Happy Halloween!--and an Attempt to Make Lunch Festive

My daughter is coming home for lunch to change into her costume before her Halloween parade and party. We are going to be nutty here for a little bit because we need to eat lunch and get her ready in less than an hour. Here is my attempt to add a little more Halloween in her day while preparing her lunch before she arrives. Some nutrition (kiwi, raisins, and apple), some noodles, and a little chocolate. Hope she is surprised!

Happy Halloween!

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Arlington Heights Preschool Looking for Director (Position Filled)

image via stock.xchng

For those looking for an administrative job in Early Childhood, I have been given information about a job opening for a Director of a new preschool at Faith Lutheran Church in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Below, you will find a description of the job, education and skills desired, and contact information. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you think will be interested:

Job Title:  Director of a start-up Lutheran preschool in Arlington Heights (to open in Sept. 2013)

Company: Faith Lutheran Church

Job Location: 431 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, IL  60005

Contact: Patricia Kopp,   pwkop6656@yahoo.com

Salary: commensurate with experience

Experience:  Bachelor’s required with credits in child development.  Must be familiar with Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) standards. 

Qualifications: 

·        clear, concise written and verbal communication 
    skills

·        highly organized and detail-oriented

·        personable; able to work well with diversity of 
    people, including parents, students, staff, faculty

·        able to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines

Job Responsibilities:

·        hire teachers for a new Lutheran preschool

·        organize and conduct orientations, Open House 
    event(s); give tours to prospective enrollees and 
    parents

·        help design, implement and coordinate recruitment 
    efforts

·        maintain accurate and complete records as required
    by law and administrative procedures

·        manage school’s budget and purchasing

·        supervise and manage staff; evaluate teacher 
    performances

Good luck!

***Please contact Patricia Kopp (pwkop6656@yahoo.com) about this position. Two Moms, a Little Time, and a Keyboard is just posting this as a courtesy and is not part of the hiring process.

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Gardening With Inspirations from the Gardenieres and Miracle-Gro

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
I have recently learned about the Gardenieres. The Gardenieres are basically a hand-picked group of gardeners from throughout the country led by master gardener. The Gardenieres all of amazing gardens and are sharing gardening tips and ideas with us. I love looking at their videos sharing their gardens. They provide great inspirations!
I am totally impressed by Pamela Reed's garden, Pamela is a Gardeniere in New York City, Her garden is on the roof of a 6 floor building. She is growing quite an unbelievable amount of produce--strawberries, kale, broccoli, tomatoes, peas, potatoes---unbelievable! Take a look:

I have been pretty happy with the herbs that I have grown over the summer. I would like to continue to grow some herbs through the fall and winter. We love to add fresh herbs to many of our meals, so it would be great to have them to freshen up our cooking this winter! I watched a video on the Gardenieres website that gave some great information on growing potted plants. For the project, I will need pots with drain holes, potting soil, and fertilizer. The Miracle-Gro Potting Mix will feed your plants for up to 6 months. It will also help with air flow and drainage. When needed, you can use Miracle-Gro Liquafeed to feed your plants. The Liquafeed will feed the plants through leaves and roots. As you can see by the image, feeding is just as easy as watering!


I am always looking for gardening ideas since gardening is not my strong suit. For ideas and inspiration this fall, you can check Miracle-Gro's Find beauty in the Fall website. You can also like the Miracle-Gro Facebook page to have the opportunity to discuss ideas and solutions to problems with other gardeners.

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Weekend Trip to Kentucky---Fun, Fun, Fun!

We love to go to Kentucky when we have a long weekend. The people, the food, and the change of scenery are just what we need to get away. I thought that I would give everyone a little taste of what we love in Kentucky in case you are looking to get out of Dodge for a little bit. When we go, we usually spend a few nights in Louisville and go on a few little journeys from there. Since it is only about 5 - 5.5 hrs away from Chicagoland, depending on where you are, it make for a great long weekend escape.

