If you are like many parents in America, Halloween can be a dreaded time of year for one reason: excessive amounts of sugar! We can recognize that your average trick-or-treater is not going to bring home a "moderate" amount of candy. Rather, most kids will bring home an INSANE amount! According to a Kids' Health website survey of about 1200 kids, "Most kids said they get at least 50 pieces of candy, with over 44% saying they get more than 100 pieces." If this number frightens you (not to mention your dentist), consider donating your candy to help support the troops this year.

There is a non-profit charitable organization called Boatsie’s Boxes whose staff gather and ship supplies and packages to soldiers. They have not been able to send chocolate since May because of the extreme heat temperatures, so this is a perfect time of year to gather your Halloween chocolate, spare your teeth a bit and pass along!

My brother, 1LT Christopher Moskoff, is a Colorado National Guard helicopter pilot. He spent a year at Balad Air Base in Iraq in 2007, and reminded me of the value of sending packages to our soldiers. "It was the highlight of the week to get a care package. We have very few luxuries in Iraq and Afghanistan, but getting a care package was the best reminder that your family and friends still miss, love and support you," he said. You can find the mailing address for sending donations to Boatsie's Boxes here.

If you want to avoid the cost of shipping your candy, look for a local dentist who might be taking donations. We have a dentist in Boulder, Colorado who is accepting donations and PAYING $1 per each pound of donated candy! He will then pay the shipping costs to send the candy to U.S. troops.

For younger kids (under 4), they might not even notice the candy contents had diminished. But for older children, it can be a great learning experience about sharing with others, donating to charities and eating sweets in moderation.

And if you are still looking for another way to disperse your Halloween candy, consider starting an unlimited sweets drawer experiment like we did. (And be sure to let us know how it worked.)

And whatever you choose to do this year, we hope you have a very happy, healthy and safe celebration!

Mamas, you all know the airline industry adage “put the oxygen mask on yourself first”? While it may be important during a plane crash to remain conscious in order to take care of your kids, in everyday life it's equally important!

Often, this idea goes against our instincts. In an emergency, our first thoughts of course would be for the safety and well-being of our children. Likewise, most parents instinctively put their children and loved ones first.

But the truth inside this message is that if you are not taking good care of yourself, you just won’t have much to give your children, or anyone else for that matter.

You know how you feel when you are not taking care of yourself! Grumpy, exhausted and easily frustrated. You aren’t able to be as present and loving with your family as you would like to be. Your mind races through the lists of things you need to get done - and all you may want to do is hide under the covers.

Now think about how you feel when you are taking care of yourself. Typically, you will have more energy and attention to give your family. The quality of your time with your loved ones is more enjoyable, for everyone. You just seem to be able to get more done, even when you have less time. You are clear-headed and able to be creative (rather than reactive) with your kids.

So, what does taking care of yourself mean for you? If you were going to nourish yourself so you have more to give your loved ones, what would you change?

We all have different needs when it comes to self-care. For some mamas it means having regular time alone, for others it might mean keeping up with personal care appointments that support health (like yoga or massage therapy) and for some of us it means just getting enough rest.

Do you love to read but never make the time? Is exercise important for your health but you are too tired to fit it in at the end of your day? Do you know that you would feel better if you ate healthier meals but don’t always have time to prepare them?

What have you been neglecting that would give you more energy?

This year on Mother’s Day, make a promise to yourself to make a habit of putting that oxygen mask on regularly! Your family will thank you!

The invention of the baby shower gift registry has made gift-giving an easy but sometimes thoughtless process. Here are some ideas to bring a little more green to your gift-giving. I don’t advocate giving a green gift if it’s something they aren’t going to use or just for the sake of it being “green.” Sometimes it is best to stick to the registry, especially if you don’t know the person well. But if you have a bit of freedom, here are some gift ideas that you might consider.

Diapers are always an appreciated gift. They’re expensive and much needed. If the person you are shopping for is interested in or has decided to do cloth diapers, a great gift would be a gift certificate to a diaper service - it offers someone a way to ease into the world of cloth diapers. If the parents-to-be are planning on using disposables, purchase Seventh Generation diapers and wipes, one of the greenest options out there in the disposable diaper market.

Put together a green toiletries kit. Fill a basket with baby shampoo, soap and lotion from California Baby. Also include an organic wash cloth and towel. You can check the ZRecs Guide for other baby care products that are free of harmful chemicals.

If the mother-to-be has an interest in breastfeeding, create a breastfeeding support kit which could include items such as your favorite breastfeeding book, milk storage bags (if they are going to pump), lanolin cream, and a nursing shawl or Hooter Hider. Breastfeeding is the greenest way to feed your little one, it’s a local food source for your baby!

I know that one of the last things that seem to get done when you have a baby is housekeeping. When you are sleep-deprived, the little energy you do have goes towards your baby and just surviving day to day life. The house doesn’t have to be clean in order to survive, but it would sure make your day more pleasant and easier to deal with. Why not pay for some post-natal housekeeping by a service that uses non-toxic chemicals? Maid Brigade is one company that provides green housekeeping services. Another gift idea is to offer your own elbow grease. Bring green cleaning supplies if they don’t have them and when you have finished, leave the supplies there for them to use.

Buy local and handmade items. A great place to do this is at my favorite handmade site, Etsy, an online marketplace for crafters. You can find a great selection of baby items such as handmade bibs and blankets, wooden toys, and onesies. One of the many great features of this website is that you can search for sellers by location, enabling you to support local crafters.

If the baby shower is for someone who is not a first-time mom, they may already have enough stuff - the last thing they really want is more baby stuff taking up room in their home. There are a lot of great ideas, including the housekeeping gift that I mentioned above, that would be very appreciated but don’t contribute to the accumulation of unwanted stuff. It’s hard to find a women who wouldn’t be excited about a gift card to a spa for a pregnancy massage, or a post-pregnancy spa trip. How about offering to babysit their other kid(s) on several occasions? Make a gift certificate book that has coupons they can redeem for you to run errands for them such as grocery shopping, getting the oil changed on their car or picking up some more diapers and wipes.

Do you have any green baby shower gift ideas? Have you been given any green gifts that you have really appreciated?