Mickey Mouse, Batman & Coloring Pages

My sweet BB turns 2 this weekend- it's heart breaking for me that my last baby is not a "baby" anymore, he's a toddler!

With that being said, Halloween is around the corner too, and no longer will we have a sweet baby boy to dress as we please, we have a big mouthed toddler that tells us "YES!" "NO!" as he wishes. He was going to be Harry Potter due to the fact that he had a big ole knot on his forehead that has turned into a scratch (thank you liquid stitch), but now, after a trip to our local Wal-Mart our "sweet baby" voiced his opinion on something a little more "grown up" and now- we have a Batman! He looks so stinkin' cute in his mask though! However, when he changed so did Bubby! So now we have 2 Batman's, but my step-son will be Batman as well, although he won't be with us on Halloween, all 3 brothers are Batman this year. Cool, huh? 

BB's party is a few days away, I"m planning small this year, nothing HUGE like normal but something that will humor him and me, and keep it quick and to the point for everyone else. 

Mickey's Halloween Costume Party!

I don't have any of the decorations fixed yet, but when I do you will see them! I'm going to work on those after I finish this blog. 

I'm excited, and scared. I'm concerned and anxious. My sweet Pumpkin is going to be Batman, the apple of many women's eye. lol.

To top off this blog- here's something for YOU! FREE COLORING PAGES!!! 

**Click to make them larger!!**

 

 

Reading Horizons Giveaway- Winner

Hello Loves!! 

Thanks to all of you who entered the contest for the Reading Horizons Giveaway. I was very pleased to see how quickly things escalated in the terms of entries. 

THANK YOU!! 

With that- I have contacted the winner via email and she has 48 hours to respond. ((If she does not respond then I will pick a new winner))

Without further adieu...

CONGRATULATIONS ARI ANNA!!!!!!

**I have the photo from Rafflecopter- however due to some technical difficulties I cannot post it- if you request to see it I would be happy to email it to you!**

Reading Horizons Review & Giveaway

I was given the opportunity to review a great program known as Reading Horizons. I was beyond ready to jump in to this review, and for you lovely readers a GIVEAWAY!! 

However, let's start with the "boring" part- the review! ((Which I honestly loved taking part in!))

Reading Horizons sent me a wonderful package, that I was rather excited to see show up. It contained everything I needed to get this review off on the right foot. 

*Parent Manual Volume 1 & Volume 2

*Sound Essentials for Elementary Education Book

*4 Story Books (Up to 32 stories!)

*3 Posters (Phonics, Decoding, Vowels)

*9 (single sheet) Most Common Word Lists

*2 (single sheet) Charts (sounds, blends)

*28 Sheets of "Cards" that are everything from letter groups to blending and everything in between!

*Black Bag to keep it all in

*Cute grey & blue shirt !! 

It sounds like a lot but it really does all fit together and becomes a tool for you to help your child read better. (Or begin reading!!)

After the first few days of using this product with my daughter I was skeptical due to her persistent complaining about how she'd never get better. This was all her, I knew she could do it I just wasn't sure if she had the patience with me, as I was moving slow to make sure she got off to the right start.

Once I picked up the pace a little bit we were off- and she never looked back!

At the beginning of this school year my Princess was reading at the end of a first grade level and even that was iffy at times. ((SIX WEEKS AFTER STARTING THIS PRODUCT!!)) She took a reading test last week, all computerized, she was reading at the beginning of a THIRD grade level!! She reads to me nightly now and loves every minute of it. I will without a doubt continue using this product to improve her skills and then again on my sons when they are ready to read. 

The company itself? Fantastic! Their website has everything you could need from eNewsletters to a social networking outlet. My favorite part? They have a support system right on line!

I would highly recommend this to any parent or at home school "teacher" to use on their child(ren). This product has made life at our house a LOT easier since our Princess can read better. Homework isn't as much of a hassle, and she even reads to her little brothers!

Thank You Reading Horizons!!

Now, let's move on to the part you've all been waiting for!! 

GIVEAWAY!!!

You could win this package:

THIS PRODUCT RETAILS FOR $199!!!

