A Quick and Easy Halloween Treat

I saw these cookies in a magazine ad and thought they cute and easy to make. They definately were!

These are from the Bettycrocker.com website.

Chocolate Mummy Cookies (or skeleton hand cookies)

1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

2 Tbs unsweetened baking cocoa

1/3 butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

1 container Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy Vanilla Frosting

mini M & M's or jelly bean halves

Heat oven to 375. In medium bowl, stir together cookie mix and cocoa. Add butter and egg: stir until soft dough forms.

On floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with 5" gingerbread man cutter. On ungreased cookie sheet, place 1 inch apart. Gather dough scraps: reroll until all dough is used.

Bak 7-9 minutes or until cookies are just puffed and tops are dry. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely.

Spoon frosting into resealable plastic bag. cut 1/4 inch hole in 1 bottom corner. Gently squeeze bag to pipe frosting on cookies for bandages. Attach eyes. Store cookies in airtight container.

NOTE: As you can see, since I had a hand cookie cutter, I also made skelton hands. This recipe made 16 hands and 11 mummies! They will be fun to serve to friends and family tomorrow night after trick or treating!

Baxter's Blog

I have caught our cat Baxter sitting here a few times, and was actually able to catch a photo of it. Is he looking to start his own blog or maybe Facebook profile? Hmmmmm.

Winners of the Journal!

I decided to give away both of the journals that Energizer sent me. Random.org selected 2 winners and they are

RANDOM.ORG - Integer Generator:
"Here are your random numbers:
4
3
Timestamp: 2009-10-27 13:47:20 UTC"

Melissa Ward
Julie

I will contact them by email and send them out right away!
Thanks for signing up. I will have another AWESOME Energizer giveaway very soon. Stay tuned!

Mondays Matter: Week 43

Taken from the book Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways To Make A Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza

LISTEN, PRAY, APPRECIATE MUSIC

-Over 70% of schools are not able to maintain funding for the arts.

-Students with coursework in music appreciation score roughly 60 points higher in verbal and 40 points higher in math on the SAT than their non-arts peers.

-Early musical training increases brain development in language, reasoning, math, science, memory, creativity, expression, and spatial intelligence.

-Every human culture uses music to preserve and pass on its ideas and ideals.

-Music is not limited by age, gender, ethnicity, or time.

ACTION STEPS

1. Listen to your favorite music and sing, dance, clap, jam on your air guitar, and enjoy it like no one is watching.

2. Go see or buy tickets for a live music performance.

3. Sign up for music lessons for yourself or your family.

4. If you already sing or play an instrument, do it today or offer to teach someone who wants to learn.

5. Donate unused instruments to a local school, church or music education center.

6. Communicate with your school-district administrators or national legislators. Write a letter of appreciate for the hard work they do and request continued funding for the arts.

As a child, my parents had me take piano lessons and I am so glad they did. I feel fortunate to have that talent and now our 2 boys are taking lessons and have picked it up quite quickly. I love to be in the kitchen making supper and hearing them practicing their piano. Our 4 yr old daughter is anxious to learn how to play as well. We are fortunate to live in a school district that has a flourishing arts program. Our school offers swing choirs, band, various choirs, jazz band, marching band, concert band, fall musical, spring play, etc. I am glad our children will have numerous options to showcase their talents and appreciation for music. Music is fun, expressive, imaginative, beautiful, energizing, relaxing, interesting, and freeing. Through music, we preserve our cultural heritage, celebrate our faith with praise and worship, remember events and experiences from the past, come together with friends and family, and express our emotions. Music is the sountrack of life.

Mondays Matter: Week 42

I can't believe this is week 42 already! That means only 10 more weeks of 2009 left! YIKES! Christmas is only 9 weeks away. Enjoy the last 10 weeks and make sure you are making a difference!

Taken from the book Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways To Make A Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza

GIVE A HUG

-Stimulation by touch is absolutely necessary for physical and emotional well-being.
-Touch is used to relieve pain, depression, and anxiety; to enhance a child's development and IQ; and to nurture premature babies.
-Hugging strengthens the immune system, reduces stress, assists sleep, lowers blood pressure, and is an antidote to depression.
People need 4 hugs a day for survival, 8 for maintenance, and 12 for growth.

