Birthday Guess Who?

Check out this collage of

7 cousins

6 boys

5 readers

4 athletes

3 first graders

2 six-year-olds

and 1 brand new

7-year-old who

loves baseball, basketball, the color blue,

steak, brownies and ice cream, legos, drawing,

first grade and helping at home!

Happy Birthday Guess Who?

Love, Grandma

Rr is for Ryan

Someone we all know in southern Utah turns six years old today!

Happy Birthday Ryan!
Love, Grandma

Happy Birthday after Incredible Hulk . . .
I mean . . . Ryan!

Sorry this picture is a day late,
but it was fun to celebrate with you on your
real birthday!

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

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

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

Oo is for Ocean

Oh, what fun I had going to Oregon on vacation

with our whole entire family

. . . and being there when all eight boys saw

the ocean for the very first time!

Besides some seashells, salt water taffy, and a Christmas ornament;

this is the picture book I brought home as a souvenir.
It is a cute story about a Mom and her baby's

adventure just getting to the beach.

Maybe you can look for it at the library sometime or . . .

better yet, I could read my book to you the next time I see you.

In the meantime, find your Oo puzzle pieces

for your Alpha-Book . . .or make an

"ocean" in Chapter Oo of your book by painting one page

blue and gluing on pictures of fishes, whales, octopus, etc. . .

or you could make a vacation memory jar

with the seashells you collected!

Have an Ooooutstanding day!

Love, Grandma

Nn is for Numbers

Let's play name that number!

How many hats is cute Luke wearing?

How many Wades are in this picture?

How many cute cousins are chillin' on Grandma's floor?

How many crazy cousins are horsing around on Grandpa's grass?

How many counting books are on Grandma's blue table?

How many numbers on are Jack's blue closet?

How many colors are in Eddy's paint box?

How many numbers are on Grandpa's refrigerator?

Here are a number of other things you can do today

. . . tomorrow . . . or whenever:

Find 1 number notebook I gave you

on your 3rd birthday and look at it just for fun.

Eat 2 treats afterwards then sing

the 4 seasons song or

5 little monkies jumping on the bed.

Take a 6 second nap then pick up and put away

7 toys and do 8 jumping jacks. Next find 9 numbers

to put in Chapter Nn of your alpha-book.

Color pictures, stick stickers, or cut items from a

magazine to match each number.

Then give me 1 good reason to give you a fabulous prize.

Happy counting,

Love Grandma

Mm is for Moms

Sing (or read) this post to the tune of

"A Happy Family"

(Children's Songbook page 198)

I love this Mommy

she loves Luke, Brody and Zach. We love this Mommy, yes sir-ree! She loves Ryan and Jack, so you see, They are both happy families. I love this Mommy, she loves Eddy (and the baby girl in her belly) We love this Mommy, yes sir-ree! She loves baby Wade, so you see, They are all happy families! Remember Mommy this Sunday! Maybe you could make her a meal (and clean up the mess afterwards) . . . or give her a gift, card, hug and kiss! Maybe you could also draw a picture of your Mom in Chapter Mm of your alpha-book. Happy Mothers' Day!

Love, the mom of your moms

Kk is for Kids in the Kitchen

Recently there were some kids in my kitchen . . .

. . . looking for something to nibble on . . . . . . while their cousins and . . . . . . big brothers were . . . . . . frosting and decorating . . . . . . and eating their names!
Here are some treats you might like to create in your own kitchen:

Fruit Smiles
Cupcake Garden
Heart-shaped Pretzels
Ice Cream Cookie Cups
Kabobers and Shake-a-Pudding Dip

Happy kitchen kapers!
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

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