Use the RaffleCopter below to enter!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

October 4th in History

Well to be quite honest folks- this day in history is kind of boring.

I won't like, yeah it's kinda cool that Sputnik was shot into space in 1957 but that started a whole big race to see who could make it to the moon first- guess what America won, shocking. 

And yeah it's neat that the Pope visits America and the first ever visit was to New York City on October 4th, 1965- but I'm not Catholic, so that really doesn't effect me. 

The only remotely cool thing that happened in history on this day is Gutzon Borglum began sculpting Mount Rushmore. I would love to visit here one day, but until then I'm stuck looking at pictures online. Oh well... let's marvel at this one together... ooooooo ahhhhhh....

October 1st in History

October 1st, I'm sure many many things have happened in history- however, the one I'm going to focus on is personally my favorite of the day... DISNEY WORLD OPENED!!!!

On October 1st, 1971 Roy D. Disney gave a wonderful speech in honor of his late brother Walter Disney at the opening of the Magic Kingdom in Florida. 

That's him- the man himself and of course Roy Disney! ((lol)) The Castle was just as magical then as it is today. Standing at 189 feet tall (starting at the concrete base under the moat) the Castle has become an icon for the Disney company. 

I have been twice and personally I would LOVE to go back. My kids thoroughly enjoyed it, while my husband on the other hand- not so much. It was "too crowded' for him, but hey what do you expect? It's only the Happiest Place on Earth!

Look at this image from "LIFE" magazine- I love it- this was prior to the "image" being girly, this has MY characters on it. Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Eeyore, Pooh, the Dwarfs, Pinocchio... good stuff!! ((before I get hate mail- no I don't hate the Princess's- I love them- but this was basic- taking things back to easy so to speak))

That's today's "history" lesson... What's YOUR favorite Disney memory? Movie? A Trip? Share in a comment below!!

Printable Halloween Games by Python

I had the opportunity to review Python Printable 40 Printable Halloween Games Pack!! 

((This pack retails for $19.95))

I was SO excited about this review- as you well know- I LOVE HALLOWEEN! 

I first approached this as simply a review to get my name out there a little more- but the more I printed off games and started actually using the activities I truly was thankful for having them at my disposal.

Brightly colored and many to chose from. I cannot express to you how important that is to me. My children are difficult and if it doesn't "draw" their attention in then it's useless to us. I first got their attention with the coloring sheets- how awesome they were to include 8 different coloring sheets (and it counts as 1 "game")!! My son & daughter ate it up- they had many to chose from and they weren't complaining because they wanted the same one. It was a peaceful 20 minutes of coloring time. 

There are a few games in here for older children as well, such as slumber party ad libs, or vampire trivia. The one that I've had the most fun with so far is the Halloween Newlywed Game. Great fun- lots of laughs! You wouldn't believe some of the answers that my husband was coming up with.

Your get-together will have a blast with games such as:

*Crafty Pumpkin Decorating Ideas

*Pin The Head On The Monster

*Werewolf Spot The Difference

 *Chew On This Candy Names Game

 *Halloween Memo Match For Kids

 *Teen Terrors Mad Libs
*Chocolate Trivia

 *Who's The Bad Guy? Trivia
*Halloween Picture Match Game
*Trick Or Treat Trivia
*Teen Twilight Crossword

 *Gross Cooties Trivia
*Pumpkin Picture Match Puzzle

 *Gross Cooties Trivia
*Pumpkin Picture Match Puzzle

 ***AND SO MANY MORE!!!***

I recommend following the link >> HERE << to purchase this game pack- you can reuse them over & over!!

Also, special promo code "MYSTY" can be used throughout all of Fall for a percentage off! 

((This percentage changes every few days so keep checking back on their site!!))

Lastly, for those of you that might not be interested in purchasing this package yet. You may follow THIS LINK to their FREE printables, these update every season. Also if you sign up on their page you can get coupons on their products!! 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Good Ghost Story or Truly Haunted?

I'm going to share a story with you all... put in your two cents and let me know what you would do or where you stand. 

In 1957 a small house was built & sold to its first owners (whom are unknown at this time). As years went on families lived their lives here uninterrupted, all moving out prior to meeting their demise. Until recently, a family moved in to the home and a few of the occupants are experiencing something "different" in one of the bedrooms. 