ACTION STEPS
1. Hug the people you care about today. Hug them in the morning, hug them to say hello, hug them because they bring you happiness, hug them to say good-bye, hug them to say, "I Love You", hug them to show compassion, hug them if they are sad, hug them if they are hurting, hug them because they did something incredible, or hug them just because.
2. Hug a total stranger or someone you don't know very well...but ask first.
3. Challenge yourself and your friends to keep track of how many hugs you gave or received today.
4. Notice how you feel at the end of your day of hugging.

If everyone hugged 4 people today - the minimum amount for survival - that would add up to 1.2 billion hugs. If everyone gave 12, the total would be 3.6 billion hugs. So, take the time to give 12 hugs today. That hug might be exactly what those 12 people needed.

One of those weeks!

Do you ever have one of those days or weeks or months where you just can't keep it all straight. I feel like I am having one this week. I had a volunteer responsibility this week that I wanted to be sure I didn't forget about. I had some other things on my mind as well as dealing with this nasty cold weather we are having. Having to drag all the winter stuff out and get it farmed out to each of the kids, getting blankets and such in the van for soccer and football games, making sure everyone was warm enough, etc. So, on Monday, I realized it wasn't the 11th, but the 12th. Tonight I realized it was already the 13th. I realized that Thursday is the 15th already which means Friday is the 16th and Saturday is the 17th. Now this may not be a big deal to you, but for me it is. I like to recognize birthdays and make that person feel like I care about them enough to remember. Well, I didn't accomplish that so far this week. Sunday was my brother-in-law Ken's birthday and the whole day went by without notice. Then Monday when I thought it was the 11th, I realized I still couldn't mail a card because there was no mail and then I realized it was really the 12th, so I was already a day late and would have to wait another day to mail a card and then another day for him to receive it. So, we just called him on the speaker phone that night (one day late) and sung him Happy Birthday. Then tonight I realized it was the 13th which means it is our nephew, Adam's birthday. So, I sent him a text (he's a teenager) and promised that next time I saw him I would have something for him. So, because today is the 13th, I realized that Thursday is our nephew, Eric's birthday. Since he is a godfather to our son Bennett, we send a gift to him from Bennett. Well, he lives several hours away, which means two day travel time for the mail service, still need to get the gift, so guess what, that is going to be late as well. Our niece Megan has a birthday on Friday and I sent an email off to her mom tonight asking for gift ideas for her. Then Saturday is our nephew, Alex's birthday, so I am going to do my darndest to remember his birthday ON TIME! Whew! Anyway, I guess I have been a little off this week. A fellow blogger friend had this on her blog today and I felt it was totally appropriate for me today as well. I hope your week is moving along smoothly!

Mondays Matter: Week 41

Taken from the book Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways To Make A Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza

CHOOSE CANVAS BAGS

-Almost 7 billion paper bags and 440 billion plastic bags are used every year.

-Only 5.2 % of plastic bags and 21% of paper bags are recycled.

-The average length of time a high-density plastic bag will exist on earth is 1,000 years!

-The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags every 4 trips to the grocery store.

-San Francisco, the first city in the USA to ban the use of plastic grocery bags, eliminates the use of 100 million plastic bags/year.

ACTION STEPS

1. Buy several canvas shopping bags or use duffle bags that you already own. Most trips to the store require more than one bag.

2. Purchase canvas bags made from recycled materials.

3. Keep your canvas bags in the trunk of your car - trips to the store are often spontaneous.

4. When purchasing only one or two items and you don't have a canvas bag, just carry the items out of the store without a bag.

5. If you forget your canvas bag, at least avoid double-bagging.

I LOVE using my canvas shopping bags. I think I have 8 of them that I keep in my van at all times. I also use them for things other than shopping. They are great for carrying items to a potluck, for taking items you need to a meeting, or for packing items for a trip. The bags are very sturdy and hold more items than a regular plastic bag, which means less trips back and forth from the car to the house when unloading groceries. The canvas bags are more sturdy when holding the groceries and are less likely to tip over in the car while driving. Also, the grocery store I purchased some of the bags from, replaces them for free if they start to rip. So, the next time you are in the checkout line and the clerk asks, "Paper or Plastic", proudly answer, "Canvas"!