WORD LIST FOR PUZZLE

Ali was the slowest of all the snails in the land. He was never in a hurry. He’d crawl along at his own slow pace, not worrying about how long it took to get somewhere. One morning Ali decided that he wanted to go and visit his friend, Jasmine. He began to crawl along the dirt path. Tall blades of dew-covered grass lined the path. Each drop of dew sparkled in the morning sunlight. Ali looked at his reflection in some of the drops as he brushed against them. Some fell onto his shell and rolled down into his face, but he didn’t mind at all.

"Hurry up, Ali!" called Wedu, the worm, from behind him. "You’re in my way!" She bumped right into him and tried to push him out of the way as she inched along.

Ali smiled at her and said, "Good morning, Wedu. Isn’t it a nice day?"

"It was until you got in my way," she angrily answered, then continued on her journey.

Ali kept crawling along. Soon he passed through a patch of tiny violets. "I love the color purple," he said as he crept slowly through them, enjoying the scent of each and every flower. He breathed deeply and smiled.

"Hurry up, Ali!" shouted Palal, the potato bug, from behind him. "I’m in a hurry! Can’t you see that?" Ali was taking up the whole width of the path. Palal couldn’t get past. "Ali, if you don’t hurry up, I’ll have to crawl over the top of you."

Ali ignored him and continued to smell the violets. Palal moved his little legs quickly and crawled onto Ali’s shell. He curled up into a ball and rolled down, over Ali’s neck and between his antennas to the ground. "Good morning, Palal. Isn’t it a nice day," Ali said. Palal didn’t even answer. He uncurled himself and hurried off.

Ali crawled along and came upon some moss-covered rocks. He loved how the soft, emerald green moss felt on his clammy, moist skin. It protected his shell from scraping on the hard rock. Just then he heard, "Hurry up, Ali! You’re in my way." He turned his head slightly and saw Sami, the spider. He was holding up four of his eight long, spindly legs, trying to crawl over Ali, who was just too big. "If you don’t move, I’ll have to climb over the rock and then I’ll be tired. Hurry up and move," he demanded.

Ali wasn’t in a hurry. He was enjoying the moss. Sami got so angry because Ali wouldn’t move out of his way, that he jumped over him and stopped right in front of his face. He said, "Why don’t you go faster? You’re always in the way."

Ali smiled and said to the spider, "Good morning, Sami. Isn’t it a nice day?"

Sami shook his head and ran off over the rocks.

After he’d followed the path out of the rocks, Ali found himself going through a patch of clover. It was in full bloom and bees were humming as they flew from one puffy, pink flower ball to the other. Ali smiled as he made his way slowly through it. His antenna stuck up over the top of the clover, getting into Beria, the bee’s way. "Hurry up, Ali! Get out of my way. You’re antenna keep bumping into me and knocking the pollen off my legs," she grumpily told him.

Ali looked up at the hovering bee. "Good morning, Beria. Isn’t it a nice day?"

Beria said, "Oh, never mind," and flew off to another patch of fragrant clover.

Ali smiled and moved along, even slower than before. Eventually he came to a fallen tree trunk that was hollow. He climbed into it then crawled along inside. There were a few ants coming from the opposite direction carrying bits of leaves and small blades of grass. They couldn’t get past Ali. "Hurry up, Ali!" one of the ants called out. "Get our of our way. We’re taking these leaves to our nest."

Ali looked down at the tiny ants carrying the leaves that seemed to be much bigger than the ants were. "Good morning ants. Isn’t it a nice day?"

"Well, we’ll never find out, will we? You won’t hurry up so we’ll never get out of this log," another ant said rudely.

Ali smiled at them and continued through the log. The ants had to lay flat against the side of the log until he went past. His antenna knocked some of the leaves out of their arms. The ants were very angry with Ali, but he just went merrily on his way.

Soon he arrived at his friend, Jasmine, the slug’s home. Jasmine lived on the side of a flowerpot. It held bright red geraniums, which were growing in some deep brown earth. "Good morning, Jasmine. Isn’t it a nice day?"

