I just won a Free Halloween Party!

  While noticing how much wasted time I spent on the computer on facebook and doing mindless tasks I decided a while back ago that I would allot some of that time to do semi useful things like sign up for legitimate contests and free samples and price compare. Basically things that can save me money here and there so I can afford the things I really want and need for my family. So if you glance back a bit in my blog to May you might see that I had won a McDonald's and Shrek party from houseparty.com which turned out to be a blast especially for the kids and their friends. Well I have been addicted to the website since then and have applied for almost every party and I was pleasantly surprised to see I was chosen to host a Tombstone Halloween party and that they are going to ship me a party box containing all I need for a spooky October day. I am so excited! I love free stuff and I love parties which is why I love houseparty. I also recently did a survey about smart phones because I was chosen from their facebook page and I am supposed to be contacted soon about a VIP pass to a party of my choice. I'm not sure how that will work yet but I am still waiting for the email that should be here this week. Any way my Tombstone package is supposed to contain the following.....and don't worry I will post photos when it gets here : )

• 1 coupon booklet containing:

6 Free TOMBSTONE Pizza coupons
2 Free NESTLÉ® Toll House® Refrigerated Cookie Dough coupons
2 Free NESTLÉ or Wonka® Candy coupons
16 $1 off TOMBSTONE Pizza guest coupons
16 $1 off NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Refrigerated Cookie Dough guest coupons
16 $1 off NESTLÉ® or WONKA Candy guest coupons

• 1 pizza cutter
• 1 oven mitt
• 1 pack of 20 Plates
• 1 pack of 40 Napkins
• 1 plastic tablecloth
• 1 refrigerator magnet
• 1 spiral-bound activity booklet
• 1 Wolfman fold-up game
• 1 set of Monster Lib Sheets
• 1 bag of spider web decorations
• 1 package of Caution Halloween tape
• 3-12x18 Halloween posters

Is it too soon to start decorating for Halloween?

September is just taking forever... I am having a tough time not taking all of my Halloween decorations out of the box yet. I decided to show off some pictures of my recipes I did last year to start getting myself in the spirit of all Hallow's Eve. Yep, you know what?! I think I'm going to break down and start decorating indoors this week. I will at least hold out on the outside until October 1st so I don't appear too crazy to the neighbors. The greatest thing is that since Madeline was born on October 31st we are always guaranteed a Halloween party no matter how little money we have that year because we can't not celebrate her birthday right.

OK, i didn't make this but it was super cute

These were delicious! I used beef sausage and croissant dough

 

 

The skeleton fingers were cheese sticks and almond slices stuck on with ranch dip and the zombie hand was baby carrot sticks with almond fingernails in ranch dip. last year we tried a game of scary charades and I was pleasantly surprised by how many people truly got into it, so we might do that again too.

A little side story about the tattoo shop

  I recently had an issue with a new studio opening up just blocks from our location and a couple of my artists and an ex-piercer decided they might do better there and they proceeded to lie to me and leave one day only for me to find out they had been planning to go there for some time. Well for several days I was panicking inside thinking that they really screwed me and my chances of keeping my shop open. It's like it is just a game for them as if I didn't have my life's savings wrapped up into it and it wouldn't screw my whole family if we lost everything, but whatever, in all reality I don't expect them to understand, it was the fact that I was lied to that really hurt. Luckily I had a really great artist who could have gone with them but he chose to stick with us because he knows we have already spent the last 3 years building our clientele and our great reputation and I appreciate him very much for staying with us for a while longer. Now we have a couple of new artists and I just got the greatest compliment last night. A girl came in to get her industrial pierced and she had several friends with her. After I got set up and brought them back to the piercing room one girl says "wow, this place is really legit!" and her other friend says "yeah, this place is way better than the place you got your tongue pierced at" so I asked where she got her tongue pierced at out of curiosity and she tells me it was at the new shop which the name I won't mention because I don't hate them personally. It just made me feel better and more relieved that we will survive, because I have worked hard to be great at what I do and to have a great reputation and I won't let anybody take that away from me. Anyway, I just needed to get that off my chest so there you have it.

The start of a new adventure. KINDERGARTEN

We did it! We successfully made it through the first two weeks of kindergarten! (and by we I mean me) This has been a tremendous experience for me. Kindergarten is scary. For the last five years I have taken care of my little girl everyday all day I always knew exactly who she was with and what she was doing. Now I sorta feel like I am just handing her off and hoping she makes it home OK at the end of the day. Of course she loves kindergarten and has taken to going everyday very well. i had all these fears that she would not want to go, or that she would at first but then she might be like "OK Mom can we stop now and go back to the way it used to be?" Then I would have to brake it to her that she will be in school from now on for a very very long time. But I lucked out and she is happy and proud to be in school. I feel terrible for the parents of one of the little boys who sits at her table because on the first day of school he just cried and cried and when his dad went to leave he ran and blocked the doorway to keep him form leaving him there. Whew, so glad that wasn't my experience. So far I like her school and her teacher but the one thing I don't like is her bus driver. He is rude and he hardly speaks English. Only enough to start screaming "get back, go back sit down" over and over as soon as the kids start loading and before they even have a chance to sit down and threatens to leave kids running to catch the bus. Ohhh I don't like that little man. I would pick her up from school but the lines are horrendous and some of the other parents are so rude.