The first time we took my daughter to Kentucky, we took her to My Old Kentucky Home, the home of Judge John Rowan. The home was built between 1795 and 1818 and is a beautiful Georgian style mansion. It is said to be the inspiration for Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home Good Night." I absolutely love touring old houses. However, this is hard to due with a young one. We chose this as my daughter's first house tour because the tour is short--only about 20 minutes. (She was 5 at the time) She did really well and loved the tour. She made it through the whole tour without touching anything to the very end---at which point she had to touch a lovely red velvet couch. The couch happened to be one that Andrew Jackson slept on so I think it was a good choice! The home is located in Bardstown, about an hour from Louisville. There are a number of other things to do in and around Bardstown--including the famed Bourbon Trail.

Whenever we are in Kentucky, we also like to stop in Frankfurt. While it is Kentucky's capital, it is not very large--which makes it easy to get around. One of our must-stops in Frankfurt--the Rebecca Ruth Candy Factory. The Rebecca Ruth Candy Factory is a family run business that was founded in 1919. What is the company most famous for--bourbon balls, of course! (And, they are fabulous!) We have been on the factory tour and loved it. In fact, after the tour, Mini-Mel decided that she wants to make candy for a living. The shop is really cute and has a lot of delicious confections! Well worth a visit-or two!

Frankfort

While in Frankfort, we also need to stop at the Completely Kentucky store. I absolutely love this store because it is full of crafts and other products made in Kentucky. When I travel, I love to buy thing that you can only get there. It adds something special to the product. We have purchased pottery, jewelry, candles, and candy from this store.

Another of our favorite spots is Henry's Ark in Prospect, Kentucky. Henry's Ark is an animal sanctuary and petting zoo. The sanctuary has an amazing number of animals--zebras, bison, yak, guinea pigs, rabbits, goats, peacocks, reindeer--quite an animal family! You can bring some carrots to find the animals. My daughter loved feeding the zebras. Admission is free but donations are welcome. Check here for more information. I love the mission of this place!

These are just a few of the gems we have found in Kentucky. After writing this post, I really would love to go again soon!

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Sugar Rush: What to do with your Halloween Candy

Here comes the candy rush! As our kids are madly trying to grow their stash of sugary treats, we stand shaking our heads, pondering how we are going to quickly and quietly deplete the stash. Here are some ideas for off loading some of your unwanted candy:

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Sweet Treats at Affy Tapple

'Tis the season - for heavy sweaters, leaf raking, Halloween costumes.... and taffy apples.  Oh yes, the caramel-coated apple on a stick is a perennial favorite in fall for many people (including me).  And as it happens, I live in Niles which is the home base of the Affy Tapple factory.  All that sweet goodness, right in my backyard!

Affy Tapple also has a factory store open to consumers (7425 N. Croname, Niles -- it's tucked away in an industrial district).  While the company supplies Affy Tapples to many grocery stores in the Midwest, the factory store here also has some items not available to your local Jewel or Dominick's. Namely, it offers gourmet jumbo apples through its upscale Mrs. Prindable's line.  I had one a couple days ago; a large chocolate and nut coated concoction that I cut into pieces and shared with my family for dessert. Delicious!

And recently, Affy Tapple just began offering premium chocolates, truffles, toffees and pretzel bites to its lineup. The factory store now has a full display case of chocolate truffles in a variety of flavors (key lime, ancho chile, Irish cream, black cherry, Madagascar vanilla, curry coconut, etc.).  I bought a package of pretzel bites - marble-sized round pretzels coated with chocolate and sprinkles...love those, too!

As you might expect, October is their busy season; in addition to their weekday 9-5 hours, Affy Tapple is open just in October on the weekends, from 10-2.  And this weekend, Oct. 27 and 28, those who visit the store in costume will receive a free caramel apple.  It is worth checking out, if you like chocolates, caramel (and apples!). 7425 N. Croname in Niles, IL  www.affytapple.com

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Halloween Wooden Frame--an Easy Spooky Addition

Last year, I started painted wood frames. I am surprised by how many different creations you can actually make using these simple frames! I recently made a cute one for Halloween. (Now, I just need the perfect picture for it!)

