Nn is for Nicknames

Besides their official name, every state in the
 U.S.A. has a nickname, too.  For example,
Utah is called the Beehive State because
the early settlers of Utah were hard-working and
industrious like "busy bees".  So the beehive seemed
 like the perfect symbol of these pioneer virtues.

Here are a few more nicknames:

The Aloha State

The Constitution State

The Empire State

The Pelican State

The Sunflower State

The Sunshine State

Find and color each state on the map inside your
doodle book.

Oh yeah, and here are some clues to help you
match the nicknames to the correct state.

Happy coloring!
Love, Grandma

Nn is for Names

The name of your newest cousin is
Lilly Jayne!
Look for her doodle face on this blog while
you also look at this list of colorful, creative names.

Practice writing your own name in your doodle book
in as many colorful, creative and clever ways as you can . . .
with patterns, magazine letters, dots, computer fonts,
rubber stamps, stickers, bits of paper, crayons, colored
pencils, paint, rainbow markers, your left-hand or
with words that describe you for every letter in your name.

Have a nice name creating day!
Love, Grandma

Find a Christmas Nn

Welcome to the Amazing Merry Christmas (not summer)

Reading Race and Candy Countdown!

Just like last summer, I challenge you to read (or sing)

something for every letter of the alphabet. Each day until

Christmas I will give you a clue to a word you can find

in one of your Christmas picture books. Once you read the

story or sing the song, write the word on a sticker and place

it on your countdown container. Then instead of waiting until

the end of summer for a silly candy trophy, you can pick a

sweet treat out of your countdown container!

So on this first day of December, your first assignment is to

gather together all the Christmas books your family owns.

Read your favorite story or sing a song about a man in a

big red suit who has several different names.

One song can be found on page 129 of a red

Mary Engelbreit book called "Believe Christmas Treasury"

"Jolly Old St. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

lean your ear this way!

Don't you tell a single soul

what I'm going to say;

Christmas Eve is coming soon;

now you dear old man,

Whisper what you'll bring to me;

tell me if you can."

Seasons Readings (or singing)

Love, Grandma

Reading N's

It might be nice to read a Newbery Medal book for the letter "N".

Newbery Medals are awarded each year to the author of the most

distinguished American literature. In 2013 the medal was awarded

to Katherine Applegate for "The One and Only Ivan" which is a

pretty good book I read this summer.

But if you are in more of a naughty mood, you could read

"M is for Mischief--an A-Z of Naughty Children" by

Linda Ashman . . . or "No, David!" . . . or

  "No Peas for Nellie".

"The Boy Who Cried Ninja" is a silly picture book

by Alex Latimer and

"The Three Ninja Pigs" is a fractured fairy tale

by Corey Rosen Schwartz.

Christmas is coming in less than six months so how about

reading  "The Night Before Christmas". There are other

"Night Before . . . " books about other holidays, too.

Nancy Drew books have been around for a very long time.

They are popular mysteries that have been written by many

different authors through the years all using the same pen

 name of Carolyn Keene. This series remains so popular that

versions called "Nancy Drew Notebooks" and

"Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew" have been written especially

for a younger audience.  Beginning readers might like

the boy detective mystery series called "Nate the Great"

 by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. Or you could read about another

Nate in "Big Nate" books. "Big Nate" is also a comic strip
in the newspaper. And the newspaper is Grandpa's
most favorite kind of reading of all!

Have a nice day reading!
Love, Grandma

Nn is for Nativity

Nativity is the story of the very first

Christmas when baby Jesus was born.
Many people like to set up nativity scenes in December
to help them remember why we celebrate Christmas.  

 Once upon a time, long, long ago Grandpa and
 I bought our very first nativity scene. It is so
"precious" to us that we have been getting it out

  to display every December for at least 30 years!

Now we have a few more nativity scenes

we also display in December.

This is Mary . . .
one of the felt puppets Betsy and Hayley helped me
make one year when our family had decided they
were too grown up to act out the Nativity play anymore.

This is Joseph . . .
from one of our cute little nativity sets.

This is the stable . . .
from a wooden nativity set we own.

These are the animals . . .
from our fanciest nativity set.
 

These are the shepherds . . .
from our "Country Bumpkins" nativity set.

This is the angel . . .
from our Fisher Price nativity set.
My (and many of your) favorite part is when you
push down on the angel, and the star lights up and
plays "Away in a Manger"

This is the brand new star . . .
also from our fancy nativity set.

These are the wise men . . .
from a nativity set full of cute, chubby people!

I will tell you all about my newest nativity set
 during the days before Christmas. In the meantime
you can listen (and maybe even learn)
"The Nativity Song" here!

Merry Christmas Countdown!
Love, Grandma

Halloween Nn

Nn is for Night Comes . . .
a poem by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Night comes
leaking
out of the sky.

Stars come
peeking.

Moon comes
sneaking,
silvery-sly.

Who is
shaking,
shivery-
quaking?

Who is afraid
of the night?

Not I.

Have a nice Halloween night
or maybe a nice 13-nights-of-Halloween movie marathon.
The 13 nights before Halloween begin Friday night!

Happy October!
Love, Grandma

Nn Treat-of-the-Day

String some fruit loops, lifesavers, pretzels, or whatever
you want onto a piece of floss or string to make a
necklace
you can nibble on while you read a nice book!

Happy Yummy Summer Reading!
Love, Grandma

Disneyland Nn

If you take Peter Pan's Flight at Disneyland,
you might fly right over N_ _ _ _ Land!

