A grand monster mash

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A grand monster mash

Hooray for Halloween! And for Halloween fun courtesy JibJab!

Do you make JibJab videos featuring your grandkiddos? I made a fun one for Halloween and hoped to embed it here for all to see. Alas, JibJab no longer allows users to download their videos for embedding (boo!), so here are a few screenshots of my creation.

I'd love for ya'll to see the silliness in full, though, so if you have a sec, click on over to my grand monster mash mixup for ghoulishly goofy Happy Halloween wishes from...

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Saturday movie brief: Boogie men

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Saturday movie brief: Boogie men

Halloween puts me, like many folks, in the mood for scary movies. With Tuesday being Halloween, this weekend is the perfect time for feasting on frightful flicks.

Thing is, it's so horrifically hard to find scary movies that don't make me want to puke because of the gore or hide away in a country compound built just for my family and me because the sickos on screen are too close to some real-life psychos — or the possibility of such — in our current society.

I've yet to come up with a horror flick to enjoy with my husband this Halloween weekend, one with a fair share of scare but not so much I have to flick on every light in the house as I head to bed — or dive onto the bed when I reach it so a boogie man doesn't grab me from beneath. (I'm not the only who still does that, am I?)

I did, though, find this fun montage of old-time boogey men, from...

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Halloween candy stats by state, plus GRAND Social No. 276 link party for grandparents

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Halloween candy stats by state, plus GRAND Social No. 276 link party for grandparents

We're one week out from trick-or-treat time. Have you stocked up on candy yet?

I recently received an interesting graphic from CandyStore.com on the top treats by state. Scroll over the interactive map for a closer look at the sweet stats.

What's tops in your state? I was surprised to see that M&Ms weren't tops in Colorado, where apparently Milky Ways are king, considering how many pounds of the plain or peanut goodies my husband...

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Books, Brightly, and Grandparents of Children's Literature

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In celebration of Grandparents Day — which is this Sunday, Sept. 10 — I'd like to share with you a grand resource for grandparents that I just recently learned of.

Brightly is a resource for parents, grandparents, and other folks dedicated to raising lifelong readers. The award-winning website, a partnership with Penguin Random House, launched in 2014 and features, as the Brightly site states, "book recommendations from all publishers for every age and stage, reading tips and insights, seasonal inspirations, author essays, contests, gift guides, and more."

Brightly has some pretty great content specifically for grandparents, including the following piece, which I've received permission to share with you in part. Enjoy! And be sure to click for the complete article as well as others, all celebrating grandparents. For Grandparents Day and every day!

AREN'T THEY GRAND? OUR FAVORITE GRANDPARENTS FROM CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
By Tom Burns

Grandparents aren’t just solid sources of extra dollars, hearty hugs, and embarrassing...

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Reflections on the cost of freedom

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Memorial Day

I typically kick off the weekly GRAND Social link party on Mondays. Today is Monday but more importantly it's Memorial Day.

In honor of the holiday, rather than provide the opportunity to share links from grandparent bloggers today, I'd like to express my gratitude and appreciation for those who have given their all in fighting for what's good and right and so very much worth protecting about our nation — and often for the...

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Saturday movie brief: Movie moms

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Moms come in myriad shapes, sizes, personalities, proclivities, each forever connected to dear ones by blood or other unbreakable bonds.

Grab a tissue, go full screen, then sit back and enjoy this movie montage dedicated to all who answer to Mom, folks who fill mom-shaped spots...

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Friday flashback: Coupon queen

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In celebration of Mother's Day on Sunday, for this week's Friday flashback feature I chose to share one of my favorite posts about cherished gifts from my girlies. I smile each time I recall my coupons from kids and hope my story on such makes you smile, too — even if you read it the first time around (and thank you if you did!).

COUPON QUEEN
(Originally published June 6, 2011)

coupon book for momCoupons are a hot commodity in my world. Sure, I use coupons for products when grocery shopping, but what I'm talking about here are coupons as gifts.

Somewhere along the line of rearing three daughters, creating coupons to be redeemed for good deeds and great times became a recurring gift, either from me to them or from them to me. Of those, I especially remember...

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