Lunches May 28 - May 31st

Boogs' lunches are inspired by the books we read at bedtime the previous evening. Each night, Boogs reads one book to me and I read two books to him. I usually post his lunches once a week. Click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post to see lunches from previous weeks.

Sheep Out to Eat by Nancy E. Shaw
The sheep go out to eat at a fancy restaurant and they do not have any manners.  Boogs laughed at their restaurant antics. In the ELB lunchbox: almond butter and jelly sheep sandwich, popcorn, strawberries, blueberries, salad.

Beautiful Moon/Bella Luna by Dawn Jeffers
This is another book with English and Spanish text from our library.  It tells the story of a little girl who has so many things planned that she cannot fit them into one day. She pulls back the night sky and wishes for it to always be daylight. She soon discovers that having her wish come true is not as great as she thought it would be. Boogs enjoyed looking at the detailed pictures. In the Laptop lunchbox: pb&j girl sandwich, Babybel cheese Bella Luna, strawberry flowers, salad, yogurt, and popcorn.

How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read? by Jane Yolen
Oops! We discovered that some of the ways we read books (sometimes while eating) are on the dinosaurs "no" list for reading books. Oh well, we love to read wherever we are. In the lunchbox: ham & cheese dinosaur sandwiches, berries, pita chip "books", yogurt, spinach, and broccoli.

It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
We were watching the clouds this afternoon and that reminded me of this book. I dug it out of a box to read to Boogs. Each white blob looks like an object or animal. The white cloud shapes on blue paper look like spilt milk. I wonder if Boogs will think some of the clouds we watch next time look like the objects in this book. I love laying in the grass and watching the clouds go by with my sweet boy. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j cloud shapes, apple, Z bar, carrots with hummus, and yogurt.

I did not realize until after I finished making this lunch that it would be the last Kindergarten lunch I made. Boogs has 1/2 a day of school tomorrow for his last day in Kindergarten. We will probably go out to lunch with friends tomorrow after school so I am not making a story themed  lunch tomorrow.


I will still try to post lunches on Fridays throughout the summer but there will probably be fewer lunches posted at a time. We have a nice schedule set up for summer. Boogs will have swim practices five days a week for swim team and swim meets every Saturday. I have signed him up for twice a week Spanish immersion classes. We have lots of playdates and get togethers with friends coming up. Boogs and I are looking forward to it.

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post. Be sure to leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by.

Autograph Shirt

Boogs has one day left of Kindergarten. I decided to make an autograph shirt for his friends to sign. I was going to go to Hobby Lobby and buy a white t-shirt, but then I remembered a t-shirt in his closet that he never wears. This shirt started out white, got stained, was then tie-dyed, and now I have freezer paper stenciled on it. It was perfect for the kiddos to write all over with permanent marker.

I could not find my craft exacto knife so I had to settle for a box cutter. Whew, that was a lot of work with a box cutter. 

Green paint to match the green tie-dye.

Tada! Finished and ready to wear to school.

Before school - Boogs thought it was a pretty cool idea to have his friends write on him.

After school - Boogs had fun getting signed. During bath time, he thought it was pretty funny that he had permanent marker dots on his skin. The markers went through in a couple of places. Boogs told me that he put the end of his shirt up on a desk so his friend could draw a heart near the bottom. 

I still can't believe that tomorrow afternoon I will be bringing home a 1st grader. This year (actually the past 6 years) has gone by way too quickly. I am really going to enjoy having my boy home for the summer.

Lunches May 21 - 25

Boogs' lunches are inspired by the books we read at bedtime the previous evening. Each night, Boogs reads one book to me and I read two books to him. I usually post his lunches once a week. Click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post to see lunches from previous weeks. 

Elephant Dance by Theresa Heine
Ravi and Anjali ask questions and hear about their grandfather's growing-up years in India.  Grandfather tells them about the sun that is like a ferocious tiger, monsoon rains that fall like waterfalls from the sky, and elephants parading during the Festival of Divaali. Ravi dreams of playing a tune for the elephants to see them dance. At the end of the book, there is a section of factual information about India. In the lunchbox: "King of Fruits" mango, carrots in hummus, ferociously hot cheese sun, almonds, pretzels, pb&j elephant sandwich with fruit leather blanket, and yogurt.

Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen
 In this story, a lion wanders into the library. Boogs liked this book. He had fun telling me stories about what it would be like if a lion walked into our library. At first, the Library Lion startles the library patrons. Soon, he is a regular library helper. This is a sweet story about caring for others. In the lunchbox: almond butter and jelly lion sandwich, pistachios, oranges, broccoli, and yogurt.

