Bb is for Book Basket

To help me count the days until Christmas

I wrapped up 26 of my favorite Christmas picture books

from Aa to Zz and put them in a basket by our Christmas tree!

Grandpa or I (or you if you happen to be here ) will open one of these wrapped books each day and I will tell you about it so you can read it, too. Your family probably owns some of these books and you can find the others either at the library or at my house!

The first present (Aa) is a

pop-up book called "Christmas Alphabet" by Robert Sabuda

The next present (Bb) is "Bah! Humbug?"

It is the story of a big brother who thinks Santa is a big fat humbug and forces his little sister, who still believes in Santa, to help him set a trap to catch Santa on Christmas Eve. Read it to see what happens. (and remember to button on the letter "B")

Merry 26 Books until Christmas!

Love, Grandma

Aa is for Advent

Advent is a word that means "coming" or "arrival". It is the season when people begin preparing, getting ready and waiting for Christmas to come. Some people have an advent tradition of lighting a candle each of the four Sundays before Christmas and telling part of the Christmas story. Some people start their holiday preparations by getting out special dishes and decorations, playing Christmas music and reading favorite holiday books. Some people open a little flap on a cardboard calendar each day in December to count the days until Christmas. There are all kinds of ways to get ready and countdown the days until Christmas.

Do any of these ways look familiar?

Once upon a time (before 8 out of 9 of you were born)

your mommies made these cute advent calendars . . . including Shelly whose picture I could not find. (Sorry.) You will probably have it hanging up in your house soon and using it again this year. Nevertheless, I am going to turn this Alpha-Blog into a sort of Alpha-Advent Calendar this month to count the days until Christmas. So check it out each day so you know which letter of the alphabet to button onto your Christmas tree pillow. In case you can't tell, today would be a good day to button on the letter A!. By the time we make it to "Z" it should be Christmas!

Merry Advent Alphabet Adventure!

Love, Grandma

Zz is for Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!

Remember that song you hear in Disneyland at the end of the "Splash Mountain" ride? Well, sing along with me to this version:

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah

Zip-a-dee-a

My oh my what a wonderful day

We finished the alphabet--

all of the way

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah

and hip-hip-hooray!

Have you finished coloring or gluing letters and pictures in every chapter from Aa to Zz of your Alpha-Book? I sure would like to look at it sometime. But for now, you had better catch a few Zzzzzzz's (rest up) because we're starting all over with more alphabet adventures again next week! (And you should have your end-of-the-alphabet surprise by then, too!)

Congratulations on your successful trip to the letter Zz!

Love, Grandma

Yy is for Yellow

My favorite color is yellow.

Maybe it's because I grew up in a yellow house. Or maybe it's because I live in a yellow (on the inside) house now. Or maybe it's just because yellow is such a bright, cheery, warm, happy color. You can see great yellow things all year long like yellow daffodils in the spring . . . yellow sunshine in the summer . . . yellow sunflowers in September . . . yellow leaves on trees in the fall . . . and twinkly lights on houses and Christmas trees in winter. There are just as many yummy yellow things to eat like bananas, corn-on-the-cob, lemonade, lemonsnap cookies, and cheesy scrambled eggs. In fact, Eddy thinks the color yellow is "lemon". And don't forget all the everyday yellow things like pencils, school buses, the middle "caution" light on traffic signals, Big Bird, little rubber duckies, and my Kitchenaid mixer.

Celebrate the color yellow by wearing, eating,

and looking for yellow today.

Maybe you could also draw or find a yellow picture

to put in Chapter Yy of your Alpha-Book.

Happy (as Eddy would say) Lemon 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

Ww is for Witch

This seems like a wonderful week to write about witches. Here you see four of my favorite witches. Once upon a time, at one Halloween or another, all my girls have dressed up as witches. Can you believe these witches grew up to be your cute mommies and aunts?

While you're waiting to go trick-or-treating, here is a list of four of my favorite "witch" books you might like to read:

1. Winnie the Witch by Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas

2. Little Witch's Big Night by Deborah Hautzig

3. Room on a Broom by Julia Donaldson

4. A Job for Wittilda by Caralyn and Mark Buehner

Best "witches" for a Happy Halloween!

Love, Grandma

Uu is for Unusual

Warning! This is not the usual kind of post about books and boystuff.

It is unusual because it is very long and unlikely to be read all in one sitting.

Unfortunately I just have this urge to write the

Fall Foliage Alphabet Adventure

of Grandma and Grandpa Chambers

Aa is for Anne of Green Gables

. . . one of my favorite books and movies. We visited Prince Edward Island and actually walked inside Green Gables! My very first souvenir from this trip was a cute Anne of Green Gables doll.

