Many communities are doing Fall Fairs instead of trick-or-treating, but if you want your kids to join in this long-term family favorite, here are some tips: 1. Walk door-to-door with them. It's good exercise for you. 2. Use small bags. When they are full, it's time to head to the ice cream shop to count candy (and ice cream makes it okay to quit collecting candy). 3. Invoke a two-candy rule. They can enjoy only two and the rest goes back for another day. 4. Swap out unhealthy candy for better versions: fruit leather for Laffy Taffy; dark chocolate for milk; mini coconut cookies for milk chocolate-covered almond bars. Donate the unhealthy candy (or keep it for yourself to enjoy in small doses!).

Invariably, there's that one bag of chips we can't find a clip for. Try this: Fold the top over twice away from you, then fold the sides in toward you, and finally, flip the top fold to secure the entire bag. Practice it a few times until you have it. It really works!

Using a small pumpkin (the real kind or one out of foam) and brooms, the goal is to push the pumpkin (using only the broom ... no kicking) into the goal you've set up. Shirts, cones, or chairs work well to define a makeshift goal. The first team with five goals wins!

October is the time to plant your garlic. The cloves will root before true cold sets in and overwinter with gusto. Then, at the first sign of warm weather, growth! You will have fresh garlic ready to harvest by spring.

Don't throw away those silica gel packets that come in shoes or vitamin containers. They are great to drop in damp shoes, the bottom of the laundry basket, or in your memory boxes to keep dampness under control. Other uses: in stored luggage, with your razor blades, or in the glove box of your car. One caution: store them in a sealed container until you get ready to use them to keep them safely away from children and pets. 

  1. Holiday Harvest and Prep
  2. Holiday Scavenger Hunt
  3. Sparkling Window Tracks
  4. Lost Batteries Found!