I have 3 boys and they usually help keep their things in order but on occasion, every single lego, brio track, lincoln log, match box and tonka dumper make my house look like a landfill. When I have to repeat myself, I get annoyed, right? Well, here's my quick fix and "mean mommy" trick.

I simply get all agitated, grab the broom and sweep everything on the floor into a pile. They don't particularly care for that- they know I mean business when I'm huffing around saying, ok, who needs this truck? Oh, legos? Who needs em! Ok, fine, you'll fight instead of clean? Ok, there goes Clifford! Alrighty, Thomas trucks? Perfect size for the dustpan! Ok, don't make me do this...

Then, I put everything into a box and put it into the attic. I do this about 4 times a year, I'd say...I'm getting VERY close- I've even made a few threats. What do you do when you've had it with kids and their endless clutter?

Of course I take my sweet time sweeping and they usually end up putting things away in a jiffy. :) I'm going to try it right now...Happy Monday!

Ok, I need major ideas here. My kids won't think of anything, despite my million suggestions. Can you think of anything creative? I always check all over the intertube but I'm wondering what you all are planning. Lemme know if you have ideas for you, kids, parties...whatever!

Um, what? Frozen stares and a giggle because he knows and he knew it would make my face turn a funny shade of red.

 My son is 9 and he is turning that corner. It's really bizzare. And he says things like "mom, that was a "returnicle question." You know- one I don't have to answer because it answers itself (rhetorical)...aaahhh....kids are funny as they figure out the world.

SO innocent still but not for long.

13 Not-So-Scary Movies for Halloween

---

"The Adventures of Icabod & Mr. Toad" (1949)

Disney classically adapts two tales, "The Wind in the Willows" and "The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Though it earns a G rating, you'll find
plenty of creep-tastic thrills (usually comic ones) — like Mr. Toad's
wild ride and the Headless Horseman — in these animated offerings. MPAA Rating: G

Buy it here.


"Casper" (1995)

When an afterlife therapist (Bill Pullman) is hired to rid a haunted
house of ghosts, he and his daughter (Christina Ricci) have a close
encounter with Casper, "the friendliest ghost you know." Unfortunately,
Casper's got three not-so-friendly uncles, Stinkie, Fatso, and Stretch,
who are unbendable in their desire to force the "fleshies" out.

MPAA Rating: PG

Buy it here.


"Corpse Bride" (2005)

Captain Jack weds the undead (okay, not really — and kind of
creepy-sounding.) But this stop-motion gem is a ball of Underworld fun,
thanks to Tim Burton's one-of-a-kind style, plus the voice of Johnny
Depp as Victor Von Dort, a shy young man betrothed to the lovely
Victoria. When Victor goes into the woods to practice his vows, though,
he finds himself married to a blue-skinned, maggot-ridden beauty
(really, she's pretty cute!) This fast-paced romp never feels dead on
arrival.

MPAA Rating: PG

Buy it here.


"Ghostbusters" (1984)

When there's something strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call?
The Ghostbusters, of course. When this movie first debuted in 1984,
every kid in America wanted his or her own Proton Pack (and, okay,
maybe one of those jumpsuits, too). Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold
Ramis, and Ernie Hudson star as three odd-ball scientists and a
skeptic, respectively, who don their suits to fulfill "supernatural
elimination needs." When ghosts begin roaming the streets, including
the 100-foot Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, the fearsome foursome is called
upon to save the Big Apple.

MPAA Rating: PG

Buy it here.

"The Halloween Tree" (1993)

Ray Bradbury's classic Halloween adventure gets told, Hanna-Barbera
style. Leonard Nimoy — Spock! — gets ooky as the voice of Death in this
tale of four close friends who must face their greatest fears as they
time-travel to save their friend, Pip. Moundshroud (the Death
character) challenges them to learn the origins of the ghostly holiday.
Kids at home will learn, too, but the educational bonus of this 'toon
doesn't detract from its entertainment value.

Not rated.

Buy it here.



