Sweet Berry Farm Strawberry Picking

Grandmaman, I finally found my camera. I took Boogs and his cousin, Little J, to Sweet Berry Farm to pick strawberries during Spring Break. Unfortunately, the berries were pretty picked over by the time we went. The boys still had fun, they just did not have very many strawberries to bring home.

You know I can't have a strawberry picking post without a flashback picture. We have made it to Sweet Berry Farm every year to pick strawberries since Boogs was two-years-old.
                                         

They added a new thing this year, it was like a bouncy house in the middle of the field. Boogs and Little J LOVED it!

After all that bouncing, we had to have homemade strawberry popsicles before we left the farm.

We went from the farm to the library for a Mad Science show. Boogs went up on stage to take a ride on a "hover craft" made out of plywood, plastic sheeting, and a leaf blower.

This post has been linked up to Country Kids from Coombe Mills weekly linky party.

Bunny Lunches March 25th - 27th

Boogs had a short school week due to Easter weekend. This week he took three bunny lunches to school. 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 a book or a chapter of a book to him. I usually post his lunches once a week.

The Biggest Easter Basket Ever by Steven Kroll
Boogs has enjoyed the other Steven Kroll books featuring Clayton and Desmond. In this book, the mice work together to create the biggest and best Easter basket for the contest. They discover that teamwork makes big jobs easier. Easter baskets in an ELB lunchbox: pb&j basket sandwich made with my Funbites tool, marshmallow bunnies, cheese Easter eggs, cheese stick, dried apricot & raisin eggs basket, olive and tomato eggs baskets.

The Easter Bunny Is Missing by Steve Metzger
The animals in the forest discover that the Easter Bunny is missing. Each animal thinks they would be the best one to hide eggs on Easter morning. None of the other animals are quite right for the job. Will the Easter Bunny be found in time? In the ELB lunchbox: Easter Bunny drawn on cheese, bunny Peeps, salad, and pineapple with a Stampin Up bunny on top. This lunch took less than 15 minutes to make. I added it to Bentos on the Bayou 15 Minute Linky Party.

The Case of the Puzzling Possum by Cynthia Rylant

This is another mystery for Jack and Bunny to solve, it has nothing to do with Easter. Bunny and Jack must help the music store owner find out who keeps stealing and then putting back a trombone. They find several clues at the crime scene - straw and mud. These clues lead them to the Hayride where the Big Brass Band is playing. Working together, Jack and Bunny solve the case. In the Laptop lunchbox: mango haybales, Zbar muddy clue, marshmallow with Jack Racoon drawing and cowboy hat pick, boiled egg bunny, spinach, carrots, and hummus.


Here is a round-up of some bunny lunches I have shared in the past. Click the pictures to get the details:

 

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 or go to My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by. This post is linked to Lunchbox Dad: Throwback Thursday Link-Up.

Grown-up Lunches

My lunches are very boring compared to Boogs' Story Themed lunches. Beth from A Boy & His Lunch is now hosting a Grown-Ups Gotta Eat linky. I thought I would link-up this week. Here are a few of my lunches:

 Hmmm... I guess I pretty much eat the same thing everyday. Well, sometimes I just have soup. If you want to see cute lunches, you have to look at Boogs' story themed lunches.

Lunches March 18th - 22nd

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 a book or a chapter of a book 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.

Caty the Caterpillar by Myka-Lynne Sokoloff

Boogs brought this book home for his reading homework. In the story, Davy is sad that he does not have a pet to bring to the Pet Fair. He finds a caterpillar and decides to name her Caty and bring her as his pet. Caty disappears during the fair. Later in the story, Davy finds a butterfly who he thinks is Caty. In the ELB lunchbox: cheese Caty caterpillar on top of spinach tortellini with pesto sauce for leaves, butterfly pick, berries, and a puppy pick in the salad. This lunch took about 10 minutes to put together. I linked it on Bentos on the Bayou 15 Minute Fridays linky party.