This project was super easy. To make this cute frame, I needed:

1 wooden frame
orange paint
black paint
Elmer's glue
Halloween mini-decor
hot glue gun
hair dryer
matte spray
paint brushes (one older one)

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Delivery.com Winner!

Thank you to everyone that participated in our Delivery.com giveaway. The winner of the giveaway is Dominique! I will be emailing Dominique in regards to her awesome prize!

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Nibbles Cafe: Great for Moms and Little Ones--and a Deal!

When my daughter was in preschool, we learned about an awesome place called Nibbles Play Cafe. I loved it because it was a place where she could play safely while I sat down for a few minutes to have a cup of tea. The cafe has several different themed play areas that you can easily see from spots all over the cafe. Therefore, it was somewhere that allowed us to get out of the house without being a place where I would have to constantly chase her down (aka too much work). Plus, I knew that I would be able to get her a healthy meal there as opposed to something I felt bad about giving her. Additionally, it has a ton of special events, that will make kids sparkle! Kat and I took the girls there and they could literally play for hours! Additionally, the staff was very engaging and friendly.

If you are looking for somewhere to take the wee ones, Nibbles is a good choice. Here is some more about Nibbles Play Cafe: Nibbles Play Cafe is a fusion of indoor play center and family-friend restaurant where moms connect with other moms over coffee, lunch and more while their children enjoy a great play experience. There are a variety of play areas for children 0 to 7 years of age including dress up, a train table, arts and crafts area, a baby area, and more.Check the website calendar for daily activities, special dinner events, brunches, kids programs.  Great for playdates, rainy day activity, birthday parties and other special family occasions. Free wi fi.
 
Daily admission for children between ages of 1-7 is $7.50 for 1st child; $3.75 for additional siblings. Group rates are available. Currently, you can receive one free admission with $10 food purchase at Nibbles Play Cafe through a Windy City Kids Guide Coupon. Click here for the coupon. The coupon is valid through October 31, 2012. Nibbles Play Cafe is located at 13 Huntington Lane in Wheeling, IL.

***Disclosure: I will receive a free day at Nibbles Play Cafe for this post. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

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Easy Microphone Craft for Little Rock Stars

For this Halloween, my daughter is going as a rock star. The good news about that--I did not have to purchase much for her costume. We had a lot of things that we could use around our house. However, we did not have a microphone. A microphone craft seemed easy enough, so I thought that I would give it a try. Fortunately, it really was pretty easy and came out adorbs.

What we needed:

toilet paper roll
black construction paper
scissors
glue
tissue paper
aluminum foil
paint pen
adornments
glue gun





How we made our creation:

First, I had my daughter cut the construction paper so that it would fit around the toilet paper roll. Once she did that, she glued it to the roll. Next, we scrunched our tissue paper into a ball. Then, I wrapped the tissue paper ball with aluminum foil. I left enough aluminum foil at the end of the ball that it would fill in the toilet paper roll enough to not pop out. I placed the ball on top and ended up gluing some of the aluminum foil on the inside of the toilet paper roll to further anchor the ball.

The last part was my daughter's favorite. She used some ghost erasers, crystal dots, and a silver paint pen to decorate her microphone. Easy and fun!

***Note: The ghost erasers were bought really cheap at an after Halloween sale. Be sure to keep your eyes out for these adornments after Halloween. You can get them pretty cheap and stock pile some for future crafts or Halloween favors. Also, I did need to break out the glue gun for the erasers. I tried to use the craft glue so that my daughter could do it herself. However, the erasers were a little too heavy.

