Don't wait until next October to stock up on Halloween decorations and costumes. You can score some great items at scary bargain prices if you shop this week at your favorite retail store!

You may need to take a guess as to how big your child will be next year, but many costumes secure with simple buttons or Velcro making it easy to fit into regardless of their growth spurt. The early bird gets the worm, so don't wait until the end of the week to find items that will add some tricks to the trick-or-treating event.

Motion sensor ghosts, tombstones, pumpkin lights and other accessories to spunk up the holiday season may be hard to store for a year, but the wait will be worth it when you check your receipt and have everything ready to go for the 2011 Halloween season!

So, if you read my editorial in the Mid-Valley MOM Magazine you know that I have 3 kids.  And once again I had one that wanted a store bought costume (Mimi is going as an adorable pink and black spoted kitty) one that wanted a home made costume (McKenna now has a black and pink poodle skirt) and one that waited until yesterday at 3pm  and then decided he wanted to be Picachu from Pokemon'. 

I figured finding a gold/yellow sweatsuit shouldn't be to hard.  (We are OSU Beavers at heart but there is quite a bit of Duck stuff around).  But, wouldn't you know it......(insert explitive here)  The Ducks went the green and black route this year and not a gold color sweatshirt to be found...

Last ditch effort I ran to good old Target. I found a half zip gold color fleece jacket but no pants.  So around the corner to JoAnn's Fabrics I went.  I grabbed a pajama pattern to make the matching pants and then found fleece that pretty well matched the jacket.  Of course according to the pattern I didn't have enough material left on the bolt to get the pants and a hood made for the jacket (picachu's head).  So I took what they had and then they literally locked the dorrs behind me.  Although I didn't feel to bad because they were really busy between 8pm and 9pm last night...guess I am not the only one with a last minute kid!

By the time I got home, got the kids to bed, saw my husband for 15 minutes, etc, etc.  It was now 11:30pm and I still had to make the darn thing.  I cut with lightning speed with the mini size dull scissors I found in the drawer (remember we just moved and my sewing stuff is buried in the garage).  I sewed the pants...made the hood, added the ears...crafted the tail and cut out the face....then I went to bed at 2:00am but was so wired after the Coke I drank I couldn't sleep until 3:00am.

My son awoke to me hollering..."get out here and get this thing on so I can get the elastic in your pants...and your tail in the right spot"!  In the mean time I was helping both daughters with spelling words and a math assignment about how many pockets our family has on.....AAAhhhhhhhhhh!!!

I finished with 3 minutes to spare..just enough time to pull on some jeans and run a brush through my hair and one over my teeth.  And off to school we went!

But, my story doesn't end there....I offered to do the crafts for the girls classes today during their Halloween parties.  Mimi's is finished and individually bagged so the kids can get right to work...McKenna's were another story. 

I had good intentions of making these adorable "Witch Hands" with clear plastic gloves, candy corn finger nails, filled with popcorn and then topped off with plastic spider rings.  I borrowed an air popper from a girlfriend after an SOS was sent out on Facebook.  Candy corn..check,  ring....check,  rubber band...check....gloves...OH NO...I forgot the gloves. 

How hard could they be to find....hahahahahahaha!  (Never ask yourself that question the morning of the event).  All I could find were the latex type gloves...so I finally called my local Fred Meyer and they said no...I "needed a restaurant supply that has gloves like in our deli section...."   ding ding ding...we have an idea... "Can I buy gloves from your deli section?"  and we were off and running.  Thomas the Asst, Grocery Mgr was very helpful and said to come on down and they would help me out!  (Thank goodness for Thomas!)  So, away I drove and now I am a happy camper with gloves in hand! 

I just have to finish popping the popcorn, get a shower, find my costumes,  write this blog, get a few other work related things done...get to the parties...(I think I will stop there and just hope I get that far).  Thanks for listening to me...I really just had to tell someone...anyone??? 

I totally forgot!  the Freddy's in Albany has all sorts of Halloween stuff going on Saturday:

Cake & Cupcake Decorating 11am-4pm  (you buy the cakes and they provide the decorations)

Cake Walk  Noon-130pm

Costume Contest  2pm  for a chance to win at $25 gift card to Fred Meyer  (open to kids 10 and under)

I am sure the Fred Meyer in your neck of the woods has stuff going on too!  Just give them a call.........gotta go...the popcorn popper is blowing and I need to put more popcorn in it!  Happy Halloween Everyone!  I will get picture of the costumes up soon! 

Did you know that MOM Magazine has a Flickr Group? We'd love for you to share your photos with us, and also use it as a place for inspiration.

Let's start out by sharing pictures of your carved pumpkins. New to Flickr?

Here is what you need to do:

• If you have a Yahoo account, you can sign in with that. If you do not, you'll need to create an account by following the prompts.
• Once you have an account, you can upload pictures.
• Click 'Upload' from the menu items in blue at the top.
• Click 'Choose photos and videos'. A box will pop up where you can browse for your pictures on your computer to upload.

