XYZ is for The End

 XYZ is the end of the alphabet and this is almost the end of the
Doodle Days of Summer because soon it will be the first day of
school for some of you including . . .

one little person who has an August Birthday and is Cute,

Daring, Eddy's little sister, Fun-loving, Granddaughter #1

and a Happy, Independent, Juicy, Kindergarten Kid

 and Loud, Little Lady who is also a Mother-hen, Nice,

Parker's big sister, and a Quilt-snuggling Rascal who is

 Sassy, Talks alot and has Unending Vim and Vigor and

Wonders when this list will ever end!

Before your back-to-school homework piles up, and 

before the Suitcase of Summer Surprises is totally empty,

maybe you could write one last list in your Doodle Book

of the ABCs of you!

Happy back-to-school all and . . .

Happy Belated Birthday Lindsay Lu!

Love, Grandma

Find a Christmas X, Y and Z

'Twas the night before Christmas
and all over the blog . . .
All the grandkids were reading
and drinking eggnog?

Okay, so I'm not as great a story poet as
Clement C. Moore. But if you read his
famous book tonight, you will find a Christmas "x"
near the very last page:
"But I heard him e_ _ _ _ _ _,
ere he drove out of sight,
Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night."
 

For a Christmas "y" sing this little song:
"_ _ _ better watch out;
_ _ _ better not cry;
Better not pout;

I'm telling _ _ _ why:

Santa Claus is comin' to town."

And last of all . . .
Once you are all snug in your bed with visions of
sugarplums dancing in your head, ask Mom

or Dad to put a sticker on the letter "Zzzzzzz".

Merry Christmas Eve!
Love, Grandma

Reading X

Did you read any of the favorite books of your cousins this summer?
If so, put an "X" by the title . . . or rather put an "x"
on your amazing summer reading racetrack.

 

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books by Jeff Kinney
are favorites of both Brody and Coltin.

   

Any "Series of Unfortunate Events" books
by Lemony Snicket are favorites of Eddy.

"Harry Potter" books by J.K. Rowling
 are Jack's favorites.

A "Pete the Cat" book happened to be on top of
the book basket the day Lindsay picked her favorite
book . . . but according to her Mom, every time
they go to the library Lindsay finds a new "favorite" book!

Luke likes the "Fly Guy" books by Tedd Arnold.

Nash likes the board book "Peek-a-Who?"

Owen's favorite board book is "10 Trick-or-Treaters".

Parker liked a "Duck and Goose" board book on this particular day.

Ryan's favorite book is "Buzz's Big Mission"--
from the Disney Pixar Storybook Library.

Wade loves legos and his "Amazing ABC" lego book.

And Zach doesn't like reading much,
but does like "The Unwanteds" series by Lisa McMann.

Happy "X marks the spot"!
Love, Grandma

Halloween Xx

Xx is for x-ray

An x-ray is a picture that shows the bones in your body,

and is usually taken with a special machine in a hospital.

But we can see Jack's dancing bones in his x-ray pajamas!

Happy October!
Love, Grandma

XYZ Question-of-the-Day

How many yummy summer reading words can you read?

Just wondering . . .

Happy end of the yummy summer of reading!
Love, Grandma

Disneyland Xx

When I was a young girl, my favorite Disney movie was
"Mary Poppins" and my favorite Disney song was
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _!

Merry 1 day before Christmas!

I spy with my little eye
the last itty bitty bits of Christmas!

I was so _ X _ _ _ _ _
to finally finish this project full of x's
that I wanted to say hooray!

Santa will say Y_ _
if he sees a treat on your table
like this tonight.
 

And you better be saying Z _ _ _ _
before he comes!

Best wishes for sweet Christmas Eve dreams!
Love, Grandma



96. Fact of the day

Xx marks the spot . . .

where we began (Florida) and ended (Denmark)
our cruise of 5,437 nautical miles.
Thank you for enduring to the end (almost)
of our European travelogue.