Libary Mouse A World to Explore by Daniel Kirk
Sam and Sarah are two mice who live in the library. Sarah is adventurous and wants to explore the library by climbing the highest shelves and having daredevil adventures. Sam is a hesitant adventurer who wants to explore the library by reading and researching. Together, the two encourage each other to do more than they would alone. Boogs said the mice reminded him a little bit of Jack and Annie from The Magic Tree House because they researched and had adventures, too. In the lunchbox: pb&j mouse sandwich, pita chip books, turkey rolls, carrot, grapefruit, juice, and yogurt.

On Thursday, I let Boogs buy his lunch at school. He told me liked his lunches from home much better. When I asked what he had for lunch, I was not thrilled with his answer, "A hot dog, tator tots, and Doritos." Boogs is the second to last kid in line and the majority of his class buys a school lunch. By the time he got through the lunch line, he said he only had about 10 minutes to eat. I am so glad I take the time to send a healthy packed lunch for him every day. 

The Most Perfect Spot by Diane Goode
Jack invites his mother to the perfect spot for a picnic. Each time they find the perfect spot, the phrase "But suddenly, who knows why..." ends the page. Then, some calamity befalls them. Boogs laughed at the colorful pictures. He quickly learned to watch out for the little dog on each page. Trouble seems to follow that dog. Boogs has decided that we need to find the perfect spot for our own picnic. School ends next Friday. I am sure we have many picnics in our future. In the lunchbox: broccoli, kiwi, pita chip picnic blanket, almond butter & jelly dog holding Mother's ruined hat, raisins, cheese mother and boy with fruit leather hats, popcorn, and yogurt.

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post. Be sure to leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by.

Cheese Ball Cake

Boogs teacher is not very fond of sweets. One of the other teachers asked if I would make some sort of birthday treat for Boogs' teacher that is not sweet. I turned to my Bento Blogger Friends for help with ideas. Someone suggested this "cake" from Hungry Happenings site. That cake is way out of my skill level but I did use it for inspiration.

Here is my cheese ball cake:

I used this recipe but omitted the nuts because of potential allergies. This is the first time I have ever made a cheese ball and the first time I have ever tried to cut radish flowers. It was quite a learning experience. I would not recommend trying to learn how to cut radish flowers an hour before you are supposed to have them ready.

I used a 1.5 Quart Pyrex bowl to mold the cake. I just randomly picked a bowl that I thought would make a good shape. I put plastic wrap in the bottom of the bowl before I squished the cheese into it. I used:
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix (I added a bit more until I liked the flavor)
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Set it in the fridge for a bit to help it set its shape then inverted it onto a plate to "frost" with cream cheese. It turned out to be around 6 to 7 inches across. There was about 1/4 of it left after all of the students had gotten a big spoonful.

Boogs' teacher and class enjoyed the cake with crackers and veggies. It was so nice to bring home a kiddo who was not on a sugar high after a class party.

Cardmaking

A couple of years ago, I was a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I have so much cardmaking and scrapbooking supplies that I feel guilty if I don't occasionally use them. Most of my Stampin' Up stamp sets are retired.

I made summer cards for my preschool kiddos. I used to make and sell fold-out mini albums using this paper folding technique. For my summer card, I took a 7 x 7 inch sheet of cardstock and folded it three times - crease left to right, unfold then crease top to bottom, unfold then crease on the diagonal. Push the two diagonal points toward each other to collapse into a 3 1/2 inch square. I glued one side down to a 4 x 4 inch piece of cardstock for the base. I love using this technique to make a quick and cute card. I used my On the Beach stamp set for the summer images. 

I recently attended a baby shower and made this card. I love this retired Stampin' Up set - A New Little Someone. The bunny went perfectly with the bunny on the wrapping paper I used for the baby shower gift. I stamped the bunny image on vellum and chalked the bow, ears, and feet. I stamped the bunny image on white cardstock and put that under the vellum. I think it turned out cute.

Swim Team 2012

Boogs is back on the swim team this year. He started practices a couple of weeks ago and attended the first meet of the season this past Saturday. He LOVES being in the water. Boogs told me he wants to attend every meet this year. Hello 5:30 am every Saturday morning until July 7th. It is going to be a fun swim season!

Lunches May 14th - 18th

Boogs' lunches are inspired by the books we read at bedtime the previous evening. Each night, Boogs reads one book to me and I read two books to him. I usually post his lunches once a week. Click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post to see lunches from previous weeks. 

Transformers Comic Book by Hasbro
Because it was Mother's Day, my husband put Boogs to bed Sunday night. It was very nice of him. The only thing they read for a bedtime story time was this comic book. After Boogs was asleep, my husband told me this was the worst thing he has ever read, "no plot, unpronounceable made-up words, really had no beginning or ending." I am not a big fan of it either but I still had to try and turn it into lunch for Boogs. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j Transformer jet that turns into a Transformer robot, cheese stick, Chex Mix Cybertron debris, pears, yogurt, and salad with cucumber letters.  

