Dear Moms, Dads, Relatives, Educators and Business Owners!

Last night I said to my husband, "This year we are going to celebrate halloween. We are going to break our annual tradition of switching off all the lights at 6pm on the 31st October and pretending we are not home. We are going to have a party, dress up and have lots of home made creepy decorations hanging around the house." His answer was: "Will there be beer?" "Yes," I said. "Ok then", he replied.

This is my husbands one and only requirement for a party. Richard's party tip: "Make sure you have beer". Richard's party invitation: "Bring beer". Richard's party entertainment:"Hey look there's beer!"

Our Halloween ignorance tradition began when we lived in a complex in Johannesburg which had 450 units. The complex was full of young families who of course made the most of Halloween night to fill up their loot bags with treats to last a year. My husband and I always forgot to stock up on treats for the kids and were terrified to open the door to a group of little monsters with no loot for their bags. From then on it has become a rather strange tradition. One which I aim to break this year.

My kids just love getting dressed up and making their own decorations and they would have lots of fun making weird monster type munchies for the party. How could we deprive them of that? So I researched the internet for ideas and put together a list of web sites offering interesting crafts, party and costume ideas to share with other parents so that they too can be inspired to dress up, have fun and get creepy on the 31st October! We hope you also enjoy our choice of spooky books and movies we have highlighted in our newsletter this month.

The picture you see below is not of me in a "purple dino halloween costume", but of my family and I rubbing shoulders with some serious celebs. Not quite the celebrity I fantasised rubbing shoulders with, but hey, the kids were delighted and it was the first time I ever wore a backstage pass. Yes, we met Barney, Baby Bop and BJ at this year's Baby Expo in Durban.

Barney will perform daily performances of his ‘At the Farm’ Show at The Baby Expo Cape Town at the CTICC from the 7th – 9th November 2008. Entrance to the expo is R40, with kids under the age of 10 getting in for free. Once at the expo entrance to the Barney shows is free, but booking through Computicket is recommended to avoid disappointment! You can also enter a competition and stand a chance to meet Barney after the show. You too can get to wear a backstage pass and have a photo taken and email it to everyone you know!! Read more about Barney and The Baby Expo here.

Thank you to those parents who sent us some really gorgeous pictures of their kids in the snow. You can view them here. Can you believe these were taken in South Africa?

Cara
Editor