ASL word of the day...Invite/Welcome

Invite v. To ask politely for the presence or participation of, as at a gathering of friends or a meeting.
Bekeh is inviting you to her party.
Same sign used for Welcome, Greet, Hire, Employ

• (the hand brings another to oneself) Bring the upturned right curved hand from in front of the right side of the body in toward the center of the waist,

Baby Headbands

 Headbands are easy and fun to make.

• Purchase stretch lace at a craft store or fabric store.
• Measure baby's head and cut stretch lace one inch smaller than head
• Overlap ends one inch and sew together
• Add fabric bows, silk flowers, buttons and bling with fabric glue or sew them on.

Homemade Bubble Solution

 Jeanne and Jess love to make BUBBLES

Homemade Bubble Solution

Stir together:
1/2 gallon of water
1/3 cup dish washing liquid
3 tablespoons glycerin (find at drugstores or craft stores)

Make a large batch and put into a large bucket or small inflatable pool for lots of big fun.
Make fun large wands using, heavy wire or old badminton rackets...take out the net (sometime you can find some at the dollar store),
Go outside and have FUN!!!

Angel

Save a place in your 

Garden

for Angels to dance

Memories

Grandma Marilyn & Grandma Nee' crafting time (Kaleb is in green)

When someone you love 

becomes a memory...

the memory becomes a treasure.

We will miss you!... Kalab Mitchell 1998-2011

ASL word of the day...Bicycle

bicycle n. A lightweight vehicle  with two wheels in tandem
RJ loves to ride his bicycle!

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

Fun with chalk

Chalk is not just for inside fun...Take it outside and PLAY!!

Remember the days of Hopscotch? Make it a longer game by drawing 20 squares instead of the usual 10.

Have  a jumping contest and see how far each person can jump from a designated spot. Use different colored chalk to make each person's distance.

Draw a series of  O's in front of the garage door or wall and play Hit the Mark

from a designated spot, each person takes turns trying to hit each O with a tennis ball

When a player misses an O, it becomes the next persons turn

Joke of the week

Q: What did the paint say to the wall?

A: I've got you covered!

Bear Tales...The Nightingale

The Nightingale
ivy o eastwick

The Nightingale
made up a tune
about the foxgloves
and the moon.

She sang it high,
she sang it low!
it was as dreamful
and as slow
as summer moon light
on the lea...

She sang it three times
round to me.

Gardening Fun!

Freddy the Frog loves to be outside and garden 

Being outside had great health benefits, such as exposure to fresh air and sunlight. Studies show that we are happier, healthier , smarter and more self disciplined when we can be outdoors.

 

Gardening is a great workout! Turn gardening into play

 

Challenge your kids to a weeding contest: Have each child pick one type o weed and start pulling on the count of three. Then see who's collected the most when the allotted time ( such as 15 min) is up

 

Happy Independence Day

A star spangled day full of Flags and Streamers!

Thank you to all those who serve

or have served to bring 

FREEDOM to our country!

Inexpensive Travel Journal

Are you vacationing this year? Are you doing the "Stay Home" vacation? Either way...Here is a great way for the kids to journal the fun things your are doing this summer
Pick up a composition book for each of the kids.
You can make a book cover with fabric and add pockets or allow them to cover the front with pictures, stickers, paper and mod  podge for a one of a kind look

Let them buy postcards, keep the ticket stubs and brochures  from activities you  have done and at the end of the day, they can glue in the items they have collected and then journal about what they saw and did.

This is inexpensive memento that they will have for years to come. 

Off to Dallas

 Don't follow your Dreams. Chase them!

I am off and running "with the bulls"... Dallas here I come...to a trade show!
These bulls are Bronze Longhorn Sculptures at the Pioneer Plaza in Dallas.

3 Minute Bean Relay Game

3 minute Bean  Relay

Divide everyone into teams

• Place a bowl of dried beans at the starting line for each team
• Set a grocery paper bag 20 feet from each bowl

When the race begins

• The first person on each team uses a wooden spoon to scoop up beans from his teams bowl
• Race to dump the beans in to their team bag
• Hands off his spoon to the next player on their team
• Game continues until time is up
• The team with the most beans wins.

The Journey

The only journey is

the JOURNEY within.

I am off to Portland... See you Friday!

Love One Another

Love one another

but, make not a bond of Love

let it rather be

a moving Sea between 

The Shores of your souls

kahil gibran

asl word of the day....Thirsty

thristy adj. having a thirst: craving liquid

Related form: thirst n same sign used for parched

• (Indicates a dry throat) move the extended right index finger, palm facing in and finger pointing up, downward on the length of the neck, bending the finger down as it moves. 

Joke of the week

Q: What kind of pool can't you swim in?

A: A car pool!

