First Day of School 2017-2018

Whew, it has been a long time since I've posted. Boogs is growing like a weed and has been keeping me busy. We had a fantastic summer and we were not quite ready for a new school year to begin. Boogs is now a great, big 6th grade middle schooler. I have no idea where the time has gone. It seems like yesterday that I was taking his picture for the first day of kindergarten.

We are keeping up with our first day of school traditions. Boogs posed for a picture by our front door. His head keeps inching towards the window on our door.

Since Kindergarten, I have made Boogs a first-day-of-school lunch based on The Kissing Hand. He took his lunch to school in an EasyLunchBox. It contained: pizza cut into hearts, heart granola bar cutouts, blueberries with plum hearts, salad with tomato & radish hearts, and cheese hearts. Boogs allowed me to make a special lunch today. He told me he is excited about all the options for lunch at the middle school cafeteria. I'm not excited about that.

Every year after the first day of school, I take Boogs to pick out a new book at the book store. Here are this year's picks. Look at that smile. He is happy with his choices.

Boogs really enjoyed going to school today. My fingers are crossed that he continues to enjoy the next 179 days left in his school year.

It has been a while since Boogs has wanted a story themed lunch. I used to regularly make story themed lunches for him. You can see those story themed lunches here on my Pinterest board.

First Week of 5th Grade Lunches

Back to school means that it is time to pack lunches every day. I started packing themed lunches for Boogs on his first day of kindergarten. Now he is in 5th grade. He told me he still appreciates themed lunches "every once in a while". Cool! I get to make cute lunches until he tells me he is too old for them.

I made his first day of school lunch based on the book The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. In the book, Chester the raccoon is comforted on his first day of school by his mother. His mother places a kiss in Chester's palm to remind him of her love throughout his first day of school. This story has become a tradition in our house. We read it the night before school begins and then I turn it into a lunch for the first day of school. In the lunchbox: ham & cheese hand sandwich (I traced Boogs hand onto the bread), fruit leather heart, yogurt, berries, and salad with a radish heart.

Boogs lunch for his second day of school was a quick thrown together meal. In the ELB lunchbox: peach slices, carrots, hummus, pistachios, roll, cheese, and salami.

ELB Lunchbox of love: cheese stick, yogurt pretzels (they kind of look like hearts), almond butter & jelly sandwich, raspberries with chocolate chips, and salad with a red pepper heart.

 

Greek Myths: A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I bought this book last year and put it in Boogs' bookcase. When we were trying to decide what book to read for our bedtime story book last week, Boogs pulled this one off the shelf. In writing this book, Hawthorne tried to make Greek Myths more accessible for children. Boogs was tickled by the descriptive language Hawthorn used and sentences that we could not read in one breath. Here is an example: It is greatly feared that the Three Gray Women were very much in the habit of disturbing their mutual harmony by bickerings of this sort; which was the more pity, as they could not conveniently do without one another, and were evidently intended to be inseparable companions. (Did you just try to read that in one breath? Any luck?)

We still have a few more chapters to go to complete this book so there will probably be a few more Greek Myth lunches next week. 

Boogs enjoyed the story of Perseus' journey to bring the head of Medusa to his king This lunch includes some of the trials Perseus encountered on his journey. In the ELB lunchbox: salad, blueberry darkness, strawberry enchanted wallet, eyeball pick which The Three Gray Women shared amongst themselves, marshmallow with the Three Gray Women, Perseus Cheezit crackers, Babybel Medusa with spinach hair, and Pocky Stick sword.

This is the illustration in the book in which Perseus presents Medusa to his king.

 

Another myth we read in this book was the story of King Midas and his Golden Touch. King Midas was so greedy that he asked for the power to turn everything he touched into gold. This power did not turn out as wonderful as he hoped it would. In the Easy Lunchbox: salami turned into gold cheese, golden apricots, golden lemon yogurt, Goldfish Crackers, orange slices, and golden yellow pepper flowers on top of salad.