Bb is for bridges
We walked across the world's longest covered bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick . . . drove across the 8-mile Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island . . . and saw other cute covered bridges along the way.

Cc is for Canada
. . . the country where we spent the first 8 days of our vacation. Do you have eagle eyes? See if you can spot the Canadian flag in any other pictures from our adventure.

Dd is for ducks
Grandpa just loves ducks and found some in a pond of the Public Garden in Halifax. Then he noticed animal carvings at the ends of every single pew in one fancy church we visited, including a duck. Best of all, he found another wood duck to add to his collection.

Ee is for Evangeline
One beautiful Sunday morning we learned the story of the Acadians who were harshly deported from an area of Nova Scotia by the British. Evangeline was separated from her husband and spent the rest of her life looking for him, so this statue and chapel were built in her honor. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow even wrote an epic (very long) poem about this legendary lady.

Ff is for Fundy Bay
. . . which is famous for the highest tides in the world--up to 50 feet--tides that come in and out every 6 hours and 13 minutes! The boats at the top of this picture were floating in the water as we drove by around 9:30 one morning and sitting in the mud four hours later when we drove by again. The bigger picture is the ferry we rode across the Bay of Fundy on our way to New Brunswick.
Gg is for granite
Acadia Nationl Park is on an island just off the coast of Maine and covered in granite rock . . . on the seashores, in the mountains, everywhere!
Hh is for Halifax
The most unique thing about this harbor city in Nova Scotia, Canada is a cemetery there that is the final resting place of over 200 people from the Titantic. Many of their graves are marked only with a number and "died April 15, 1912" because they are unknown.

Ii is for islands
Besides visiting my favorite island of all --PEI--we rode in a boat one day all through the Thousand Islands. I had no idea there was 1800 or more islands in an area of the St. Lawrence River between Canada and the United States. Some of the islands are so small only one house fits . . . other islands have several homes on them . . . one island even had a castle built on it!
Jj is just for fun
I'm putting in this picture of Dave and me standing by a lake of shining waters because I don't have a picture of the blueberry/lemon jam he bought to add to his jam collection.

Kk is for the Kancamagus Highway
. . . known as one of the most scenic fall drives in the U.S. . . and located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Ll is for lighthouses and lobsters
There are 44 lighthouses on Prince Edward Island alone, but the lighthouse in this picture is actually at Peggy's Cove. And the fisherman is a real lobster fisherman! We learned all about how they catch lobsters, Grandpa ate a whole lobster, and I found cute salt and pepper shakers which, believe me, are far cuter than any real lobster!

Mm is for Montreal and Maine
Montreal is another large city in Canada famous for hosting the Summer Olympics once upon a time . . . Maine is famous for lobsters and blueberries . . . and the man in the picture above loved taking pictures of mushrooms and other fungi in all the forests.

Nn is for nut
One day on a nature walk in New Hampshire we found a cute chipmunk nibbling on a nut

Oo is for Ottawa
. . . the capitol city of Canada. We went on a tour in these elaborately fancy Parliament Buildings and saw the most ornate library I have ever seen in my life as well as a stained glass ceiling with my name in it (see the letter Uu)

Pp is for pumpkins
Porches all over Canada were decorated with pumpkins probably because their Thanksgiving was coming soon (it was October 11). I liked the pumpkin people (and flamingoes) we saw in several little towns in both Canada and New Hampshire

Qq is for Quebec

. . . a charming city in Canada where they mostly speak French. We ate lunch in the elegant Le Chateau Frontenac, Canada's most famous building high on a hill. After lunch, we went shopping in the quaint shops along narrow cobblestone streets in Old Quebec.

Rr is for rocks
Grandpa is standing of a rock on top of Cadillac Mountain overlooking Bar Harbor, Maine and leaning by another rock in a little town near the Bay of Fundy. I am safely sitting on the rocks by Peggy's Cove and the red rocks of Prince Edward Island.

Ss is for Sand and Sea
We are standing on the only sandy beach in Acadia National Park (the granite park, remember). This beach is called (big surprise) Sand Beach! The other picture is of the cool sea caves on the Bay of Fundy that are usually under water. We remember this spot, however, because our favorite lunch was near here--the best seafood chowder ever.

Tt is for Toronto
. . . the largest city in Canada with the second tallest tower in the world. We ate lunch in a revolving restuarant in this 1, 815-foot tall tower where we could see the whole city including a Toronto Bluejays baseball game!

Uu is for up

Believe it or not, when I looked up at this stain-glassed ceiling in the Parliament Building in Ottawa I found my name (which is Christie, by the way)

Vv is for vegetables

We visited a couple farmers' markets in Canada where the vegetables (and apples galore) were very carefully arranged in little baskets or bins. And in one of these markets we ate the best croissant we've ever tasted.

