ASL word of the day...SPY

Spy
n. A person who obtains secret information, as for a government or corporation: The spies from the two countries traded secrets.
v. To watch secretly: He spied on the neighbors

(Represents eyes peeking around the corner to spy) Bring the right V hand, palm facing down, from behind the bent left arm up in front of the left shoulder, in an arc forward and to the left around the left arm.

crochet...Granny square

"Grannies" have been a crochet staple for generations. They are easy to transport and will make the most out of your yarn scraps. Fun for crocheters who are just learning the craft as well as for those who are experts.
This is the "Classic Design"

Chain 5, join last chain to first ch with a slip stitch
round 1: Chain 3 work 2 dc in the ring.(ch2 make 3 dc in the ring) 3 times ch 2 join with a sl st in the top of the ch3 at the beg of round. fasten off
round 2: Join a 2nd yarn color in the 2nd ch 2 sp before the join of the round you've completed.
ch 3 in the same sp work 2 dc, ch 2 and 3 dc (first corner made) ch1 in the next ch 2 sp  3 dc, ch 2 and 3 dc (corner made) 3 times. ch 1,join with sl st to top of beg ch 3. fasten off leaving a tail
round 3: Join a 3rd color in the 2nd ch 2 sp. Ch 1 next ch 1 sp, make 3 dc; ch 1 in the next ch 2 sp make a corner. 3 times. ch 1 work 3 dc in next ch 1 sp; ch 1 join with sl st to the top of beg ch 3 fasten off

Continue working your granny square in the same fashion until desired size.
Make small ones and sew together to make scarves, belts, blankets, poncho and many other items.

Bear Tales....Mud

Mud
polly chase

Mud is nice to feel
All squishy-squash between the toes
I'd rather wad in wiggly mud
Than smell a yellow rose

Nobody else but the rosebush knows
How nice mud feels
Between the toes

Gooey Fudge Sauce

 The lemonade kids love Ice Cream. 

For a fun party idea or just to serve dessert in a fun way, give your lazy susan a turn. Circle a half dozen or more sauces and toppings around a fruit centerpiece ( such as bananas)
Serve ice cream., sauces, whipped cream, maraschino cherries, nuts, sprinkles, and cookies.

Goooey Fudge Sauce

Keep some chocolate chips and a can of evaporated milk on hand to make this Gooey Fudge Sauce. A quick and easy substitute for the store bought kind.

1 6 oz package of semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
1/2 cup evaporated milk

In small heavy saucepan, heat chocolate and evaporated milk over medium heat, stirring constantly till blended.
Serve warm or at room temperature over ice cream.
Makes 1 cup

Watch for more Topping Recipes in the next coming weeks !

Be a Junior Detective part 1

Make your own Detective Kit

To make a go at gumshoeing, you will need a good eye, a delicate touch and a few tools of  the trade

To help you collect and protect your clues make a "Detective" tool box

• Magnifing Glass ( for close inspections)
• Measuring tape and ruler ( for mapping crime scenes)
• Plastic or latex gloves and tweezers ( for picking up clues)
• small ziplock bags and marker ( for storing evidence)
• Ink pad and paper ( for taking fingerprints)
• Pad and pencil ( for noting clues)

To keep your keep your investigative skills sharp, try solving the kids whodunits by checking out some great detective book series such as:
The Hardy boys ( franklin w dixon)
Harriet the Spy ( louse fitzhaugh)
Nancy Drew ( carolyn g. keene)
Nate the Great ( marjoie weinman sharmat)

Keep On Sleuthing and watch for fun ways to be a detective on Mondays for the next 6 weeks

Together

The Family who PLAYS together

STAYS together

Find time to have fun as a family...

Worms...backyard science

Gather up some worms and build a see-through ranch...

Fill a 1 gallon clear glass or plastic jar with potting soil that you have mixed with about 6 cups of manure.
Moisten the soil well with water. (of course we have had a lot of rain and my prpared garden area is a great place to get my dirt and worms) Gather the worms and they are easiest to find after the rain...just ask Jonathan who had to bring them in to show us!
Add your worms to the prepared jar and cover with a screen or punch plenty of air holes in  its lid.
Now tape black construction paper around the jar - Worms like the dark - and set your ranch in a cool, shady place. Keep the soil moist!
In a few days, remove the paper and look for worm tunnels down the side of the jar: the worms are hard at work digesting dirt!!
When you are all finished watching them, release them back into your garden

ASL word of the day...Monkey

  monkey n. a small primate, usually having a long tail: Watch the monkey swing from the bars by its tail
Same sign used for: ape, chimpanzee

(Mime the scratching motion done by monkeys)
Beginning at the waist, scratch the fingertips of both curved 5 hand,  palms facing in, upward on each side of the body with a double movement.

