On Our 'To Boo' List . . .

A talk given in General Conference by our prophet has been on my mind lately. In the talk President Monson mentioned a man who asked his children each night at dinner what they had done for someone else that day. This idea really resonated with me. The Hubby and I decided we should implement it in our own family to help our children become more natural at serving others on a daily basis. We also realized we had the perfect venue to teach them this idea at our weekly Family Home Evening {Monday nights at our house}.

Traditionally during the Halloween season we "Boo" families in our neighborhood with some goodies and a ghost to put on their door. This year we decided we would "Boo" four new families in our church congregation to help welcome them. Here's how we accomplished our service oriented goal:

First, we gathered supplies. I found darling bat boxes at Target and filled them halfway with sweets. Did you know DOTS makes ghost and bat candy at Halloween? Consider yourself informed! Each family needed a box of goodies, a note explaining the "Boo", a ghost and some ribbon to tie it all up.

Next, we turned to my little blue and white superhero for some semi-homemade yumminess. We love these little Halloween cookies with the ghost and pumpkin themes. They're cheap, easy and frostingless, which makes it easy to package them without a mess. My friend Angela came over while I was baking the cookies and stated with alarm, "Oh, I didn't think you did THAT." I guess my dirty little secret is out . . . I'm a premade cookie dough lowlife.

But see how festive they look in the bat boxes? You can totally understand my inability to resist, right? If not, just remember, I have a cranky, non-sleeping newborn.

I found a great ghost graphic, a poem about the "Boo" {which I altered slightly to fit the parameters of our families} and a little "Boo" tag over at the Blonde Designs Blog. These girls used to work for Martha Stewart and are a class act.

We tied it all up with some appropriately colored ribbon and then let the kids ring and run as they dropped goodies off on doorsteps in the night. If you haven't done this before, you should try it! The kids love plotting out their getaway plan and we get a huge laugh out of watching them try {and fail} to be stealthy, especially when it involves setting off motion detector lights that freak the kids out!

If there is one thing I've learned, it's that when serving other people is fun, my kids love to do it. Another fun activity and gift to others checked off our "To Boo" list.