"It began almost 3 years ago when my then girlfriend & her kids moved in, my son nor her son would sleep in the room soundly- usually they would scream until you moved them into a different room then they would sleep all night long" the gentleman of the house continues "I slept in that room forever and nothing ever bothered me but I hear that kids are more open to seeing those sorts of things so I don't know. But now it's rare for our baby to go through the night without waking up talking to 'himself' or one of us hear something come through the monitor."

One night while her husband was in the restroom she heard a distinctive "shhh" through the monitor soothing her crying baby who was fighting sleep. "I thought it was my husband calming him down so he would go to sleep- it was a repetitive 'shh shh shh shh shh' like you would do to soothe a baby that was upset." Upon finding out that her husband was in the restroom they argued assuming that he was trying to pull her leg.

That following night as they sit in their bedroom relaxing and taking in that the children were in bed- the baby began to cry again- within 3 minutes of the crying it started shh shh shh shh shh... Wide eyed they stared at one another "I told you! I thought that was you last night!" Clearly it wasn't him tonight though. What could it be? WHO could it be? Had someone died in the home? Was someone buried UNDER the home? Ideas began flying around but upon research there were no answers to explain what they had heard. The old property was once a horse farm that belonged to a wealthy family that sold the entire lot to build the neighborhood on. From what research had done done about the occupants, on one died in the home and no one had any issues in the home with "visitors" being there.

They all dropped it. It was simply a break in the monitor- nothing major. That was until 4:14am one night when the man of the house was abruptly awakened by a clear "HEY!" through the monitor. "The red light lit up and everything- as if someone were talking directly into the monitor in the baby's room. I asked my wife if she heard it but she had been so soundly asleep she didn't hear anything. It startled me. I don't know much about spirits but I do know what I heard and that was not the baby, this voice was clearly a female. Younger but not a kid, Perhaps in the late teens to early 20's."

Time went on and it seemed as if things had stopped. Maybe it moved on to the light? Maybe it was simply a figment of their imagination? Or was it laying in hiding?

One night at exactly 1:15am the baby woke up SCREAMING, both parents ran to check on him, it was unlike him to do this. What was causing him so much turmoil? They searched under his bed, in his closet, in the bed itself for anything that could have startled him without any luck. "He jest kept jerking his head back and forth around the room screaming. We didn't know what to do! Finally about 2am he did the unthinkable, he just stopped, he laid back down and went right back to sleep. Whatever it was had stopped or had went away."

How strange for a child to just begin screaming for 45 minutes while searching the room for something in his frantic cries? That next night as upset as she was- the mother went in the babies room and said to the thin air "I don't know who you are or what you are but please, he needs to sleep tonight as do we- we both have early mornings and we were up really late last night due to you- please give us a night of sleep!" With that- the baby slept a straight 12 hours- how comforting that this being listened... for that night any way. 

Things began to pick back up for the family- it became an every night thing for a while until the baby was injured- the parents entered the room on a mission. "Please, today was a long day- I don't want to have to tell you to leave the house- but please just leave him alone. Watch over him but do not wake him up. If something is wrong with him wake ME up- but leave him alone."

The mother now states "That was a mistake! I gave it permission to leave him room, it knew that I knew it was there- and it knew that I was all around the house at any time of the day. That's when a few things started happening to me. Sitting on the couch with my husband and we are discussing 'it' when a toy car moved across the living room floor about 4 feet by itself while the baby was asleep and the other kids were at school. That scared me and I told 'it' that I was not in the mood to play and to please go somewhere else while we finished our conversation. That next day is when I heard the tapping..." 

Once in the living room that was blown off as wind catching the screen door, and another in the kitchen as she was fixing a drink that she too blew off. Being alone in a home is boring in itself I'm sure you start to hear things eventually. But how would you react if it was in your baby's room RIGHT in front of your head? This mother was putting away clothing in her child's drawer and directly on top of the dresser (about 4 inches away from her head) and heard a distinctive knocking on the dresser. As she turned paper white the knocking stopped and she snapped "you were ok when you were shushing the baby but now you're just trying to piss me off!" That was the last occurrence Mom had with this "being" but was definitely not the last that her boys had.

