Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday also happened to be Boogs' 9th birthday. We had a very low-key day as Boogs was still recovering from being ill the previous week. Every year on Boogs' birthday I "balloon" his door/room. Sometimes I cover his floor with balloons and sometimes I find ways to make balloons fall into his room when he opens his door. This year, I hung tie-dye balloons on his door and made several balloon animals to go with them. This was the first time I have tried to make balloon animals.

Boogs thought the red dog was the most recognizable balloon animal. He thought they were fun but was not too sure about the poodle or the crocodile.

 I even made him a swimming sea turtle hat... er... I mean belt. He was not impressed.

Look at that smile. Boogs loves singing birthday cards. This card had a dog barking and a cat meowing the birthday song.

The only thing Boogs wanted for his birthday was a Webkins Black-Footed Ferret stuffed animal. He is such a sweet boy. I love this picture of him hugging his Daddy and saying thank you.

While we were fixing breakfast, Boogs went to feed his hamster. She was no longer alive. He has had Winter since his 7th birthday. We had a very, very sad morning.

After breakfast, we had a funeral for Winter. Boogs said a few words over her grave.

We went to my Mom's house for Easter lunch. We had a little cake to celebrate Boogs' birthday.

All of Boogs' cousins were out of town, so Boogs was on his own for the egg hunt. It was raining outside so we had to have the hunt inside.

We usually do not put candy in the Easter eggs, we just put coins. My Mom put money in 12 shiny eggs and then hid 95 empty eggs as well. There are usually 5 to 9 grandchildren hunting eggs. She wanted Boogs to have lots of eggs to hunt but did not want to open a lot of eggs and fill them. Boogs had fun looking for the eggs but it was kind of sad that he had the hunt all to himself. It is times like this when I wish he was not an only child.

We spent part of our afternoon like this. That is the positive side of the cousins being out of town. We would have welcomed the chaos.

Thanks Mom for having us over and making it a fun day for Boogs!

What We've Been Up To

The month of April has simply flown by! Boogs has been busy this month with turning 8, Easter at Nonnie's house, swim team, soccer, Math Pentathlon, Lego Bricks class, playdates, cooking, visiting parks, playing video games, and just hanging out at home.

We almost missed our family Easter get together. SOMEONE forgot to tell me that the family gathering was taking place on Saturday, not Sunday. Boogs, Daddy, and I went out to brunch with friends on Saturday and then started taking care of some errands. My sister called about 1:30 and asked where we were. What? Apparently, everyone was waiting to eat until we arrived. Oops! We told them to go ahead and eat. It was almost 2:30 by the time we made it. At least Boogs did not miss the Easter egg hunt. I did not have a chance to get my camera before driving to Nonnie's house. My phone pics did not turn out well.

Eight egg hunters raced to find eggs in Nonnie's backyard and in the greenbelt area directly behind the house. Each egg contains 25 cents and a few special ones have $1. The kids have never complained about not getting candy in their eggs.

Boogs had to work to get down the high eggs in a couple of trees.

Only Easter eggs were found in the woods, no snakes. Yay!

My brother made 3 dozen cascarones (confetti eggs) this year and filled them with confetti and glitter. I HATE when he puts glitter in them. I took pictures from the protection of the living room.

 Everyone was covered in glitter.

 I stole this picture from my niece. Boogs loves this part of our Easter family get togethers!

Boogs got a little bit of help from Daddy for better aim.

Counting the egg money is always fun! Boogs collected $9.75 this year. Wahoo!

After the hunt, we spent a few hours visiting, eating lots of junk, playing games, and trying to pick glitter off each other. I think Boogs still had a few pieces of glitter stuck to his scalp for at least three days.

Boogs made up his own game in the backyard. He took an ice chest, bucket, foam roller, and his bike helmet to make a crash dummy. He then used his bat to see how far he could make the crash dummy fly. I played too and it was fun.

My husband called a lawn service to come an aerate our lawn. Before they came, we had to mark the sprinkler heads so they would not be damaged. My husband decided to turn the sprinkler marking into a fun job for Boogs. Boogs had to go around putting flags by the sprinkler heads while they were spraying.

He got soaked but had fun with this chore.

Boogs used his Christmas, birthday, and chore money to buy a 3DS. He has been very happy with his purchase. (Daddy approved it.)

Boogs and Daddy worked together to finish Lego Mindstorm Robotics R3PTAR.

 

The R3PTAR is like a King Cobra snake. You can program it or use a remote control to make it slither around. I has a sensor in its head that causes it to strike when something is in front of its face. It is really cool! 

This weekend we are working on Boogs' Science Share Project. I better go see how he is doing with it.

