Ss is for Smile!

Did you know
"a smile is happiness you'll find
right under your nose"


I just saw a movie that made me smile.
It also gave me an idea that maybe you could
make a list of feelings inside your doodle notebook:

 
Or maybe you could draw several circles on
some pages of your doodle book and draw
different feelings or expressions on each circle.

"Smile--
if you can't lift the corners,
let the middle drop."

Reading  one of these books might  make you smile . . .
or give you good ideas for doodling . . .
 You could even  doodle, draw or write your own
list of "100 Things That Make Me Happy"!




Keep smiling!
Love, Grandma

Find a Christmas S

When you see today's post, then you can search
under your tree for a package that looks like this.

When you open the package that looks like this,
then you can look for the word-of-the-day:

"When the days in December reach twenty-four,
and the sweet smell of baking fills the house . . .

"Then hang your _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ where they can't
be missed and tuck your presents beneath the tree."

Seasons Readings!
Love, Grandma

Reading S's

"Summer Reading is Killing Me" by  Jon Scieszka
is a book I highly recommend to boys who believe that this is true.
In this book Joe, Sam and Fred find themselves trapped inside their
summer reading list, involved in a battle between the good and
evil characters from well-known children's books.

Some other super "S" stories are:

"The Saturdays" by Elizabeth Enright
"Stink" books by Megan McDonald
"Skippyjon Jones" books by Judy Schachner
"Sheila Rae, the Brave" by Kevin Henkes
"Slyvester and the Magic Pebble" by William Steig
"Splat the Cat" books by Rob Scotten
and "The Scrambled States of America"
 

"Scapegoat" by Dean Hale is the silly
Story of a Goat Named Oat and a Chewed-Up Coat
with a lot of rhyming words!

And there are books by Lemony Snicket and Shel Silverstein
as well as books about seasons . . . seeds . . . snakes and
snow . . . sports . . . space . . . and the sea.
 

One of my favorite movies, "You've Got Mail" inspired me
to finally read a shoe book. There are several, but the one
I read this summer was "Skating Shoes" by Noel Streatfeild.

So long my super summer readers!
Love, Grandma

Halloween Ss

Ss is for spiders!

                         

Spiderman Zach

with his sidekick puppy brother

Spiderman Jack

who outgrew his suit and gave it to . . .

Spiderman Ryan

and eency weency spider Eddy!

Which reminds me . . . I better go dust all the cobwebs

out of my house before any more spiders invade it.

Happy October,

Love, Grandma

Ss Treat-of-the-Day

Read this recipe to stir up a simple summer snack!

Crack 2 eggs into a bowl and beat them with a fork.

Stir in 2/3 cup cooking oil and 2 tsp. of vanilla.

Stir in 3/4 cup sugar until the mixture thickens.

In another smaller bowl, measure 2 cups flour,

2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt.

Stir these dry ingredients together then add them

to the big bowl and stir everything together.

Drop the dough by teaspoons onto a cookie sheet.

Flatten them slightly, then sprinkle them with

cinnamon sugar or colored sugar or sprinkles.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 7-9 minutes.

Cool slightly before eating your delicious

stir-and-drop cookies!

Happy Yummy Summer Reading!
Love, Grandma

Disneyland Ss

At Disneyland you might see

 Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy,Bashful,
Sleepy and Sneezy who are the S_ _ _ _ dwarfs.
Someone you might see with them is S_ _ _ White! 

Merry 2 days before Christmas

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

S _ _ _

Hint: A brand new one was shining in the sky
on the night baby Jesus was born.
Read about another bright one in this book.

79.  Pictures of the day

Ss is for statues
We saw several statues on our tour through Europe.
But one of these statues is not like the others--
one of these statues we did not see in Europe.
Can you guess which one?
We did not see that Statue of Liberty on this vacation, although there
is a miniature Statue of Libery in Paris near the Eiffel Tower
because the same architect designed them both!

Ss is for Smile

May is Smile Month!
Can you see your smile in this collage?
Do you see any other smiles you recognize?
Well then it's time to sing:
"If you chance to meet a frown, do not let it stay.
Quickly turn it upside down
and smile that frown away!