Jasmine slowly moved down the side of the flowerpot to where Ali, the snail, stood. "Come on, Ali. Stay a while. You don’t have to hurry off, do you?" he asked.

Ali just smiled, and then said, "No, Jasmine, I don’t have to hurry!"

Chomper, the grasshopper, climbed up the green stem of a rose bush. It was covered with white roses that had pink around the edges of each petal. He moved carefully over the brown thorns, check out each leaf, searching for one he thought would be perfect to munch and chomp. At last he found one. It was big, veiny, green and tender. He began to nibble on it. CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!

Lily, the frog, was down in the dirt near the rose bushes’ roots. She was trying to rest. She’d found a comfortable spot where it was cool and damp but couldn’t get to sleep because of all the noise. "Who is making all that noise?" she croaked. She looked up and saw Chomper munching away on a leaf. "Chomper, stop making so much noise. That chomping sound is keeping me awake. I want to take a nap!" she called up to him. CROAK! CROAK! CROAK! "Stop it right now!" Lily demanded.

Chomper looked down from high up in the rosebush. He had a hard time seeing Lily because she was as green as the rose bush stems. When he spotted her he called down, "I’m sorry, Lily. I’ll try to chomp softer." He started chomping again, but much quieter. Chomp chomp chomp.

Lily, not hearing the noise any more, fell asleep.

Spud, the potato bug, was leaning against a rock. He was reading his favorite book, ‘Rolling In the Wind’. Concentrating on the words was difficult because he kept hearing Chomper’s loud chomping. CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP! Spud shouted up to him, "Chomper, stop making so much noise. I can’t even read my book with all that chewing. Stop it right now!" he ordered.

The grasshopper looked down from high up in the rose bush. He saw Spud, who was the same color gray as the rock he was leaning against. He had a book in one of his many hands. "Okay, Spud. I’ll try to chomp quieter."

So, he did just that. He chomped softly. Chomp Chomp Chomp

Spud was able to read his book now, undisturbed.

Honey, the bumblebee, was flying around the white roses, going in and out of the bright yellow centers, and gathering nectar. She was daydreaming; thinking about the pollen and nectar and how pleased the Queen would be when she came back to the hive with all she had gathered. Suddenly she was distracted by a loud noise. She listened. CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP! She flew down to where the noise was coming from and saw Chomper munching away on a leaf. Honey called out, "Keep the noise down. BUZZ! BUZZ! You are so loud. BUZZ! BUZZ! How do you expect me to gather pollen when you are chomping away like that? BUZZ! BUZZ! Stop it right now!" she buzzed.

Chomper looked up at the black and yellow striped bumblebee. She was hovering just above him, her wings moving quickly up and down. "Sorry, Honey. I’ll try to chomp softly." So Chomper did just that. Chomp Chomp Chomp

Honey went back to her pollen and nectar gathering and Chomper enjoyed his leaf.

It didn’t take long for Chomper to start munching loudly again. CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!

Legs, the lime green caterpillar was spinning his cocoon on the branch of a nearby bush. He kept making mistakes and getting himself all tangled up in it because Chomper was making so much noise. "Chomper, how can I finish my cocoon and change into a butterfly if you keep making all that noise?" he called over to the grasshopper. "You are being too noisy. I can’t concentrate. Stop it, right now!" Legs commanded.

Chomper looked over at the other bush to see where Legs was making his cocoon. He saw him. He was such a bright lime green that it wasn’t hard to spot him. "I’m sorry, Legs. I don’t want to disturb you. Go back to spinning your cocoon and I’ll try to be quiet." Chomper did just that. Chomp Chomp Chomp Legs went back to spinning his cocoon, relaxed and peaceful.

After just a few minutes, Chomp was chewing loudly once more. CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!

Chirp, the black cricket, was singing a beautiful operetta, but the chomping noise distracted her. She couldn’t rub her wings together and get the right tone. She kept making mistakes and it was all Chompers fault. "Chomper! You are being too noisy. I can’t sing. My wings won’t rub together right. Stop it right now! I need to finish my operetta," she told the grasshopper.

