A is for Alpha-Bug

Welcome to our Alpha-Bug summer craft project! During your break from school, we are going to make a big long bug with body parts from A to Z. Every few days I will post new instructions for each letter of the alphabet plus an activity idea or two. You can earn one ticket for each letter of the alphabet body part you make AND a bonus surprise if you complete the entire Alpha-Bug by the end of summer! So let's get started . . .

Step One:

Find your summer sack and pull out one plain paper plate, one pipe cleaner and two googly eyes. You can use these supplies to make a head for your Alpha-Bug. I made a cute girly bug, but you can make one that is creepy or cute or crazy or anything else you want.

Step Two:

Look inside your summer sack again and find a paper plate that has an upper-case letter A on the front of it. Then find a little bag with a lower-case a inside along with a few random alphabet stickers. Cover the upper-case letter A with the alphabet stickers.

Step Three:

Now your Alpha-Bug needs a place to hang out this summer. Maybe you could hang it on the wall of your bedroom or down the wall of the hallway . . . unless your Mom says "No bugs in the house", then you might have to hang it on the walls of the garage?

Step Four:

You deserve a break after all that hard work. How about a buggy snack like Ants on a Log while you look at a buggy book like ANTics! by Cathi Hepworth.

Have an awesome Alpha-buggy day!

Love, Grandma

P is for Pause

Please pardon me for the long pause in alphabet posts. The problems with my computer have probaby been solved, but you never know considering the technically-challenged pair of people using it. Before my computer pooped out one me, I had plans to do more letters of the alphabet. For now, perhaps, I will just post these lovely pictures.
Grandma's X-Box Shop will be opening again around June 8-9. It may not look or have exactly the same things as before, but it will have a fun summer surprise. It's still possible for you to earn tickets for one more week!

Have a pleasant day!

Love, Grandma

Oo is for Owen

Who is one month old today?

Who has one mommy and one daddy?

Who has one big brother?

Who has one puppy for picture-taking?

Who has one real dog?

Who has one head full of dark hair?

Guess who this sweet one is and give him one little kiss

the next time you see him for one little ticket from me!

Love, Grandma

Rr is for Ryan

Who is the boy who lives in Washington, Utah with his mother and brother and his Dad and a dog?

• Who is the little brother of one of your cousins now . . . and who will be a big brother of a new cousin later this year?


• Who was named after one of his uncles but has lots of nicknames?


• Who was just potty-trained and sleeps in his own little bed (most of the night)?


• Who loved his blanket (which was once his Daddy's blanket) so much it completely wore out?


• Who is so excited when his big brother comes home from preschool and loves to empty his backpack?


• Who went to Disneyland for the very first time earlier this year?


• Who loves the Disneyland teacups (but not the characters) . . . Lego "guys" . . . blowing bubbles . . . and playing "Angry Birds" on the ipod?

Guess who "Rr is for . . ." and tell me your favorite thing about him and you will earn a ticket. Draw a picture or glue a photo of him in Chapter Rr of your Alpha-Book and you will earn another ticket.

Happy remembering!

Love, Grandma

Qq is for Quiet

SHHHH! You know that means stop making noise and be quiet! Some things that are quiet are snowing falling from the sky . . . the sun rising in the morning . . . and the stars shining at night. Some times to be quiet are when you are visiting the library . . . or when you are listening at primary or preschool . . . or when you are hiding in a game of hide-and-seek. It's also nice to be quiet when you are trying to fall asleep at bedtime or when your Mommy is talking on the telephone. I know that little boys would much rather be making a lot of noise, but have you ever played the quiet game? Maybe you could try being quiet for a half hour by taking a short nap or looking at books or playing quietly in your room today or everyday. Your Mommy might like a peace of quiet and that might be worth a ticket every time you try it. Or how about ten tickets for one whole day of no TV or video games! You would have lots of time to look at quiet books like these:

Five Minutes' Peace by Jilly Murphy

The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood

This Quiet Lady by Charlotte Zolotow

Sounds and Shhhhh by Carol Lynn Pearson

Happy Quiet Time!

Love, Grandma

Bb is for Babies

You may wonder if doing the alphabet backwards this year has confused me . . . but don't worry. I haven't gone bonkers throwing this "Bb" in out of nowhere. The day after the birth of a brand new baby boy--Owen Brady Pickett--seemed like a perfectly lovely day to talk about babies.

Besides that, it's also a big day because now I have ten grandchildren. That's every single finger and thumb on two hands if you're counting! It also seems like a good day for another guessing game.

Look at all the baby photos above and below and guess which one might be you . . . which one might be your mom . . . and who are the rest of the cutest babies in the world? Correct guesses are worth big bucks (I mean tickets) to the X-box Shop grand-opening in only one more week!