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Delivery.com Giveaway Ends 10/23/12

Don't forget to enter our giveaway for a $40 gift card to Delivery.com. Who doesn't need a break from trying to figure out what to make for dinner once in awhile? With all of the busy times ahead over the next couple of months, you don't want to miss out on this one! Head over to our review and giveaway post to enter.

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Road Tripping--a New Section on our Blog

We just added a new tab to the blog for "Road Tripping." The new section will make it easier for you to find information about different road trips we have been taking in the Chicagoland area and beyond. Everything has been categorized by state. We will be adding to the section. You can find the tab at the top of the blog. If you are in the mood for a fall trip, definitely take a look!

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Fall Favorites--Ways to Combat the Weather Doldrums

When it is nice and sunny out and the leaves are full of color, I love the fall. However, when it is wet and crummy, I am not quite so enamored. However, I do have a small stash of products that are helping me this fall.

I stumbled on Lush's Glogg a couple of years ago.  My husband had given it to me as a gift. Now, it is one of my fall faves. The shower gel has a nice cinnamon aroma that reminds me of the fun days of baking for the holidays ahead. Additionally, the indulgence helps me relax at the end of the day.

Recently, my couponing husband had a great deal on Celestial Seasonings tea. On a whim, he bought some Bengali Spice. I immediately fell in love! This herbal tea is full of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, carob, and cloves. Nice spice for a crisp day! I love to sip it at the end of the day.

On a whim, my daughter chose Yankee Candle's Cranberry Chutney candle for a little treat. Cranberries definitely scream fall for me. The candle definitely has a great cranberry scent and helps to set a warm, fall atmosphere.

These items are helping me enjoy the fall a little more. Here is a little photo of my fall treasures amongst my daughter's pumpkin creations:











**Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

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Dressbarn Giveaway Winner!

The winner of our $25 dressbarn gift card giveaway is Naomie! We will be emailing her in regards to her prize. Thank you to everyone that entered.

Please do not forget about our giveaway for a $40 gift card to Delivery.com. You can enter here.

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Howl-o-ween Events for the Pooches

Halloween can be a fun time for the whole family. So, why shouldn't Fido be part of the festivities? There are a number of different places to look for Howl-o-ween fun with your pooch! To find some fun activities, be sure to check with pet stores, animal shelters, park districts, and vet offices. You will be surprised how many costume contests--both via pet parade and photo submission are out there. Here are a few that I found:

National:

Petsmart is having a Howl-o-ween Event on October 20 from 3PM-5PM. There will be a pet parade and a costume contest. You will be able to purchase a picture of your pet in a special frame for $4.95 with your PetPerks card. My dogs have participated in this event a couple of times and enjoyed parading around the store collecting treats. Petsmart also has a photo contest that ends on Sunday, October 21--so hurry!

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Dressbarn Giveaway Ends Today, 10/17/12!

Don't forget to enter our dressbarn giveaway which ends today! One lucky winner will win a $25 gift card to the dressbarn just in time to buy some new clothes for the new season! To enter, please for this link to our previous post.

Also, we have a giveaway going on for a $40 gift card to Delivery.com. You can check that one out here.

As always, please let us know if you need help filling out the rafflecopters (they can be confusing). You can email any questions to mommybloggingfun@gmail.com.

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Better Halloween Pictures from Just Peachy and Way 2 Good Life Plus a Contest

Soon, it will be time to dress up in festive (and perhaps frightening) costumes for Halloween. Of course, you will need to ready your cameras to catch all of those fun moments!

Sometimes, unfortunately, my Halloween pictures end up a blur as I try to catch Mini-Mel and Mini-Kat while they are running around gathering up their treats. Just Peachy Photography and Way 2 Good Life have come together to provide some tips for capturing those moments in great pictures as well as maybe raising the bar and taking a more creative picture. Who can't use some tips or maybe some ideas for capturing a scene in a little bit of a different way? Head over to Way 2 Good Life to read some great tips.