"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" (1966)

If Christmas has "It's a Wonderful Life," Halloween has this Peanuts
classic. If you haven't watched it in a while, move this treat to the
top of your Halloween to-see list. This not-to-be-missed story follows
the adventures of Linus as he sits in the pumpkin patch waiting for the
Great Pumpkin to arrive. While the rest of the Peanuts gang
trick-or-treats for lots of loot — except poor "I got a rock!" Charlie
Brown — Snoopy dreams of becoming a World War I flying ace. Will the
Great Pumpkin rise out of the pumpkin patch bearing gifts for all
children or will Linus be exclaiming, "Oh, rats!" once again? You'll
have to watch.

Not rated.

Buy it here.

"Mad Monster Party" (1969)

This campy classic uses stop-motion animation and voices from stars
like Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller to tell its silly tale. After
discovering the secret of destruction, Baron von Frankenstein wants to
retire from running the World Wide Organization of Monsters. He picks
his mortal nephew Felix to take over, causing comic uproar in the
monster community.

Not rated.

Buy it here.


"Mickey's House of Villains" (2002)
Ever
wonder if Disney's most wretched villains ‐ from Captain Hook
to Ursula the Sea Witch — are friends in their down-time? In this
animated flick, the ne'er-do-wells unite to take over the House of
Mouse and Mickey, Donald and Goofy have to fight to overthrow them.

Not rated.

Buy it here.


"Monsters Inc." (2001)

All of Pixar's flicks seem to start with a great "What if..." question.
"Monsters, Inc." is no exception: What if the spooky creatures under
the bed and in closets were just as afraid of us as we are of them?
Sulley (John Goodman) and Mike (Billy Crystal) have to scare kids to
earn a paycheck: Kids' screams generate power for Monstropolis. Still,
when one little girl crosses from her closet to the beastly burg, Mike
and Sulley have their share of fear: Monsters are terrified of children.

MPAA Rating: G

Buy it here.


"The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)

This fantastic Tim Burton flick follows one skinny Halloweentown
skeleton — Jack Skellington, natch — as he tries to be as loved as
"Sandy Claws." Fourteen years after its release, characters like Jack,
Sally, and Dr. Finkleston are just about as iconic as Santa himself. In
the flick, Jack, the Pumpkin King, tries to spread his unique but
off-base version of Christmas joy, only to end up creating a nightmare.
Warning: Catchy tunes like "This Is Halloween!" and "What's This?" will
stick in your head for days.

MPAA Rating: PG

Buy it here.


"Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie" (2005)

What's Halloween without candy? Or with a fearsome Gobloon on the loose
in the Hundred Acre Wood? Roo and his new friend Lumpy —
trick-or-treating for the first time — find out and try to rescue
Halloween (and score bursting sacks of treats for themselves.)

MPAA Rating: G

Buy it here.


"Scooby-Doo" (2002)

"I would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling
kids!" Okay, okay, the movie version of the popular cartoon is as
cheesy as a Cheddar-covered Scooby snack but it's a lot of fun for kids
and adults alike. In this live-action spoof, the Scooby Gang is
broken-up due to clashing egos but forced to reunite to investigate
paranormal happenings at Spooky Island, a Spring Break hot spot.

MPAA Rating: PG

Buy it here.


"Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit" (2005)

Kooky brainiac, Wallace, and his heroic dog, Gromit, successfully run
Anti-Pesto, a humane rodent-hunting outfit designed to keep their
English town safe from rabbits chomping on prized vegetables. Soon, a
giant were-rabbit is loose in town — with the annual vegetable contest
close at hand. This hand-animated tale takes a page from classic horror
movies — while being hilarious at the same time.

MPAA Rating: G

Buy it here.

ALSO: Monster House AND Beetle Juice, Dark Crystal & Edward Scissorhands!

Ok, people. I used to be good at keeping up on all that scrapbooking crap. I've sort of fallen off the wagon- just because everything flies by so quickly!

Well, luckily, I've found a site that lets you put together memorable pages in a jiffy. It's called smilebox.com. You can make easy, fun and personalized scrapbook pages, slideshows, postcards and more. Seriously, you can whip up  slide shows, send them around and make all your friends & family happy. You can post them on facebook, print them out or put your own music to the images.

