Mr. and Mrs. Fiddler Crab come to stay

My son's 4th grade class is studying fiddler crabs. The students created habitats and are observing their behavior. In nature, fiddler crabs live in salty water along sea beaches as well as inter-tidal mud flats, lagoons and swamps. With a parent's permission, the children are allowed to "adopt" the crabs. Just yesterday, I went to the school and picked up a male and female fiddler crab. The crab in the photo above is Mrs. Fiddler...both of her claws are small.

Here is Mr. Fiddler..he has one large claw. He uses it to fight and to attract Mrs. Fiddler.

"Hey baby, check out my claw!"

The male crab will try to impress the female crab by waving his large claw high in the air then bringing it down to tap on the ground.

"You like that, don't ya?"

Males crabs will fight over a female crab using their big claw. If the big claw is lost in battle, the smaller claw will grow large to compensate, and the other claw will grow back and stay small. Pretty awesome, huh?

These crabs will grow a little, but within their different species, the largest grows to be only 2 inches across. Like all crabs, they will shed their shells as they grow. It will be fun to save the shells!

The welcome back sign is for when the crabs return back to the beach after going for a swim in the salty water...it's a "welcome back to the beach" sign, as my son would put it.

You may be curious about whether Mr. and Mrs. Fiddler will have babies....well, I was curious too. I have read that it is next to impossible to produce baby crabs in an aquarium. Although, IT IS possible for them to produce eggs and the female will carry them on the underside of her shell...it is not likely the eggs will survive as in the wild, the larvae grows in deep ocean waters and then returns to shore at maturity.

I pray we can keep these little crabs healthy and happy. They can live up to 3 years in captivity...usually about 2 years in the wild. We'll see!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

When you're in the mood for a simple, sweet, soft, chocolate cookie....look no further than this! These cookies are SO good...made with unsweetened Hershey's cocoa powder...they just hit the spot.

One thing I like about this cookie is the simplicity of it. If you're a baker, you will undoubtedly have all of the ingredients on hand...no running to the store for the ONE specific ingredient.

CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. softened butter {1 stick}

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. vegetable shortening {Crisco}

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In electric mixer, beat butter and sugar.

Next beat in the vegetable shortening.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.

Finally, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined.

Use a one inch ice cream scoop, or melon ball scoop to portion out cookie dough onto baking sheet.

Bake in 375 degree oven for 10 minutes.

When completely cooled, sprinkle a dusting of powdered sugar on cookies.

Enjoy!

{Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart}

My personal version of pizza dip!

Pizza dip is awesome..especially when you tailor it to your owns tastes! Here is my version of a good pizza dip..complete with black olives, anchovies and pepperoni. This is the perfect snack for watching the Steelers play football on Sunday. {Cause that's the only team anyone routes for. LOL! hahahaha! Just kidding!! Hey, I can't help it we have Troy Polamalu and Hines Ward! Hee Hee!!}

PIZZA DIP

4 oz. softened cream cheese

1/4 c. sour cream

1/4 c. mayonnaise

1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. pizza sauce

whole black olives

pepperoni

anchovies

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo. Spread in bottom of pie pan.

Next spread pizza sauce on top.

Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese.

Top with chopped pepperoni, whole or chopped black olives and anchovies.

Sprinkle a little more mozzarella over toppings.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Scoop dip with your favorite crackers or tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

P.S. Yes! I do love anchovies!

**Don't forget to stop by my journal...located on the right of my blog just above my profile picture. :)

Mayhem and Flo are dating

Here's the photo of me and my hubby dressed as Mayhem, from Allstate Insurance, and Flo, from Progressive Insurance. We had a lot of fun with these costumes and everyone really loved the idea! We received a lot of compliments! I had fun with my make up...especially the "cat eye" eyeliner! I even gave my hubby a shiner on his left eye with some pink, blue and purple eye shadow.

My husband roughed up this thrift store suit jacket by being dragged, on purpose, cause he's crazy, behind the quad! How's that for dedication! Well, at least he wore a helmet for heaven's sake! He told me that when he was a kid, he always wanted to be a stunt man...well, I guess he finally made his dream come true...all in the name of Halloween! Oh my!

I hope everyone enjoyed Halloween and trick or treat! Moving on...I am ready for Thanksgiving!

P.S. Don't forget to stop by my journal!! Look for the link in the upper right hand side of my blog, just above my profile picture! I am committing to writing daily in the month of November! I really enjoy that little part of my blog because it's just random thoughts about my day! Stop by!

Going to a party

We've been invited to a Halloween party.
At first I had no clue what to dress up as.
I was just ready to cut up old pillow cases to make a blue skirt and use my son's red bedroom curtains for a cloak so I could be Red Riding Hood. My hubby was going to dress as a wolf.
But.....I found a much easier, no sewing involved, quick and very fun costume idea!!!!

Flo, the Progressive Insurance gal from T.V.!!

I love her!
My hair is brown...I can do a bump, wear some bright red lipstick and find a blue hair band at the Dollar Store. Also, I have a pair of white pants, a white t-shirt and can make a name tag that says Flo and a round pin that says "I love insurance". Oh, and the white apron...I know they sell those plain white aprons at Michaels craft store for about $6.00. I will use a blue marker and carefully write as in the correct font "Progressive" across the front.

Yes!
Easy Peasy!

And....it's going to be a very, very comfortable costume...not something that is itching me like crazy or a mask that I can't keep on for very long. Fun!

My hubby has decided that he is going to be Mayhem from the Allstate Insurance commercials.

We are going to the thrift store tonight to buy a cheap suit that we can rough up on the concrete, cut a few holes in and such.
We can put a few band aids on his face and that should do it!

Yes!
Easy Peasy!

Usually, when the hubs and I get invited to a costume party...we are like...ugh...I don't want to dress up!! Whining and whining...we just whine! LOL! But...I think this will actually be fun and easy and everyone knows and loves these characters, so I don't think we run the risk of "Hi, what are you supposed to be?"

hahahaha!

I'll take some pics of us in our costumes and share with you guys soon!