Waggers by Philemon Sturges

This book gives an explanation for why dogs sniff other dog's tails when they meet. I was not sure I wanted an explanation for this, but the story was very cute. All the dogs had a meeting to discuss getting rid of cats. The dogs hung up their waggers on coat hooks as they entered the meeting. An emergency caused all of the dogs to leave the meeting in a rush. They grabbed the closest wagger as they ran out the door. Today, dogs smell other dogs tails to see if it is their original wagger. Boogs thought this was a good explanation. In the ELB: cheese cat, almond butter and jelly dog, sesame stick waggers, puppy pick in the salad, dried apricots, and an orange.


Hero Cat by Eileen Spinelli

 This book was written after the author read a report about a mother cat rescuing her kittens from a fire. Mother cat heroically went back into a burning building five times to save her kittens. In the ELB lunchbox: hero cat drawn on a salami & cheese sandwich, bell pepper flames, Hero Cat written on a marshmallow, mango flames, carrot & tomato flames, and hummus.

 What Time Is It Peter Rabbit? based on the original tales by Beatrix Potter

One of Boogs' homework assignments this week was to practice reading time on an analog clock. I could not find our Judy Clock. All of the clocks in our house are digital. Luckily, I remembered that Boogs had this book on his shelf. So, we used it for homework, bedtime reading, and lunch inspiration. In the ELB: Babybel clock showing lunch time, pb&j rabbit sandwich, pretzel fence posts, spinach & carrots from McGregor's garden, and grapes.




Atomic Ace (He's Just My Dad) by Jeff Weigel

Boogs really likes comic books. The boy in this book describes how normal his life is even though his dad is a super hero. Dad is a normal dad who sometimes cooks dinner for the family, he just cooks with his nuclear blasts and flame breath. When Dad is out fighting a bad guy he accidentally misses his son's band concert. He comes home (with his head transformed into a giant ant head) and apologizes for missing the concert. The family understands and Atomic Ace eventually triumphs over evil. In the ELB: Atomic Ace drawn on a ham & cheese sandwich, grapes, and salad.


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 or go to My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by. 

Crafty Playdate

Last year, my friend and I met each week for a fun learning playdate with our kiddos. Things got hectic, I went back to work, and the weekly get together stopped. We are on Spring Break this week, so we were able to get together again.

When we were at the library last week, Boogs chose to checkout several monster books. I asked him if he wanted to do some sort of monster craft this week to go with his book picks. He helped decide on a papier-mache monster project.

It was a busy couple of hours while the kiddos worked on their creations.
(I forgot to take my camera with us. All of the photos were taken on my iPhone and they are not very good.)

I checked out Papier-Mache for Kids by Sheila McGraw and Papier-Mache Project Book by Marion Elliot. We also read Go to Bed Monster! by Natasha Wing and My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck.

After looking through the books, the kids decided what kind of project they wanted to do. Big Sis and H decided to make 3-D creatures with E's help. Boogs and B decided to make masks. Our paste recipe: 1/2 c. flour, 1 c. very warm water, 2 TBL salt (to reduce molding); mix it altogether until their are no lumps.

I love seeing how engaged the kids were in this activity.

Boogs took his mask home to finish drying and then add another layer before painting it. I don't think we will see C and her kids again in the next couple of weeks, so everyone is going to complete their projects on their own. Boogs needs to let his dry, add another layer, and then paint on his monster details. I will post a picture of the final project when we finish it.

Our Little Chef

When Boogs was younger, he loved to spend time in the kitchen with me. It has become sort of a rare occurrence these days. I just have to find the kind of kitchen activity that I know will interest him. Here are a few from the past couple of weeks.

Making English Muffin Mini Pizzas

Sausage, Potato, Carrot & Onion Bake

 Boogs was VERY careful with the knife. He was pretty good at keeping his slices a uniform size.

 Grating carrots was a bit harder but he was a pro at cutting them.

 He told me he wanted to cut the onions to see if they would make him cry.

 Yum! We sprinkled on a few spices. This is what it looked like when we first popped it into the oven.

Sugar Cookies for St. Patrick's Day

 I had to decorate a few, too. I melted a marshmallow for the clouds.

Other than cookies and sweets, I would love some suggestions for simple recipes/meals your kids have enjoyed making.

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar.