Hh is for Hands

Hands come in handy for hundreds of things . . .

here are a few from A to Z:

holding an Apple while you take a bite . . .

Buttoning buttons or Bouncing balls . . .

Clapping and Counting . . .

Digging in dirt (or sand)

Eating finger Food (or fingers!?)

Gripping the game controller

Hanging on

Holding Hands . . . signing "I love you" . . .

Juggling? . . . blowing Kisses . . .

Linking Legoes . . . Making Messes . . .

Opening the door . . . Petting your Puppy . . .
Playing Peek-a-boo or the Piano . . .

Quietly keeping them in your lap . . .

Raising it in class . . .

Splish splashing in the tub . . .

Tossing leaves

Unwrapping presents . . . Waving goodbye . . .

fiXing and miXing things . . . covering a Yawn . . .

Zipping up a Zipper . . . I could go on and on!

However, I'm sure you have one hundred and one

better things to do with your hands today.

So here's hoping you have a handy dandy day!

Hip Hip Hooray for Hands!

Love, Grandma

Kk is not for kleenex

Okay, kids . . . you call Kleenex tissues and I call tissues Kleenex. It's quite a conundrum (which also does not begin with the letter "Kk") . . . so let's forget all that and say:

Kk is for kindergarten!

I have never been a kindergarten student, but as the mother of five former kindergarten students and the grandmother of two current kindergarten students, I know that kids get pretty excited about going to kindergarten. Once upon a time I knew a girl who was so excited to go to kindergarten that she started asking about it when she was only two or three years old. I tried to tell her that she had to wait until she was five years old, but that seemed too far away. So I decided to make her a little backpack and give her a toy lunchbox for her 4th birthday. Unfortunately since her birthday was right around the first day of a new school year she thought that meant she could go to school that year. Afterall, she knew the way she told me. I was so afraid that she might try "running away" to school with her two big sisters that I told her that she got to stay home and have kindergarten with me!

Thus, I became a "kindergarten" teacher and every morning for one school year my student and I read books, sang songs, and created craft projects around themes like animals, colors,counting, the alphabet, etc. . . Apparently I was such a good kindergarten teacher that my little student grew up to become a real kindergarten teacher! Can you guess which one of your aunts/mommies my student was? While you're thinking about it, here are a couple kindergarten books you might like to check out: "The Twelve Days of Kindergarten"

by Deborah Lee Rose

a counting story sort of like the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

"Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten"

by Joseph Slate

about a kindergarten teacher who has 26 students . . . one for each letter of the alphabet!

Happy Kindergarten Days!

Love, Grandma

Mm is for M&Ms

M&Ms are mmmm mmmm good! At least I assume that's why 8 of my grandsons make at least one trip upstairs every single time they visit to turn the handle on this machine and get a tasty treat. Did you know that my Mom (Great-Grandma Hawkes) gave our family this machine a long time ago when your mommies still lived at our house? And did you know that your mommies probably did the very same thing you do now when they visited Grandma's house in Idaho? And last, but not least, did you know it is really called a gumball machine although neither my Mom or I have ever put put gumballs in it. I guess we like M&Ms better, too.

Well, now is your chance to win a whole lot of M&Ms without having to turn the handle a million times . . . or have Grandpa gripe about your chocolately hands and faces ! Just guess how many M&Ms you think are in this beatiful glass bottle and the closest guesser (or speediest guesser) will win the whole bottle.

Happy "How Many M&Ms" Day!

Love, Grandma

Nn is for Notebooks

Notebooks are nice to have for numerous nifty projects. Long ago when I was a little girl, I remember getting brand new notebooks each new school year and trying to decide which color of notebook should go with each subject or class. I don't go back to school anymore . . . but I do go to "back to school" sales every year because who can resist buying new notebooks when they're so cheap! I use notebooks for lots of things. I have a green Christmas notebook almost completely full of pictures and projects and lists. I have a yellow cooking notebook stuffed with recipes to try. I have another yellow notebook divided into alphabet sections kind of like your Alpha-Books. I use notebooks to make "Number Notebooks" for little boys. I use notebooks to just doodle or write to-do lists. But my favorite thing to do with notebooks is make them into journals.

Once upon a time when your Mommies were little girls I gave them each a notebook/journal. Every Sunday afternoon (or whenever) we would sit around the kitchen table and write in them. When they were too little to write, they would tell me what to write and then they would draw a picture on the same page. As they got bigger, they would write some of the words and I would write the rest. Soon they were big enough to write in them all by themselves. (In case you're wondering, Shelly isn't writing in her journal in this picture. She is playing "office" and writing in some kind of notebook!)

Anyway--get a notebook, my friends. Ask your Mom or Dad to help you start writing in a journal. You could start by writing your name and age and a list of your favorite things on the first page. Draw a picture or glue of photo of yourself, too. Then every week or so you could write other bits and pieces about your life. Maybe, your Mommies would be nice enough to find their old "little girl" notebook/journals to show you.

Have a nice notebook day!

Love, Grandma

Pp is for Pencils

Pencils are handy dandy tools for many projects. Here are three you might like to try:


1. With a plain or colored pencil write the entire alphabet on any page in your Alpha-book. Write the date, too. Then at the end of the school year, write the alphabet again and see how much your handwriting has changed!

2. Make pencil toppers!

3. Chew on your pencil! Not your writing pencil, silly. . . a cheese stick pencil!

Happy Pencil Project day!

Love, Grandma

P.S. Jack . . . Thank you for reading this blog and answering all my silly questions. You definitely deserve extra tickets!

Ii is for "I Spy"

As I was busy doing my chores this morning I spied with my little eye something that begins with the letter "I". It is something that old-fashioned people like me use to get the wrinkles out of their clothes. Maybe you have one at your house, too. Do you know what it is? I also spied four other things that begin with letters of the alphabet I have somehow skipped during my backwards alphabet blogging this year. Here are some pictures and clues:

1. What is something to blow noses with

that starts with the letter "K"?

2. What is your favorite thing to look for at my house

that starts with the letter "M"?

3. What is something with pages for drawing or writing

that starts with the letter "N"?

4. What is something you can use to draw or write with

that starts with the letter "P"?

Give me your best guesses . . . see if you can "I spy" any of these things in your house . . . and watch out for the answers later this week. Maybe I will be inspired to give bonus tickets to anyone who still reads the Alpha-blog!

Happy "I spying"!

Love, Grandma