P.S.

Thank you very much

for the happy

birthday present.

The next time

you come to our

house to say "hi"

we will give you a ride!

Hh is for Houses

Houses

a poem by Jean Conder Soule

I live in a house with windows and doors,

Ceilings and walls, and carpeted floors.

But not all houses are built like mine.

Some houses, you know, have a different design.

For instance, the cows on my grandfather's farm

All live in a barn to be safe from harm.

(Of course this isn't a barn and cows don't live here.

Who does live in this house?)

A bird's house is high up on a limb

He lives in a nest just right for him.

(There is a birdhouse in this back yard,

but who lives inside this house?)

Pigs like to wallow in muddy pens,

And out in the woods bears live in dens.

In addition to the boy who makes excellent pig noises, who lives in this house?

Foxes are safe in their hideaway holes

And so are badgers, rabbits and moles.

Who lives in this hideaway house?

But of all these houses, both large and small,

I like the one I live in best of all!

And who lives here?

Your homework assignment today is to play "hide-and-seek" inside your house . . . then run all the way around the outside of your house . . . then draw a picture of your house (and glue the other Hh things) in Chapter Hh of your alpha-book. Maybe you could even write your house numbers down and start learning your address!?

Happy "home sweet home"

Love, Grandma

Gg is for Green

Did you know green is the national color of Ireland?

Shamrocks and leprechauns are green . . .

so are turtles, frogs, emeralds and

the Incredible Hulk.

Green means "GO"

Green reminds me of spring as the grass turns green

and green things start popping out of the ground

Grandpa has a green thumb . . .

Grandma drives a green car.

We once lived in a house with a green front door.

I like to eat green things like asparagus, broccoli,

kiwi fruit and just picked peas,

but I have never eaten green eggs and ham.

Betsy has greenish eyes and Wade has a green bedroom.

Emily's and Great Grandma Hawkes' favorite color is green.

Today seems like a good day to wear green . . .

eat something green . . . and maybe even make a

green collage in Chapter Gg of your Alpha-Book.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Love, Grandma

Gg is for Guessing Game

It was great having all eight grandsons over for a visit last Saturday.

So this post is all about you boys!

Guess which little grandson Grandma or Grandpa

is holding in these pictures . . .

Then guess what the fabulous grand prize gift is

for the person or persons with the best guesses. Happy guessing! Love, Grandma

Ff is for Fun Food

Playing with fake food is a favorite fun thing to do at Grandma's house.

Playing with real food is even more fun!

Try making and tasting one . . . two . . . three. . . four

. . . or all five of these fun foods:

mini caramel apples

beary berry banana split

cracker critter

eggs in a nest
fruity frog

Happy Friday!

Love, Grandma

Ee is for Eat

I love to eat Asparagus . . . BROWNIES . . . Chicken cordon bleu . . .

Deviled Eggs. . .Frosties . . . German chocolate cake . . .

Hobo hash . . . Idaho potatoes . . . Jam(apricot) . . .

Krispy Kreme doughnuts . . .Life cereal . . .

Mandarin lemon chicken . . . Nuts of all kinds . . .Oatmeal muffins . . .

Peanutbutter, jelly and banana sandwiches

(with a side of chocolate milk)

Raspberries . . . Shrimp . . . Toasted cheese sandwiches

with Tomato soup . . .Veggie squares . . . Waffles . . .

cheX miX . . . and Zuchinni nut muffins

How about you? What do you love to eat? Make a list of at least eight great eats in Chapter Ee . Go eat a quick snack and then . . . show or tell me about your favorite food . . .
and win another fabulous (possibly edible) prize!

Happy Eating!
Love, Grandma

Vv is for Valentine

What? Vv isn't the next letter of the alphabet. . . . however,

it is the first letter of the next holiday

Watch your mailbox this week for something starting with

the letter Vv!

Happy Valentine's Day

Love, Grandma

Dd is for Dog

Jack has a dog named Lola
Eddy has a dog named Sadie
Wade (who is not in this picture) has a dog named Trigger. To see Wade and his dog look here.
Brody wishes he had a dog!
Believe it or not, Grandma once upon a time had a dog named Tinker.

She even let him touch her once.

Draw a picture of your dog (real or dream) in Chapter Dd of your alpha-book. Some other fun things to do today: watch a dog DVD like 101 Dalmations or Lady and the Tramp . . . read a dog book like Clifford the Big Red Dog or Blue's Clues or my favorite: Skippyjon Jones books which are really about a cat who imagines he is a dog! Then you can be a "D"etective and look for Dd letters and pictures to glue in your alpha-book. One more fun game to play involves parents and post-it notes. Have your Mom or Dad write different letters of the alphabet (especially lots of Dd's) on post-it notes and put them all over the house. If you have a magnifying glass, use it to be the "D"etective and find all the Dd's.
Have a doggone happy day. Love, Grandma

Cc is for Cupcake

I looked on the calendar and what did I see?