Also, Just Peachy and Way 2 Good Life will be holding a Halloween picture contest with an awesome prize for those in the Chicagoland area. Submissions will be accepted starting October 18 at 8 am CST  through November 7 at 5 pm CST. The winner, who will win an awesome Mini Portrait Session (see details at Way 2 Good Life), will be announced on November 14, 2012. More details will be coming out later this week, so make sure to check Way 2 Good Life at the end of the week. Also, don't forget to visit Just Peachy on Facebook!

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Joann's Make It Take Its for October 2012

I just received an advertisement from Joann's. It had a couple of upcoming Make It, Take Its listed in it. I love to have these type of events in my back pocket in case we find a lull in our day or there is some nasty weather! The upcoming Make It, Take Its are:

• Oct 20th 11AM-12PM Tinker Bell
• Oct 27th 12PM-1PM Crayola Model Magic

Before you head out to Joann's, make sure to check for coupons. I am sure that you will find some treasures or some crafts for stocking up for the cooler days ahead!

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Dinner Date at PL8 in Barrington

While we love to return to our favorite restaurants for solid meals, we do like to venture out and try new venues. A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I checked out PL8 (plate) in Barrington. PL8 is a contemporary Asian restaurant with both Chinese and Japanese cuisine.

Upon entering the restaurant, we immediately picked up on its refined atmosphere--a good choice for a night out. However, we did notice that it was pretty loud in the restaurant. It seemed that the restaurant was not designed well for absorbing the loud conversations that often fill restaurants. We were glad that we did not bring our daughter on this occasion because the noise would have bothered her.

The service was impeccable-fast, friendly, and knowledgeable. We each ordered two items for our meals and we received each quickly.

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Bloody Halloween Decorations Using Crayon Pieces

Last week, my daughter and I worked on melting crayon remnants in order to make new, cool-shaped crayons. However, I did not have one of my molds properly sealed, so we had a little melted crayon accident. Fail! However, I did think of a cool Halloween idea using the crayon remnants. I happened to have a number of glass Christmas crafting ornaments around. So, I thought that they would be cool with some "crayon blood" dripping down. We have a spooky ghost garland hanging in one of our rooms, so I thought that these balls would add some more spookiness.

Here is a peek:

To create my "bloody" decoration, I preheated our oven to 250 F. Then, I broke up our red crayon remnants and added a touch of orange. I placed the pieces into a glass dish.

 I placed the glass dish onto a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Once the oven was ready, I placed the dish on the sheet into the oven. I left it in the oven for 15 minutes. While the crayon was melting, I removed the caps from the ornaments and stuffed the holes with a little paper towel to prevent crayon from getting inside. I kept the balls in the plastic tray they were packaged for adding my "blood."


After 15 minutes, most of the crayon was melted. I stirred the mixture with a toothpick to get the rest to melt. (Be sure you are using oven mitts to handle the dish!)

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Creamless Asparagus Soup from Eating Well

I usually stay away from cream soups because they tend to be packed with calories--and not the good ones. However, they do rank among some of my favorites. Since it is soup season, I have been combing soup recipes to add to our repertoire. Last week, I found a recipe on Eating Well for an Asparagus Soup without cream. I love Cream of Asparagus, so I thought I should give this spin a try!

The recipe was pretty easy to execute. We added a couple more ounces of potato, 1 more clove of garlic, and 1 more shallot than the recipe called for. We omitted the prosciutto and made some quinoa to go with it. The resulting soup was good but seemed to be lacking something. It definitely needs pepper, so don't skip that. It is possible that the prosciutto may have filled the void but I think something else is missing beyond that. Overall, the soup is good and I will make it again. However, I will be tweaking it a little more!

If you are looking for a nutritious soup, give this Asparagus Soup a try!

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Spooktacular Events at Michaels and Lakeshore Learning

It has been awhile since I have checked out the Make It, Take It events at Michael's and Lakeshore Learning, so I thought I would see what was brewing for Halloween.

