvas to paint.
  
  I sewed crêpe paper streamers to a pretty ribbon to drape behind each chair.
  
  Tissue pom poms were hung from the ceiling. Talk about easy to make! The tutorial on YouTube was 4 minutes from start to finish.
  
  I found the plastic tablecloth and little paint palettes from Oriental Trading Company. There were markers on the table for the kids to fill in silly faces on some of picture frames, but they were so focused on the painting that they never made it that far. I played it safe and used only washable tempera paint.
  
  We used Hydrangea from our front yard to give the kids some inspiration.
  
  The bottles of water were flavored strawberry, lemon-lime, blueberry and grape by Crayola.
  
  While she painted, the birthday girl wore a new t-shirt designed by my friend who runs an adorable online store called Little Mac Boutique. Check it out for your next birthday or special occasion. She makes tutus, bows, leg warmers and more. Thank you Michelle!
  
  Here is the dessert table. Sydney picked out a nail polish cake from Pinterest for me to bake. I made the cake using 6 8-inch round cakes and topped it with 3 cupcakes (2 with their tops cut off) for the handle. To keep the cake in place, I added three wooden skewers pressed into the middle and then placed the cupcake handle on top of them. Refrigeration also firms up the cake and prevented it from sliding.
  
  I made the art studio sign from a large piece of plywood and painted it with chalkboard paint.
  
  She looks intimidated here…and excited. There are edible pink candies encircling the bottom and top. This close-up reveals that this cake was definitely homemade. Notice the slight lean to the left and not the smoothest job of frosting it, but hey, I made it and she loved it so that’s all that matters.
  
  The inside of the cake. I found a tie-dye boxed cake at the grocery store and grabbed three boxes. This took some effort, but it was worth it.
  
  Care for a slice?
  
  I used paint chip samples and stapled them to create utensil holders.
  
  More sweets.
  
  Sugar overload. But wait, can you see the rainbow fruit skewers just off to the right? See? Healthy!
  
  As a memento, my friend Carrie suggested a larger canvas or poster board for the kids to draw on and express their birthday wishes. It was cute and funny to see what they wrote and drew.
  
  After cake, it was time to burn off some energy so they went outside and I handed each party guest a can of silly string from the Dollar Store. That was a hit, but there wasn’t much string in each can so a lot of them asked if I had anymore. Luckily, the weather was beautiful so they enjoyed running around the backyard and playing on the play set.
  
  As their take home gift, I found more goodies from OTC. Artist palette lollipops, little notebooks, pencil sharpeners and behind the little notebooks is a small bag of Goldfish colored crackers.
  
  I am a HUGE believer in writing thank you notes. If people are generous enough to take time from their busy schedules to celebrate with you, not to mention bring along a thoughtful gift, then it is important to show some gratitude and manners -in my humble opinion- by thanking them for it. I found these paint-splashed notes at Target.
  
  This party took some planning, but it could not have gone more smoothly. A big thanks to Rochelle and Glenda who stayed to help with the crafts and cleaning up. I owe you. 🙂
  
  By the time the party was over, I couldn’t believe it was done. I was definitely ready to sit and relax with a glass of wine.
  
  Happy Birthday Sydney!
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  Posted in Baking, Kids, Shopping | Tagged Art Birthday Party, Art Party, Art Party Ideas, Arts and Crafts Party, Nail Polish Cake, Rainbow Cake
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