Barton Creek Greenbelt Hike

Grandmaman and Grandpapa, thought you would like to see what the Barton Creek Greenbelt looks like right now. We went on this hike two weeks ago and I forgot to post the pictures. You would not recognize the area from your last hike there. There is actually water in the creek instead of just a dry creek bed.

Lunches June 4th - June 8th

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.

Humphrey The Lost Whale by Wendy Tokuda

This book is based on a true story. It tells about a whale who gets turned around and lost in the San Francisco Bay. He ends up swimming up the Sacramento River. It takes a lot of effort and teamwork to get Humphrey headed in the right direction and back out to sea. At the end of the book, there is an "update" page about Humphrey. Humphrey ended up beaching himself in shallow water and having to be rescued again a few years after the rescue detailed in this book. Boogs was very interested in this story. He had lots of questions about salt water vs. fresh water, why Humphey got lost, where Humphey's friends were and why did they not help him, etc. In the lunchbox: almond butter & jelly Humphrey sandwich with cheese eye, blueberry "water", pita chips, broccoli, and applesauce. 

Little Miss Spider by David Kirk

Little Miss Spider pops out of her egg and wonders where her mother is. After a long search and nearly being gobbled by birds, Little Miss Spider is adopted by Betty Beetle. She discovers that a mother is the creature who loves you best. Boogs and I have read this sweet story many times. In the ELB lunchbox: grilled cheese sandwich with Little Miss Spider made of cheese and fruit leather, carrots in hummus, and berries.

The Unexpectedly Bad Hair of Barcelona Smith by Keith Graves

Barcelona Smith is extremely concerned with keeping himself away from all dangers. He is "properly prudent" when it comes to roses, pets, playgrounds, rain, and smiling. One day, Barcelona's hair went bananas. It flipped Barcelona upside down and carried him out of the house. His hair pushed and pulled Barcelona through everything he usually tried to avoid. Boogs laughed and laughed at the antics of Barcelona's hair. Barcelona's hair helped him discover the joy of letting loose and enjoying life without being overly afraid of everything. In the ELB lunchbox: Barcelona toast with cheese life jacket, blue ramen noodle hair, radish roses (use your imagination to see the roses), tall trees broccoli, strawberries, yogurt, and juice.

When A Line Bends... A Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene

"When a line swerves, when a line bends, watch what can happen... a shape begins!" This is another book about shapes. When/if I go back to teaching in an elementary classroom, I will make sure this book is in my box of math picture books. James Kaczman's illustrations perfectly match the rhyming text for each shape. Rectangle is "a rug that warms the floor". The text gives many examples of each shape that children can easily find around them. Boogs and I did a quick shape hunt in his bedroom after reading each shape's two page spread. He also loved trying to find all of the items mentioned in the text in each illustration. In the lunchbox: circle salami, rectangle crackers, oval tomatoes, oval spinach leaves, star cucumbers, triangle cheese, watermelon hearts, and a banana crescent.

We have had a busy first week of summer - daily swim team practice, Spanish class, car repair, Fiesta Texas amusement park, visiting with friends, "morning work", library, my wedding anniversary, and also some relaxing down time. I am really enjoying the extra time Boogs and I get to spend together now that school is over. We are going out to lunch with friends on the 8th, so I did not make a lunch for Friday.

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. I would love for you to leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by. 

Nine Years!

Today is my 9th wedding anniversary. My husband and I met in person for the first time in May of 2000. Luck and fate brought us together. We found each other on match.com and spent several months sending emails back and forth before our first date. It is hard for me to imagine that twelve years have passed by since then.

Our first trip together - Summer 2000.

My husband proposed to me during our Canadian Thanksgiving get together with friends in Texas on October 11, 2002. Everyone knew he was going to propose except for me.

We were married on June 7, 2003 on a ranch in Liberty Hill, Texas. My husband wanted his friends and family who came down from Canada for the wedding to experience a Texas ranch. We had a cd called "How To Talk Texan" playing instead of music while our guests arrived. We walked down the aisle as husband and wife to the theme song from The Magnificent Seven movie before climbing into a horse drawn carriage. It was such a fun day.

I can't find my cd of wedding pictures, so these two photos are pictures of pictures.

Our lives have changed in so many ways over the past twelve years. We have been through many ups and downs and I am happy to go through them with my husband.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Wahoo! For our 1st official day of summer, we went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas!

My guys would not stop and turn around for a picture. They wanted to be in the park.

Boogs and his father spent a bit of time on the Fiesta Texas website to plan our day. Boogs decided that he HAD to go on the Scooby Doo Ghost Blasters ride first.

We spent almost ten hours at Fiesta Texas. Boogs had a blast! We just rode the rides this time. Next time, we will spend the day at White Water Bay, the waterpark side of Fiesta Texas.

Waiting in line.

Crow's Nest Ferris Wheel

Yosemite Sam's Wacky Wagons

Motorama Turnpike - Boogs was tall enough to drive.

Boogs was thrilled to meet Scooby Doo!

Did you know that Scooby's real name is Scoobert?

Waiting in line.

Soaked from riding The Gully Washer. We got caught under the waterfall. Boogs made us ride it three times. I am so glad I brought a change of clothes for Boogs and myself. I just forgot to pack dry clothes for Daddy.

Kiddee Koaster

The Hustler Billard Ball Ride - it is like the spinning teacup ride.

The Pandemonium Roller Coaster - Boogs rode it once and said he was not ever going on it again. 

We bought season passes, so we will return soon.

Time Passes Quickly

I can't believe my baby boy is six-years-old and officially a 1st grader. He has grown so much during this school year.

Boogs is very happy to have summer here. I put together a "Welcome Summer" bag and left it in Boogs' playroom for him to find the morning after school ended.

I went through our "fun" cabinet and found some unused items, shopped the Dollar Deals at Michael's, and bought a few other things. 

When I went to check on him in the morning, he was busily at work. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Look Momma! I think I have a summer fun bag. It is full of things to keep me busy this summer. Did you leave this here for me?"

He is such a sweet boy. I am so happy for our summer to start!

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.