September is associated with many things. This is the time of year children are back in school, the first day of fall – the autumnal equinox begins in the Northern Hemisphere on September 23, 2011 at 5:05 A.M. Eastern Standard Time. From here on out, the temperatures will begin to drop and the days will get shorter. Did you know that the word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night?” The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the hours of day and night are equal as the Sun crosses the celestial equator.

In September we also remember our grandparents as National Grandparents Day falls on September 11, 2011 as does the anniversary of that terrible day in New York when the Twin Towers came down.

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Coloring Pages and Printables

If you are looking for some great coloring page resources to keep your little ones absorbed and entertained this month here are some autumn themed coloring pages and printables.

Halloween is the time of year when small children (and the rest of us!) dress up in fanciful costumes and embark on social activities such as trick-or-treating, costume parties, bonfires, bobbing for apples, heading to the fruit stand or a pumpkin field to choose pumpkins for carving, visiting haunted houses and corn mazes, playing Halloween pranks and watching their favorite Halloween scary movies or cartoons.

Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after supernatural figures such as monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.

Here are some fun and sometimes silly facts about Halloween. Early traditions that are believed to be the precursors to Halloween include:

• The Celtic tradition of giving thanks at the close of the harvest season.
• The European tradition of lighting candles and masquerading in costume to scare evil spirits away
• The Irish custom where wealthy landowners would give food to the poor in hopes that the ghosts would look favorably on them and spare them from mischief.
• In Scotland and Ireland trick-or-treating began as “guising” where children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins — is a traditional Halloween custom, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.
• The practice of “guising”at Halloween in North America was first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported children going “guising” around the neighborhood.

Did You Know That

• Halloween was formerly known as All Hallow’s Eve?
• The name “Halloween” comes from Scotland and the Celtic Feast of the Sun which marked the end of summer was known as “Hallowe’en.”
• The Celtics would carry a lantern when they walked on the eve of October 31st?
• The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in the United States.
• The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before the holiday, while new horror films are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.

Jack -O-Lantern Trivia

• The “jack-o-lantern” gets that name from a mean old man named Jack who was too mean even to get into hell. The Devil gave him a piece of burning coal and sent him away. Jack used a turnip to hold the burning coal and serve as a lantern.
• The first “jack-o-lanterns” were carved with faces to scare evil spirits away. They used turnips not pumpkins for those original jack-o-lanterns.

Do you have Halloween traditions that are not listed here? We would love to hear of them!

These beautiful and FREE desktop wallpapers are our gift to you.  Here is how you do it:

Choose your favorite wallpaper: Right click on the thumbnail image of the wallpaper you want to use and ”Save Picture As”. Then simply locate the image in your picture folder and set it as your background.  

To save all of the wallpapers: Just click on the “Download All” button, save the zip file to your machine and change your Autumn and Thanksgiving wallpaper every day if you like.

For more Autumn and Christmas desktop wallpapers please visit Operation Letters To Santa today.

Enjoy!

A party is not a party unless the fun includes plenty of great food and drinks. On Halloween, this calls for special fare. Getting your costumes together may leave little time to bother struggling with a menu. The last thing you want to do is slave in the kitchen making snacks for the family or party guests. The following are ideas for snacks that you can create using store-bought items and a little creativity.

Beverages – You can always count on everyone being thirsty. All you need is some ordinary drinks dressed up a bit.

Punch – One way to wet their whistle is with punch. No matter what the flavor, you want it to look as scary as possible. Use food coloring to darken the punch (black cauldron bubble) or brighten it (bucket of blood punch). To add to the frightful appearance, fashion eyeballs, fingers, or what have you, out of fruit and ice cream and float your ghoulish creations on top of the punch.

Sodas – Ordinary sodas can take on the ghoulish for one night. Use decorative plastic Halloween cups for your sodas. Add different colored whipped cream to the top and orange, black and purple straws.  For more adult beverages, add new labels to the cans and bottles in keeping with the theme of the night (for instance Witch’s Brew, Dracula’s Ale, Lager Of Lost Souls, or Blood Wine).

Finger Foods -In this case, we really may mean “finger foods.” Start with these ideas and see how spooky you can get.

Witch fingers – This is one of the most popular ideas. You can use sugar cookie dough and shape it onto long, thin strips to resemble fingers. While the cookies cool, press half an almond in one end to look like a fingernail. Use red gel to fashion some dripping blood if you like.

Cupcake creations – If you are short on time, buy store cupcakes and add decorative magic. Black or orange icing plus sprinkles or pumpkin candy works for most kids. For older children, add Gummi worms, dirt sprinkles, and skeleton drawings in the icing or licorice strands to become spider legs.

Scary molds – Jell-O molds have been around for a long time. For Halloween use brain molds and also those for creeping hands or skulls. Instead of gelatin, try cheese to fashion the body part along with creepy add-ins like slivered almonds for scales, strawberry or raspberry glaze for blood. Then serve your scary snack with crackers.

You can get as creepy or disgusting as you want with the menu. The scarier, the better. The best part is that the recipes are easy, with many only requiring you use what you already have on hand or can buy cheaply. These Halloween snacks are creepy creativity at its finest!

Black Bean and Pumpkin Chili

This is a healthy and quite delicious recipe that everybody in the family will love, especially on blustery autumn days! It’s a wonderful variation on standard chili that freezes well and tastes even better as leftovers.

Ingredients:

• 1 med onion, chopped
• 1 med. yellow pepper, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 cups of chicken broth
• 2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 1/2 cups of cubed, cooked turkey or chicken
• 1 can of solid pack pumpkin
• 1 can of diced tomatoes UNDRAINED
• 2 tsp. parsley flakes
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, saute the onions, peppers and garlic until tender.
2. Transfer to a slow-cooker. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
3. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours or until heated through.
4. Enjoy!!

