Octopus' Garden with YOU!

Hello Seafarers!

We have had an adventuresome week here at Cherub! We have been busy with tall tales of the ocean, learning all we can about kelp and seaweed forests, plus fish, whales, keeping our ocean clean and more!

Today we worked on our octopi...check out these beautiful and gorgeous friends in the sea! They are just waiting to go home with our friends! They are so simple to make. Take a toilet paper or paper towel roll, color, paint, collage as you wish...cut slits up vertically in the bottom as far as you would like them. Curl "tentacles" up by using a marker to roll them with. Decorate to your hearts content! Presto! Instant octopi!

Yumm-o this afternoon...homemade chocolate and vanilla pudding pops. Ohhh! Ahhh! We can't wait! Have a great weekend and looking forward to next week when it will be "Pirate" week! More nautical tales from the sea to tell!

Be well,
Miss Sue

One Fish, Two Fish, Three Fish or more!

Hello Sea Friends,

We have had so much fun with learning all about the sea...today we saw all kinds of sea shells and talked about what kinds of animals live in them. We made paper bag fish...stuffed with newspapers and put stickers, colored and collaged them. This morning for our early arrival friends we had foam stamps and paint out to make a sea collage. They loved it!

The weather has been perfect to enjoy our time outside...we really enjoy our sand box and all the pails, shovels, scoops, molds and more. I have children begging to stay outside longer, even when it is lunch time. We have enjoyed time on patio too, when it was too hot to go up into the yard.

Fish sticks, watermelon, blue jello, carrots and crackers was the lunch du jour to coincide with our sea discovery. Lots of fans of these! This afternoon, we will have homemade orange juice popscicles and more watermelon for snack. Life is good!

Smiles to you,
Miss Sue

You can have your aquarium....and eat it too!

Hello Sea Loving Friends,

We have been busy today...first up this morning was playdoh and cookie cutters! What's better in life than this? Squish, smash, pound, excersize those fine motor muscles to develop eye hand coordination and fine motor development to someday use a pencil.

Next up was a continuation of our "Under the Sea" talk. It was amazing to hear that some people like fish so much that they set up a mini-"ocean" in their home or offices called an aquarium. They can be big or little, have a few fish or all different kinds. Today we made our own version of an aquarium by making blue jello, letting it set up a bit and then adding goldfish crackers to sink into it. Wow! Magic! This afternoon we'll begin our paper bag fish project...so cute with so many varieties...just wait until you see the pictures!

Have a swimmingly lovely day,
Miss Sue

Under the Sea Week

Ahoy! We are taking our adventure to a new place on the planet....under the sea. Today we read about deep sea divers, scuba divers and snorklers. We also talked about plant life in the ocean. Lots of coral, seaweed forests and more. Some people even eat something called "sea vegetables"!

We worked on mermaids and mermen, seahorses and will be learning about where different fish live in the ocean; either warm water or cold water. Then when we went outside and were running around on the blue top, everyone pretended that they were fish swimming in the ocean!

Oh the nice weather! At least we are not roasting as we were last week....that means perfect weather for apple juice popcicles, water play and more. Come join us soon!

Smiles and Summer Fun to YOU!
Miss Sue

Whoa! What a great two weeks it's been!

Howdy Cowboys and Cowgirls,

What a great 2 weeks it has been....lots of riding, roping, galloping, eating at the chuckwagon, hitting the hay and more! We have had lots of fun making all sorts of things, eating different kinds of things and best of all learning all about the wild, wild west.

We are making our way into "Under the Sea" week next week...lots of fun activities and projects planned for this fun adventure! We can't wait to make our own aquarium and be able to eat it too!

Have a great weekend and enjoy your family!

Miss Sue

Momma, Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys!

Howdy!

We're learning all about cowboy life! Riding, roping, branding, food, songs and more! We made our own steers and cowboys/cowgirls today and yesterday. This week we are going to pan for gold and make biscuits. Then on Friday, we'll have the Cherub Rodeo to finish up our two weeks! It's been fun!

Enjoy the pictures!

Welcome to the Cherub Saloon!

Hello Friends,

I hear the tinkling of the piano keys as someone bangs out a tune on the out of tune piano. We've got cattle rustlers, dance hall girls, cowboys, cowgirls, cowpokes, tenderfeet and a whole bunch of others here at the Cherub Saloon. We serve our drinks strong, well, the root beer is anyway. The pretzels are the freshest and crunchiest this side of Sierra Nevada. You can come to sing or dance here after a hard week of riding the range. You might be dusty and tired, but when you can sing "Buffalo Gals" or "Home on the Range" or dance to "Skip to My Lou" or the "Hokey Pokey" you know you have had a good time, whether it is Saturday night or not.

We had a great time this week, today was much more comfortable for us outside....it is sharing day and it everyone chomps at the bit to play with sharing toys in the afternoon. We get a wide variety of things and it is always exciting to play with someone else's toys.

Western Week Part II will be next week with all sorts of surprises. We can't wait!

Adios partners,
Miss Sue

Bouncing, bouncing, bouncing....

