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Friday, November 30, 2012

HOW DOES SHE KNOW MY DOG?!?


I think Imagination Café author, Krista Noble knows Krumbs!  We were reading Ms. Noble’s article called, “The Knowing Nose: How Canine Sniffers Help Humans” and do know what she wrote in the opening paragraph?

How does your dog spend his days?  Chasing squirrels?  Learning tricks?  Snoozing on the couch and begging for treats?

That is a woman who knows my dog!  I couldn’t believe it…and neither could Krumbs.  He bounced around like a crazy dog, spinning in circles and jumping three feet off the ground!  He was thrilled to think an author really knew him and, let’s face it, Krumbs is a squirrel chaser, a trick learner, a couch snoozer and a treat beggar.

Krumbs is my hero…but he’s not a hero to the rest of the world.  The dogs in Krista Nobles article are real heroes.  The article tells about dogs who risk their lives helping people.  These dogs don’t chase squirrels or nap all day because they have real jobs that involve DANGER!  They sniff out bombs, search for hurt and lost people, hunt for illegal drugs and even help doctors diagnose diseases!

Click the article title below to check out SUPER HERO DOG JOBS:


Remember to check back with us next week for more fun with Cookie and Krumbs!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

IS IT BREAKFAST BLUES OR A BREAKFAST BONANZA?


GOOD MORNING!!!

Yes, it is a good morning.  Krumbs and I have recovered from the very wonderful “VACATION MODE” and are adjusting to the busily fun, never boring but sometimes challenging “SCHOOL MODE”.  HOW ABOUT YOU? 

ARE YOU BACK IN “SCHOOL MODE” YET?

We’re working on putting on a happy face when we first wake up…but it is hard to get up at 6:30 AM.  My parents say Krumbs and I are young and it should be easy to jump right out of bed…but it’s not.  Sure, we could go to bed earlier or drink giant cups of coffee every morning (sorry, mom!) but we’ve got things to do at night and caffeine is really not good for our young minds and bodies (at least that is what my parents tell me!)

Anyway…while mom and dad drink giant cups of coffee and race around getting ready for work, Krumbs and I have breakfast!!!  Breakfast is our favorite meal and we’re pretty dedicated to our cereal, juice and applesauce (with the occasional hardboiled egg thrown in for extra protein).  We think our super-duper breakfast bonanza gives us the same boost coffee gives my parents.  We are a lot more awake after each day’s breakfast bonanza, aren’t you? 

Is breakfast your first, best brain boost?  We really want to know because right now, as we write this post, the Imagination Café is running another super poll and we want you to vote!  The big question is below.  Click on the question to visit the Café homepage.  Find the "YOUR OPINION" section and vote!


Click, vote, and visit us again soon for another super dose of Cookie and Krumbs!!

Monday, November 26, 2012

BEEP! BEEP! OH NO! PLEASE GO!


“Zzz…BEEP! …Zzz-OH!...BEEP!...Zzz-UGH!...BEEP!...Zzz-Nooo!”
 That is the sound of me, Cookie, and my dog, Krumbs, snoring and screaming as we are shaken from the depths of a really great sleep by the nasty beeping of our alarm clock—yep, I admit it, the idea of being thankful just drifted away because we were so, so tired! 
 
Was it the same way at your house this morning? 

We’re up now…we’re up!  We’re ready to go to school—sort of, ready, anyway.  We just had such a great five days. We celebrated THANKSGIVING and then we had such a long vacation…great food, tons of fun with family, followed by amazing lazy days.  We felt like we were “Living the Late Life” of summer all over again!  
One of the best parts of the whole week was that I had the chance to go horseback riding twice!  It was so awesome to see the horses again…and Krumbs had the chance to hang out with the other barn dogs.  They raced around, chasing mice in the barn and racing across the polo fields—the whole experience was truly just puppy paradise  for Krumbs!  We loved visiting with our friends from the barn and we couldn’t believe how much fun we had.  Krumbs says he would definitely switch to mouse menacing instead of chipmunk chasing, except there are no mice hanging around our yard.  I think they’re on to Krumbs—they know to stay hidden!

            Have you checked out the Café recently? 
We did!  I found a terrific new poem by Laura Wolfe called A Horse for AnnieMae”.  It is perfect for me because I was feeling a lot like Annie Mae after I left the barn yesterday.  I wanted, needed, "had to have" a horse of my own.  Annie Mae wants a horse too…until she finds out way too much about keeping horses!  Does this sound a little like you, too?  Check out the story by clicking here.

            Krumbs and I hope your holiday weekend was wonderful and we hope it was easier for you to get up today than it was for us!  Enjoy your week and check back again soon…

Monday, November 19, 2012

A RAINFOREST IN OMAHA?!?!