Okay Sariah...No More Monkeys Jumping On the Bed

Crocheted Watch Band

 **Designed by Renee Barber**

These watch bands are interchangeable, washable, 
comfortable and fun!
You can order these on my  website at
reneesworkshop.com
only $5.00 includes your shipping. 

**Mention this blog post when placing your order and I will send you a second one for FREE**

Bear Tales...Tim

Tim
nancy byrd turner

Tim longs for great adventures,
But he never can roam;
He's always finding silly things,
Tiny,wet, and chilly things
And taking them home.

He wants to be a rover
And sail the wide foam,
But small, outrageous, hobbly things
Exasperating, wobbly things
Are somehow always turning up
To keep him still at home.

Banana Split Cups

For the Monkey in all of us!










To one serving of vanilla pudding, add banana slices, your favorite sundae topping  and a scoop of whip cream. Yummm!!!

Barefoot Boccie

This is the indoor version of a Italian bowling game. It calls for aim, balance, and one barefoot.
Each player must remove one sock, ball it up and label it with tape if it looks the same as the another.
Set a hat or a bowl as a target on one side of a room and mark a tossing line on the other.
( the farther away for the target, the better)
Players then take turns standing at the line on one foot trying to toss their sock into a target. Whoever succeeds (or if no one does, gets closest) gets one point.
The first person to score to 5 WINS!

Ever Friends

Yes, we must ever be friends; and of all who offer you friendship let me be ever the first, the truest, the nearest and dearest!
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Weaving Activity

Weaving is when you use thread, yarn or cloth to make a rug, amulet bag or cloth. In the olden days, this is how they made items for them to wear or use in the home. Today we would call it Recycling.

Using a piece of cardboard (measure it to the size you want) and cut to size

mark 1/4 inch intervals to use as guides. you can notch at each mark for better holding power

Wrap your cotton yarn or string to make your loom, tie off

Use a yarn needle to weave the yarn in and out of the strings on your loom. * Do opposite strings on your next row. 

Push down the fibers as your work to make it tight.

When finished, cut the threads at the top and bottom and tie off using the 2 strands next to each other, going across the top and the bottom. 

Remove cardboard

If you wish to make a bag, dont' go back and forth as you would to make a mini rug. 

continue around the loom, making sure the row above is on the opposite strings. 

Cut and tie off the top strings only.

ASL word of the day...Farm

farm n. A tract of land. plus a house, barn etc., used for raising crops or animals for a livelihood: lived on a small dairy farm in Utah. 
Same sign used for agricultrue, bum, casual, ranch, sloppy

• Drag the thumb of the right 5 hand, fingers pointing left to right across the chin.

Bear Tales...Farmers

Farmers
Marchette Chute

Farmers have horses,
And cows,
And ducks,
And always a hen
That sits and clucks,

And sometimes
A little
Baby pig.
So we're being farmers
When we
Grow
Big.

Haystacks

Haystacks for those "kids" who have been out on the farm or

 just outside enjoying the spring weather 

• 1 1/2 c. butterscotch chips
• 1/2 c peanut butter
• 13 oz pkg chow mein noodles

Combine butterscotch chips and peanut butter in a double boiler
Heat until melted, stirring occasionally
Remove from heat: mix in noodles until coated
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a wax paper lined baking sheet
Refrigerate until firm
makes about 2 dozen

The Butterfly Game

Spring is here and here is a fun game to play:

Color a paper butterfly and cut out to use in the game

Sit everyone in a circle. One person gets to be the butterfly. Wave the paper butterfly over the other people’s head, while walking around the outside of the circle.

Butterfly, Butterfly, 

fly away, up to the trees and on the ground

Butterfly,Butterfly

what shall I do? 

dance around, dance around until it lands on you

The person who is the butterfly, places the butterfly in someone’s lap, that person in now the butterfly. Repeat until everyone has had a turn. 

Be Yourself

By being yourself,
 you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.

