It’s been thirty six years in the making. Thirty six years of waiting and using his name as a way to prank friends, but now the wait is finally over because he’s back at last! Beetlejuice Beetlejuice premieres in theaters nationwide on Friday, 9/6/24. Earlier this week, I was invited to a press screening for Music City Film Critics Association hosted by Allied Global Marketing and here’s my no spoiler review.
Showing posts with label
Halloween
Have fun in the kitchen with your kids and Kidstir
in #AD, cooking, FamilyLife, fun, Halloween, kids, Kidstir, spooky, subscription box, by Linda A Kinsman, Thursday, October 24, 2019
Something magical happens when you bring your kids into the kitchen
with you. From the time my girls were able to stand on a stool to help me prepare
sweet treats or just their afternoon snack, I’ve loved watching their faces as
they work in the kitchen. Sure, there will be messes and plenty of patience
testing minutes- but all that is well worth all the fun you’ll have in the
kitchen. I received my first box from Kidstir, a cooking kit subscription
company recently and I wanted to share it with you today.
Scary movies abound this time of year with Halloween rapidly approaching. I'm not much for gore and guts, preferring a more Hocus Pocus style of movie and I know I'm not alone in my desire to laugh more and scream less. I think laughing truly is one of life's best medicine's and that's what makes Tyler Perry's Boo! movies such a hit. I'm excited to partner with today's sponsor to offer up this fun Boo 2!A Madea Halloween movie swag prize pack for those of us who love to laugh!
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Help your pets have a stress free holiday season
in #sponsored royalcaninhealthypets, Halloween, Holiday pet safety, pets, stress, Toxic pet foods, by Linda A Kinsman, Wednesday, October 26, 2016
For many families, Halloween has become the unofficial start
of the holiday season. We decorate our homes, ourselves, our kids, and our
pets, if they will allow it. While the holidays can be a fun and happy time for
us, they can be very stressful for our pets. Today I’m sharing helpful tips
with my fellow pet owners, which hopefully, will help us avoid potentially
hazardous situations and keep our pets (and us!) safe, healthy and stress-free
throughout the holiday season.
This post is sponsored by Royal Canin®, #royalcaninhealthypets. I am being compensated for helping spread
the word about Royal Canin’s veterinary-exclusive gastrointestinal diet this #Halloween, but all opinions are my own. Royal Canin is
not responsible for the content of this post.
Meet Dottie ‒ our 9-year-old indoor cat who loves to be in
the same room with you while you go about your day. She loves seeing outside
and we captured this photo of her looking out the front door onto the porch
recently. Her sweet face seems to ask ‒ why are you out there in the scary
dark? Please don’t stay out there. Changes in her routine, like me not working
from home one day, or visitors, can really stress out Dottie.
Do you know some of the other signs of stress in your pet? According to MyPetReference.com they are:
- Poor Appetite
- Decreased interaction with their owners
- Gastrointestinal disturbances
With Halloween less than a week away, I know my cats will be
stressed and upset every time the doorbell rings! We may do trunk-or-treat again to relieve this problem. Do your pets run in fear of
trick-or-treaters and holiday guests too?
If yes, here are a
few tips to help prevent stress in your pet:
1. Make sure you feed your pets at their regular feeding time
and spot. Now is not the time to change things up! Feed them their preferred
food type in a line that provides all the nutritional support your pet
requires, like Royal Canin®.
2. Provide a stable living environment for your pets. They need
routine! Try your best to keep your pet’s schedule and routine as normal as
possible.
3. Reinforce positive behavior in your pets like using their
scratcher, or not clawing furniture etc.
4. Make sure their favorite spots are available to them! Dottie
adores seeing out the windows to our front yard, which is full of birds,
squirrels and nature. We added a ledge to the dining room window for her and
our other indoor cat, Fiona.
This ledge is the preferred cat seat in our home, but when
the holidays come and guests arrive, both our cats dash for the safety of our
bedroom instead, so we added an additional viewing ledge in our bedroom window
just for them. It’s a little thing for us humans, but to our cats, it’s a
welcome gift of security and routine.
Another tip to a less stressed pet is to keep holiday décor and foods that are
hazardous to our pets away from them!
The
holidays are also a time when there are more treats and food around the house.
Guests may not realize that your dog or cat shouldn’t eat table scraps or that
they should keep their appetizer plate out of the pet’s reach.
