Junior Detective..last of the series

Now you have learned lots of new way to be a detective, here are some ways to sharpen you skills.
Uncovering clues is all about paying attention. Practice these exercises.

Find out what has changed in a room by studying very carefully. Note where things are in the room. Leave the room and have someone move a few things without telling you. Now see if you can find what has changed.

Closely look at a photo in a book or magazine, turn over the picture and write down everything you remember about the people or things in the picture. Turn over the picture and compare to see how much of it you got right.

Listen quietly for several minutes and make a list of everything you hear. How many sounds can you identify? When you think you have learned to listen really good, have someone go into the other room and make a noise using an every day object.  Can you guess what it is?

I hope you had fun learning to be a Junior Detective. Continue reading detective books and practicing all you skills, while having FUN!

Live in the moment

Live in the Moment

and Make it so Beautiful

it Will be Worth Remembering

Justin Michael Perrin's blessing day...Daddy Jake, Mommy Steph, Grandma Renee' and Grandpa Doug
(Grandma Renee' made the blessing outfit)

Ice Cream in a Bag

You will need:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup half n half
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup Rock Salt
Ice
1 Pint size ziplock bag
1 gallon ziplock bag

Instruction:
Combine sugar, half n half, and vanilla inside the pint size bag and seal tightly. Combine Ice and rock salt in the large bag. Place small bag inside the larger bag and seal.
Shake the bag until the mixture turns into Ice Cream!
This takes about 5 minute ( you might want to wear gloves)
Add sprinkles, candy, nuts or fruit
ENJOY!!

Did you know that More Ice Cream is sold on Sunday than any other day and each American eats an average of 23.3 quarts of ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, and other frozen treats each year.

ASL word of the day...Baby

Baby n.  A very young child:  A six-month-old baby.
Same sign used for Infant

(Action of rocking a baby in one's arms) With the bent right arm cradled on the bent left arm, both palms facing up, swing the arms in the right and the left in front of the body with a double movement.

Apple Slices dryed

Jonathan and Kayleigh  waiting for the apples to grow

3 1/2 lbs. apples...peeled, cored and sliced

1 c. Lemon Juice

4 c. Water

2 c. Sugar

1 c. Brown Sugar

2 t. Cinnamon

pre-treat apple slices in lemon juice and water...soak fruit no longer than 10 minutes...Drain

Combine sugars and spice in large bowl

Put apples in sugar mixture

Dehydrate at 130 degrees for 20 hours ...Turn halfway through 

Bear Tales - Please

Please
rose fyleman

Please be careful where you tread,
     The fairies are about
Last night when I had gone to bed
     I heard them creeping out.
And wouldn't it be a dreadful thing
     To do a fairy harm?
To crush a little delicate wing
     Or bruise a tine are?
They're all about the place, I know
     So do be careful where you go.

Easy Caramel Topping

In the top of a double broiler
Combine 28 carmels (1/2 pound) with 1/2 cup water
Heat over hot water, stirring occasionally till caramels melt
Serve warm or cool over ice cream
Makes 1 cup sauce.

Yummmm

Be a Junior Detective part 4

 

Use the following techeniques to find who wrote the NAMELESS NOTE

You will need:

• Unlined notepaper
• Paper clips
• Tracing paper
• Ruler
• Pencil

To perfect your handwriting analysis skills, have two or three people each write a short note to you on the notepaper. Let them decide which one will write you an anonymous note. Now conduct your test.

    Paper clip a piece of tracing paper to each note. Working one handwriting sample at a time, line up the ruler along the bottom of a line of writing and use the pencil to mark the angle on the tracing paper. It is straight across or does it slant up or down? Use this method with each line in the note. do you see a pattern?
    Now use the ruler and the pencil to mark a  line along the left margin. Does the line go straight down the paper or does it angle more to the left or right?
    Next, look at the individual letters. Do you notice anything unusual, such as curls in the letters or loops that reach way above or below the others? Are the lower case i's dotted with a single spot, circle or a slash? How are the T's crossed?
    Repeat the above steps with all the writing samples as well as the secret note. Now compare your finding. Can you find which letters, and angles that are similar? Can you see enough of a connection between on of the samples and the anonymous note to identify who wrote it?

natures gift

Of all nature's gifts to the human race

what is sweeter to a man than his children?

-cicero

Love you guys!!

Car Games

Are we there yet??????

Car Scavenger Hunt

This game does take time before getting into the car. 

• Hand the kids and adults index cards and ask them to draw pictures of 50 things they might see on the road. 
• Keep the cards in the car for your scavenger hunt.
• Players vie to match what they see with the cards. 

A car of a different color game

• Have everyone predict how many blue cars you will pass in 5 minutes. 
• The one who comes closest gets to name a new color to watch for.