Easy Lunchboxes (also known as ELBs) are my go to lunch box to use when packing lunch. I love the three compartments and the easy open lid. Boogs enjoys being able to see all of his lunch at once. You can purchase ELBs HERE.

You can see over 500 of the story themed lunches I have made my son by clicking HERE to visit My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest.

Back-to-School Traditions

I'm both sad and excited about this year of school. This little guy

is now a great big 5th grader.

Where has the time gone? On the first day of every school year, Boogs has stood in front of our door. Look at how close he is to reaching the little window on the door. There are days when I wish I could put a brick on his head to keep him from growing up. I am proud of the funny, kind, intelligent, sweet, goofy kid that he is. He is at that in-between stage of being a little kid and a big kid all at the same time. Boogs did let me make him our traditional first-day-of-school lunch based on the book The Kissing Hand. We have done this every year since Kindergarten.

I traced Boogs' hand onto the bread to make his ham & cheese sandwich. You can see his other first day Kissing Hand lunches in last year's post HERE.

When we leave campus after the first day of school, I take Boogs to a bookstore and let him pick out a book. I never can guess what he will choose. Here are pictures of his kindergarten book choice and today's book choice. (Maybe I am feeling this nostalgic because this is his last year of elementary school.)

I like to have loads of family time the last weekend before school starts. This past weekend was no different. Boogs and I went for an early morning walk on a trail near our house. We stopped and looked at all of the signs telling about the caves in the area. The city has put grates over the entrances to keep people from crawling down into them and getting lost or stuck.

We left the trail and headed to a little park to play for a bit before heading back home. We made it home just in time to beat the rain. We went to the movies and saw Pete's Dragon.

The J-boys and their dad (R) invited Boogs over Saturday afternoon to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons. The boys are so excited. R told me it was a sneaky way to get the boys to do research, reading, math, and maybe a little chemistry. They are planning on meeting once a week to continue the game. When we got back home, we found that my sister had left this on our porch:

Boogs thought it was so neat that she crocheted a dragon for him on the same day he started learning how to play Dungeons and Dragons.  Thanks Aunt M!

Daddy took us to Main Event on Sunday morning. We bowled, went rock climbing, played laser tag, and played video games. We love it when Main Event has their summer fun pass.

After lunch, Boogs asked if he could go home and find a spot to read. He wanted to have a peaceful afternoon/evening to get rested for his first day of school. It is time for our adventures to slow down and settle into the new school year. I already miss our lazy summer days. There are 179 school days left until summer vacation 2017.

This post is linked to:
Country Kids from Coombe Mill

4th Grade Lunches

Boogs lunches this year have made me a little sad. As a big 4th grader, he is "a little too old for cute lunches". He lets me get away with a story themed cute lunch every once in a while.

We read The Last Day of School by Louise Borden the night before I packed Boogs' last lunch of 4th grade. Boogs asked me to pack a lunch with "a little bit of charm" for his last 4th grade lunch. In the lunchbox: provolone clock on top of ham sandwich, sunflower seeds, Pringles, berries, salad, and yogurt.

In December, I was contacted by author Karen Rostoker-Gruber about a lunch I made inspired by her book, Ferret Fun. She thought is was cute. I made this lunch when Boogs was in Kindergarten. It has a pb&j ferret, a boiled egg ferret, apple, broccoli, and carrots.

I picked up the sequel to Ferret Fun, Ferret Fun in the Sun, on Amazon. In this book, Fudge and Einstein have an adventure in Arizona. Boogs thought it was a cute story. In the lunchbox: Fudge and Einstein drawn on cheese on top of a grilled cheese sandwich, ferret spelled with Cheez-It Scrabble crackers, a rattlesnake drawn on a pineapple fruit cup, marshmallow with a sun, and a salad.