Bear Tales...The Brown Bear

The Brown Bear
Mary Austin

Now the wild bees that hive in the rocks
are winding their horns, elfin shrill,
and hark, at the pine tree the woodpecker knocks, 
and the speckled grouse pipes on the hill.
Now the addler's dull brood wake to run,
Now the sap mount abundant and good.
And the brown bear has turned with his side to the sun
In his lair in the depth of the wood,
Old Honey Paw wakes in the wood. 


Oh a little more slumber says he
And a little more turning to sleep
But he feels the spring fervor that hurries the bee
And the hunger that makes the trout leap
So he amble by thicket and trail
So he noses the tender young shoots,
In the spring of the year at the sign of the quail
For sappy and succulent roots

Oh as still goes the wolf on his quest
As the spotted snake glides through the rocks
And the deer and the sheep count the lightest foot best
and slinking and sly trots the fox
But fleet-foot and light-foot will stay
and fawns by their mothers will quail
at the saplings that snap and the thickets that sway
When Hone-Paw takes to the trail
When hw shuffles and grunts on the trail


He has gathered the ground squirrel's hoard
He has rifles the store of the bees, 
He has caught the young trout at the shoals of the ford
And stripped the wild plums from the trees
So robbing the raging he goes
And the right to his pillage makes good
Til rou round out the year at the first of the snows
In his lair in the depths of the wood
Old Honey-Paw sleeps in the wood.

Banana Frozen Treat

Ready, Set,  Go! It's Banana Time!

This banana shake is yummy frozen treat.
Too thick? serve with a spoon

3 bananas ( the riper the sweeter)
2 tablespoons milk

Peel the bananas, cut them in half width-wise, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until firm
Place the frozen banana in a blender, add the milk and puree until blended and creamy
Serve in small paper cups with small plastic spoons
makes 4 servings

River

Advice from a River
by Ilan Shamis

• Go with the Flow
• Slow Down and Meander
• Go around the Obstacles
• Stay Current
• The Beauty is in the Journey!

Button Fun Activities

Are the kids bored with their Toys? Here some fun Button activities...Just dump your button box on the kitchen table , add glue, fabric, yarn, cardstock , elastic thread and pie plate for some creative time with the kids.

Button Art: Glue buttons and bits of fabric or yarn onto card stock to create a textured portrait or landscape
Pan for Buttons: Place a pie plate on the floor near a wall, line up 10-12 feet away, and see who can pitch the most buttons off the wall into the pan.
Make button jewelry: String elastic thread through the holes of assorted flat buttons, tie it into a loop for a wrist and ankle bracelet
Build a button tower: See who can stack the most buttons with the tower falling over.

ASL word of the day...Thank You

Thank v. To express gratitude to: Thank you Bekka!
Same sign used for Thank you

• (The hand take gratitude from the mouth and presents it to another) Move the fingertips of the right open hand, palm in and fingers pointing up, from the mouth forward and down, ending with the palm angled up in front of the chest.

Bear Tales...Happiness

 HAPPINESS
jeanne de lamarter

 Oh, Mother, don't you love the wind?
It circles round the hill
It makes my hair stand up on end
and makes my breath stand still!

Oh, Mother, don't you love the wind?
It whistle flying by
It makes umbrellas of my dress,
and tumbles up the sky!

Joke of the week

Q: What did the cop say to the Popsicle?

A: Freeze!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mix together is bowl: (diabetic version) set aside
2 cups sifted flour (whole wheat )
2 cups oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

cream together:
1/2 cup brown sugar (splenda brown sugar)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (splenda)
1 cup shortening
2 egss 1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add dry ingredients and mix. Add one bag of chocolate chips to mixture

Drop onto greased cookie sheets
Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minues

Yields: 5 doz

Patriotic

The air is warm

The sun is bright

it's a patriotic scene

with parades and bugles

where banners wave

and flags can all be seen. 

lillian leaminton

Asl word of the day...Morning

Morning n,  The early part of the day, before noon

Austin ate breakfast this morning

• (Represents the sun coming up over the horizon) With the left open hand in the crook of the bend right arm, bring the right open hand upward, palm facing in.

Joke of the week

Q: Why did the kid start a gardening service?

A: He wanted to rake in some cash!

Spring Dandelion Art

Go out side and  picks some Dandelion Blossoms

Put some colored tempra paint on a paper plate

Give each person a piece of white paper

(cut cardstock 4" x 6" to make mailable postcards)

Using their dandelion blossoms as a paint brush, dab the paint onto the paper.

This is a fun activity when your yard is full of dandelion blossoms like my yard is right now.

ASL word of the day...High

High adj. Having a great height, Having a specified height, Raised to an elevated position, To or at an elevated place.
same sign used for altitude

• (Initialized sign showing a location at a higher elevation) Move the right H hand, palm facing left and fingers pointing forward, from in front of the right side of the chest upward to near the right side of the head.

