$100 contest for your Halloween Traditions *contest closed*

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Pop-Tarts.

So...Halloween is here. I've kind of been dreading it all month.

I mean, sometimes, it just gets so expensive, especially with 3 kids.

The search for the perfect costume and whatever is needed to accessorize it...the pressure of trying to come up with the perfect yet clever costume as an adult...the bags and bags of candy for our church's annual Trunk-or-Treat party and then bags and bags more for Halloween night itself....and the hubby always wants to add something to our Halloween decor. These things add up!

Then, there's the existence of all that yummy tempting caloric candy in the house (I can't turn down a peanut butter cup...I just can't!), and the constant begging by the kids, the wrappers all over the place, the hyperactivity, the cavities...

I mean it's fun, and I enjoy it always, but it's work.

As far as costumes go, we go alternate costume buying every other year. I try to recycle and make our own as much as possible, but sometimes, ya just gotta put some money into it. Sean wants to be a vampire ("not a Twilight vampire mom, a real one"), Cameron wants to be a mummy (I'm envisioning toilet paper strewn around the house for days) [*EDIT, he's since corrected me--he wants to be a zombie! huh? how am I gonna pull that one off?*], and Ethan wants to be Black Spiderman, which I was able to find for $8 since it's not a really popular character any more. This will be a buying year for all of them I'm afraid.

One thing we love to do every Halloween, and I'm not sure how or why this started, but I love it: after the trick-or-treating is done, we stay up late and watch "Goonies." Something so classic and quotable about that movie! "Heeeeey youuuuuu guuuuuyyyyyys!" Love it.

Do you have any special Halloween traditions? Share them in the comments for your chance at $100 Visa Gift card sponsored by Blogher.

Enter 9 times by visiting the other reviews on the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page. Official rules can be seen here.

Please visit my main blog and say hello over on Life with the Boys.

$100 gift card contest -- Choc-o-Lantern Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Fudge flavored Pop-Tarts *contest closed*

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Pop-Tarts.

We always enjoy the opportunity to get creative with Pop-Tarts. Have you been shopping for these little delicacies lately? There are seriously so many flavors. I swear, just a few years ago, you could get strawberry, cherry, brown cinnamon sugar, and maybe blueberry, but since then, wow! All kinds of fun fruits and desserty flavors, chocolate and peanut butter and cookies and cream... (Is it still considered a breakfast food? I submit that yes, yes it is!)

We were able to have some fun with the new Choc-o-Lantern Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Fudge flavored Pop-Tarts. These are chocolate pastries with fudgy insides, frosted orange with small sprinkles of Halloween shapes on top. How fun is that?

We decided to make our very own pumpkin patch. Here are some pictures from our afternoon in the kitchen.

First, we cut out our Pop-Tarts into pumpkin shapes. We used a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter as a guide. Cameron very carefully cut out and sculpted the shape of the pumpkin, trimming when needed.

Then we made some chocolate frosting and piped it onto the pumpkins, making fun jack-o-lantern faces.

Then we made a home-made moist chocolate cake, frosted it, and put the jack-o-lanterns on top to make our pumpkin patch.

I'm giving away a $100 Visa gift card from Blogger! From the dates of Oct 18, 2010 to Oct 31, 2010 enter by commenting on this post and tell me: what is your favorite Pop-Tarts flavor? While you're at it, I'd love if you'd share your favorite unorthodox use of Pop-Tarts. Do you freeze them? Use them as pie crust? Make ice cream sandwiches out of them or dip them in chocolate? I'm always amazed at the recipes made out of these very versatile snacks.

Enter 9 times by visiting the other reviews on the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page. Official rules can be seen here.

Please visit my main blog and say hello over on Life with the Boys.