So Halloween has come and gone in our house. The kiddos are tucked into bed. And I finally get to decompress at the computer for awhile. (sigh)

My house looks like a small hurricane has travelled through it. Tomorrow I will spend some time cleaning up and trying to get back into a routine.

Mrs. Beckyhome-ecy came out to play today and I made a few fun Halloween treats of my own. I got my ideas from recipezaar.com. If you enjoy cooking it really is a site you must check out. The kids and I had so much fun baking together after school. I wish I'd taken pictures of the Witchy-poo Fingers we made. They looked so real. We had fun.

My 7 year old, Eliza, had a bit of a melt down just before bed. "This is the worst Halloween, EVER!" "No one cares about me, or feels sorry for me." My husband was clean out of patience and I had some to spare, so I went in and told her to fall asleep counting (on her fingers and toes) how many good things happened today. I told about how sometimes we let small things ruin our whole day, but we don't have to. It's a choice we make. She actually calmed down and gave me a smile when I left her room. Moments like these make me feel like such a good mom.

I tried some of the tips mentioned here on Minti this Halloween. Jenlemen suggested that you let your kids eat as much candy as they want Halloween night. We did this and I was surprised it wasn't all gone. They did really well.

I'm very excited to explore this site.  It's exactly what I've been looking for.  The only problem being that this computer eats up far too much of my time.  I get so lost in it.  Bad.  Bad.  Bad.  I'm going to have to go looking for advice to curb my computer time. :)

Both of my girls are in school now.  My oldest goes full days and my youngest goes half days.  I tell ya', as a teacher (before kids) I did not have a hot clue about the demands families face.  Now, I'm overwhelmed as the teachers are sending home math practice activities and reading activities.  I'm trying to make sure piano gets practiced and that there's a bit of time to just play and be a kid.  Nevermind 'chores'.  My mom would love to see my kids in an after school activity for every day of the week. 

Our kids go to bed around 7:30.  They get home from school at 4.  That doesn't give a lot of time for me to do all the practicing and school work and make supper, clean up supper etc.  I would love for that part of the day to be less harried. 

As a family we've decided to do only one after school activity at a time per child.  The rest of the time, is time for school work and most importantly just playing and being a kid.

Anyone else have trouble juggling the demands of school work, playtime and after school activities?  I can't imagine the circus it will be around here when everyone gets older and wants to be more involved.  Craziness!