XOXO is for Hugs and Kisses

February is a good time for hugs and kisses

X's and O's are useful for more than playing tic-tac-toe. Did you see XOXO's on any candy or valentine cards you received yesterday. Then you probably already know XOXO means hugs and kisses. Valentine's Day may be over, but I still wanted to send you a hug and a kiss. My hug to you is in the form of one of my favorite photos and this poem by Shel Silverstein: I will not

play at tug o'war
I'd rather play at hug o' war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.
As for the kiss . . . you must read one of my favorite books called "Sloppy Kisses" by Elizabeth Winthrop especially if you think kissing is yukky!

Happy XOXO to you all!
Love, Grandma

XYZ

X . . . Y. . . Z

may your Christmas be merry!

. . . and may you have sweet Zzzzzzzz's tonight.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Love, Grandma

Excellent "X"

X marks the spot nearly at the end of my Alpha-bug. When you look for your paper plate with an upper-case X on it , you will see you're almost to the end of this Alpha-bug project, too. Find the little baggie with a lower-case x inside and you will see strips of colorful paper. Glue them by criss-crossing one over the other to form lots of little x's on your upper-case X. Then find the spot on your Alpha-bug you want to mark with the X! Today would be an excellent day for the book "Alphabet Mystery" by Audrey and Bruce Wood. Read it and solve the mystery of what this book has to do with the letter "X"!? Soon I will be filling "Grandma's X-Box" (the store) with treats and surprises from A to Z . Are you excited to go "shopping" again. Today would also be an excellent day for you to give me suggestions of what you might like to find and buy in the X-box shop!

Have an excellent, exciting day!

Love, Grandma

Xx is for Xbox

Did you know that I have an xbox? It's not exactly like the one your family owns. My xbox does not use electricity or plug into anything. My xbox does not have controllers or make lots of noise. You can't play games on it either. My xbox is much more magical, and a little more colorful than your black box. My xbox is sort of like a store. Inside are (or soon will be) surprises for every letter of the alphabet.
In a couple months the xbox will be all full and ready for my alpha-blog followers (you!) to go shopping! But first you have to earn tickets to "buy" the alpha-surprises. Intead of fabulous prizes this year, I will give you tickets for assorted projects or activities (like from the "Zz" post). Show me what you've been doing in your Alpha-Book (or number notebook . . . or color book or cookbook, etc.) and I will give you some more tickets! Maybe I'll even give you a ticket if you make a comment on this post . . . or you give me more ideas of ways to earn a ticket or surprises to put in the xbox.

Happy waiting for the xbox grand opening!

Love, Grandma

Xx is for eXcited

Look how empty my book basket has become . . . and look how high the stack of Christmas picture books from our countdown has grown. You know what that means . . . Christmas is very close! Only three books (days) away! Make that two after today! Are you getting eXcited! I was sure eXcited a few Decembers ago when I discovered the cutest Christmas alphabet book ever: "Mary Engelbreit's A Merry Little Christmas". I believe you all own this book, so why not look at it today . . . see what "X" is for in this book . . . and try not to drive your Moms crazy with all your eXtra pre-Christmas eXcitement.

Merry "be eXtra good today" day!

Love, Grandma

Xx is for "X marks the spot"

X marks the spot where an "end-of-the-alphabet" surprise is waiting for you. However, we still have two more letters in the alphabet to go . . . so eXcuse me for a moment while I tell you my gratitude alphabet: I'm thankful for Alphabet books . . . Brody and brownies . . . Coltin and crayons . . . Disneyland and dishwashers . . . Eddy and e-mail . . . my Family and fall foliage . . . Grandpa and gardens . . . my Home and holidays . . . Idaho and ice cream . . . Jack and raspberry/peach jam . . . Kleenex and my kitchen . . . Luke and little Lindsay Lu . . . M&Ms and Mary Engelbreit mugs . . . Notebooks and numbers . . . Oregon and the ocean . . . my Piano and peaches . . . Quilts and quiet . . . Ryan and rainy days . . . Sunflowers and seasons . . . Teapots and trees . . . my Umbrella . . . Vacations and vegetables . . . Wade and waterfalls . . . Yellow . . . and Zachary and zippers! Look and see if you can find a picture for every letter of the alphabet. X marks the spot where you can get a sneak peek of your "end-of-the-alphabet" surprise. While you patiently wait for it, perhaps you could draw or cut out pictures of things you're thankful for and glue them in each chapter of your Alpha-Book.

Best wishes for an eXcellent day!

Love, Grandma