You can order your own Personalized Hooogy

from my website reneesworkshop.com

ASL word of the day...Cat/Kitty

CAT/Kitty v. A small furry mammal with whiskers and sharp claws, often kept as a pet: my pet cat

• (Cat's whiskers) Move the fingertips of both F hands, palms facing each other, from each side of the mouth outward with a repeated movement.

We Garden

We are both of the earth

We return to the earth

And in between, 

We garden

(old saying)

Need time to rest after a hard day of gardening. Everyone can climb into the hammock.

Uncle Jordan with Adrian, Jonathan and Kayleigh.

Garden Gift Idea: Tie and organdy ribbon around and old canning jar and fill with flowers from your garden.Match the ribbon to the color of your flowers. Take them to a friend.

Bear Tales..A Kitten

A KITTEN
eleanor farjeon

He's nothing much but fur
And two round eyes of blue
He has a giant purr
And a midget mew.
He darts and pats the air
He starts and cocks his ear
When there is nothing there
For him to see and hear
He runs around in rings
But why we cannot tell;
With sideways leaps he springs
At things invisible-
Then half way through a leap
His startled eyeballs close
And he drops off to sleep
With one paw on his nose.

Artist Colony Activity

Use the backyard for this fun party. Tack large sheets of white paper to the fence. Collect as many worn out shirts as you have guests...they make excellent smocks for pint size Picasso's
Provide each painter with a long brush and a couple of glasses of premixed poster paint
You'll have a Greenwich Village art show in no time at all!
A committee of parents can pin ribbons on the best paintings
Set up a group of card tables covered in red-checkered tablecloths and give something hearty like spaghetti to eat.

This is a great summer activity for the kids. Invite all their friends for some "Artist" fun.

Be a Junior Detective part 3

Practice matching a bite in a cookie to samples of your suspects dental indentations....this can be fun!

you will need

• large soft cookie that doesn't contain chocolate chips or nuts ( sugar cookies are great)
• Dinner size styrofoam plate cut into 6 equal wedges ( 1 plate for 3 suspects)
• scissors
• pen or marker

Have some take a single bite from the cookie
Gather several willing accomplices and have one person take the bite without telling anyone telling you who did it
Stack the styrofoam wedges in pairs and then cut off the point of the triangles about 1 inch from the tips
Have each suspect bite down on a set of wedges. ( note which is the top and which is the bottom of each pair and who it belongs to)
Now compare the overall size and shape, as well as the individual tooth impressions of each bite mark and those in the cookie.
Can you find the match?

**Missing , crooked, or new teeth, along with the overall shape of a person's mouth, create a unique impression. **

Esteem

I would give more for the private esteem 

and love of one

than for the public praise of ten thousand

                                                                                                                    W.R. Alger

Travel Game....Tally it up

Are you driving around? Bored in the Car? The next few Saturday's will bring you some fun "Travel Games" to keep everyone occupied...

Tally it up is played by searching licence plates for duplicate letters or numbers.
If I saw the license plate" IBTIGGER" I would receive 4 points since it has two  I's and two G's. The person who accumulates the most points wins.

If you are on a long trip, have a time limit on how many they find in a certain amount of time and then change games, to keep it interesting.

ASL word of the day...Shoe

Shoe n. an outer covering for the foot, often of leather: Time to polish your shoes

(Represents clicking the heels of shoes together) Tap the index finger sides of both S hands together in front of the chest with a double movement, palms facing down.

Garden Time

Give a tree or beautiful bush to commemorate a housewarming, anniversary or any special day.
Are your flowers in bloom? Share your bounty by taking a bouquet from your yard to a local nursing home, someone who is homebound or to a friend for "just because"

Bear Tales - The long ago doll

The Long Ago Doll
marjourie barrows

Way up in Grandma's attic where
    some dusty  little shadows creep,
I found my mother's Mandy Claire
    Inside a trunk asleep

Her yellow dress was trimmed with lace,
    Her hair was very black and thin,
and camphor balls were in the place
    That she was dreaming in

And long ago....and long ago...
    A little girl that used to be
Left Mandy Claire a sleeping so
    Before there was a me

So Mandy Claire is waiting till...
    But I got sort of  lonesome then
And while she slept there very still
    I tiptoed out again

You can get your own Grandma's doll on my website. Jessica is seen playing with her 15" rag doll...The lemonade kids.   reneesworkshop.com

Rocky Road Sauce

Use this sauce on top of any warm chocolate cake

 1 package of dry chocolate fudge frosting mix
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
2/3 cup milk
1 cup miniture marshmallows
1/2 cup diced roasted almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine frosting mix  (dry) , corn syrup and butter in top of broiler. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over rapidly boiling water 5 minutes, stirring occassionally. Remove from heat and cool. Add marshmallows, almonds and vanilla. Store leftover sauce in covered container in refrigerator
Makes 2 cups

Be a Junior Detective part 3

Lifting a footprint and pairing it with a shoe.