Chomper looked over at Chirp. He was getting tired of the others telling him to be quiet. He’d had enough. Tender leaf or not, he decided to leave and find another rose bush; one with tender leaves growing on it, of course. He hopped off the bush to the ground. He bounced past some beautiful orange poppies, some fragrant purple violets, and some colorful purple pansies touched with yellow centers that were dancing in the breeze. He sprung past some crimson red chrysanthemums and sunshine yellow marigolds. As he hopped away he could hear Lily croaking, Spud rolling around, Honey buzzing, Legs spinning his cocoon, and Chirp singing her operetta. "And they say I’m noisy!" he muttered to himself. "Just listen to them all."

He landed with a plop near a yellow rose bush. He climbed up the thorny branch and found himself a soft, but firm leaf. It was quiet there. He looked around. He saw no other insects, so he knew he’d not be disturbed. It was so quiet that he lay down on the leaf, rolled it up around him and fell asleep.

As Chomper lay snoozing, trouble was going on back at the other rosebush. Beek, the bluebird, had been flying around. She spotted Honey buzzing around the roses. He flew down and tried to swallow her. Honey flew off in terror and hid inside one of the pink and white rosebuds. Beek landed on one of the branches looking for her.

He couldn’t find Honey but he did see Legs as he spun his cocoon. He jumped over to him and tried to pull the lime green caterpillar out. Legs, frightened, quickly spun the rest of his cocoon and sealed himself up inside. Beek was just about to eat the entire thing when he heard a noise below.

He looked down and saw Spud lying against a rock, reading a book. He swooped down to gobble him up but Spud saw his shadow and curled up in a ball. His hard shell closed tightly. Beek couldn’t pick him up. He kept rolling out of his mouth. He finally gave up and flew up to a sturdy branch.

Chirp was rubbing her wings together. She didn’t hear Beek as his wings fluttered next to her. He was just about to grab her when she turned around and saw him. She pushed with her strong back legs and flew off into the grass and hopped away. Beek couldn’t find her anywhere. She had vanished.

Beek was getting angry. He started to chirp. CHIRP! CHIRP! CHIRP! He was hungry and wanted a bug to eat.

Lily, hiding in the roots of the bush, watched in horror as beak tried to eat all of her friends. She hopped away as quickly as she could and went looking for Chomper. She leapt passed the poppies and the violets, jumped over the pansies, chrysanthemums and marigolds and landed right at the bottom of the yellow rose bush.

She leapt up and down, trying to see Chomper. Finally she spotted him curled up in a leaf, sleeping. CROAK! CROAK! CROAK! "Wake up, Chomper!" she called out.

Chomper heard her and sat up. "What’s the matter, Lily?" he asked, laying over the edge of the leaf.

"Beek, the bluebird, is trying to eat us all. We need your help!" she begged.

"What can I do? I’m just a noisy, annoying, chomping grasshopper. Remember?"

"Please come and help us, Chomper," she begged again, ignoring his sarcasm.

Chomper hopped down from the leaf into the dirt. He sprung over to the bush with the white roses. Lily followed right behind him. He looked up and saw Beek, who was now flying just above the bush. Beek figured if he couldn’t eat them, he’d terrorize them instead.

Chomper thought of an idea. He sneakily climbed up the stem of the bush and found a branch with a few sharp thorns on it. He chewed it off, quietly chomping, and then climbed high into the bush with the branch in his mouth. When he came to one of the roses, he climbed inside and sat still, holding the thorny branch.

Beek swooped down at the insects. Chomper lifted the branch tightly in his hands. When Beek flew by, he swung it and the sharp thorns went right through Beek’s feathers.

"OUCH!" he squawked. The thorns hurt him so badly that he flew away to his nest. Never again did he come back to the rose bush and try to eat them.

From then on, Lily, Spud, Honey, Legs, and Chirp never complained about Chomper’s chomping. He could chomp as loudly as he wanted. The others felt safe and happy just knowing he was there. Chomper was happy because the most tender leaves of all were on that rose bush.

CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!

