It’s winter where I live.  Snow.  Freezing temperatures.  Short days.  Long, dark nights.  (Well of course nights are dark.  If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be nights, now would they?  That sure was a stupid adjective to use.  Oh well.)

It’s not the type of weather that is conducive to sitting around the campfire making S’mores, now is it?  I didn’t think so.  If you have a gas stove, you can roast your marshmallows over your stove element to make your S’more.  Or, you could nuke them in your microwave.  Or, you can make these sinfully yummy S’more cookies.

Risa, at Baked Perfection, has a wonderful recipe for S’mores Cookies.  And we all know that making cookies is a staple do-with-grandma-activity, huh?    So, grab a grandchild and whip up some of these delectable delights.  Now.  If not sooner.  Go on.  What are you waiting for?

I’m warning you that you’d better not spend much time on her site looking at the Butter Scotch Pecan Sandies, or the Winter Sugar Cookies, or the Egg Nog Sandwich Cookies, or the Peanut Butter and Nutella Balls.  (My cake pops turned out almost as pretty as her Nutella Balls.  Almost . . .)  I’m warning you because I love you.  I care for you.  I don’t want you to jump off your New Year’s Resolution wagon for losing weight.  DO NOT SPEND TIME ON HER SITE.  I can just hear battalions of cholesterol and cellulite reinforcements marching through your body if you do . . .

I’m going to make some S’mores Cookies this evening.  I’m going to eat them all. All of ‘em, did you hear me.  Every last one of them.  Hmm. . .  I might let Grandpa eat one.  If he is on his best behavior, that is. Well, maybe.

I’m hoping that you, Dear Reader, have basic technology skills.  You know, simple stuff like clicking on links, typing, clicking on buttons that say ‘generate.’  Got those skills?  Whew.  I’m glad.  Otherwise, you’d be up a creek without a paddle.

The writer in me loves this Newspaper Generator.  (BTW, in pre-historic days, I wrote a column for a loco local newspaper.)  Simply type in what you want your clipping to say and click generate to get your clipping.  Beneath your clipping will be the option to download it.

You can write a newsflash of when your grandson made his first basket when playing basketball with grandpa, or a write-up of the Valentine’s Day party held at your house, or a wild, far-fetched, make believe tale of daring-do featuring your grandchild.  Isn’t this fun?

If you have a grandchild that is enamored with film making, create a clapboard instead.  Create goofy movie titles of times when they have stayed with you or have done something special like won first place in a debate meet.

Make a street sign with your grandchild’s name at Easystreet.  (Maybe make a sign with the name of your grandchild’s pet or favorite cartoon character or her best friend.)

How about making a scrolling text LED light sign?  Signbot helps you out.  (Maybe create one to wish your grandchild happy birthday, happy St. Patrick’s Day, or happy 4th of July.  Whatever.)

You have several options with these sites.  You can make something yourself to share with your grandchild.  Send it to them in an e-mail.  Post it on your blog.  Make it for your grandchild’s blog.  Print up to hang on your fridge when your grandchild comes.  Or, you can print up your creation and send it to those grandchildren who live far, far away.

Or, you can send them the links and let them generate something themselves.  Or, when they come to visit, you can spend one-on-one time on the computer, checking out these sites, and creating something together.

You are so creative, I’m sure you’ll come up with some spectacular way to use these sites with and for your grandchildren.

By the way, you might also be interested in the AutoMotivator site where you can make your own  motivational poster (or de-motivational one) and the TinyTag site where you can make an itsy bitsy tag like those you see on  items for sale in a store.

As a grandmother, what are your uses — beyond wiping drool off a teething baby’s chin or giving birthday money to a teen-aged grandson?  If you’re not quite sure, read 41 Uses for a Grandma by Harriet Ziefert.  It’s a hoot.

My son and daughter-in-law gave me this book as a belated birthday present.  And I was totally delighted with it.  Totally!  I love the ‘uses’ — a time keeper, a security blanket, a hand warmer, a page turner, a ballet barre.   My favorite is a monkey bar.

I also love the drawings. Maybe my favorite use (a monkey bar) is my favorite because I absolutely love the accompanying drawing.

I recommend that you buy this book — and then read it to your grandchildren when they visit.  It will be great bonding time together.

I have found a site that I just HAVE to share with you.  But let me warn you, it could get costly . . .

Perpetual Kid has the sub-title ‘entertain your inner child.’  I couldn’t agree more.  After just a few minutes browsing, I found a plethora of items that I wanted to buy.  They have novelty bandages — pickles, crime scene, Hello Kitty, bunny, cowboy, eyeball, fairies, and toast bandages.  When bumps and bangs bring blood, you’ll need to have some of these fun bandages on hand.

They have a heart egg molder so you can cook a heart shaped egg, a food face dinner plate (where you place food over the face on the plate to make hair, a  beard, a nose, a hat, a mouth), a French toast stamp (stamps the image of the Eiffle Tower on your French toast), and an airplane shaped fork.

And last but not least, I need to talk about toilet paper.  Do you have a grandchild that is going through potty training?  Getting some fun toilet paper from Just Toilet Paper can add fun to the whole experience.  (You might want to share this site with your grandchildren’s parents.)  Some of the toilet paper designs that they sell include hearts, lips, keyboard, music, paw prints, camouflage, rocks, soccer balls, eyes, frogs, penguins, and aliens.  Who ever thought that wiping a messy bottom could be so fun?

You’ve just got to check out an activity that Chrissie has done with her daughters.  Cute!  And I do believe it is a do-able project.  Even for someone like me. And that is her Salt Dough and Mod Podge Hearts. A little homemade dough.  A little Mod Podge.  A little glitter.  A cute little Valentine.

The thing that I really like is that these Valentines are baked in the microwave.  That really shortens the baking time!  And, you won’t heat up the kitchen either.  (Unless it’s wintertime, like it is now, and you WANT to have a cozy home from your baking . . . but then it would be nice if you could EAT what you baked . . .)

This activity is so easy to do that grandmothers could easily extend it to other holidays:  St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.  You’re only limited by the shape of your cookie cutters. (You could extend this even more by letting your grandchildren create whatever they want out of the salt dough and then painting/decorating it after it is baked.)

Maybe you could make decorations for all holidays in one fell swoop.  (Read that to mean in one sitting.)  Then, your grandchildren would have fun decorations for their room for the whole year!

Happy decorating!