***Photo sharing tip*** I use Picasa (not the web version, the one you download) on my computer to organize my photos. From Picasa, I go through my photos and "star" the ones I'm going to share/upload to the web (for Facebook, blog, Flickr, etc.). I then select only my "starred" photos and export them in a smaller, web-friendly size to a separate folder I have just for the purpose of web-sharing. So when I go to upload photos to Flickr, I just need to search for my folder I just exported to, select all the photos, and click upload. It's easier for me because I can get just the photos I want, and they are already resized to the size they need to be.

• Once you've selected your photos, click the pink "Upload photos and videos" button.
• Next, click on "add a description" and you'll have the chance to write a caption and tags. Tags are really important, especially if you are going to submit your photos to the MOM Magazine group. If you are sharing pumpkin carving photos, tag them with: MOM Magazine, Halloween, pumpkin, and pumpkin carving.
• After you've filled out title, description, and tags for your photos, click "Save"
• Next, Click on "Groups" at the top. Search for MOM Magazine. Once you click into MOM Magazine, there should be a place where you can 'join this group.' I've already joined so I am not seeing exactly what that looks like. Once you've joined, you can add something to the group.
• Click on "Add something?" and it will bring up your photos you just uploaded. You can select which ones you want to add to the MOM Magazine stream. Select your photos and Voila!

Our good friend and Mid-Valley Healthy MOM Dr. Ilana Dickson just reminded us that the Expectant Parent Class is coming up on Wednesday.   Check out this link for more info!

http://www.samhealth.org/aboutus/newsevents/classesevents/Pages/1802.aspx

Here are 5 great cupcakes that you can make and some that are easy enough for the kids to make....I know you all have school parties coming up!!!  Check out these recipes that I found on myrecipes.com

http://www.myrecipes.com/how-to/5-to-try/halloween-cupcake-recipes-10000001931220/

We grabbed a bunch of gords and squashes when we went to the pumpkin patch yesterday. I love using them as fall decorations that can double as a sidedish between Halloween and Thanksgiving. These cute butternut squashes looked like a little family of ghosts, so I gave them fun google eyes with a black sharpie pen.

I've actually become quite attached to the little guys as they look down on us from the fireplace mantle. I just don't know that I'll be able to throw them in the oven.

From the Desk of MID-VALLEY Healthy MOM Dr. Illana Dickson

Reach Out and Read:

A program that promotes early literacy at pediatric offices nationwide by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud.

Program launch at Samaritan Pediatrics, the only participating program in Benton County, on Friday November 5^th, 4-6 pm, in the Samaritan Pediatrics waiting room (Samaritan Professional Center, 3517 NW Samaritan Drive, Suite C).

Cake and punch will be provided;

Tips on reading aloud will be demonstrated by volunteer readers,

And OSU's Benny Beaver will be present from 4-5 pm.

A few facts from Reach Out and Read program website:

There is a crisis in the public education system in our country. More than one-third of American children enter kindergarten without the basic language skills they will need to learn to read. Those critical early literacy skills include recognizing the letters of the alphabet, understanding that books move from left to right, and being able to understand and tell stories.

Despite the billions of dollars Americans have invested in remedial reading programs, those millions of children who enter school unprepared are highly likely to never catch up. In fact, 88% of first graders who are below grade level in reading will continue to read below grade level in fourth grade. (Juel, 1988) And reading difficulty contributes to school failure, which increases the risk of absenteeism, dropping out, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, and teenage pregnancy - all of which perpetuate the cycles of poverty and dependency.

The answer is to "immunize" children against illiteracy in the critical years before they enter school, when interventions can have the most dramatic impact. In fact, Nobel Prize-winning economist James J. Heckman found that economic returns on dollars invested in early education are as high as 15-17% per year - higher than other traditional economic development strategies.

Reach Out and Read promotes early literacy and school readiness with a research-tested, evidence-based model that's proven to help children develop the language skills they will need to learn to read and succeed in school.

There are currently 4,654 Reach Out and Read Programs in U.S.* and so far 6.4 million books have been distributed to 3.9 million children

For more info on Reach Out and Read go to their website at www.reachoutandread.org

You've got their costumes ready, but what about their treat bags? Don't be so quick to rush out and purchase a trendy Halloween bucket. With a little help from Crayola and your youngsters, you can create a Halloween bag that carries the theme of their costume while being kind to Mother Nature.

Simply use a white, recyclable paper bag with or without handles (they're easy to add with strips of paper and a dab of glue) and let your child tap into his or her inner Picasso. You can also use kid-made, earth friendly bags for birthday parties for a personal touch.

Have your little ones draw a picture of a birthday cake or write the age of the child on the bag for the party you're attending. Add stickers, glitter glue, feathers or any other art supplies you can think of and you'll have a unique bag that has you going green without spending a lot of green. Want to go ever greener? Reuse the brown paper bags from your local grocer. For more craft projects and creative Halloween ideas check us out as Mom Magazine was recently featured on KEPR TV at http://www.keprtv.com/news/adventures/105553638.html.

I was so excited!!!  I love craft and gift faires.  It means that the holidays are right around the corner.  A lot of the time you don't see them til Thanksgiving or December but there is one this weekend not to far from my house! 