A birthday coming soon in January!

Guess whose? Here's four clues:

Four things you can do to celebrate:

1. Glue the contents of your envelope into Chapter C

2. Glue a favorite cute picture of Jack into Chapter J

3. Create a birthday card for Jack or call and sing to him

4. Eat a cupcake!

Happy Birthday Jack!

Love, Grandma

Bb is for more Books

"Oh, What A Busy Day" may have been the first picture book we owned, but not the last. It was so cute, I started collecting more picture books . . . first for our family, then for my little preschool . . . and now for my grandboys (and myself). Here are a few favorite ABC books:

Aa is for A to Z Picture Book by Gyo Fujikawa
Bb is for Alpha Bugs . . . a pop-up alphabet by Carter
Cc is for The Care Bears' Book of ABC's by Peggy Kahn
Dd is for ABC Disney . . . an alphabet pop-up by Sabuda




Ee is for Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
Ff is for Alphabite! A funny feast from A to Z by Charles Reasoner
and Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words by Jane O'Connor


Gg is for the girl gardeners in Alizon's Zinnia by Lobel
Hh is for The Hullabaloo ABC by Beverly Cleary
Ii is for It beings with an A by Stephanie Calmenson
and an "I Spy" kind of book called Alphabet Book by DK Publishing


Jj is for the jack-in-the-box cover of Alphabatics by Suse MacDonald
Kk is for kisses in Little Angels' Alphabet of Love by Anglund
Ll is for Lucy & Tom's a.b.c. by Hughes


Mm is for Mary Engelbreit's A Merry Little Christmas
and On Market Street by Arnold and Anita Lobel
and The Monster Book of ABC Sounds by Alan Snow

Nn is for the nails used in Albert's Alphabet by Leslie Tryon
and Alphabet Under Construction by Denise Fleming
Oo is for Oscar-the-Grouch's Alphabet of Trash


Pp is for Shiver Me Letters: a Pirate ABC by June Sobel
and 26 Princesses by Dave Horowitz
and In a Pumpkin Shell: a Mother Goose abc by Joan Walsh Anglund
Qq is for quilts featured in Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabetby Ann Whitford Paul
Rr is for Read Anything Good Lately? Susan Allen and Jane Lindaman


Ss is for Miss Spider's ABC by David Kirk
Tt is for Toot & Puddles ABC by Holly Hobbie
Uu is for ABC's of Uniforms and Outfits by Barbara William
Vv is for vacation books like
Journey Around Washginton, D.C. from A to Z by Martha Day Zschock
and M is for Mount Rushmore: A South Dakota Alphabet by Anderson







Ww is for Who's in the Box, Bobby? by Pat Paris
Xx is for the missing "x" in Alphabet Mystery by Wood

Yy is for A You're Adorable . . . a song illustrated by Martha Alexander
Zz is for Alphabeep: a Zipping, Zooming ABC by Debora Pearson

What is your favorite book(s)?

Make a little list in your alpha-book . . . and tell me, too!

You just might be the winner of the first fabulous prize

awarded on this blog!

Happy booking! Love, Grandma

Bb is for Books

Last week Grandpa and I visited Jack who loves to play

with someone new (or old?) He would bring out a bin full of cars and ask us to race with him. He would bring out a bin of superhero figures and ask us to play "superhero". He would come out wearing a helmet, carrying two plastic swords and ask us to fight. Sometimes he would invite us to his room to read books. "Finally, something I know how to do," I thought. Alas I learned there is a "Jack way" of reading books, too. First I read a page, then Jack "read" a page, back and forth. He obviously knew the stories pretty well, but "read" them far better than the way they were written!

If you ever get the chance, you must read a book with Jack. In the meantime, read a book with your Mom or Dad . . . maybe Gyo Fujikawa's "Oh, What a Busy Day!" Once upon a time when Emily and Shelly were little girls, they loved this book so much we read it constantly, and we had to stop on every page for them to choose which cute character they wanted to "be". So, whether you read books Jack's way or your Mom's way . . .

Happy reading!

Love, Grandma

P.S. Find the Bb's to glue in chapter B of your alpha-book, too!

Aa is for Alphabet Adventures

There are 26 letters in the alphabet. Put them together and you get words. Put words together and you get stories. I am going to put them together to create projects and "adventures" for you on this blog. Each week or two I will try to write a post using a letter of the alphabet as the theme. Today's assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to hunt all over your house for the letter Aa Look in books and magazines . . . on the calendar . . . in the mail . . . on the refrigerator . . . on your bedroom wall . . . even on the front cover of the

alpha-book I gave you for Christmas.

Inside the back cover of that book is an envelope containing letters and pictures. Pull out all the letter A's and pictures of things beginning with the letter Aa, then glue them in Chapter A of your alpha-book. Happy hunting! Love, Grandma