 

Love and Roast Chicken: A Trickster Tale From the Andes Mountains by Barbara Knutson

 

I saw this book in my school's library and had to bring it home to read to Boogs. In this story, a little guinea pig outsmarted a hungry fox three times. The guinea pig also tricked an alfalfa farmer into letting him eat as much alfalfa as his stomach could hold. In the lunchbox: sandwich with fox hiding from the fire in a cave, guinea pig drawn on marshmallow, salad, oranges, and Chex Mix.

Here are some regular lunches I sent to school with Boogs. I love packing his lunch in my Easy Lunchboxes. You can find the lunchboxes HERE.

Boogs and I read all three of James Patterson's Treasure Hunter books. They tell about a family of four children who are searching for their missing parents. Along the way, the kids work together to solve many problems. Boogs and I both enjoyed reading this series.

 

More regular lunches:

 

This Wacky Wednesday lunch was made for Dr. Seuss' Birthday.

Star Wars lunch for May the 4th Be With You Day. It has a Storm trooper boiled egg, Chewy & C-3PO mini sandwiches, salami, tomato BB-8 on top of salad, blueberry space with a light saber pick, and Cheez-It Star Wars crackers.

I don't remember why I made this seal lunch.

I think we are pretty much done with cute lunches. Boogs has aged-out of wanting them. He will be a great big 5th grader next year. He did say that he will let me make him a special lunch for the first day of school but maybe not any after that. We shall see.

To see my collection of Story Themed Lunches on Pinterest, click HERE .

Recent Lunches

Boogs is still taking lunch to school every day. I have not been posting his lunches very often because I have not been taking very many pictures of his lunches. He is only taking one themed lunch to school each week. Here are a few of his recent lunches.

Peanuts Treasury by Charles Schultz

 

Boogs checked this book out from his school library. He really enjoys reading the Peanuts comics. In the ELB lunchbox: ham & cheese sandwich with provolone cheese Snoppy hugging Woodstock, mango, salad, pistachios, and chickpeas.

Fall lunch

Our Texas heat (high 90s for part of this week) is keeping us from feeling like we have entered the Fall season. I packed a little Fall lunch for Boogs. In the Laptop Lunchbox: pb&j squirrel sandwich, cheese leaves, Clif ZBar tree trunk & ground, pistachio leaves, salad with bell pepper and radish leaves, strawberries, and the squirrels winter stash of trail mix.

The Best (Worst) Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson

 

Boogs is getting into the Halloween spirit with this cute Halloween book. In the ELB lunchbox: garlic bologna (I know it is gross, but both my husband and Boogs love it) ghost & pumpkin sandwiches, salad with a yellow pepper moon, trail mix, orange slices, and yogurt.

That is it for our recent themed lunches. Here are a few "boring" lunches Boogs has taken to school. I pack most of Boogs' lunches in our favorite lunch containers - ELBs. You can find them HERE.

 In the ELB: ham, string cheese, Chex Mix, Clif ZBar, grapes, and salad.

In the ELB: strawberries, kiwi, salad, ham & cheese roll-ups, roll, mixed nuts with cranberries, yogurt, and rice pudding.

In the ELB: turkey & cheese sandwich, Babybel cheese, kiwi, salad, and mixed nuts with cranberries.

In the ELB: cheese, salami, Pringles, roll, okra, strawberries, blueberries, and yogurt.

 

In the ELB: salami, Babybel cheese, baby carrots, hummus, yogurt, Goldfish crackers, and berries.

In the ELB: almond butter & jelly sandwich, cheese stick, Goldfish crackers, Panda Cookie, strawberries, and okra.

Lunches for School

Story themed lunches from the past two weeks:

Return to Skunk Corners - The Ninja Librarian Book 2 by Rebecca Douglass

Boogs really enjoyed reading the first Ninja Librarian book. He asked me to contact the author, Rebecca Douglass, to let her know how much he liked the book. Ms. Douglas was kind enough to respond to Boogs' comment with a coupon for a discount on Return to Skunk Corners. This book picks up Big Al's story after the Ninja Librarian has left town. Big Al has to step up and help steer her town to become a community that works together to solve problems and threats - snowstorms, fires, getting women the right to vote & hold office, dealing with toughs from another town, and figuring out a way to get hot water for a bath. The Ninja Librarian eventually returns to Skunk Corners but it takes Big Al a little bit of time to forgive him for leaving. Boogs and I enjoyed reading this book aloud.