There are a few things coming up for the big day at Michael's, so here goes:

• Oct 20 Halloween T-shirt Event, 10AM-12PM, decorate a Halloween t-shirt, cost: price of t-shirt
• Oct 25 Halloween Visor Event, 6PM-8PM, spookify a visor for Halloween, cost: price of visor
• Oct 26 Body Art Event, 6PM-8PM and Clay Pot Event, 6PM-8PM, cost: purchase of clay pot
• Oct 27 Duck Tape Pail or Tote Event, Halloween Parade, Face Painting, 11AM-2PM, cost: price of pail or tote

Over at Lake Shore Learning, there are free crafts for kids every Saturday, 11AM-3PM. Here is a look at the upcoming crafts:

• Oct 13 Owl Puppet
• Oct 20 Dancing Spider
• Oct 27 Trick-or-Treat Scarecrow Mask

**You can also get a coupon to use at Lakeshore on Saturdays here. (10/1/12-12/31/12)

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Everyone is a Princess at Hawthorn's Dressbarn--and a Giveaway! (Ends 10/17/2012)

Last month, we spent a morning away from our girls and visiting the new dressbarn at Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills. Kat and I had never been to a dressbarn before so we did not know what to expect.The was store was absolutely beautiful and the manager, Orquidia, is a gem!

Here is a peek at what we learned:

Dressbarn stresses that everyone is beautiful. In fact, one of their mottos is "Inspiring women to look and feel beautiful." The dressbarn carries a wide variety of styles from casual to formal to business in many color schemes so everyone can find a treasure there. 

Some dressbarns can create personal shopping experiences for you and your friends. You can set up a time with the store manager for you to have the store opened up just for you and your crew. If you provide the store manager with sizes, she can have special items pulled aside for you. Of course, you can also have snacks to make for a nice evening! Also, there is no pressure to buy--just enjoy feeling like a princess! Dressbarn will also give you useful fashion tips and there may be some discounts as well!

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Shades of Autumn at Stade's in McHenry

The petting zoo has plenty of space to move around.

Pumpkins and brightly colored leaves are everywhere! Fall is in the air and with the beautiful weather last weekend, we took a drive to Stade's Farm and Market to have some fall fun at their Shades of Autumn.

Stade's has all sorts of places to play: a tire pyramid, a corn maze, petting zoo, inflatable horse racing, mountain slides, duck races, corn playing area, and more! Of course, you can also take a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin!

There was so much to do, that my daughter could have played for hours! She especially loved the corn maze where we had to find the answers to some trivia questions within the maze in order to earn a pumpkin. She also loved driving a pedal car. She enjoyed racing around the course!

Stade's also had a pumpkin cannon that was used to fire pumpkins at cars. This definitely was a crowd favorite!

Everyone likes to climb the tire pyramid!

Of course, Stade's has plenty of fresh produce to choose from. Additionally, there are baked goods and other food vendors. (We could not resist making a purchase from a chocolate shop.) There are also a few crafters there for you to peruse.

Firing the cannon!

What I loved about Stade's is that we paid an admission fee and that paid for most of the entertainment (with the exception of the combine tour). We did not have to deal with buying tickets--yay! Since my daughter could enjoy the attractions as much as she liked, the deal was sweetened, Admission costs $15 (ages 3-17), $10 (ages 18-64), $5  65 and over). Shades of Autumn is running on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in October from 10AM-6PM. The festival will also be open on Columbus Day.

Stade's is located at 3709 Miller Road in McHenry, Illinois.

**Disclosure: I was not provided with any compensation for this review. All opinions are 100% my own.

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Website Wednesday: Tree Identification

Recently, my daughter had a tree classification project at school. When it came to identifying the trees on our street, I needed a little help from the web. I found a good source for identifying trees on About.com Forestry. The site has sources for identifying common trees using leaves and leaf silhouettes. You can either search a key of different leaves or look through sources divided between tree classifications. This source may help you with your fall leaf projects! (And, yes, I was able to identify all of our trees! Hopefully, I will retain my new knowledge!)