Quick!  What covers only 6% of the Earth but holds 50% of the world's plants and animals?

If you answered "rainforests", you would be absolutely correct.  Krumbs and I are learning about rainforests in an enrichment program this week--and what we've found out is fascinating!  Rainforests supply us with medicines, plant extracts and foods we eat every day (like CHOCOLATE)! The world's rainforests are home to millions of animals...and scientists are discovering more every day.

So...with rainforests on our minds, Krumbs and I visited the Cafe.  Could Krumbs and I find some fun and interesting rainforest facts to share with my class?  The answer was YES, of course!  We stumbled on the greatest article about a rainforest in....Omaha, Nebraska!?!?!?  Impossible, you say?  Nope...entirely possible and absolutely true.  You can read all about it in Janice Bjornstad's article, "Jungle in the City: The Creation of an Indoor Rainforest".   Scientists, artists, horticulturists, construction workers, veterinarians and volunteers all worked together to create a living rainforest in Omaha, Nebraska!  You can find out all about this amazing creation, from how experts "built" trees to how they protected the animals and the visitors by clicking here.

Amazing and exciting stuff for great minds like us!

Friday, November 16, 2012

FIGHTING FOR FOOTBALL?!?!

Are you ready for an easy and awesome Thanksgiving treat?  Check out the photo below...and be amazed!  These tasty treats use four ingredients and they don't even need to be baked.  What are they?  Pilgrim Hats and they are,, to quote my friend, "super easy beasy lemon squeezey" to make!

 


Would you like to try them out?  You'll need flat, round fudge striped cookies, marshmallows, chocolate chips and a small tube of yellow icing.
 
  1. GET HELP FROM YOUR PARENTS to melt the chocolate chips
  2. Put your cookies on the table with the chocolate side facing up
  3. Stick a marshmallow onto a toothpick and dip the marshmallow into the melted chocolate chips
  4. Use another toothpick to push the chocolate covered marshmallow onto the center of the cookie
  5. Let the chocolate dry and harden and then use the yellow icing tube to draw a square "buckle" on the hat-VOILA!!!  Easy, tasty Thanksgiving treats!!!
  6. Repeat steps one through five until you've used up all your marshmallows, cookies and melted chocolate chips.
Looking for more Thanksgiving fun?  If you're looking forward to fantastic Thanksgiving football...look no further than the Cafe.  We found a brand new article with facts and fun about football that will impress even the most knowledgeable Thanskgiving guests.  Ready to astound everyone with your knowledge of football history?  Check out Kathy Quatraro's article called, "Fighting for Football", to find out which U.S. president tried to outlaw football, how much it cost to watch a Yale vs. Harvard game in 1875, and whether the players have changed since that very first football game.  You'll find out all that and much, much more....check it out!

Have a great weekend everyone! Check back with us next week for more from Cookie and Krumbs!

Monday, November 12, 2012

WHO HELPS THE ANIMALS?

No matter where you live, you've probably seen television or Internet news reports about Hurricane Sandy, a hurricane that ripped across the East Coast of the United States a couple of weeks ago.  The photos that accompany the news reports are horrible.  They show houses, boardwalks, streets, amusement parks, and cars--all destroyed by the winds and high tides caused from the hurricane.

Krumbs and I have been thinking about this a lot, partly because the news is so filled with information about the aftermath of the storm, but also because Thanksgiving is getting closer. Thanksgiving always makes us think about the things we're grateful for...like our house, our food and our family, but since the storm we're thinking of those things even more this year. 

All the news reports had Krumbs, my trusty pooch, thinking about other pets.  Who, Krumbs wondered, takes care of all the homeless or lost pets during and after a big storm?  I thought it was a fantastic question...and we haven't stopped thinking about it. 

This weekend, we visited the Imagination Cafe and searched for information about pet helpers.  Guess what?  We found a great article on the Cafe's "Doggy Bag" section.  Aside from a fantastic drawing of Krumbs, this section of the website gives all kinds of information on different animals...and there was one article on the people who help them!!

We found  "To the Rescue" by Vicky Livestay.  The article tells about organizations like the American Humane Society, the Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS), and the Humane Society.  These organizations all help our furry fand not so furry) friends in times of disaster.  The article has information about keeping your own pet safe and links to organizations that help homeless animals.  

Krumbs and I felt better knowing there are people looking out for the animals too.  I can't imagine what I'd do without my best friend, Krumbs.  I love him and can't imagine not having him with me!

How about you?  Do you have a furry, scaled, or feathered friend you can't live without?  You can post a picture of your pet on the Cafe's "Pet Snapshots" section or you can look at the pet photos others have posted by clicking on the pet photo album...check it out!!!

