What Do You Think Thursday with Skinny Scoop: Switch Witch 2011

Halloween? Not my favorite holiday. The only saving grace is candy. The sweet and salty perfection of a Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup and the lusciousness of gooey coconut paired with the roasted almond covered in smooth milk chocolate of an Almond Joy *almost* makes up for all the other shortcomings of this holiday.



Seriously, I could eat those two candies for the rest of my life. They make my heart race. I feel all glow-y and happy inside. (Real Mommy Chronicles calls this chocolate wasted). If I could live on these two chocolate candies for the rest of my life, I would.



Because I can handle my chocolate.



But Thomas? He cannot handle his chocolate. He has a serious sweet tooth that I fear he will fight from now until eternity.



Here’s how a typical conversation begins:

Thomas: (in super cute, high pitched voice) I have one piece candy?

Me: No, not now. You can have some raisins.

Thomas: (again in super cute voice now accompanied with adorable hand gestures) Just little bit candy. Please?

Me: No, but you can have a banana.

Thomas: (in scary, roaring voice that sharply contrasts the sweet little voice he just used): NO BANA! CANDY! I WANT CANDY!  GGGRRRRR!!!! (now he attempting to break through the childproofed cupboard to get his fix)

All of this before 8:30 a.m.



I decided it was time for the Switch Witch since we had so much success with it last year. The idea was introduced to me by my friend, Laura. You have your kids pick out a few pieces of their favorite candy, and leave the rest behind for the Switch Witch. When the kids are sleeping, the Switch Witch takes all the extra candy and switches it with a movie or a toy or a craft.



Brilliant!



This year the Switch Witch brought a set of tempera paint, foam turkey crafts, and glue sticks.



Thank goodness! We are trapped in the house because Marie is sick, and since I took away our pastime of eating candy and I cannot stand to watch My Little Ponies, we are doing crafts.

We had candy?  What candy? This is sooo much better.

So here’s my Skinny Scoop survey of the week:

View this question on Skinnyscoop

Hope everyone is having a great week!



If you missed it, I have written some posts for The Macomb Patch and Whole Living. Check them out and let me know what you think!

Feel Good Friday – Rant and then a Rave

Be sure to check out The Girl Next Door Grows Up

ALSO CHECK OUT HER WRITING CONTEST - IT'S AWESOME!!

Before I get to my list of five things that made me feel good this week, I need to get this rant out first.
I am not one to wait to the last minute to get snow gear and holiday outfits. I was burned one year when Marie was just a baby. I waited too long to get her mittens. By too long, I mean late November/early December. Luckily, she was too young to play in the snow so I just pulled her way long sleeves over her little hands. Needless to say, I don’t mess around when it comes to this stuff.

How is it that Old Navy only has three pairs of snow pants left? When I was in there three weeks ago to buy a jacket, they had no snow pants.

And now they are almost gone?!

And none of them fit her!

Marie was blessed with her mother’s long, long legs and short, short torso (where we hold all of our padding). So when pants fit us in the waist, they are lllooonnnggg in the length. When pants fit in the length, they are too tight in the waist. It just seems totally unfair that at age 4, she needs to be bothered with any of this. Except she’s not bothered by it because I don’t bitch about it infront of her. It’s my body image prevention plan. However, I am the one running around town like a crazy lady cursing that it’s barely cold out, and I am literally SWEATING trying to find this stuff.

Finding a winter coat and snow pants that fit her is totally freaking me out. And I blame the stores for making me feel like I am a bad mom if I don’t get this winter gear before Halloween. Because you know, as soon as Christmas is over, there will be SUMMER gear in the stores. Really?!

Ok, let’s take a break. Here’s a picture of one of the options. A bit too big, right?

She looks like Randy from A Christmas Story when
he couldn't put his arms down.  Related: I
looked like his mother when she was getting
him ready for deep-sea diving.

And if you are wondering about Thomas, the first thing I tried on him, fit. This may be a generalization, but I think boys might be a little easier to shop for . . .mainly because I am not wrestling with a 1/4 zipper and super low riding pants. Just a thought.

So enough of this rant of modern day marketing strategies making me feel all shitty about myself. Let’s get to the rave part of today’s post:

1. The Switch Witch was a complete success! And now I don’t have to worry about looking like a snowman BEFORE Christmas.

Look what the Switch Witch brought - a roll
of coloring sheets!  Yea!  (Marie had already
taken her out before I could take the picture.

She had been up for about 3.5 minutes and hadn't
even eaten breakfast yet.  I think Harrington and I
are going to miss the candy more than they are.

2. Just Dance 2 – it helped to manage my candy intake AND bond with Marie. I’d say that’s quite a lot for a video game, don’t you think? (Also, my new high score for Proud Mary is 8651. Did I mention that there are turns in that song)?

3. Date night is tomorrow! I can’t remember the last time I went out on a date at night for dinner. I don’t count Vancouver since we were accompanied with Harrington’s work people.

4. Picasa Photo – totally revamped the way I manage my trillions of family photos.

5. Modern Family – I just love that show! I wish Mitch lived nearby so we could hang out. I am sure Thomas and Lily would get along famously.

6. I got The Babes their Christmas outfits pretty much done.

So Friends, enough about me. Got anything you want to rant or rave about?

Oh, and I do have a question: Do you know anything about livejournal sites? I have gotten a ton of hits from blogs hosted from this site. Except it’s in a language I can’t read. Has this ever happened to you?

The Switch Witch: The Ingenious Solution to Leftover Halloween Candy

I love chocolate candy. Love. It. Few things in this world are as perfect as the marriage of peanut butter and chocolate in a Reeses’ Peanut Butter Cup. Don’t even get me started with deliciously sweet coconut and salty almond topped with creamy milk chocolate in an Almond Joy. And Snickers? It is the perfect combination of sweet and salt.

So as you can tell, I have developed a bit of an affair with my favorite little treats. (And if you missed my delirious sugar high Facebook status updates in which I totally flaked out on my friend from Mom et Al, then check this out). Anyway, these little candy bars are perfect portions. But seriously? How am I expected to eat just one when I am faced with this?

Nom, nom, nom.

The Babes are also getting that glazed over junkie look after lunch and dinner. Not only do they ask for the candy (or as Thomas puts his chubby little fingers together to sign “more” as he chirps, “Cheat,” which means treat), but they expect it. I am pretty sure if Thomas could, he would say, “MaMA! Get me those M & M’s NOW DAMN IT!”

And yes, I know I am to blame.

So safe to say, this chocolate. must. go.

Enter my friend Laura and her awesome Facebook post:

The Switch Witch came tonight and switched all of my daughter’s Halloween candy and in its place left Toy Story 3. Such a good little witch.

Genius! Pure genius, I tell you!

So I am going to follow her directions: You have your Babe pick out 5 pieces of candy, put the rest out on the porch for the Switch Witch to take away, and she leaves behind something else. In my case, giant coloring pages that Marie has been begging for all month.

I hope to find somewhere to donate all that candy. If anyone local knows of somewhere to take it to a better place, please let me know.

Thank you, Facebook, for putting me in contact with Laura. We grew up in the same neighborhood together. She also has this amazing store called Sassy GirlsnCurls for all her handmade hair accessories. Go check her out! And let’s just say we are working on a giveaway in time for the holidays. Yea!


So, Friends, let’s talk candy. What’s your favorite candy bar? Are you more of a chocolate person or a straight up high-fructose corn syrup person? Do you think you’ll be eating Halloween candy until Thanksgiving?