Happy Halloween!

Ive looked all morning for some freebies or good deals with no luck at all. So instead I thought I would share with you our Halloween idea's. As you know by now, we literally do not like to eat sugar or fatty foods. Candy is full of both of these so each time Halloween comes around I cringe. My girls have each been through the stage of wanting candy and eating till they felt sick. We let them do this for one reason, so they can learn why candy (sugar) is bad for them and what it does to their bodies. The sugar rush is fun , sure. The come down later is no fun. Oh and don't forget about the horrible tummy ache from your body going into shock of usually no sugar to holy cow way too much sugar. Once they learn their lesson, they know sugar is a love hate relationship and they need to take easy with it. So this year is the first year that all 4 of my girls know better and I really do not need to stress about it. Yeah!

Each year we head out and do our usual trick or treating. We usually will go up and down about 2 streets and its enough for all of us. And due to us having 4 children, we have a ton of candy. Serious, a ton of candy. I would love to skip Halloween all together and not have to worry about the sugar but all kids need to have the fun of trick or treating. I would never take this away from them. But each year its always the same. "What do we do with all this candy?". We do not ever eat candy, actually the closest thing they come to candy is the mints that grandma gives them. Usually some sort of tick tack thing. Other than that, no candy. Instead of keeping the candy on the fridge and it gathers dust until the next Halloween and then we just throw it out. Ive come up with some creative ways to use the candy.

1. Go through and throw out any candy with opened wrappers, iffy packaging, or things that look unsafe to eat.

2. Anything that can be used in baking is set aside. M&M's, chocolate bars, etc. These will be used in cookies or treats for later use. This is great because I do not have to purchase any later!

3. My girls pick out a handful of candy they would like to eat sometime.

4. After the kids go to bed, we as parents pick out what we want to eat for a little sugar high some other time. I usually pick the dark chocolate if there any, and the hubby will pick out anything involving peanut butter and chocolate. Bless his sweet tooth.

5.I have 2 birthdays in the next 3 weeks coming up. My twins turn 5 and my middle daughter turns 9. So this candy could come in handy when I am making goody bags. My oldest probably will want bubble gum in hers so all gum will be saved. And my twins will probably want it all. They are not picky at this age so anything with sugar in it is game. So they will pick some for their goody bags. Again saving me money.

56. Last but not least my husband will take everything else to work. He works with a lot of men and they will usually pick it apart until its all gone.

This is a great plan for us. This way there is no candy lingering and no begging from my children. They have had their picks for later, we have stuff for treats later, and we do not have to stare at it all year. Win win if you ask me.

I have heard that many dentist are paying children for bringing in their Halloween in to the office. They give about $1 per lb of candy. What a great idea! Maybe call your dentist and see if they are doing this. I hear most are donating the candy to services that send goody packages to our men and women fighting for us over sea's. This helps in many ways. Helps your children not eat so much candy and preventing future dentist visits in return saving you money. Helps the dentist teach your children why we should not eat so much candy and what it does to your teeth. And also it helps a good cause. What a great idea to send a little sweet treat to our troops.

Please be safe this year. But most of all have fun!