You will need:
Thick paper towels
Clear contact paper
Scissors



First you will need a footprint. Have someone put on a pair of shoes ( don't peek), then step into some mud or wet dirt. Walk on a hard, smooth surface such as a kitchen floor. Make sure you ask mom or dad first! Tell them what you are doing.
When you are ready to lift the print, check to see if its wet. If it is, lay a paper towel over it and press down firmly and carefully, taking care not to shift the towel in the process. If it is dry, throughly dampen the paper towel, squeeze out any excess water, then spread it out and lay it over the print.

Now carefully peel the paper towel, then set it aside to dry.
Cut a piece of contact paper to size and cover the print with it.
Compare the tread marks to the bottoms of any suspects shoes and see if you can find the match.

Happy Mothers Day

All Love is sweet

given or returned

percy bysshe shelley

My greatest joy are my five children whom I love greatly.

Tim, Chad, Shane, Jordan, and Stephanie.

My reward from them are my grandchildren!

Mothers Day Bouquet

My Grandma bouquet:
Becka, RJ, Sariah
Jonathan, Kayleigh, Jessica,
not pictured; Chris, Austin , Justin and Adrian too.





You will need:

• Old family photos
• Construction paper
• Pipe Cleaners
• White glue
• Markers or glitter glue (optional)
• Flower vase
• Florist foam or Styrofoam (optional)

Have the kids cut faces from the photos.These will be your photo centers, so they should be roughly circular and about an inch in diameter
Fold a piece of construction paper in half, then draw several flower shapes on one of the folded sides
Cut out the flowers. Don't forget to cut out some leaves
For each flower, lay one flower shape on your work surface, then lay a pipe cleaner over it so that an  inch of the pipe cleaner is on the flower. Spread white glue around the paper edges and press the matching flower shape on top.
Using the same method, glue paper leaves onto the pipe cleaner.
Decorate with markers or glitter glue
Put these flowers in a vase and give to MOM or Grandma for Mothers day.

ASL word of the day...Bicycle

Bicycle n.   A lightweight vehicle with two wheels in tandem: ride a bicycle


(shows action of pedaling a bicycle) Move both S hands in alternating forward circles, palms facing down, in front of each side of the body.

Garden Marker

Start Digging up the yard because

It's that time of year.... 

Time to Plant A Garden. 

Get the kids involved as you make Garden Markers. These make great gifts too!

You will need Flat Stones
Enamel Paint

You can paint the name of a herb or a vegetable on the stones with Enamel Paint
Personalize them or plant a picture of the plant you are placing these in front of.
You can lay them flat or stand up at the end of your garden row.

Bear Tales...Happy Day

Happy Day
betty jump

This whole long day was merry.
I saw a bluebird's nest;
I stroked a furry kitten
And passed my spelling test.

I watched the glowing sunset,
All rosy in the west
But reading in the lamplight
Was the time that I loved best.

Cake and Ice Cream Pie

Bake a Devils food cake in a 8" or 9 " round cake pan. Flip out of pan and cool.
Soften and Spoon 1 pint vanilla ( or your favorite) over one cake layer
Top with the Chocolate Sauce from last monday's blog and Whipped cream (or whipped topping)
optional: sprinkle nuts, maraschio cherries, or candy on top
Serve immediately
6-8 servings.
Freeze 2nd layer for later use unless you are having a big party!

Be a Junior Detective part 2

Who's Tire?

Practice preserving tire impressions and then match them to the bike that made the tracks.
You will need:

• Disposable plastic container
• Plaster of Paris
• Water
• Cup
• Bucket of water or outdoor facet

Have someone make a track by riding a bike over some soft dirt (but don't let them tell which bike they used)
Mix a small amount of plaster of paris with water according to the package directions
Using the cup gently pour the plaster over a 6-8 inch section of the bike track. **don't forget to cover the sides of the track.
Let the plaster dry completely.( this can take up to 60 minutes)
Pry up the plaster patch carefully, Rinse it in the bucket of water or under the faucet to remove excess dirt.
Compare your cast to the tread on everyone's bike and see if you can spot a match.

childhood

There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in. 

                                                                                                -graham greene

Be a Super Spring Sleuth

Send the kids outside into the sun and find the signs of spring. 
They get a point for each thing they find
Make a list of spring for them to hunt for, such as:
Sounds: peepers, knocking of a wood pecker, a bird singing, etc
Plant Life: A tree bud, a mushroom, etc,
Critters: a bug, a baby animal, a turtle, etc
Human hints: a baby in a stroller, laundry hanging outside,someone on a skateboard or bike
Think of things that have to do with your area
Take the kids to a park to play as well.

Have fun in the Sun!!