Happy Smiling!
Love, Grandma

Ss is for St. Patrick's Day

March 17 is St. Patrick's Day

Here are 17 simple suggestions for a silly celebration:

1) Look for a leprechaun lurking in some legos.
2) Look for a leprechaun falling into a tissue box.
3) Look for a leprechaun creating a craft project.
4) Make something green:

5) Look for a leprechaun lost in the land of M&Ms.
6) Look for a leprechaun finding green playhouse food.
7) Look for a leprechaun at the end of the rainbow . . .
(or in a bowl of rainbow-colored cereal).
8) Eat something green:

9) Look for a leprechaun laying in a field of shamrocks
( . . . or napping on a pillow?)
10) Look for a leprechaun climbing a tree.
11) Look for a leprechaun tip-toeing through the tulips.
12) Grow something green:

13) Look for a leprechaun reading a rainbow book.
14) Look for a leprechaun racing on a roadway.
15) Look for a leprechaun riding in Noah's Ark.
16) Look for a leprechaun hiding somewhere at Grandma's house.
17) And of course, wear something green today!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Love, Grandma

Ss is for Soup

January is soup month
In January
it's so nice
while slipping
on the sliding ice
to sip hot chicken soup
with rice.
Sipping once
sipping twice
sipping chicken soup
with rice.
--Maurice Sendak

Try sipping some soup for supper tonight.
You could try chicken noodle soup, sausage potato soup,
chicken corn chowder, butternut squash soup,
or a Campbells can of anything you want.

Happy soup month!
Love, Grandma

Ss is for Santa

S is for Santa who hurries our way

Some of you might find an "S" surprise underneath your Christmas tree that will help you learn more about this jolly old man! I'm sorry to say that some of you do not have an "S" surprise undeneath your tree because it is still underneath my tree. So I will bring it to you very soon!

Merry six days before Christmas!

(Wow, Santa is coming soon!)

Love, Grandma

Star-Spangled "S"

See how my Alpha-bug has grown so long it won't all fit in this photograph! Search for your paper plate with an upper-case "S" on the front of it. See if you can find the lower-case "s" baggie filled with stars. Stick stars all over your "S". . . hang it up it up . . . and soon your Alpha-bug will stretch out as long as mine! If you would like a simple snack now, try crispy cheese stars. Then search for the silly ducks in the cute book, "Splish Splash Splat!"by Rob Scotten.

Hope you're having a super splish splashy summer!

Love, Grandma

Ss is for Shamrocks

Soon it will be St. Patrick's Day--a holiday that came from Ireland. Ireland is a country far away full of hillsides covered in green clover called shamrocks. I guess that's why everyone likes to pretend they're Irish and wear green on that holiday. You can have some fun with shamrocks today (or on St. Patrick's Day) in several ways:

1. Eat a shamrock cinnamon roll!

2. Play shamrock hide-and-seek!

One person hides a shamrock shape and another person finds it--sort of like regular hide-and-seek. To make it more challenging, you can make a rule that the shamrock can only be hidden by something green. Or to make it more fun, you can make several shamrock shapes and have a "green" treasure hunt!

3. Make shamrock cookies!

Whatever you do, have a swell shamrock celebration!
Love, your sorta Irish Grandma

Ss is for Snowman

"Once there was a snowman

snowman

snowman

Once there was a snowman

tall . . . tall . . . tall!"

Have you built a snowman yet this year? Probably not, since we haven't had much snow yet up north; and you never get enough snow for snowmen down south do you? So sing about one instead . . . or read a snowman book. Did you know that snowmen celebrate Christmas? They do . . . while you're sleeping. Find out how in the book "Snowmen at Christmas"!

And then dream about a white Christmas tonight.

Merry sweet dreams tonight!

Love, Grandma

Ss is for September

Six things I like to see in September are:

1. Sunflowers growing on the side of the road

2. Scarecrows

3. Brand new back-to-school supplies

4. Sweet peaches

5. Something big and orange growing in our garden

6. The sun setting earlier each night as summer slips away

into fall--my most favorite season of all.

What do you like to see?

How about a snake?

Not a real snake, silly!

A clever snake in a story called "Crictor".

He is so smart he can even "spell" letters of the alphabet.

You could trying spelling like a snake, too. Take a piece of yarn or string and see what letters of the alphabet you can make. Or you could make your very own snake!

Happy September Saturday!

Love, Grandma

Ss is for Summer

Winter . . . spring . . . summer . . . fall
There are seasons . . . four in all.
Weather changes . . . sun and rain and snow
Leaves fall down . . . and flowers grow!

Last week it snowed one day. This weekend it rained. And later this week it will get hot! It's like we've had three seasons in just one week.

But since most of you are out of school now, and already starting your summer activities . . . let's pretend today is the first day of summer.

Sing a song of summer! (see "Oo is for Oh" post) then look at four seasons books like the cute picture books shown here. They are by the same author and illustrator as "Mouse's First Valentine" . . . "Mouses' First Halloween" . . . and "Mouse's First Christmas" which are board books some of you boys have at home.

Don't forget to glue the Ss puzzle pieces in Chapter Ss of your Alpha-Book, too. (I'm sorry, Jack, I'm so slow sending you your puzzle pieces . . . but I'll see you this weekend with them!)

Have a Ssssssuper summer!
Love, Grandma