Full Halloween Day

Today is Halloween and it will be a full day. My daughter has swimming practice and a party to attend. I took my son to his favorite game--bowling. Then he played outside. Next, we will enjoy Harvest Festival fun at church. But throughout, for the adults, there are dishes to wash, clothes to fold, and everything else that makes up a household.

Dorm Trick-or-Treating

Someone told me that for Halloween, kids could go to some university dorms where the dorm students have candy and treats for kids. I never knew this. As I kid, I went trick-or-treating out in the neighborhood going from house to house. But I like the idea of trick-or-treating inside dorms where it is dry and safe for the kids.

Variety Dinner

We've been eating a lot of spaghetti lately because the kids love it. But we've got to have some variety in our diet. Next time for dinner, I'll make some hot dogs. But this isn't your everyday hot dogs. My wife bought some healthy sausages (organic I think) and I'll cook these up for a sausage dinner.

Dried Apples

My wife bought some dried apples (from New Zealand I think) and the kids liked the taste. I'm glad because the kids do not eat as much fresh apples as I would like, and so dried apples is another way for them to get more fruits in their diet instead of eating pasta and more pasta every day.

Cheerful in the Winter

It is the end of October and the rainy season is upon us. It rained quite a bit today around the Portland metro region. Also, I think daylight saving time will end soon and this means we move our clocks forward one hour thereby losing the amount of daylight we have in a day. This could make for gloomy days. But it is all in the attitude, and if we maintain a cheerful spirit despite the gloomy days, we can make it through the dark winter days.

Indoor or Out

I am glad there are a lot of trick-or-treating alternatives where instead of going house to house outdoors for candy, kids can stay indoors at a mall or a church or some other place to get treats. This seems like a much safer alternative in this day and age, sad to say. But whether indoors or outdoors, what is most important is that parents keep an eye on their kids.

Simple Fun

During Halloween season, some parents might fret over getting the "best" costumes for their kids and the prices for these costumes might be quite hefty. I've heard of parents paying lots of money for Halloween costumes. But I think simplicity is the way to go. Kids can have fun without the need for an expensive costume. In fact, kids probably don't even care for a costume as long as they have fun playing games, being with friends, or doing crafts, all things that could be done on Halloween night.

Bowling and Pizza

My young boy still loves bowling. He had a great time recently bowling all night while eating pizza (and lots of it) at a fundraiser event. We had to stop eventually, but I think he would have bowled practically all night if permitted. But it was all for a good cause and I did have a great time with him, so a few extra pizza slices for one night is okay.

Kid Kitchen Food

My kids today were playing with the toy kitchen set. When I served dinner, the kids wanted to eat at their small table. I gave them their food. They added their own toy dishes cooked up from their toy kitchen set. They had a wonderful time. In turn, my wife and I enjoyed a nice dinner with a lot of space at the dining table.

Tea Tree Stuff

I have Tea Tree Shampoo for my kids. I think I also have some Tea Tree soap. It seems that there are many bath and kitchen items containing tea tree ingredients. I heard tea tree ingredients are a natural disinfectant. If so, it makes sense to include tea tree parts in bath and cleaning products.

Doing and Learning

I have a collection of arts and craft items produced by my kids over the years. They include drawings, paintings, paper cut-outs, and many more items. The sheer volume indicates to me that kids actually engage in a lot of simple but necessary activities that help them learn. By doing, they learn. If they merely watch television passively, they do not learn.

Big Lego Yoda

At the mall over the weekend, we saw a Lego event where a Lego Masterbuilder was creating a 12-foot Yoda made out of Lego blocks. It was quite fun watching the giant Yoda being constructed. The kids participated by building small rectangle-shaped Lego blocks that they handed to the Masterbuilder to use in building the big Yoda.

Hello Kitty

We have a big Hello Kitty blanket given to us when our kids were babies. It appears that Hello Kitty items are a big hit nowadays. There is a Hello Kitty store at our local mall. It makes sense. Who doesn't like kittens, so having a little kitty as the brand seems like a smart move.

Classic Arcade Games

It is interesting that many of the old arcade game is now online free. Games such as PacMan, Pong, and Space Invaders are available. So those who want to hearken back to the 80s can by playing an old arcade game on the home computer. I recall as a teen going to bowling alleys with school friends and waiting to get on our favorite arcade games. Back then, when they first came out, everyone wanted to play on them. Times have changed, with Wii and other sophisticated video games. But those old arcade games will remain classics.