Howdy Amigos Around the Planet!

Today was really fun...we have a bounce house here for the better part of the day...from 9 until about 4 p.m. We bounced from about 9:30 until 11:15, taking turns going in and out of the bounce house so we did not have too many people in there at once....our friend literally bounced all the energy out of themselves! When it was chuckwagon time, everyone was starved and several friends said, "Miss Sue, when can we go to bed?" That's a first for around here! And it turned out to be true! Everyone slept the entire 2 hours; even our "anti-sleepers" looked like they were visited by Morpheus, the Greek God of Dreams! Zzzzz!

We have had so much fun so far with Western Week...tomorrow we are making corn bread with honey butter. We had beanie weenie today, carrots, string cheese, watermelon and milk or juice. Then this afternoon we had apple juice popscicles and otter pops and ice cold water, lots of it!

Check out our pictures....have a great day!

Miss Sue

Gitty Up Little Doggies!

Howdy Partners, Cowpokes, Buckaroos, Tenderfeets and More,

Yippy Yeah Yeah! We have had so much fun today....lots more cowboys sayings and talk. We worked on our stick horses and cowboy personas...

Today we learned more about the cowboy culture....hung out at the "Cherub Saloon" where we had pretzels and drinks. Everyone was tired and dusty after "riding the range" in the back yard...or otherwise known as riding tricycles, playing in the sand box, running wild everywhere.

Tomorrow, our stick horses will be ready to "ride". Each one is different and unique! We love it! We have lots of plans...including a horse bounce house!

Better hit the hay early tonight!

Miss Sue

Howdy Partners and Cowpokes!

Well howdy Friends Around the Globe,

It's the first day of Western Week here at Cherub. Lots to learn and do today to become full fledged cowboys/cowgirls! Every Western person needs a hat and badge as a deputy. Plus we made our own bandanas with sponge stamps; horse shoes, stars, triangles. They are on the fence drying due to the ample use of paint.

We talked about what cowboys/girls wear: chaps, vest, hat, boots, etc. and why they wear it. We will be making our own horses starting this afternoon and continue on tomorrow. Everyone was given their Western name: Law-abiding L, Neighborly N, Smilin' S, Tumbleweed T, Bumblebee Bette, Sherrif Sue, Eagle Eye E, Sagebrush S plus many others. They loved that they had a new Western name that begins with the letter of their first name.

We learned some "western" songs like: Home on the Range, Buffalo Gals, Chisolm Trail and more. Also, we learned some cowboy sayings like" time to hit the hay" when it was nap time, "everything is in apple pie order" meaning everything is great and more! Fun abounds in the old west! Come join us for a rootin' tootin' good time!

As I ride off into the sunset,
Miss Sue

Happy Friday to All!

Hello Friends of Cherub,

Well, we had a spectacular "Stars and Stripes Forever" week this week, despite it being a short week. Today we made "Fireworks" pictures. Our pictures look great, just like the bombs bursting in air....amazing what pipecleaners, glue and glitter can do!

Oh, what fun we have had...reading, singing, dancing, playdoh, water play, sand, bikes, balls, learning new things as well as begging for some of our oldies...like reading "Art Dog" and looking at our art masterpieces...it is quite unique to watch children shout out names of paintings and artists and discuss which artist has the best painting...is it Madam Recamier by David? or Grant Wood's American Gothic...or Salvador Dali with Persistence of Memory? Come check it out and see how much fun we have!

Happy Weekend to YOU!
Miss Sue

4th of July BBQ (or sort of a BBQ)

Hello Friends!

Happy 4th of July to everyone out there! We had our 2nd annual 4th of July picnic/BBQ. It was a blast! Well, we actually didn't have the BBQ part, due to trying to light the BBQ for a 1/2 hour with no success...however, I am the "Unsinkable Sue of Cherub"...there is always "Plan B". Cooking on the stove! Old school, I know, but still it ended up with cooked hot dogs all the same! So....hot dogs, watermelon, beans, carrots, chips and milk or juice! Wowwee! This 4th of July at it's best!

This afternoon will be root beer floats...I asked our friends what was a root beer float and got these answers: "It's when you float in a pool and drink root beer...", "it tastes spicy", "it's sweet, but bubbly"! No, not quite what we will have, but semi-close. I am happy to initiate them into the world of Root Beer Floats!

Check out our firecrackers! No two alike and ready for decorating your house!

Stars and Stripes Forever,
Miss Sue

Yankee Doodle Dandies!

Hello Friends of Cherub,

It is Stars and Stripes Forever Week here! This morning we learned about our country's birthday on Wed., 7/4, Yankee Doodle and are learning The Pledge of Allegiance. And...we still had time to make our own version of the American flag, sing, dance, play outside, listen to stories, play with toys and much more!

It's all in a days work here at school! Tomorrow will be a traditional BBQ here; hot dogs, beans, watermelon, chips, root beer floats for an early 4th of July. Plus noise makers, music and who knows what else might happen in the process!

Come join us for a Yankee Doodle Dandy good time!

Hugs and Fun to you all,
Miss Sue