Here is a quick
reference list of the most toxic holiday foods for pets to eat:
- Chocolate, especially dark chocolate
- Unbaked bread dough
- Alcohol
- Sugar-free candy and gum, jelly and baked goods (when ingested, artificial sweeteners can cause a sudden release of insulin in an animal’s body, leading to dangerously low blood sugar)
- Macadamia nuts
- Turkey, bones, and other meats with fatty portions
- Grapes and raisins
- Onions and garlic
Even with our best efforts, our pets can show signs of stomach upset and
GI issues. Here are four
signs to watch for:
- Vomiting
- Regurgitation
- Diarrhea
- Refusal to eat
If you notice these
symptoms in your pet you should contact your veterinarian immediately to
determine the best course of action. They could actually be signs of an
infection, chronic illness or a more serious
condition.
In many cases there are simple solutions. Ask your vet about Royal Canin’s line of
veterinary-exclusive gastrointestinal diets. Royal Canin offers multiple
options to help veterinarians provide individualized nutritional solutions for
pets experiencing gastrointestinal issues. You can learn more about
Royal Canin products by visiting their website and by getting social with them
on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Don’t forget to check out My PetReference.com for a host of
valuable resources. With a little education and prep work, we can help your
pets have a stress-free holiday season which will make ours jolly and bright as
well!
Please share in comments: How do you share the holidays with
your pets?
Trick or Treat- List of top 20 U.S. Cities for the best candy haul, including Nashville
in Austin, candy, FamilyLife, Halloween, lists, Nashville, Philadelphia, Portland, San Jose, top cities, Trick or treat, walking, by Linda A Kinsman, Saturday, October 22, 2016
We are just nine days away from the second most celebrated
holiday of the year in the United States! Whether you go all out with your
decorations, host an epic block party, or are known for your crazy witch cackle, Halloween spending across the country is expected to exceed 8 billion
dollars!
That’s a whole lot of decorating and candy buying for our trick or
treaters. If you plan on heading out with your family for a night of fun, check
out this handy list of the top 20 cities for the best candy haul courtesy of my
friends at Zillow. Did your city make the list this year?
There
were some major shifts in the top ten city ranking from last year’s trick or
treat map folks. Philadelphia came on strong and took the number one spot from
San Francisco! My beloved bay area did well in overall standing with San Jose
keeping its number two spot of the list and San Francisco coming in a
respectable third. Click here to see my map share from last year.
As you can see from this infographic, Zillow comes up with
their lists by using four equally weighted variables: median home value,
housing density, population age and crime.
The Top 20 Cities for
trick or treating 2016 are:
I’m proud to see that Nashville
moved up one spot in the rankings to 19th! If you are in the greater
metro Nashville area, here are the top five neighborhoods to go trick or
treating in for the best candy haul, walkability and safety.
- Green Hills
- Tulip Grove
- Cherokee Park
- Sylvan Heights
- Historic Old Hickory Village
I love that Zillow compiles this yearly list and hope they
make this an annual Halloween tradition! I invite you to stop by Zillow today
to read their trick or treat post for even more neighborhood rankings, and to learn more about their mission to help
you find your way home by helping you find your perfect home in the perfect
neighborhood.
From my family to yours, we wish you a happy and safe
Halloween!
Please share in comments: Did your city make either list?
Are you surprised to see a certain city or region listed?
With two weeks to go until Halloween
arrives, Americans coast to coast are gearing up for this fun filled night in a
big way. At our house, we still need to carve our pumpkins and find a few more
accessories for our costumes, but we will be ready to celebrate in style! Yes,
we do have to drive to celebrate now that we live in a rural area, but there is
fun to be found in neighborhoods all around us. As a matter of fact, Nashville, TN.
made the list for top 20 cities for trick-or-treaters compiled by Zillow.
This map shows the top 10 cities. Zillow says they picked
areas with the greatest share of their residents are under 15 and the houses
are closest together. That would help explain why San Francisco tops their list
for the 5th year in a row!
Another way these cities made the cut was by giving out the
most candy to all those cute goblins! Speaking of candy, do you know that the
average kids gets at least 50 pieces of candy on Halloween? Some kids have
reported getting more than 100 pieces! I know we gave out and received a huge
amount of candy each year we lived in suburbia, maybe that helped Nashville,
TN. make the top 20 list!
How did your city do? Are there any surprises on the list? I
was delighted to see Milwaukee on the list. Can you imagine all those brave
parents and kids bundling up against the cold to go trick-or-treating? Way to
go! Please stop by Zillow to read all the fun facts on how they came up with
their top 20 list and see the in depth neighborhood breakdowns.
From our home to yours, we wish you a happy, safe, and fun
Halloween!