Swimming Magazine

I was surprised by a large chain bookstore not having a swimming magazine that my daughter wanted to buy. The bookstore had magazines for diving, running, surfing, but nothing for swimming. A swimming magazine must exist. I'll keep looking.

Wheels

My kids had fun today with their push scooter. They took turns playing with it and exchanged the one helmet that was available. The scooter made me think about the various recreational items that use wheels including roller skates, roller blades, skateboards, and bicycles. Ever since being invented, wheels are an integral part of life.

Hulu

Someone recently told me about a website called Hulu that allows people to watch TV and movies. I looked at the site and it does provide a service that I think viewers will appreciate. It has the latest episodes of popular TV shows and also includes a selection of movies.

Shark Stories

We read a funny bedtime story tonight about baby sharks. The book is titled, "Don't eat the babysitter." I like reading humorous kids' books to the kids. This sets an enjoyable tone at night allowing the kids to fall asleep easily.

See the Universe

There is a show on PBS tonight about the space shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. I will try to watch it because I love looking at photos of planets, stars, and the cosmos. I'm glad we repaired Hubble so that it can scan the universe for at least a few more years. We should examine the universe because it is full of wonders and mysteries.

Whole Family

My kids are hiding my belts because they think it is a fun game to watch me look around the house trying to find my belts. I play along because I want them to have fun playing these "family" games. It is a silly little game, but I think these silly little things in life can add up to create a series of important moments that constitute a whole family.

Vegetarian Option

I attended a social tonight at a pub where the pizzas included a vegetarian pizza with tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, and more. I enjoyed it, and it probably was quite healthy for me. There is a trend towards more vegetarian options nowadays. When responding to a formal dinner invitation, I have noticed that there tends to be a vegetarian dish option provided. This is good. As they say, the more options, the better.

Archery

I saw some kids learning archery today. I think this is an opportunity that should be made available to older kids if they are interested in this extracurricular activity. Of course, there should be adult supervision along with clearly stated safety rules. Also, there should be a safe area where archery practice can occur without mishap. Given these conditions, archery is a fine skill to learn.

Tea

I ate dinner at the mall food court with my kids. After dinner, we walked around and my kids nowadays like getting free samples of tea at the tea shop. The tea is very tasty. More people should drink tea. I think tea might have less caffeine than coffee. Also, I heard that green tea provides a lot of health benefits.

Lots of Noodles

I made too much spaghetti noodles last night and had to use several food containers to save the noodles for future meals. The good thing is that noodles store well and can be turned into a variety of dishes later on. Also, my kids love eating noodles so the noodles will be consumed quickly.

Notepads

My wife picked up from somewhere a notepad that says Oregon Society of CPAs. I have seen other notepads (along with calendars, refrigerator magnets, and more) with other businesses and organizations named on those items. It seems like a simple way to advertise.

See the Dam

I've been thinking about taking my kids to see the Bonneville Dam where one can watch the fish swim against the current and see the big turbines. This should be a treat for the kids. Although it is winter, Bonneville Dam should still be open. Also, it is not too far away. It could be a nice day trip for the family

Believing in a Thing

My wife is teaching our young son to play the piano. He is doing quite well. It is true that kids at their young age are able to pick up new skills quite easily. But I think even adults can learn new skills. It might be harder, but I wonder if this is in part because we adults "believe" it will be harder and we "believe" we are less capable of learning new things. They say, after all, that perception counts.

More Fun in the Sun

My kids and I rode our bikes around the neighborhood and to a nearby park. We had a fun time, although the blackberry bushes are devoid of blackberries at this time of the year. Still, we enjoyed today's warm weather and wanted to make use of every last second of sunshine.

Overly Trendy

I noticed the mall food court nearby recently placed big-screen displays around the table areas to show music videos. The problem is that some of the music videos are not really appropriate for young children, but young children do eat at the food court. The area is no longer "kid friendly." It is a shame that the mall management is attempting to be trendy without realizing what a disservice they are doing to their customers.

A Mobile

After much insistence from my son, I finally got around to helping him create a solar system mobile from The Solar System book. We took out the mobile parts, connected some of the parts together, and with string hung the sun and some of the planets on the mobile. My son was very excited. We did not finish today, but will resume tomorrow. I know my son is looking forward to completing the mobile.

Astronomy Book

My wife got our son an interactive book on the solar system today and my son wanted to set up the model of the solar system provided in the book. We had to say no to him because it was late at night. He wanted to create the solar system that he cried briefly. I was glad to see that he really cared about books and astronomy and creating things. These are things kids should be interested in.