The oldest of the boys was taken in the bedroom and asked if he remembered sleeping there upon which he quickly replied "yes! I not sleep in here no more?!" How do you respond to that? With a definitive "no honey. Why don't you like it in here?" As horrible as it may sound to drag that back out- you want to know what you're dealing with- right? He stated that it was a girl, that she was old and she had dark hair like daddy. Whom could this be and why was it messing with the children?

With a little more digging I have read that when a person moves on to the other side (or trapped in the middle)  that in some cases the spirit ages as the person itself would. I dug a little more to discover that the previous owner had 4 children, almost 5. She had a miscarriage at 9 months (what we call now a still birth). This still birth was approximately 23 years ago. Could this be her child coming back to play with a baby since perhaps she never got to have her own? She was conceived in home and technically started to die in the home. 

But why didn't anything happen prior to the new occupants? Was it someone that "brought" with them unintentionally? The mother has always had a "sense" that someone was always with her- but who? Is this a miscarried child from the mother of these boys? Is it perhaps a sibling of the mother that passed along? 

I suppose we will never know what truly is in the house unless a psychic or "ghost" hunter is called in to check things out. Until then- they will live with the extra being- reminding her that the baby has to sleep and to stop scaring the kids. 

Well what do you think? Any input for the family? Or do you believe it's just a funky ghost story? 

Do you believe??

Happy October!

Today begins my favorite time of the year- October through December is literally THE best time of the year for me. I love it. The leaves change, the weather cools off, school is in full swing, pumpkins are coming out and the smell of baked goodies are floating through the air... it's wonderful!

My favorite Holiday is coming quickly- Halloween!! How can you not love Halloween? It's the only time of year that you can dress up and act like any one you want to and get away with it. I love it as much as the kids do! While I don't get to enjoy it quite the way that I use to with a nice cocktail Halloween party with a few drinks and friends- this way is much better- treat bags, dress up, and smiling faces of my babies. 

Last year we all got into it- EVEN DADDY! Crazy right? Daddy went as a race car driver, I was a referee, the Princess was Rapunzel, Bubby was Mickey Mouse, and BB was a penguin. I loved how sweet they all looked last year- but this year- EVEN CUTER! 

This year we will have fuddy duddy Daddy, the witch Mommy, the Princess is going to be a girly Zebra, Bubby is going to be Tigger, and sweet BB is going to be Harry Potter. ((see post here to see why he is Harry Potter!))

Right before Halloween (by only 4 days) is also my BB's birthday!! My sweet boy will be turning 2!!!! Though I'm unsure of what to do for his birthday since I have been looking forward to Halloween, I'm sure I'll pull something together nicely.

I always do!

BB put me in a "new" spot

While I'm not sure if you would consider the Emergency Room "new" for me what I have had to deal with afterwards and prior to it certainly are "new." 

While at a friends house last Saturday BB was playing in my van (as we were about to leave) and our friends son (6) went over to play with him, upon opening the door BB tumbled out about 3 1/2 feet on to a concrete curb. Blood was gushing- hubby almost passed out. I  was terrified while yet keeping my composure enough to hold a rag on his head until we reached the ER. I got smart with the receptionist who was taking her dear sweet time and asked "what's wrong with him" DUH look at the blood all over my poor babies face!! Idiots get paid an insane amount of money I swear. 

The nurses were Gold to BB- he was eatin them all up. Batting his eyes, smilin real big- that was wonderful to him. 

Concussion free was the best part of that night- he could eat and drink as he pleased- AFTER they put liquid stitches in.. oh boy...

There was 2 of us holding him down, 1 holding a cell phone so he could watch "Mater Tales" and the Doc was putting the stitches in.

While he is okay- we have a nasty looking bandage that is suppose to fall off on its own. He hits his head on something at least once a day and causes it to bleed a little bit. This is new territory for me. I haven't had to watch every single move he makes before- or any of the kids actually. 

But bless his heart- with that nasty thing and Halloween right around the corner- I think we might have the "lightning bolt" for a Harry Potter costume. haha!