To see prizes: http://www.momstalknetwork.com/forum/april-fools-day-no-foolin-giveaways-vt1505.html

Directions:
In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together.  When light and fluffy add the beaten eggs and beat until well blended.  Stir in 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, all the nutmeg, flour and vanilla extract. Stir until mixed through.  Shape into a log shape and wrap with cling film.  Place in refrigerator for approximately 4 hours until chilled.

Preheat oven to 350F and grease two cookie sheets.

Unwrap the dough and place on a lightly floured surface.  Cut into ¼ inch slices and place an inch apart on cookie sheets.  Bake approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until golden and baked through.  Mix the remaining teaspoon of cinnamon and a little sugar and sprinkle over the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.  Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Download this 12-page Christmas Coloring Book for your kids!

You can even photocopy and distribute the pages to:

• Preschool or daycare classes
• Sunday School class
• Kids you babysit
• Neighbor kids who need something to occupy them

Just print these pages out and you’ll have time to do some gift-wrapping in peace!!

Happy Holidays!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin pan with cupcake papers.  In a bowl cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  Place one wafer cookie in each cupcake paper then pour the cream cheese mixture over the wafer.  Top with a little cherry pie filling and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden and set through.

Gangs: Whether you realize it or not, this has become a major problem in high schools today.   In fact, there are so many different types of gangs that law enforcement can’t keep track.  They are preying on the middle schools kids and, depending upon where you live, can be identified by distinctively colored head wear.

Weapons:  While some high schools have incorporated metal detectors in high schools, this does not deter the use of weapons.  Knives and guns are confiscated on a daily basis. 

Sex:  From middle school through high school, teens are having sex every day.  Whether it occurs in the boys’ bathroom, bus, auditorium, or stairwells, it is a situation that cannot be controlled, and is on-going.

Cameras: To deter teens from cutting school, cameras have been placed in many stairwells, but unfortunately there are not enough funds to place cameras in all stairwells.  Thus, the teens know where they are and find other methods to cut classes. Remember, in most high schools that have a population of 2,000 or more, there are not enough security guards to control every exit in the school, thus teens are cutting school at all hours of the day.

Fighting:  Whether in the schoolyard or stairwells, or even within the hallways, fighting among students is a daily occurrence.  Specifically among teen girls, the number of fights per school term is astounding.  Moreover, both female and male teens sometimes take their fights to the streets.  They have these fights off school property and, in some cases, have caused serious injury to each other.

Drugs:  Depending upon your high school area, drugs are being bought and sold every day.  Although there are no statistics to support this, it is occurring and you should be made aware of it.

You may be asking: Why aren’t the schools’ administrators addressing these situations? In fact, they are…every day.  The problem stems from the fact that some teens and parents fight the administration because they feel their child has been unduly cited for wrongdoing.  Moreover, these teens and parents know the law better than we do, and sometimes use it to their advantage. 

Unless and until every parent of every teen becomes intimately involved in their teen’s education, these incidents will never cease.  Join the Parent’s Association and make your voice heard.  Demand that additional security guards and cameras are installed in every high school; in every bathroom if necessary.  The apathy that exists among certain parents is the real problem.  If the parents do not stress the importance of education to their teens, how can you expect the teen to?

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.  Lightly grease a medium sized loaf tin.  Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

Wash and grate the orange zest into a large bowl.  Squeeze the orange juice over the zest. Add 1 cup of boiling water and mix.  Add the melted butter or margarine, sugar, beaten egg and vanilla to the bowl and mix together.

Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients and lightly mix (take care not to over mix).  Gently fold in the chopped walnuts and transfer to baking pan.  Bake at 350F for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour or until baked through.

Someone very close to us has Cystic Fibrosis – a disease that affects the lungs and digestive systems of about 30,000 people across the U.S.

SO…in support of Breanna, 10% of all sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Shop My Special Note for:

• Letters from Santa
• Personalized Children’s Books (with their favorite TV and comic book characters!)
• Personalized Pillowcases

Buy a personalized gift for your child and give back at the same time!

To learn more about CF, visit their website at:  http://www.cff.org

Happy Holidays!

(just download these pdf files by right-clicking and selecting “Save Target As” – save on your hard drive, forward to your friends and enjoy this 2007 Holiday!)

Holiday Gift Guide – Thanks to Chele Neisler of momsloveshopping.com!  She has authored this great guide to gift-giving this holiday season.  There are ideas in here for everyone on your list!

Holiday Traditions – A guide to creating and maintaining festive holiday traditions

 

Product Name: The Edge Cushion 12′ by Kid Cushions
Submitted by: Megan Cahill; Louisville, KY
Rating: 10
Where to buy:  Amazon.com

Description: The Edge Cushion by Kid Cushions provides a soft protecting layer of material between your child and hard or sharp edges of your furniture.

Measuring twelve feet, this cushion will wrap around almost anything with an edge perfectly, round or square. These cannot be used on beveled tables. This product can be used on countertops, window ledges and cabinets to name a few. The cushions are available in 3 colors, black, brown and ivory. They are easy to attach with adhesive strips that will connect to any of the types of surfaces in your home including tile.

Review:  No parent can stand to see their children crying, whether a cut lip or a bumped knee, it can be just as painful for the parent to watch their child experience these feelings. But children will bump and they will scrape. It’s part of the growing and learning process, which helps them survive their grown up lives. You can do your part though to prevent these bumps and bruises from happening often or possibly being severe which should be a #1 priority in a household with a young child. 

At this affordable price it’s hard to see why you shouldn’t get this item or 3!

Criticism: This Item could have been made available in more colors.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F.  lightly grease two cookie sheets.

Mix the butter and sugar together well in a large bowl.  When soft and fluffy add the beaten eggs, flour, salt and vanilla.  Beat until well blended (you can use an electric mixer to make this easier).

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet and smooth them into rounds using the back of the spoon.  Place some raisins on each round and bake for approximately 8 to 10 minutes until golden and baked through.  Turn to wire racks to cool.