Stuffed Apple

An apple a day can be full of surprises.
Try this nutritious treat:

• Core an apple
• Fill it with peanut butter
• Top with raisins

The filling keeps the apple from turning brown. Take it with you by sealing it in a plastic bag

Bear Tales...Merry Go Round

Merry-Go-Round
Marguerite gode

Round and round
Goes the merry-go-round
The music is churning
An organ-sweet sound,
While horses and tigers
And zebras and bears
Go galloping, galloping
Onward in pairs

Joke of the week

Q: Why did the computer go to the doctor?

A: Because it had a virus!

Instant Stickers

To make stickers:
Cut a bunch of pictures from old magazine, something they have drawn, coloring books or comic books.
Dissolve 2 teaspoons of flavored gelatin in 5 teaspoons of boiling water (adults only).
Using a small paint brush, coat the backs of the cutouts with a thin layer of gelatin solution.
Let dry
Not the stickers are ready to lick and stick!

ASL Word of the Day...Baby

Baby n....a very young child: Daddy is holding  baby Abigail.
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 palm facing up, swing the arms to the right and the left in front of the body with a double movement.

Tissue Paper Butterflies

• Cut butterfly shapes from white construction paper
• Set out assorted colors of 1 inch squares of colored tissue paper, small containers of water, and paintbrushes. 
• Paint the butterfly shape with water and place the tissue paper squares randomly on the butterfly shape
• Have them count to ten
• Remove the wet tissue paper to view the fun colorful creations!

Bear Tales...If I were otherwise

If I were Otherwise
joyce l brisley

If I were very, very tall, as tall as I could be,
I'd play with all the little birds up in the topmost tree;
I'd jump right over houses and think nothing of a wall
If I were very, very, very, very tall

If I were very small, as small as I could be
I'd run among the blades of grass where you could scarcely see,
I'd play with ants and beetles and I know I'd love them all,
If I were very, very, very, very small!

Joke of the week

Q: Why do zebras like old movies?

A: because they  are in Black and White!

Fruity Yogurt Shake

Fruity Yogurt Shake

1 cup orange juice
1 container (8oz) lemon yogurt
1/2 banana
1/2 cup orange pieces
1/2 cup chopped apple
1/2 cup grapefruit pieces
2 cups frozen vanilla yogurt

Combine orange juice, lemon yogurt, banana, orange, apple, grapefruit, and frozen yogurt in a blender. Blend just until combined. Chill in freezer about 30 minutes or until mixture is desired consistency, stirring after 15 minutes
yields about 4 cups

Happy Mothers Day

For you are the first friend I ever had, 

and the best friend I ever can have,

and nobody can respect and

love you too much to please me.

charles dickens

Happy Mothers Day!!!!

International Dinner Time

For a fun international learning experience... Have an traveling adventure at home!
Go the library to find some books, cook books. videos and music about the country of choice.
After dinner, you could watch a movie that was filmed in that country, play games or listen to music.
Have the kids help with the menu planning, and have them make flags from country of choice.
You could even let the dress up with an international flair.
Put up a world map and learn where each country is.
This is a great way to learn where you ancestors came from!!

• Mexico: Chop tomatoes for spicy salsa, mix up some guacamole, and lay out a make your own taco or burrito buffet grande. (Celebrate Cinco De Mayo Today May 5)
• Italy : make pesto or shape pizza dough into singe serving pies so everyone can pile on the topping combination of his or her choice. Play an Italian opera to set the mood and  mangia!
• China:  Try making steamed dumplings, sesame noodles or moo shu pork. For atmosphere, string up colorful paper lanterns.
• USA: Do everything red, white and blue.

Bear Tales...Looking in

Looking In
dorothy aldis

Coming home one winter's night
Passing window warm and bright,
We looked through and we could see
People snug as they could be.

Safe inside, they didn't know
That it was cold out in the snow,
Or how it prickled on my chin,
Or how I stood there looking in

Joke of the week

What do you give a bird who isn't feeling well?

Medical tweetment

Calculator Fun Game

This game is great for entertaining your kids during boring times such as: doctor office visits or car rides. Give them a pocket calculator and challenge them to see how many number combination they can come up with that spell words when the calculator is turned upside down. Here are a few to get you started

663 (EGG)
604
771
77345
5508
733
7714
618
3045
637
35007
7738

Friendship

Friendship is Love,

without his wings!

-lord byron

ASL word of the day ...Nurse

Nurse n. 
A person trained to care for ill people: Sariah wants to be a nurse.

• (Initialized sign similar to sign for Doctor)  Tap the extended fingers of the right N hand, palm facing down with a double movement with the wrist of the left open hand held in front of the body, palm facing up.

Bear Tales...Tree-Children

Tree-Children
mary carolyn davies

The little trees that to the breeze
Make quaint and timorous courtesies:
I like to come and play with these.

Each grown-up pine that stands in line
Is but a stranger great and fine-
The little trees are friends of mine!

Bird Word Search

SPRING IS HERE!

Bird Word Search

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