Just because it’s Halloween doesn’t mean you have to forget your family’s health. There are more nutritious ways to enjoy the night. By all means let your kids hit the neighborhood and gather a bag of goodies, but temper that with a few nutritious treats of your own. If you are planning a Halloween party for the kids, put out a mix of healthy treats alongside the not-so-healthy favorites.

Here are a few ideas for healthy ghostly treats for your kids:

Trail Mix – This is a mix of snack foods that kids will love. Pick raisins, nuts, cereals, and any other dry foods your kids like to eat. Mix it all together and place it front-and-center so they can grab a handful as they run from one game to the next.

Ingredients

• 1 cup combination diced dried fruit, such as prunes, apricots, pears and apples
• 1/2 cup raisins and/or dried cherries or cranberries
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts (or honey-roasted peanuts, chopped walnuts or unsalted almonds)

Directions

Mix all together and then place in air-tight container for storage. Makes 4 cups.

Celery and carrot skeleton – Cut thin strips of celery and carrots and arrange them to create a skeleton body on the plate. Form a low-fat cheese ball creation for the skull, carve out the eye sockets and fill with raisins. Stick the cheese knife right into the skull for more eerie fun.

Pumpkin seeds – When you carve up the pumpkins don’t forget to save the seeds. Roasted and salted pumpkin seeds are a good after-carving snack. Let kids lay them flat on a baking sheet and watch them roast in a 400 degree oven.  Click here for some fun and easy pumpkin seed recipes.

Muffins – Finger foods like muffins can be sweet tasting like cupcakes but more nutritious. Try pumpkin muffins, zucchini muffins, or banana muffins for great taste and less sugar. Decorate the muffins just like you would cupcakes.

Chocolate spoons – Make your own chocolate treats using dark chocolate. It is healthier than milk chocolate because it contains more cocoa solids. Melt dark chocolate onto black and orange plastic spoons. Freeze them until the chocolate sets. Wrap them in cellophane and place them on the party table. The kids can lick them as a treat or swish them around in a cup of hot chocolate for extra flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
• Black and orange Halloween plastic spoons

Directions

1. In a microwave safe bowl, melt semisweet chocolate pieces in microwave for 2 to 3 minutes and stir until smooth. Dip spoons into chocolate. Put spoons onto wax paper and refrigerate until chocolate hardens.
2. Melt milk chocolate pieces in microwave for 2 to 3 minutes and stir until smooth. Place chocolate into plastic bag and cut off a corner. Drizzle melted chocolate over spoons. Refrigerate until chocolate hardens.
3. Wrap each spoon separately and store in a cool dry place.

Caramel apples – Slice the apples for easier eating. Put the slices in individual bowls and drizzle the caramel over the top. You can sprinkle the apples with chopped nuts if you wish. A little caramel goes a long way, and it keeps the calories and sugar at a minimum.

What will your kids eat this Halloween? It doesn’t just have to be candy. Give them candy in moderation, but let the bulk of the snacks you create be of a healthier variety.

When the end of the summer rolls around, it’s time to get ready to go back to school. Before the summer officially ends, and autumn begins celebrate this time with an event that’s fun for the whole family. Take part in family activities that create unforgettable memories that will last a lifetime.

Try these nine family activities for an exciting end to your summer:  

1. Make a memory book. Have everyone in the family get together and make a memory book or scrapbook. Collect photos from your summer or other scraps and artwork that would fit into a book of memories. This will give you a lasting memento of the good times you had over the summer.
2. Have a splashing good time. The summer usually means a good time around water. Throw a pool party or play around in the sprinklers. Have a water balloon fight with your family. Involve water while you still can, before the cold days of winter arrive.
3. Make summertime recipes. Pick out your favorite summertime recipes and make food and drinks with your family. Start with drinks like iced tea and lemonade, or pick another family favorite that you associate with summer. Then, make summer treats or throw a barbeque.
4. Throw a end-of-summer party. Get together with your family and throw an end of the summer bash for all of your friends. Your family can plan the party together, cook the food and make decorations. Take lots of photos of your party so you can remember the good time you had.
5. Go to the zoo. Summer is a great time to enjoy the zoo during your free time. Go to the zoo with your family one last time before school takes away much of that free time. It’s also a great way to learn about many different kinds of animals.
6. Play video games. Video games can be fun for the whole family. Some game consoles, like the Nintendo Wii even have games that’ll get the whole family active. Choose a sports game, a family board game or a racing game and compete against your family for an exciting time together.
7. Go to the beach. The end of the summer might be one of your last opportunities to hit the beach this year. Wear sunscreen to protect your skin. Bring plenty of towels and beach toys. Build a sand castle with your kids. Bury one of your family members in the sand.
8. Get ready for school. Enjoy getting ready for the school year with your family. Find the fun in shopping for clothing and school supplies. Get the whole family involved. Allow your kids to make some of the clothing decisions and to pick out some of their favorite school supplies.
9. Relax at home. Enjoy some quiet time at home before the craziness of the school year starts. Order takeout and talk around the dinner table. Rent some family friendly movies to enjoy while you beat the heat together.

Pick one or more of these, or come up with your own end of summer activity ideas. The most important thing is that you take the time to enjoy your family. The end of summer can be an exciting time for your family to bond and experience priceless memories.

Visit us at Operation Letters to Santa for almost 1000 pages of Holiday Activities, Christmas Carols, Christmas Sheet Music, Holiday recipes, Free gifts and downloads and so much more!