Merry 15 days before Christmas

I spy with my little eye
an itty bitty bit of Christmas
that starts with the letter N

N _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Hint: It is a character in a famous ballet by the same name.
Grandpa owns a CD with the music from this ballet
and Grandma owns a Christmas picture book
  by Mary Engelbreit with the story!

65. Picture of the day

Nn is for Norway
The last place we visited on our European cruise was
Olso, Norway--where the 1994 Winter Olympics were held.
Which picture shows something that was part of those Olympics?
Picture #1 are some itty bitty cars in Oslo
#2 is a tree-lined street in Oslo
#3 shows  the Olympic ski jump off in the distance
#4 is a ship in the harbor
#5 is the flower market right downtown in Oslo

Nn is for Names

March has Celebrate Your Name Week

Names are nice. That is how people know who you are.
Celebrate your name this week by reading a nice name book such as
"Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes
"My Name is Not Alexander" by Jennifer Fosberry
"Name That Dog!" by Peggy Archer
"A Porcupine Named Fluffy" by Helen Lester

Celebrate your name by writing it in a creative way
with cookie dough . . . or with fruit loops . . . or with M&Ms
. . . or in pudding . . . or with cut out letters from a magazine
. . . or with pipe cleaners . . . or with play dough . . . or with paint
. . . or with legoes . . . or with spaghetti noodles!

Or celebrate by playing "Name That Cousin!"

Name that cousin . . .
1. Who chopped 20 onions for a science fair project
Zachary
2. Who loves his two middle fingers when he is tired or hungry
Nash
3. Who survived having a tooth pulled by the dentist
Brody
4. Who loves to play with doors and the utensils in the dishwasher
Owen
5. Who played his first official soccer game last Saturday
Jack
6. Who drags a stool around to assist in her mischievious adventures
Lindsay Lu
7. Who was a goalie at his last soccer game
Coltin
8. Who wishes he could spend every minute of every day outdoors
Luke
9. Who has learned amazing tricks in his tumbling class
Eddy
10. Who is has the best memory at matching games
Ryan
11. Who is your youngest cousin who can read all the abc's
Wade

Name that cousin or be creative with your own name and win a nice prize!
Happy Celebrate Your Name Week!
Love, Grandma

Nn is for Noel

N is for noel, the angels did sing

Sometimes we sing a song at church called "The First Noel". It is about the very first Christmas celebrated which was when baby Jesus was born. Besides decorating homes with Christmas trees and stockings and lights, many people set up a nativity scene, too. Have you noticed one at your house? Today might be a nice day to read a nativity story and learn who is who in your family's nativity scene.

Merry 11 days before Christmas!

Love, Grandma

Nn is for Nash

N is for new baby!

My 10th grandson who is also my 11th grandchild

was born on 10-11-11 at 11:54 p.m.

He weighed 7 lb. 10 oz. and was 19" long.

He is the new little brother to Jack and Ryan.

N is for Nash!
Welcome to the family!

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

Nicely Numbered "N"

It would be very nice of you to locate your paper plate with an upper-case letter N on the front of it . . . as well as the little baggie with a lower-case letter n and several number stickers inside. You may have noticed I just stuck number stickers all over my letter N and you can do the same. Then you can make a number salad! You will need 1 handful of coconut . . . 2 tablespoons of orange juice concentrate . . . 3 orange segments . . . 4 apple slices . . . 5 cheese cubes . . . 6 banana slices . . . 7 melon balls . . . and 8 grapes. Stir them all together 9 times and eat! If you are still looking for something to do today or later this summer, please read "Now What Can I Do?" by Margaret Park Bridges.

Have a nice day now!

Love, Grandma

Nn is for Night

"The Night Before Christmas" is a great story to read the night before Christmas. There are so many books about this great poem that maybe you could read one version tonight and another version in 13 more nights! "The Night Before Christmas" with pictures by Gyo Fujikawa is the one I read to your mommies when they were little girls (see the "B" post way back in January!) . . . but I like Mary Engelbreit's "The Night Before Christmas" almost as much.

Merry 13 Nights Before Christmas!

Love, Grandma

Nn is for No

Well, it's that hot boring time of summer when you might be hearing "no" alot if you are anywhere near as naughty as the David in this and other "David" books by David Shannon.

If you can't think of anything better to do today, why not make a mess--I mean, No Bake Cookies:
Put 3 cups sugar . . . 3 Tb. cocoa . . . 1/2 cup milk . . . and 1/2 cup butter in a pan. Bring to a boil for one minute. Remove the pan from heat. Stir in 3 cups oatmeal, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/3 cup peanut butter. Drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper. Allow to cool to set, then eat a few.

Have a Nnnnice (not naughty) day!

Love, Grandma

Nn is for Numbers

Let's play name that number!

How many hats is cute Luke wearing?

How many Wades are in this picture?

How many cute cousins are chillin' on Grandma's floor?

How many crazy cousins are horsing around on Grandpa's grass?

How many counting books are on Grandma's blue table?

How many numbers on are Jack's blue closet?

How many colors are in Eddy's paint box?

How many numbers are on Grandpa's refrigerator?

Here are a number of other things you can do today

. . . tomorrow . . . or whenever:

Find 1 number notebook I gave you

on your 3rd birthday and look at it just for fun.

Eat 2 treats afterwards then sing

the 4 seasons song or

5 little monkies jumping on the bed.

Take a 6 second nap then pick up and put away

7 toys and do 8 jumping jacks. Next find 9 numbers

to put in Chapter Nn of your alpha-book.

Color pictures, stick stickers, or cut items from a

magazine to match each number.

Then give me 1 good reason to give you a fabulous prize.

Happy counting,

Love Grandma