Color of the Month- October -Raven Black
in Color of the Month- October -Raven Black, Halloween, by Linda A Kinsman, Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Happy October! We are well on our way to Halloween, that frightfully fun night where we get to dress up, have fun with family and friends and eat candy! This month's color was inspired by a book I'm currently reading as part of fan-girl style book club I have with my teen daughter. It's called Raven Boys and I'm enjoying the read!
Here's my Pinterest board for the month. As always I hope you enjoy it! From my family to yours- I wish you a happy, safe Halloween!
Please share in comments: Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? What will you wear/become?
It’s Friday and it’s Halloween. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with another giveaway! You all love a good giveaway from the looks of the Fire Pit giveaway and the Eco-Friendly e-cloth giveaway I’ve got going. Have you entered them?
This giveaway is a little different. We are going to have some fun being a mouse! Yep, you get to play a rodent in Orkin’s #MouseInAHouse game below. Okay, you may be asking yourself why a mouse in a house Orkin? Good question! Here’s what Orkin says.
About Orkin Mouse in the House:
“Fall has arrived, and cooler weather has come with it. Whether or not you know it, your warm house is an open invitation to unwanted guests looking for a cozy winter vacation: rodents. Each fall, rodents migrate from their outdoor “summer home” to the warmth, food and shelter of their “winter timeshare” – your house!”
I do not want rodents in my home, that’s for sure, but I also feel a bit sorry for the poor little rodent who is just looking for a warm, safe place to stay. Sorry it can’t be in my home and if you do come in, I’m calling the Orkin man! I’m going to follow them on Facebook and Twitter and you can too using those links.
Since we humans have the advantage, why not try being a mouse on Halloween by playing the chose your own adventure game that puts you in the shoes of a rodent looking to survive the upcoming harsh winter season? Try your best to stay alive and see how long you last as a mouse!
Play Choose-Your-Own-Adventure #MouseInAHouse Game!
The Giveaway:
One lucky reader will win Orkin #MouseInAHouse Cozy Fleece Winter Blanket (4'x6'). A good size fleece throw always comes in handy for snuggling under during movie night, or stowing in the car for road trips.
Terms:
Entering is easy using the Rafflecopter form below. No purchase necessary to win. Open to U.S. residents 18 +. My WAHM Plan not responsible for prize fulfillment. The prize will be sent via FedEx or USPS. No P.O. Boxes please.
To make sure everyone has an equal chance of winning only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.
Good luck!
Disclosure:
My thanks to Orkin for sponsoring today’s giveaway via Partners Hub. I will receive a cozy fleece winter blanket for hosting it. This giveaway is in no way endorsed affiliated or associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Media Networking Site. This giveaway is valid in the Continental United States Only. This event will end on 12:00 AM (EST) 11/14. My WAHM Plan is not responsible for prize fulfillment.I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
It is so sad but true: Mother Nature is going to wreck
another Halloween for some. Our hearts and prayers go out to all who have been
affected by Hurricane/Tropical Cyclone Sandy.
I was thinking about how blessed we are here in middle
Tennessee, where the worst thing that will happen is that my daughters will
have to wear their winter coats to go trick or treating. Actually, we go trunk or treating at our church.
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Courtesy: dreamstime.com |
If you have never tried trunk or treating, I highly
recommend it. Trunk or treating is a fun, safe alternative to walking or
driving in rural neighborhoods like ours.
We just bring our pumpkins, decorate our trunk, (but you don’t have too)
bring candy and walk around the parking lot. Our church sets up a big grill so
you can B.Y.O.M. (bring your own meat), so it’s a real family affair. One of the best things about this option for
me is it allows teens to stay with families and have fun too.
Speaking of teens, did you know that about 19% of
Americans surveyed by Nextdoor.com think
that 13 is the cut off age for trick or treating? I don’t agree because I know
how my 13 year old daughter would feel if she were told she was too old to participate. She is still having fun being a kid! Why rush her into
growing up?
What do you think is a good cut off age?
I’m thinking by the time my daughter turns 16; we will
have to brainstorm an alternative. Maybe she would rather host a pizza
party/candy exchange. Maybe she will volunteer to help out at the trunk or
treat event at church. We have time to sort it out.
I would love to hear what
you do with your older teen! For now, my family will go out and enjoy ourselves
for a few hours.
Does your family celebrate Halloween?
Whatever you and your family do this Halloween, please
stay safe, watch out for those fast moving kiddies and remember to smile and
have fun in the moment. Treasure the memories you are making!