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Jack-O-Lantern Straws---an Easy Splash of Halloween

Sometimes you do not need to do much to add a little flare for a special occasion. Last year, we needed some straws for my daughter's Halloween party. Since I could not find exactly what I was looking for at the party store, I opted to add my own flare to a plain straw to make it "Halloweenified."

To make the straws, all I needed was some card stock, a jack-o-lantern graphic, scissors, and straws. I created a document that would print the desired number of jack-o-lanterns on the card stock. I cut the card stock down to a standard 8.5x11 paper size. I printed out my jack-o-lanterns onto the card stock. Then, I cut out my jack-o-lanterns. Next, I put two small slits into each jack-o-lantern. The slits were only big enough to fit the straws in. Finally, I fit each of my straws into a jack-o-lantern.

 Voila, jack-o-lantern straws that add an easy element of Halloween flare:

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Mamaphobia Ticket Winners!

Congratulations to Carrie and Jovi who have each won 2 tickets to see Mamaphobia at the Laughing Chameleon this month. We will be contacting them shortly about their prizes! They will have a great time!

Thanks to everyone that entered this giveaway!

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Mamaphobia Trio Giveaway Ends Today!

Our ticket giveaway for the Mamaphobia Trio ends today! For details on how to enter, click here. The show is awesome and the perfect way to laugh away the day!

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Out of the Mouths of Seven-Year-Olds

Image via stock.xchng

Maybe I should have paid a little more attention during Curriculum Night. I kind of mentally skipped over most things that my 7-year-old daughter would be learning in science this year and honed in on the unit on rocks. With a geology background, I was curious about what they would learn in second grade. The teacher told us that she spent many late nights getting the unit together. It sounded like she would be teaching them what I learned my first term in college. While I was pondering that, she must have mentioned something about life cycles. I was probably just thinking, "Ok, cool!"

Well, last week my daughter did it--she busted out the word "embryo." Not that I really have a problem with the word, but I was not expecting my daughter to use the word for another couple of years. She went on about us being embryos and asking if I had an embryo, trying to grasp the entire meaning of the word, her little mind working a million miles a minute.

Fast forward to the weekend--my daughter attended a birthday party for one of the girls in her class. With a united front, these little girls busted out the word again--"embryo!" This time, they were making fun of the birthday girl's father calling him a little boy, then a baby, and then an embryo.

The other parents also took a double take upon hearing the word. I guess none of us thought that our kids would learn about embryos so soon. What happened to our babies!

Lesson learned--my daughter is growing up and so is her little brain! Also, as that little brain is developing, be prepared for some interesting conversation topics. I am sure she is going to bust out a lot more things that I had no idea she was old enough to know!

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Noodles & Company Announcements!!!

Noodles & Company has some exciting changes this week. I know my daughter loves Noodles & Company (especially their Mac & Cheese), so I thought that I would pass this info along!

For our Chicagoland followers, tomorrow, October 2, 2012, Noodles&Company will be opening their first restaurant in The Loop at 47 S Clark St. The first 50 customers in line will receive a free Noodles&Company t-shirt to celebrate the opening. Noodles & Company expects to expand more throughout Chicagoland and The Loop, so be on the look out for more openings! This particular restaurant will feature Coke's Freestyle soda fountain that will allow customers to mix 100 different beverages using a touch screen soda fountain.  Cool!

Also, Noodles & Company will be adding pulled pork to its menu for the first time this week. Customers can ask for it to be added to any dish and it will be featured in a pulled pork sandwich and the new BBQ Mac & Cheese. The pork is naturally-raised and antibiotic free.

Yum--this post has me already thinking about lunch! Noodles & Company has quite a variety of noodle dishes, soups, salads and sandwiches. Check their menu and I bet you will find something that sounds tasty! There is something for everyone!

**Disclosure: We will be receiving vouchers for making this post. All opinions are 100% our own.

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