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Thursday, December 25, 2008

Random Acts of Kindness  

I accepted Mom It Forward's "Happiness Headlines" challenge this season to perform random acts of kindness. I chose these two activities that involved my kids in hopes that they would catch the spirit of the season and learn to think more about giving than receiving.

  1. Bake reindeer cookies for neighbor gifts.
  2. Make candy cane notes to thank people for spreading holiday cheer.
This video shows the fun you can have when you involve your kids in creating your neighbor gifts. Nope! I didn't create a nearly 9-minute montage to see how long I could keep your attention :). I purposefully didn't cut it for those of you who 1) Are interested in baking instructions, 2) Want to get to know me and my kids a little better, and/or 3) Want to snack on a virtual cookie or two or three!



Below is a picture of the candy cane thank yous we made. Nope! Your eyes don't deceive you. We kept this project simple, taking hand-written stickers and slapping them on candy canes. We kept these in a bag and took them with us on all of our errands this holiday season. If you don't know Red Rover and Chatterbox, they are both pretty shy. So, at first it was difficult for them to approach and give gifts to strangers. But, one experience seeing the joy it brought to others and they were hooked. They caught the Christmas spirit and started looking for ways to spread the holiday cheer!

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Picture courtesy of Kristin from The Sassy Mom Shoppe blog.

Mom It Forward is an online community of women who are changing the world one mom at a time and having a lot of fun doing it. This amazing group focuses on strengthening women with the goal to improve families, better communities, and ultimately and positively impact the world. For more information on becoming part of this community, please visit momitforward.com.

Posted in , , , , , , by Jyl @ MommyGossip | 17 bits of juicy gossip

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I Am Thankful for... Food, Glorious Food!  

My "I Am Thankful for..." series wouldn't be complete without a post related to food. And, since Thanksgiving is only 2 days away, I figured now was the perfect time to share two of my favorite recipes. I don't have pictures to add, so you'll have to imagine the yumminess!

Mary Alice's Banana Cookies (family recipe)

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
11/2 tsp cinnamon
11/2 cups shortening
2 eggs
2 cups mashed bananas
31/2 cups oats
1-2 cups chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients and cut in shortening. Add eggs and bananas. Mix well. Add oats and chocolate chips to taste (one or two cups). Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees.

These are great frozen! Try it and see.
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Confetti Spread (awesome, colorful appetizer)

2 pkg. croissant rolls (the kind you buy in the a package in the refrigerated section at the grocery store... Pillsbury, etc.)
2 8 ounce pkg. cream cheese
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2-3 carrots (shredded)
3 celery stalks (diced)
1/2 yellow pepper (diced)
1 bunch radishes (shredded)
5-6 green onions (chopped)

Pat croissant dough onto a cookie sheet (jelly roll pan) and bake according to directions. Let cool completely. Beat softened cream cheese and mayonnaise and spread mixture evenly on baked croissant (will be flat). Sprinkle veggies evenly on top of the mixture. Cut into small pieces before cooling. Place in refrigerator and chill 3-4 hours before serving.

Posted in , , , , by Jyl @ MommyGossip | 20 bits of juicy gossip

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