Happy Birthday baby Owen!
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

Tt is for Train

Once upon a time two of your mommies were quite worried about riding the train at Lagoon. Once upon another time one of your other mommies serenaded us with every single primary tune she knew on a long and boring Heber Creeper train ride. But I think our most favorite train ride is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland . . . or is it the "train" your mommies and Uncle Tom made with our bar stools whenever I moved them into the livingroom so I could mop the kitchen floor.

Are you all aboard for some train adventures of your own?

Here are some great train titles:

Freight Train by Donald Crews

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

My Big Train Book by Roger Priddy

The Polar Express by Christ Van Allsburg

Thomas the Tank Engine by Rev W. Awdry

Some of these books are also TV shows and/or movies. You could also try making your own train out of chairs, stools, or even boxes . . . Find four or five shoe boxes and cover each one with a different color of paper. Then hook the boxes (train cars) together with string or large paperclips to create a color train. Set out at a pile of small toys with at least three toys per color of train car. Place the colored toys in the corresponding train car. Or you could make it a number train by putting a number on the front of each box, then filling each train car with the correct number of objects or toys. And last, but not least, you can always come to my house to build a train out of legoes or puzzles pieces!

Tell me about what "train" you read, ride or build . . .

or how many train cars you counted

at the last railroad crossing you stopped at . . .

and I will be happy to give you more tickets!

Toodle-loo!

Love, Grandma

Uu is for U.S.A.

There are 50 states in the United States of America.

You and I all live in a state that begins with the letter U. I was born and raised in (and took your Mommies many times to) a state that begins with the letter I. Uncle Keoni was born in a state that begins with the letter H and Uncle J.P. grew up in a state that begins with the letter A. Last summer we all visited a state that begins with the letter O.

Grandpa and I hope to visit all 50 states someday.

So far we have traveled to 21 states.

From the pictures below,

guess where in the U.S.A. are Grandpa and Grandma?

1. We visited this state in the spring a few years ago

2. We visited this state awhile ago, too

3. Don't be fooled by the states' names in this picture.

4. This is a state that is usually sunny

5. You might not be able to tell what state this is until you look at picture number 6

6. Where is this?

7. This state was much more spectacular in person than it may look in this picture

8. Hmmmm, does this place look familiar?

9. And finally this is a state we visited this past fall.

For every correct state you guess, you just might win

more tickets to Grandma's X-box shop!

Happy guessing through the U.S.A.

Love, Grandma

Congratulations!

I owe everyone some tickets for all your good guesses, especially Zach and Brody whose genius Mom guessed them all correctly! We were in Holland, Michigan in #1; on Ellis Island looking over to the New York City skyline in #2; at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. in #3; just across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California in #4; at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota in #5 and #6; in Alaska (with Mt. McKinley far away in the background) in #7; at Cannon Beach, Oregon in #8 and somewhere in New Hampshire in #9!

Vv is for Veggie Valentine

What was hiding under the yellow tablecloth in the last "Vv" post? Eddy's pickle guess was cute, but wrong . . . Jack's guess was a little closer. It's a tut-ta-ta-tah . . .

veggie valentine!

Don't you just love vegetables! And vegetables love you, too, or are at least good for you. Try eating some in between your valentine candy sugar overload today. Or how about a veggie pizza for dinner tonight!

Maybe you don't love eating vegetables so much . . . but you might like reading about vegetables in:

Eating the Alphabet . . . Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z

by Lois Ehlert

Growing Vegetable Soup

also by Lois Ehlert
I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato

by Lauren Child

No Peas for Nellie

by Chris L. Demarest

Maybe you would like playing with vegetables by making your
name with vegetable sticks . . . or trying some creative ideas from

picture books by Saxton Freymann where he turns fruits and vegetables into animals, faces and vehicles:

Baby Food

Fast Food

Food for Thought

How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods

In fact, you could even make a valentine love bug out of vegetables!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, Grandma

Vv is for Vegetables

What is long, skinny, and green

and sometimes grows in Grandpa's garden?

What has lots of round, yellow kernels

that grow on a cob?

What is long (but sometimes little),

orange, and crunchy?

What are the little round things that grow in a pod?

What is brown on the outside and white

on the inside and can be baked, mashed or fried?

What do you think is hiding under this yellow tablecloth?

Happy guessing,

Love, Grandma

Ww is for Wade

Wonder who Ww is for . . . ?

Who has light-colored curly hair?

Who has chubby little hands that like to put little toys

from one place to another in orderly little rows?

Who has one favorite word that means

at least 100 different things? Huh?

Who just moved back to Utah?

Who loves to climb up the steps of one Grandma's house

dragging all kinds of things with him?

Who loves to hide toys in drawers all over the place

in another Grandma's house?

Who was born exactly one week after someone else you know?

Who will be a big (all two feet of him) brother soon?

Guess who "Ww is for . . . " and tell me your favorite thing about this mystery person and win a ticket to shop in the Xbox. Draw a picture or glue a photo of this person in Chapter Ww of your Alpha-Book and earn another ticket.

Happy "Wonder Who" Wednesday!

Love, Grandma