In the ELB lunchbox: turkey sandwich with a cheese skunk & forest fire drawing on top, yogurt, blueberries for the dark night Big Al was lost in a storm, red/orange/yellow bell pepper flames, broccoli, and spinach.

National Geographic Kids Magazine - Special Halloween Issue

We always learn such interesting facts about all kinds of animals when we read our monthly National Geographic Kids Magazine. This month they featured Funky Frogs. There is a fungus, called chytrid, that is killing amphibians all over the world. It attacks amphibians' skin and has wiped out some frog species in some forests. Scientists have discovered that Fringed Leaf Frogs are immune to the fungus and are researching them to figure out how to help amphibians threatened by the fungus.

In the ELB lunchbox: orange slices sunlight filtering through the blueberry sky and leafy foliage of the tropical forest, pb&j frog sandwich, pretzel branches, cheese stick twig, and salami.

Molly Moon, Micky Minus & the Mind Machine by Georgia Byng

Molly Moon is back for another adventure. In her previous books, Molly figured out how to become a hypnotist, how to stop time, and how to time travel. At the end of the last book, Molly discovered she had a twin. Molly is able to travel back to the time of her birth to see her twin. She is also able to see the exact moment her twin is kidnapped from the nursery. Her twin, Micky Minus, was kidnapped by a time traveler who wants to use Micky to hypnotize an entire town so Princess Fang can rule the world. In this book, Molly acquires the ability to read minds. Boogs has not quite finished reading this book, but I have a feeling Molly will be triumphant in her quest to save her twin.

In the ELB lunchbox: Petula ham & cheese roll, popcorn, marshmallow, yogurt raisins, quinoa bites, salad, kiwi, and strawberries.

The Island Adventure by Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton was a prolific writer. She wrote her first book in 1922 and by 1965 she had written hundreds of children's stories and books. The Island of Adventure was written in 1944 and is the first in a series of eight books. Boogs and I have just begun reading the first book in this series and he is already asking for me to try and find the rest of the series. Jack, Dinah, and Philip meet at a summer school session. Jack has a pet parrot, Kiki, who never leaves his side. Philip is constantly collecting animals - mice, worms, insects, and many others. The two boys strike up a friendship. Dinah, Jack's sister, wants to be wherever Jack is. The three become friends. As the summer session comes to an end the three children plot a way to sneak Jack and Dinah to Philip's house.

In the Laptop Lunchbox: Jack in an almond butter & jelly bed sandwich with Kiki on his shoulder, popcorn, mixed nuts with cranberries, pretzel sticks, mango, and salad.

Little Passports - A Global Adventure

When our Christmas Elf left for the North Pole, he sent Boogs a subscription to Little Passports. Each month, Boogs receives a package from Sam and Sophia as they travel the world on their magic scooter. The package has a small souvenir, an information booklet, a flag sticker, an activity booklet, and a postcard about a specific country Sam and Sophia have visited. Boogs has enjoyed learning about South Africa this month. Someday Boogs wants to see the "Big Five" African animals in person - lion, rhino, buffalo, leopard, elephant - but not too close. It is fun to open up the big world map and place a sticker map marker on a new country each month. You can find out more about Little Passports here.

In the ELB lunchbox: ham & cheese elephant sandwich, South African flag marshmallow, carrots/broccoli/spinach grasslands, fruit cup sun, mixed nuts, and okra chips.


My ELB (easylunchboxes.com) and Laptop Lunchbox (Bentology.net) are my go-to lunchboxes. I love the three perfect sized compartments of the ELBs and the colorful boxes of my Laptop Lunchbox.

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.