Jj is for January

January is the beginning of a brand new year!

And that brand new year begins at midnight tonight! Ask Mom and Dad if they will let you stay up late tonight. At the stroke of midnight you can welcome in the new year by making alot of noise by banging on pots and pans . . . or by blowing noisemakers . . . or by yelling "Happy New Year" . . . or by listening outside for noises like fireworks going off. Oh yes, and don't forget to hang up your new calendar!

Happy New Year!

Love, Grandma

Cc is for Calendars

Calendars come in handy for counting the days until Christmas . . . for counting the days until birthdays . . . for counting the days until any special occasion or . . . for keeping track of the days that are just ordinary everydays. Grandpa and I love calendars so much we hang them in our bedroom . . . in our family room . . . on our refrigerator . . . and have them on our desks, too.

A brand new year is coming soon! It's time for new calendars for both us and you! And since a brand new year is coming soon, it's also time for new alphabet adventures. We have learned the alphabet forwards and backwards on this Alpha-Blog . . . we have made Christmastime alpha-books and . . . summertime alpha-bugs. So this year, I thought we would have some mini monthly alphabet adventures or calendar capers. And you can follow along on either your very own calendar or in your Alpha-books.

Check back Saturday for the first one!

Love, Grandma

XYZ

X . . . Y. . . Z

may your Christmas be merry!

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

Merry Christmas Eve!

Love, Grandma

Ww is for Wreaths

W is for wreaths with pinecones and berry

Oh, dear! The wreath in this picture has neither pinecones nor holly berries. I hope you do a better job creating a wreath in your Merry Christmas books. Or maybe you would like to create an edible wreath treat!

Merry two days before Christmas!!

Love, Grandma

Vv is for Verses

V is for verses we say on Christmas Eve

I hope you read a few Bible verses on Christmas Eve about baby Jesus' birth . . . and maybe even act out the story! In the meantime, here is a cute Christmas verse:

A baby, a manger, a bright shining star

An angel, a shepherd, three kings from afar

A Savior, a promise from above

The story of Christmas, the story of love.

Merry three days before Christmas!

Love, Grandma

Uu is for Unwrap

U is for unwrapping each gift we receive

I'm sorry to say you will have to wait a few more days to do one of the funnest things of Christmas. In the meantime, how about singing "Up On the Housetop".

Merry four days before Christmas!

Love, Grandma

Tt is for Trees

T is for trees to decorate so gay

After you decorate your paper tree, try singing this little tune called "Old McDonald Had a Tree" . . .

Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell! And on that tree he had some lights . . . jingle, jingle bell! With a blink, blink here and a blink, blink there. Here a blink, there a blink, everywhere a blink, blink. Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell!

Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell! And on that tree he had some popcorn . . . jingle, jingle bell! With a pop, pop here and pop, pop there. Here a pop, there a pop, everywhere a pop, pop. Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell!

Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell! And on that tree he had some cookies . . . jingle, jingle bell! With a yum, yum here and a yum, yum there. Here a yum, there a yum, everywhere a yum, yum. Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell!

Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell! And on that tree he had a doll . . . jingle, jingle, bell! With a mama here, and a mama there. Here a mama, there a mama, everythere a mama, mama. Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell!

Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell! And on that tree he had a train . . . jingle, jingle bell! With a choo, choo here and a choo, choo there. Here a choo, there a choo, everywhere a choo, choo. Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell!

Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell! And on that tree he had a star . . . jingle, jingle bell! With a twinkle, twinkle here and a twinkle, twinkle there. Here a twinkle, there a twinkle, everywhere a twinkle, twinkle. Old McDonald had a tree . . . jingle, jingle bell!

Whew! Merry five days until Christmas!

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

Rr is for Reindeer

R is for reindeer who stomp overhead

Sing "Rudolph-the-Red-Nosed Reindeer" while you're working on your coloring project today. Then you can make a "reindeer" treat out of a frosted chocolate cupcake. Cover the cupcake in chocolate sprinkles. Then create a "Rudolph-the-red-nosed reindeer" face by using a red gumdrop for the nose, tictac mints for eyes, pecan halves for ears, and pretzel twists for antlers. (Break pretzels in half to make curved and branching antlers). An easier "reindeer" can be made from a slice of bread! Spread peanut butter on the slice of bread. Cut the bread into triangles. Then stick raisin eyes, a marachino cherry cut in half for a nose and straight pretzel antlers on each triangle.

Merry one week before Christmas!

Love, Grandma

Qq is for Quilts

Q is for quilts to cover us in bed

Quilts are cozy for nighttime sleeping in our beds. Quilts are also cozy for slumber parties underneath the Christmas tree while you watch Christmas movies. My favorite Christmas movie is "Miracle on 34th Street". What is your favorite Christmas movie?

Merry 8 "sleeps" before Christmas!

Love, Grandma

Pp is for Presents

P is for presents wrapped up very tight

I finally wrapped a few presents this week. And guess what? There might be something for you underneath my Christmas tree (except for Jack and Ryan, whose presents are underneath their own tree!)

Merry 9 days before Christmas!

Love, Grandma

Oo is for Ornaments

O is for ornaments, shiny and bright

I bought some brand new ornaments for my tree this year. You may have noticed some of them pictured on the blog this month. Can you guess why random letters of the alphabet will be hanging on my tree?

Merry 10 days before Christmas!

Love, Grandma