See what I whipped up after hubby & I took the kids to the pumpkin patch. Then I sent it around and grandparents all over have already had a chance to see the boys! (how's that for bonus points with the inlaws, lol?).

This site is perfect for sharing during holiday season!

smilebox

A LOT OF CASH. According to the LRO website, "over $340,000!"

Check out the website and my madre with the CEO of Disaboom.com. What an awesome event!

SEE MY SLIDEBOX...
according to their site:

5th Anniversary Night by the Ocean presented by Disaboom

The
legendary Kodak Theatre’s Grand Ballroom was host to this amazing
event, that hosted 500 guests, and raised over $340,000.
Guests included Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Dominic Purcell, Brooke
Burns, Jenna Fischer, Brandon Boyd of Incubus, Jeffrey Donovan, David
Chokachi, Morgan Spurlock and many more.

Hey!
Here's a cheap, easy and QUICK idea for when the kids are getting rowdy. You can set this up in the kitchen and watch the magic happen. All you need are a lot of dingy, dirty pennies and these supplies:

4T salt
1/2 C vinegar
1 cup
paper towels
kitchen spoon

THEN:

• cover your table w/newspaper
• let your child mix the salt with vinegar until dissolved
• add pennies and stir
• take them out with a spoon
• let dry on the paper

VARIATIONS

• dip q-tips in solution and "paint" tarnished copper
• use ketchup to "paint" tartnished copper

Ok, so I often have off-beat adventures (not enough, clearly, because they are cherished entertainment) and this weekend was no exception.  Just to refresh you, at Disney I saw Pee Wee and in Hawaii I saw Steve Jobs (might I add not hot bald guys).

However, this weekend's adventure was for a good cause and it was next-level because I got to see people in action, pulling together to make a change and bring awareness to spinal cord injury.

I went to the 5th Annual Life Rolls On benefit (hosted by Disaboom.com)- an event to raise $ for people living with spinal cord injuries. My mom's in a wheelchair (29 years post-Harley crash...shout-out Debbie!) and she's got a great community of people she chats with at Disaboom.com. Over the past two years, she's found cool friends and solid support through this network of people.

Hearing their stories was crazy--most of them surfers, motocross guys and pretty much any other injury that could happen to any one of us (or our kids/hubbies for those of you who share the "action sports" lifestyle). The entire evening brought out a range of emotions and it was amazing to see a crew of dedicated ambassadors and celebs and doctors coming together to help each other and make life meaningful again after paralysis and/or SCI.

If you haven't heard of the LRO foundation-check them out, myspace 'em, donate...whatever- they're cool and they are bringing it to the spotlight...Good luck to LRO!

Oh, and, on a frivolous (yet Hollywood) side note...

..guess who I saw?

I saw the guy from Prison
Break (dominic...whatever) AND, yes, drumroll....KELLY SLATER. It was
like hot bald guy heaven...of course I stood very far away and my
husband has no need to be jealous-- in fact Nicky Hilton was there AND Pam from the office...and a whole bunch of hot hollywood ladies...so it
wasn't just a night for staring at attractive dudes. Hey, whatever, it's for a cause, right? :)




 

I've been on the us tour- a friendly little business trip took me and my neighbor from VT to San Fran to LA and now, I'm in JFK post-red-eye and I'm getting excited to see my kids! I just spent 6 days away--- what's the longest you've been away from your kids??? I just hope they remember me, lol.

Never a dull moment around here!
My 5 yo son took a digger on his bike yesterday. He fully split his face open and had 5 stitches in his tiny chin. I almost fainted looking into the gaping hole. He can't really eat much (chewing hurts) and he's overall fine but I feel like I should spoil him a bit. We had friendly's sundaes for dinner and he watched a movie but is there anything you can think of to make it kinda special?

He didn't cry ONCE on the stitching table! It was great and we were pretty lucky he didn't freak out. How have  you handled stitches and such?