Spring activity idea...Visit a farm

                                    RJ sitting on a horse with his "Daddy Hooogy"

As I drove to Utah and back today, I saw baby calves and foals everywhere!! 
Even with the weather not super warm and we are still wearing our sweaters and coats, farms are coming to life with litters of newborns. Visit a farm early in the spring and you may get to bottle feed a tiny piglet, or lamb. Now is the time to see calves, foals. chicks, and kittens. Goats actually arrive is late spring. Farms tend to be friendly and free! Look up in your phone book for a farm associated with a college or school

ASL Word of the Day.....Spring

SPRING n. The season between winter and summer: To plant a garden in the spring.

(Similar to sign for GROW except with a double movement)
Beginning with the right flattened O hand, palm facing up, being held by the left C hand, palm facing in, move the right hand upward with a double movement, opening into a 5 hand each time.

Triple Crochet Stitch

The triple crochet is more open than the double crochet, and is not used as often.Another name for the stitch is Treble Stitch

For a great way to practice all you stitches that you are learning, make 7 inch blocks. You will then be able to use your different blocks to make a sampler blanket. It is a lot like a patchwork quilt only crocheted.

chain stitch how many you would like to start with.
Yarn over twice, insert hook 5th chain from hook
Catch yarn draw a loop through chain ( 4 loops on hook)
Yarn over, draw through 2 loops
Yarn over, draw through 2 more loops
Yarn over, draw through last two loops to complete stitch

Make 1 triple crochet in each chain across row, Chain 4, turn
Yarn over twice, insert hook into 2nd stitch to start next row.

Bear Tales...Good Morning

When I was growing up, this was my  most favorite children's poem!
I can still recite it from memory...

                                                      me as a child
Good Morning
fannie R.Buchanan

Good Morning, sky!
Good Morning, sun!
Good Morning little winds that run!
Good Morning birds!
Good Morning trees,
And creeping grass and brownie bees!
How did you find out it was day?
Who told you night had gone away?
I'm wide awake;
I'm up now,too.
I'll be right out to play with you!

"Dump Cake"

This cake is as easy as Jessica "dumping" all the fish onto a plate and eating them with no hands.

Children (and adults) will enjoy making  and eating this dessert.





1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple, undrained
1 box  yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter/margarine melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Spread pie filling and pineapple in ungreased 13 x 9 pan
2. Mix together dry cake mix and butter in a large bowl,using a spoon, until crumbly
3. Sprinkle mixture evenly over fruit

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 30 minutes. 

Serve warm or cool

Makes 12 servings.

Feed the Birds homemade treat

Birds are coming out and these feathered friends will love visiting your yard for this homemade treat.

What you will need:
1/2 c. vegetable shortening
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 c. oats
1 c. cornmeal
1/2 c flour
paper cup
Mesh bag with a clip
( such as a onion bag)

Mix peanut butter and vegetable shortening; melt in a microwave for 1 1/2 minutes on high.
Mix in oats, cornmeal, and flour
Pact mixture into two paper cups, then cool
Remove from cups and place into the mesh bag, clip side down.
Secure open end of bag and hang feeder from branches at a good height above ground.

Easter

Happy Easter!

Our Easter Surprise is we get to do our Easter Egg hunt with SNOW on the ground. The poor Easter Bunny who must have worn down while hiding the eggs

Lucky for us the snow melted before the hunt!!

Tie Die Easter Eggs

 Add some fun to your Easter breakfast with these psychedelic eggs.
You will need

• A colander
• 10 hard boiled white eggs
• 1/2 cup of white vinegar
• Vibrant food coloring (such a neon )

• Place several hard boiled eggs in a colander in the sink and splash vinegar on them
• Drip yellow food coloring on the eggs
• Gently swirl the colander for a few seconds to help with the spread of color. Let the color set for 30 seconds
• Repeat steps 2 and 3 with to more colors, allowing each to set for 30 seconds
• When finished give the eggs a light rinse with water and let them drain for a few minutes
• Place on paper towels to dry

ASL word of the day...Easter

 Easter n.  an annual Christian festival in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Move the right E hand in a sideways arc to the right with the palm facing forward

Crocheted Daisy

This flower uses 2 different colors







Center: Using color A,make 6 chain, join with slip stitch into a ring
1st round: 1 chain,  11 single crochet in ring. using B color slip stitch in 1 chain, 12 stitchs.
Petals: Continue with B color
2 round: (11 chain, slip stitch in next single stitch) 12 times, ending slip stitch in slip stitch of first round.
Fasten off and weave in ends