Lunches April 14th - 18th

Boogs' lunches are usually inspired by the books we read together. Story time is part of our daily bedtime routine. Boogs reads to me and then I read 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. We like to pack our lunches in ELBs and Laptop Lunchboxes.

Marley and the Great Easter Egg Hunt by John Grogan

Boogs really likes Marley stories. In the story, Marley and his family attend the town Easter Egg Hunt. The Mayor tells the crowd there will be a huge special egg, whoever finds it will be declared the winner of the Easter Egg Hunt. Marley tries his hardest to find eggs but each time he almost has one, a child comes by and snatches it up. Marley decides to look in more unusual places for eggs like the market, bakery, and the party supply store. Yikes, Marley leaves a wake of destruction in his path. He gets covered with streamers, confetti, yolks, and frosting. Marley looks like a giant Easter egg. Boogs really thought this story was cute.

In the ELB lunchbox: almond butter & jelly Marley wrapped in streamers, boiled Easter egg, cheese eggs hidden in okra chips, kiwi egg, and salad with hidden tomato and carrot eggs.



 Fifi the Ferocious by Lucas Miller

Lucas Miller was a guest storyteller at Boogs' school this week. According to the kids, he was hilarious! After school, Boogs asked if we could go to our local library to see if he could find Fifi the Ferocious to share with me. Fifi is a cute little poodle who decides she is a ferocious hunter ready to attack her prey. When the door is accidentally left open, Fifi makes her move. Unfortunately, Fifi is not as ferocious as she thinks she is. Poor Fifi breaks some of her teeth when she tries to bite a turtle shell. Later she tries to attack a skunk and a porcupine. Things do not go well for Fifi and she soon returns home.

In the Laptop Lunchbox: pb&j Fifi with Chex Mix stick porcupine quills in her face, Chex Mix, cheese turtle, grapes, blackberries, and salad.

 
Spring Lunch

In the ELB lunchbox: carrots, hummus, orange, Zbar, GF pretzels, Babybel cheese, okra chips, and salami.

The Houdini Box by Brian Selznick

 

Victor is amazed by Houdini's magic tricks. He constantly tries to copy some of these tricks and often gets trapped inside trunks and closets, bumps into walls, and tries to hold his breath for long periods of time in the bathtub. Victor is able to meet Houdini in person and tell him about his love of magic. Houdini gives Victor his address and tells Victor to stop by and discuss magic with him. Victor arrives at Houdini's house on the day Houdini has died. Houdini's wife gives Victor a box with the initials EW on it. She tells Victor it has belonged to Houdini for years. Victor does not believe this was Houdini's box because of those initials. He disappointedly puts the box away and does not think of it for years. When Victor is an adult with children of his own he rediscovers his love of magic. After the story, Selznick has several pages of biographical information about Houdini.

In the ELB lunchbox: ham & cheese locked box sandwich, EW marshmallow, cheese lock, blueberries water for Houdini's water escapes, and salad.


Quick Colorful lunch

In the ELB lunchbox: ham, Zbar, veggies chips, pistachios, salad, strawberries, grapes, blackberries, and blueberries.


 
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. 

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.

Easter Saturday

Boogs and his cousin Little J went to the Home Depot Kids Workshop to make birdfeeders. Little J spent the night and was not very enthusiastic about going to the workshop. Once he started building, he really enjoyed himself. The boys lucked into an Easter egg hunt after the workshop. I don't think the hunt was advertised anywhere, only about 12 kids participated. Boogs and Little J were thrilled to hunt eggs with candy in them.

Saturday afternoon, the whole family celebrated Easter at my parent's house. My nieces and nephews are almost all past wanting to hunt eggs. My brother's grandkids are just getting to an age to begin hunting eggs. Boogs loves to hunt eggs especially since we do not put candy in them, we put quarters in most of the eggs and $1 bills in a few special ones.

The cousins are ready to hunt. Too
bad I left Boogs' basket at home.

Found the one hiding in the tree.

Very excited to see what's inside.

Great money counting activity.

My brother brought 4 dozen cascarones.

My sister's oldest boys.

The cascarones were filled with confetti,
flour, and glitter.

What a fun mess!

My great-nephew getting his grandpa.

Glitter was everywhere! I
gave Boogs a quick shower
and only some of the glitter
came off.

Boogs was exhausted by the
end of the day.

I hid out in the house and took pictures from the doorway while everyone else was getting cascarones cracked on their heads. That did not stop my brother. He got me about an hour later with an egg in the kitchen. Then my niece got me a second time while I was shaking the confetti out of my hair.