Friday, November 9, 2012

HAVING A PARTY...AND HELPING OUT TOO!!!

It's time for a little....SLUMBER PARTY!!!  Krumbs and I are having a very cool, very fun party tonight with three friends and their pooches.  We've planned some really cool activities that involve duct tape, pizza dough, and an aluminum foil dress contest--how about that for a little creative fun? (Hint: the duct tape, pizza dough and aluminum foil are for three seperate projects, not the same project!)

This is sort of a "Birthday Party Cookie Never Had" party.  My birthday was months ago, but I never had a party to celebrate with my friends, so this weekend is the weekend to celebrate!  Here's a picture of the cake...I love it! 

 

We're going to decorate these cool boxes with duct tape designs and then we're going to fill them with canned foods and donate them to the local food pantry.  I thought that would be a great way to help people since the weather is turning cold and we've already had two storms! 

Since we're thinking about cold weather, Krumbs and I were thinking about the holidays too.  We decided to try the smelly ornaments from Brooke Halperin's Cafe article, "Heirloom Ornaments: Smelly or Colored".  We'll each make some ornaments to take home, but we'll also work on making some for a local nursing home to hang all around for the holidays.  We have cookie cutters shaped like gingerbread men, holly, menorahs, christmas trees and candles and we'll make a whole bunch.  Ms. Halperin has a recipe for colored ornaments too, but we decided to go for yummy spicy scents instead of bright colors...at least for this time!

We're really psyched for my party.  We'll have a lot of fun, make pizzas and watch movies, but we'll do a couple of things to make other people happy too.  I think that's a pretty awesome idea, don't you?

What do you do to volunteer or help out in your community?  Share with us on Klub Krumbs!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

THE ANIMALS ARE TALKING!!!!!

Hola mi amigos!

Yes, Krumbs and I are back and learning our Spanish...but we've learned about two animals that are learning even more!  Have you heard about the whale who taught himself to talk like a person and the Asian elephant who taught himself to speak five Korean words?  We didn't believe it, but it turns out to be absolutely true!!!!

Krumbs and I have watched the videos on the internet over and over again.  We can't believe how much the whale named NOC sounds like he's singing!!!  If you'd like to watch the video for yourself, click here.  I put a picture of the whale below.  Doesn't he look like he's smiling?


 
 
If you're impressed with the singing whale, you have to check out the talking elephant!  CLICK HERE to check out Koshik, the talking elephant!  Koshik was lonely without any elephant friends so he taught himself to speak Korean words in order to "talk" to his human trainers--amazing!!!  Here is a picture of Koshik...he looks ordinary but he is quite extraordinary!!
 
(Photo: Current Biology)
 
 

Wow!!! This is truly amazing and extremely cool.  Krumbs and I have become fascinated by the idea of animals talking...(he is an animal after all!)  We went to the Cafe and were on the lookout for articles about animal sounds--and we found them!  Kristen Herman wrote a great article called "Animal Sounds" that we loved.  Did you know people in different parts of the world, hear animal sounds differently?  It is true!  In the Netherlands, "qwak-qwak" is the sound of a frog but in the United States, the same sound is made by a duck!  Read Kristen Herman's article for more great "around the world" animal sounds!

Check back with us--Cookie and Krumbs--for more fun facts later in the week.

Friday, November 2, 2012

HALLOWEEN CANCELLED...BUT THAT'S OKAY

Well, we didn't have Halloween this year.  Hurricane Sandy pounded up the East Coast of the United States and cancelled Halloween...but Krumbs and I aren't upset.  If you're wondering why we aren't boo-hoo-hooing over our lost Halloween candy, it is because we've been thinking about all the things we do have--our house, our food, our family.

The hurricane caused lots of damage across many states.  Losing power and internet and phones was terrible, but our house wasn't damaged and our family stayed safe and sound.  A tree fell across our driveway and the tree knocked down our light posts, so we were stuck in our house without power for a few days, but we're okay and that's what is most important

We are thinking about all the people who are not fine and who had damage to their houses or had family hurt...and we're grateful for our friends and family and everyone who helped out during this disaster.  There were police, fireman, volunteers, workers trying to restore power, rescue workers, and even just normal kids and animals who pitched in and tried to help.-they are all heroes and they inspired us to help too. 

We volunteered today at our local high school, handing out food and water to families who have no power and Krumbs and I donated our allowances to the American Red Cross.  The American Red Cross is just one organization that offers help...food, shelter, and first aid to people who need it, especially after a disaster like a hurricane.  Right now the Red Cross is offering help across the ten states hit by Hurricane Sandy and we're proud that we could help.

We hope you are safe and that you stay safe.  We've started thinking about people who help other people.  Have you ever done something to help in your community?  Tell us about it at Club Krumbs.