Summer Egyptian Recipes

Cut some yarn the length you want for a necklace. Find things that you can put into your ice cubes, such as little stones that are pretty, leaves, tiny flowers, marbles, beads etc…Put the items into the ice cube tray then fill it with water. Lay your piece of yarn on top, making sure that it goes into each cube. Put the tray into the freezer and when it is all frozen, carefully take them out. You shall have an ice cube necklace that you can put on during a hot summers day. When it melts, it will cool you down.

Pick your three favorite colors of juice or Kool Aid. Get several small paper cups. Pour the first color into the bottom, filling the cup up one third of the way. Freeze it. Then remove from freezer and put a Popsicle stick in the middle and pour the next color juice on top and around the stick. Freeze. Take out of freezer and add 3^rd color of juice. Cut a piece of string or shoestring licorice and put it in with the third layer so that it hangs over the top of the cup. Freeze. When it’s all frozen, remove paper cups and have your rocket popsicle.

You can mix some frozen whipped topping and vanilla yogurt together for one of the layers. There are many things you can make your own Popsicles out of: any flavor of juice, any leftover soda pop (Coke, Sprite etc.), pudding, pureed fruits, jello, applesauce, cranberry sauce, juice from canned fruit. Try them.

You can also add sprinkles, chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, marshmallows or anything else like that to your Popsicles as they are freezing.

Mix 1 package of chocolate pudding, ½ c. marshmallows, ¼ c. peanuts. Pour mixture into little paper cups. Put a Popsicle stick in the center and freeze.

Mix pineapple juice, shredded coconut and bananas in a blender. Pour into paper cups, put in a Popsicle stick and freeze.

Mix 2 t. Tang with ½ t. vanilla. Pour into a glass of milk. Pour into paper cups, add a Popsicle stick and freeze.

Mix some club soda or ginger ale with some gelatin to make it bubbly, then freeze in paper cups with Popsicle stick in middle. You can use Sparkling Jello if you’d like.

Sprinkle some vanilla ice cream with your favorite colored sprinkles

Make some sugar cookies and top them with a white frosting and some sprinkles of your choice

Make a big pitcher of ice cold koolaid

Pour a glass of milk and add food coloring to it, also can do this with milk shakes

Buy some long rod pretzels. Dip the top inch into some melted chocolate, either milk chocolate or white chocolate. Roll the melted chocolate tip into your favorite color sprinkles. Lay on waxed paper to harden

Picnics are always fun in the summer time. You don’t have to prepare that much, but you do need a few things. First you need a basket or other type of carrier. You can even use a cardboard box if necessary.

Put some plastic forks, knifes and spoons inside it, along with paper plates and cups. Also include napkins and handy wipes for your messy hands afterwards. If room, add a tablecloth or sheet to sit on the grass.

If you are taking hot food, be sure and remember that after 2 hours, food begins to spoil. If taking cold food, keep it cool in a cooler of ice. If you fill up a soda pop bottle, plastic, with water and freeze it, this will help keep things cool.

Take lots of water to drink.

You may want to take some salt, pepper, mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise along.

Enjoy

• 1 large package of fudge brownie mix
• 2 bananas
• ½ c. crushed nuts
• your favorite flavor ice cream (at least 2)
• toppings, such as nuts, cherries, whipped cream, caramel, chocolate etc.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the brownie mix as instructed. Cool. On top of brownie layer sliced bananas (be sure to slice just before this, not earlier), nuts and four cups of one of your ice cream flavors. Then add the other ice creams. Cover and freeze for about 6 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving to let ice cream soften slightly. Cut into squares.

• 12 strawberries
• 12 donut holes
• skewers (bamboo)
• chocolate chips
• 2 T. margarine

String strawberries, donut holes onto scewer. Melt the chocolate and butter. Drizzle this over the strawberries and donut holes. Refrigerate till chocolate is hard.

• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. hot water
• 2/3 c. white corn syrup

Cook the sugar, syrup and water until it is at a hard crack stage. Remove from heat and add your favorite coloring and flavor. Pour onto a buttered cookie sheet and let cool. Crack pieces off.