We got back last night from Disneyland’s Halloween Party. We’ve been looking forward to it for months, and it’s one of my favorite things we do every year. It’s been getting more and more popular, and many of the nights of the party are already sold out. Buuuuut, if you want to go to Mickey’s Halloween Party, I have four tickets to give away for the October 9th event! This is unsponsored – our family did get into this weekend’s party with press tickets, but we bought these four passes ourselves. To enter, just leave a comment telling me you want to win! This contest is open to anyone who can be at Disneyland on October 9th. I’ll pick a winner on Friday via Random.org.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Halloween
Sleeping Beauty’s Castle with a haunted makeover.

And for anyone who is already going, I’ll be writing up tips for the Halloween Party for Mommy Nearest this week and I’ll link it once it’s live. This is our fourth (maybe fifth?) year attending, so I have lots of tidbits to share.

Around The ‘Net

~How to Lose Weight in Four Easy Steps

~Trapped in the System: A Sick Doctor’s Story

~The Avenger: After three decades, has the brother of a victim of the Lockerbie bombing solved the case?

~What Are Those Kids Doing With That Enormous Gun?

~This One Picture Can Determine If You Need Glasses—And It’s Fascinating

~Ann Hathaway Can’t Win

~What Happened After My Kidnapping

~The Best Movie That Takes Place In Every State

~Queen Elizabeth’s Record-Breaking Reign in 14 Pictures

~How Shopkins Became the Biggest Tiny Toy on the Planet

~The Martian and The Intern Are Movies About Nice People. We Need More Like Them.

~Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting Completely Loses It While Playing Trivia With Adorable Puppies

~Remember trouble dolls? Now Worry Eaters dolls are helping kids manage anxieties.

~The world loved Yogi Berra

~TV vs. the Internet: Who Will Win?

Little Sparkles

I’ve been admiring tiny bar earrings lately. Maybe for Christmas, Mike?

~These pavé posts are so colorful.
~I think these Meteorite earrings are really unique.
~I like these chain bar studs in rose gold.
~The Dogeared bars come in silver or gold.

Read With Me

~Annabel has 15 minutes of assigned reading every night, and finding something new for her every night has been a challenge (she’s really good at memorizing, so I want to make sure she’s reading instead of reciting). My cousin gave me a Kindle for my birthday, and we signed up for the Freetime service – it gives unlimited access to thousands of kid-friendly books, movies, TV shows, educational apps, and games, although we’ve only used it for the books so far. It costs between $2.99 – $10 per month, depending on how many kids you have and if you have Amazon Prime. We’ve been using it for over a month now and I highly recommend it! If you’re thinking about getting a Kindle for your family, the Kindle Fire is on sale starting at $50. That’s so low I am seriously tempted to get one so I can reclaim the Kindle Leah gave me!

Happy Sunday, everyone!

UPDATE! We have a winner!!!

mickey winner

Congrats to Erin! Look for an email from me.

Thank you to everyone who entered! I really wish I could give you all tickets!