McKenna and I spent an hour and a half just browsing and of course buying!  The prices were reasonable and there was a great mix of food items, handmade items, stuff for Halloween/Fall/Thanksgiving and of course Christmas!  I took a few pictures....

They are open today til 6pm, Friday 10 til 6pm and Sat from 10 til 6pm.

The address is:

 Riverside Community Hall  35293 Riverside Dr Albany

If you are coming from Corvallis you can take Hwy 34 and turn on to Riverside Dr at Rife's Home furnishings. It's a couple of miles.  If coming from Albany take Queen past West Albany High and follow it out and take the Riverside turn off.  Its about 2.5 miles. 

If you can't make it this weekend they are having  a Huge show the weekend of Thurs Nov 11-14th and the following weekend  Thurs Nov 18-Sun Nov 21st  that cover both stories of the building.

Have fun! I know I did!!  Melissa

Here is a list of fun Halloween activities that you can participate in her in the Mid-Valley!  Some may not be for young kids and others are for the whole family.  Have a great time and a safe Halloween!!!  If you know of other events please let us know!

Muddy Creek Maze  http://www.muddycreekmaze.com/

 Pumpkin Patch~Straw Pyramid
New Scarecrow Slide~Photo Cutouts~Straw Fort
Corn Box~Picnic area
Moo Train~Hayrides

 Trolley of Terror
Hear the ghost stories that haunt Albany's three historic districts on the Trolley of Terror. A fundraiser for the Monteith Historical Society, the Trolley of Terror rides three nights a year after dark. This year, take the tour on October 23, 29, and 30. Tours run every hour from 6 to 9 p.m. (starting at 7 p.m. on the 23rd) and cost $10 for adults, $5 for children. Group rates are available. Reservations are strongly recommended. For more information, call (541) 928-0911.

Carve pumpkins
Enter your carved pumpkin in a contest at the Historic Carousel and Museum in Albany to win prizes and local gift certificates. This is the second year the Carousel will host this event. Drop off your carved pumpkins on October 29, and then come back before 3 p.m. on October 30 to view the top submissions. Children and adults will be judged separately. The Carousel is located at 503 1st Avenue in Albany. For more information call (541) 791-3340.

Harvest Party at the Mid-Willamette YMCA

Friday October 29th at the YMCA in Albany from 5pm-7pm. The cost is $8 for families or 5 cans of food. Or $3 per child or cans of food.

We have lots of games and prizes. A bounce house. Picture Booth, and Food; caramel apples; apple juice and cider; pumpkin pie; and chili and cornbread.

For more info contact the YMCA at www.ymcaalbany.org or 541.926.4488

Harvest carnival
Play games and win prizes at this FREE fall carnival sponsored by the Calvary Chapel on October 31 at the Benton County Fairgrounds from 4-8pm. Get up close with the animals at the petting zoo, or take a balloon animal home with you. Wear a costume and grab a hot chocolate or hot dog at this event which is free to the public. The carnival is geared for children ages 3-12 and their families. The Benton County Fairgrounds is located at 110 SW 53rd Street in Corvallis. Call (541) 752-2851 for more information.

Swim in the Dark
Wear a bathing suit instead of a costume to celebrate the season while swimming in the dark at the Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis on October 29. "Spooky" music and fake cobwebs will adorn the pool for this all ages event. The house lights will be turned down, but the pool will be lit from the bottom up, giving it a Halloween feel. Get a glow stick at the door, or bring your own! Don't forget a towel. The event runs 7 to 9 p.m. at 1940 NW Highland Dr. The cost is $4 for adult, $3.50 youth (7-17), $2.50 child (0-6). Contact (541) 766-7946.

Pet-o-Ween  Pet Costume Contest at Coastal Farm & Ranch

Sat Oct 30th with Judging starting at 6pm so show up around 5:30.  Dress up your pet...dog, cat, rabbit, chicken, horse, goat..or whatever pet you have.  Animals will be broken into categories by weight and judged accordingly.  There will also be an overall winner for the best costume.  Winners will receive prizes sponsored by Nutro.  $1 will be donated to the local pet shelter for every pet entered into the contest.    For more info contact Coastal Farm & Ranch at www.coastalfarm.com or 541.967.3450

Downtown Trick-or-Treat
Businesses in downtown Corvallis, Albany, and Lebanon invite families to trick-or-treat at shops and compete in Halloween-themed contests.

Come to Corvallis on October 29 from 2 to 6 p.m. Look for businesses with a "trick-or-treat here" sign in the window. Check the Downtown Corvallis Association website, downtowncorvallis.org, for more information about the costume contest.

In Albany, the costume contest will start at 10 a.m. on October 30. Infants and children up to the age of 12 can participate. The cutest and most original costume wins a prize in each age group. For trick-or-treats, look for businesses with the orange and black balloons from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. More than 50 businesses plan to participate.

Decorate pumpkins at the Lebanon Farmer's Market on October 28 from 3 to 7 p.m. The Farmer's Market is located at the corner of Grant and Main streets. Then on October 30, trick-or-treat at local businesses on Main Street from 3 to 5 p.m. These events are sponsored by Partners for Progress. For more information, contact Nancy Chlarson at (541) 259-4649.