Thelonius Turkey Lives! by Lynn Rowe Reed
The last time we were at the library, Boogs checked out 3 Christmas books and one Thanksgiving book. I picked out a few other books that were not holiday books. The librarian told us that kids tend to check out Christmas books all year round. Thelonius is the last turkey left on Felicia's Ferguson's Farm. It is almost Thanksgiving and Thelonius is nervous about becoming t-day dinner. He enlists some of the other farm animals to help him play tricks on Felicia because he is not going down without a fight. Boogs enjoyed this book. In the lunchbox: almond butter & jelly Thelonius sandwich with fruit leather feathers, carrot branch, pistachio turkey feed,  yogurt, and applesauce.

Smile! by Leigh Hodgkinson
Sunny has lost her smile. She searches and searches for it and it finally comes back. Boogs told me he looses his smile when he has to take a shower instead of a bath or when he has to clean his room. It sure can be rough when you are a 6-year-old. In the lunchbox: pb&j Sunny sandwich with fruit leather hair, cheese stick eyes, wax smile (not to be eaten, it is one of those flavored wax lips to chew like gum), fruit leather letters, orange slice smiles, and salad.

Who Stole Mona Lisa? by Ruthie Knapp
This book is told with the Mona Lisa picture narrating the story. She tells of how she came to be painted, how she ended up at the Louvre Museum, and how she was kidnapped and missing for two years. I was impressed that Boogs remembered Leonardo da Vinci and his varied works. We read Magic Tree House: Monday With a Mad Genius last summer. Last night when we read the title of our bedtime book, Boogs said, "Oh, I remember this picture and the guy who painted it. He was interested in a lot of things. He painted the Mona Lisa and he tried to make a flying machine and he liked birds to not be in cages."  I love seeing Boogs make literature connections. In the lunchbox: buttered bread Mona Lisa painting, County Line leftover chicken, blueberries, tomatoes, raisins, juice, broccoli and spinach.

Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D.B. Johnson
This is another picture book inspired by Henry David Thoreau's Walden. Two friends challenge each other to be the first to get to Fitchburg. One will walk the 30 miles while the other will work to earn money to pay for a ticket for the train. This story shows what each of the friends is doing to get to Fitchburg. Henry Bear enjoys his long walk through nature, stops to press flowers in a book, picks blackberries, gathers honey, and takes in the beauty of the countryside. His friend toils all day to earn enough money to rush to the train, ride squished in a train car overcrowded with people, and arrive at dark in Fitchburg. Henry gets there later than his friend and explains that he was late because he stopped to pick blackberries to share. Boogs and I talked about being in nature, remembered our camping trips, the fun we have on our hikes, and our own adventures picking strawberries. During our discussion, I asked him if he enjoys being in nature. He responded, "My heart likes to be in nature, but sometimes my brain messes with me. My brain tells me that I want to stay inside and play Lego Star Wars on the Wii instead of just being in nature." In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j Henry Bear sandwich, cheese butterflies, turkey pepperoni flower, ham walking stick, blackberries, carrots with hummus, and yogurt.

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post. Be sure to leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by.

Mother's Day

Yay! I found my camera. My sweet husband had a special boys only day with Boogs on Saturday. I had the entire day to myself. I took my mom out to lunch and spent most of the afternoon with her.

On Mother's Day, Boogs gave me a beautiful bouquet of roses. We went to the Oasis for brunch, wandered around the shops for a couple of hours, and then went home for a nap. It was a lovely day.

Random Pics From the Past Week Or So

Grandmaman - a few pictures for you to enjoy:

Student-led Conferences - "The best part of kindergarten was... the chiks" I love this sweet & silly boy!

Crazy Hair Day at school. Boogs picked the colors and the style.

Home Depot Kids Workshop - making a planter box.

Planting a tomato in his not-quite-dry planter box.

"Can I get my feet wet?"

Apparently, Boogs does not know where his feet end.

I rolled his shorts up Daisy Duke style in an effort to keep them dry. It did not work out for us.

Hanging with "The J Boys"

Boogs is studying the bug on his arms.

Making french toast for breakfast. (Ignore the messy kitchen)

Boogs has started to like working on activity books.

Boogs lost his 2nd tooth on Wednesday, May 9th. He asked me, "Can we write a nice note to the Tooth Fairy and ask her to just borrow my tooth? I really want to keep my tooth for an old memory." We wrote her a note. She wrote back, agreed to just borrow the tooth, and left $2 under Boogs pillow. In the morning he asked, "Do I need to save these two dollars to give back to the Tooth Fairy for when she brings me back my tooth?" He is such a cutie!

Painting Our Sculpture

We had to rearrange our schedule this week. Our learning playdate was moved from Wednesday to Friday. Last week, we went over a very short history of sculpture and then gave the kids a block of clay and let them do whatever they wanted with it. Here is what they created:

This week, we gave them a variety of paint colors and brushes.They put these items to good use.

Oops!

There were a few mishaps.

The finished pieces.

Next week, we are going to check out a newly opened "all-abilities" park.