Ww is for waterfalls

We saw Grand Falls in New Brunswick, walked down some rickety steps to Sabbaday Falls in New Hampshire, and wore yellow raincoats to walk behind the biggest waterfalls of all: Niagra Falls. You may or may not be interested to know that enough water goes over Niagra Falls every day to fill one million bathtubs!

Xx is for eXit

When we left the bus on the last day of our trip, we had traveled

2, 799 miles!

Yy is for Yankee Doodle America

. . . a book I bought in Boston where we learned all about the Minutemen, the old North Church and the midnight ride of Paul Revere.

Zz is for zillions

of bright, colorful leaves we saw on this fabulous fall foliage tour.

Thank you for your ultimate patience in reading this unending blog post. I defintely owe you a fabulous prize!

Love, Grandma

Bb is for Boy

Bb is for a boy who:

1. Starts every morning with a glass of "choc-kee" milk

2. Has one big brother and one little brother

3. Goes to preschool every Tuesday, Wednesday and

Thursday where the puppets are his favorite part
4. Loves to play Star Wars Legoes on the X-box

5. And turns five years old on October 11

Guess who?

Then draw or glue his picture in

Chapter Bb of your Alpha-Book.

Happy Birthday Brody!

Love, Grandma

Tt is for Treats

The time for trick-or-treating will soon be here! I was just wondering what your favorite treats are? What is your favorite kind of candy bar? or other candy? What is your favorite kind of cookies? or other dessert? Do you have a favorite fruit or fruit snack? What is your favorite flavor of ice cream or ice cream treat? Or you do you prefer salty, crunchy snacks? Maybe you could take some time to make a Top Ten List of your favorite treats in Chapter Tt of your Alpha-Book. Or if you can't think of that many, just tell me five of your favorites and five of your brother's favorites. Oh, and one more question: what treat do you think would be a fabulously tasty prize for this project?

Just in case your tummies are rumbling from all this talk about treats, here are a few new tasty treat recipes to try:

Monster Mouths

Nilla Nibbles

mini Oreo inchworm
Pretzel butterflies

S'mores on a Stick

Happy treat tasting!

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

Rr is for Rainbow

A rainbow is ribbons of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple that appear in the sky sometimes (but not always) after it rains. Rainbows are beautiful but a little rare, so here are three ways you can have a rainbow anytime you want!

Read a rainbow!

Choose a book of every color in the rainbow to look at or read. Here are some suggestions:

1. Little Red Riding Hood by Candice Ransom

2. I Feel Orange Today by Patricia Godwin

3. The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger

4. Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley

5. Bluberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

6. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

7. Winnie the Witch by Korky Paul

(a cute story about black which I know is not a rainbow color)

9. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

(a colorful book by Bill Martin Jr.)

Make a rainbow!

You can make a rainbow with colorful buttons,

fabric or paper scraps or . . .

You can glue a small purple circle on top of a slightly bigger blue circle on top of a slightly bigger green circle on top of a little bigger yellow circle on top of a little bigger orange circle on top of a big red circle. It might look like a colorful target until you cut it in half and wah-lah . . . a rainbow to glue in Chapter Rr of your Alpha-Book or . . .

Mom or Dad could write your name in a light color like pink. Then you copy over the pink, in another color, then another, until your name is written out in a rainbow of colors!

Eat a rainbow!

You can create an edible rainbow by arranging colorful fruit
or jello jigglers into a rainbow shape or . . .
sort fruit loopy type cereal by color and string onto a piece of yarn
or shoestring licorice in rainbow order or . . .
maybe you could even help your Mom make rainbow cupcakes!

Happy rainbow day!
Love, Grandma

Qq is for Quiz

Since summer has nearly slipped away, I decided to quit the picture book posts. I may not have quite finished the alphabet, but I will still give you a fabulous prize for any or all puzzle pieces you glued in your Alpha-Books this summer.

Now . . . on to our regularly scheduled alphabet adventures.

Qq is for this quick quiz:

Question number one:

Who do you think should win a fabulous prize

in the "Ee is for Elephant" coloring contest?

Zach who is quite confident about this colorful creation . . .

Brody who decided to color a regular elephant . . .

Jack who looked at every page of his "Elmer" book
for inspiration in coloring his elephant . . .

. . . or Eddy who has been much too busy doing puzzles

and loving little LuLu

to care as much about coloring an elephant!

Question number two:

What kind of fabulous prize would be worth winning?

Something big . . . or something small?

Something cute . . . or something yummy?

A new book . . .or a new box of crayons?

Some quarters . . . or something else?

Please help me solve my quandary.

Happy Quiz Day!

Love, Grandma