Winner, winner, winner!

I’d like to announce that Susan Adcox from Baytown, Texas, is the winner of the Chip Taylor CD.

Congratulations!

I’ll pop that in the mail to you.

No mess.

No goo.

No stringy pumpkin innards.

No cuts.

But lots of fun.

Carve a virtual pumpkin.

I carved this little fella in less than a minute.

TheoWorlds Halloween is a great site that you can share this with your grandchildren — especially those that live far away.  Ask those distant grandchildren to go to the site, carve a pumpkin, and then e-mail it to you. (The site allows you to do this.)

You can carve a pumpkin and send it back to your grandchildren. You can even add a Halloween greeting.

Wait a minute!!!

Don’t neglect those grand chickabiddies that live nearby.  You can share this site with them, too, you know.

Carving a virtual pumpkin is lots of fun.  It’s amazing to see how realistic the pumpkins look.  So, head on over to TheoWorlds and check it out.

Happy virtual carving.

(Note: These photos are from Family Fun.)

Want treats for a Halloween party with your grandchildren that are way easy to fix — and way spooky?

Try this ‘finger food’ idea from Family Fun.

To make these edible fingers, all you have to do is make a few cuts in some string cheese to make the knuckles, make a shallow cut-out for the fingernail bed, and add a wee bit o’ green pepper for the fingernails.

Can’t get much easier than that.

If you have a little bit older grandchildren, you can make your fingers a little bit more gruesome.

Make some severed fingers using ketchup or hot sauce for blood.  Ketchup on string cheese doesn’t sound appealing to me.  Hot sauce is . . . well . . . too . . . hot for my taste buds.  I’d maybe use a mild salsa instead.

Brain cupcakes are another easy treat to make. If you purchase tubes of pre-made frosting, this is especially easy to make.  (I’m not sure the pre-made kind comes in a ‘brain’ color though . . .)

Grandchildren would delight in making both of these treats.  (That could be part of the activities if you have a Halloween party for your grandchildren.)

Remember a few days ago I wrote “Make a Mummy with Your Grand-Mummy?“  Here’s another mummy idea.

This little pizza mummy is so easy to make.  It’s just pizza sauce on an English muffin with eyes made out of olives and green onions and then strips of string cheese placed on it to make it looked like a mummy.

Don’t you agree that the folks at Family Fun dish up some great Halloween food ideas?

(How would it be to be that creative, huh?)

Don’t forget to participate in my giveaway to receive a CD of music written by Chip Taylor and his granddaughters.  Just leave a comment before midnight this Thursday October 20.

Remember the song Wild Thing?  I had just barely turned a teenager when that song came out.  I loved that song!  As a thirteen-year-old, I had no clue as to who the songwriter was.  But now, as a grandmother, I have just learned about the person who penned that song — Chip Taylor.

In addition to writing Wild Thing, Chip also wrote songs for Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, George Strait, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin.  Those are big name performers!

Well, Chip will be releasing a new CD on October 18.  Do big name, popular musicians sing his songs on it?  Nope.  His grandchildren do.  And I think that is fabulous.

Taylor recorded the songs on this CD with his granddaughters Riley, Kate, and Samantha.  One song, “Magical Horse,” is based on a poem that Kate wrote for school.  Other songs include the theme song Golden Kids’ Rules, Big Ideas, Daddy Is a Red Sox Fan/ Mommy Is a Yankee Fan.

My favorite song is The Possum Hunter.  Taylor’s granddaughters love their Uncle Kristian (Taylor’s son).  This song is based on a true experience when Kristian was afraid of tipping over a doghouse to free a trapped possum.  His future father-in-law nicknamed Kristian ‘the possum hunter.’ The song has a catchy tune and fun lyrics.

Another interesting fact about Chip Taylor.  He has a very famous brother.  Jon Voight.  Amazing.  (If you see a picture of Chip, you can tell he and Jon are definitely related!)

Here’s a little video where you can see Chip and his granddaughters sing.  Cool.

So here’s the giveaway.

I am giving away a copy of Chip’s CD “Golden Kids Rules.” Just leave a comment telling me about one of your favorite songs — or a favorite song of your grandchild. You have until midnight October 20 to leave a comment.  I will randomly select a person and announce the winner on October 21.