Bird Watching

Boogs woke up this morning ready to do some bird watching. He came out of his room with his spy kit bag so that we could both have something to look through. Boogs took the binoculars and gave me the telescope. We repositioned the table on the back porch to get the best angle on the bird feeder. We spent about an hour listening to, watching, discussing, and drawing birds. Boogs drew a bluejay, a barn swallow, and a dove. It was a lovely way to begin our day.

Geocaching

We had a relaxing weekend. We wanted to do a different kind of family outing this weekend so we decided to try geocaching. Geocaching is a treasure hunting game where you use GPS to hide and seek hidden containers. When you find a container, you write down your name and date on the log, take a treasure, leave a treasure, and then return the container to its hiding spot. My husband bought the Geocaching iphone app. It turns out there were several hidden containers in the greenbelt area behind our house. Boogs took control of the compass to lead the way. It took about twenty minutes to find the first one.

We had to lift up the stump to find the hidden container.

Boogs was so excited to see what was inside.

The "treasure"

Boogs chose a dream catcher necklace. We left behind  Growing Beads.

He had a good adventure.

The log inside the container was first signed in 2008. Boogs really wanted to see if we could find another one. So, my husband and Boogs kept searching. I pulled my back during a workout last week and could not tolerate walking around anymore so I returned home. They found another geocache placed up in a tree before they came back home. Boogs really enjoyed this activity and is looking forward to doing it again.

Lunches July 9th - 13th

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.



From Cow to Ice Cream a photo essay by Bertram T. Knight
Boogs' morning work was to read a non-fiction book and write down three facts. He went over to his bookshelf and grabbed his picture Bible that he received from preschool graduation. He said, "Momma, I want to use this book because it has all true facts in it." I can always tell when he has spent extended time with my mom. We went ahead and looked for another non-fiction book to use for morning work and read From Cow to Ice Cream together. We discussed facts from the story and expressed opinions about the best ice cream flavors. In the lunchbox: pb&j cow with Nutella spots, spinach because cow eat grass, graham cracker cone filled with cream cheese & raspberry jam, raspberries "ice cream" with sprinkles, honeydew melon, yogurt (which Boogs stated also comes from cows), and juice.

Richard Scarry's Best Story Book Ever
I received this book when I was two-years-old, it's practically ancient. Every once in a while, Boogs and I read a story or poem from it.  We went on a "Food Adventure", like Julie from Teaching Good Eaters, to MT Supermarket this past weekend. It has 55,000 square feet of authentic Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese products. Boogs was very interested in trying to figure what was in some of the packages without English writing on them. He decided that he was not interested in trying chicken feet or blood tofu. We did end of buying quail eggs and a few snacks. I used one of the quail eggs in this lunch to go with the story Egg In The Hole from this book. In the story, Henny laid an egg and it rolled out of her nest, across goat's table, along the rain gutter, down pig's back, across the barnyard, and into a hole in the ground where the little egg hatched. In the ELB lunchbox: ham & cheese Henny sandwich, quail egg baby chick, Shredded Wheat nest, orange morning sun, and salad.

It's Raining, It's Pouring by Kin Eagle
Kin Eagle took the rhyme "It's Raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring"and added seven new verses to it. The new verses and delightful illustrations had Boogs giggling at bedtime. He especially liked the two 2-page spreads showing the old man going on a picnic with his wife. In the first illustration you can barely see the army of ants marching towards the couple's picnic blanket. Eagle's verse: It's gusty, it's windy. The old man's wife is Cindy. (next page) With ants in their pants they started to dance, and ended up doing the Lindy. Of course, Boogs and I had to go on youtube to watch a Lindy Hop Dance performance. In the ELB lunchbox: a line of raisin ants marching across the old couple's mini hamburgers, checkered apple picnic blanket, cheese kite, vanilla pudding filled marshmallow, salad, honeydew melon with blueberries.

The Pencil by Allan Ahlberg
A lonely little pencil decides to draw a boy to keep him company. Drawing the boy leads the pencil to draw an entire city. This is a cute and clever story. Boogs and I stopped reading at several places in the story to make predictions about what the pencil will draw next. Boogs said it reminded him of the book, Jeremy Draws a Monster, that we read last September. Boogs has such a good memory. I had forgotten about that book. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j pencil drawing Sebatian the ball, Babybel boy, figs, berries, mac & cheese, and salad with cucumber star and moon.

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. 

More Cardmaking

I have been in a cardmaking mood this summer. I have not bought any new stamping/cardmaking supplies in quite a while. I only used Stampin' Up stamps in these cards. I think almost all of my Stampin' Up sets are now retired. Last year, I gave away 58 stamp sets and I still have too much stuff in my craft room. All of the ink pads I use are also from Stampin' Up. I love to use Stampin' Up cardstock, it is so thick and the colors are beautiful. Here are are some of the cards I have remembered to take pictures of:


6-year-old boy birthday card - I love the style of this card. A few simple cuts allow you to thread a ribbon through the back to make this a motion card. The plane "flies" across the sky to deliver the birthday packages. Stamp sets: Toy Box (plane), Loads of Love Accessories (packages), Lovely As A Tree (tree)

I made this card for my husband for our 9th anniversary. There are nine hearts stitched together with sewing thread. I made the two puzzle pieces for him to show that even though we are very different we fit together perfectly. Stamp sets: Sketch It (big heart), Carte Postale (words).

4-year-old girl birthday card - This card turned out so cute! I love bug stamps! Stamp sets: Love Bug (bugs), Party Animals (cake), Teeny Tiny Wishes (happy birthday). 

Thank you card - I think this card turned out a bit boring, but I got to play around with my border punch and Big Shot texture plates. Stamp set - Wonderful Words.

Thanks card - This card is made with silver cardstock and silver embossing, it looks better in person. 

11-year-old boy birthday card - I dug through my craft supplies and found my crimper for this card. The piece of cardstock behind the colored balls is crimped for added texture. Stamp set - Have A Ball.

Swim Season

Boogs summer swim season is officially over. He has swam six days a week (except for the week he spent with my parents) since the middle of May. Boogs said he enjoyed being on swim team but is "relieved not to have to swim EVERY day". Silly boy, he was the one that often asked to swim after swim practice.

This was Boogs' second summer swim season. It is amazing to watch the endurance of these swimmers at practice. They happily swim lap after lap practicing all four strokes - freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly. Boogs made time improvements at every meet, except for the last one. His allergies were making him sluggish this past weekend.

Boogs' end of season banquet was held last night. Unfortunately, it was raining, thundering, and lightning. Everyone had to huddle under the pool's pavilion and stay out of the pool. Coach Jordan gave out the awards. Boogs was thrilled to get a trophy for "Coaches Favorite for the 6 & Under Boys". Boogs is one of the slowest boys on the team but he tries his best.

One of my favorite things about swim meets was watching the boys dive in off the diving blocks. Our main practice pool did not have diving blocks, so the kids only got to practice off the blocks for about 15 minutes on Fridays. I named some of Boogs' diving techniques. I posted two of these pictures before, but they are too cute not to post again. Boogs is going to start a two week diving class at the end of July. So, hopefully his diving technique will improve.

The Spiderman Dive (those two boys in the back are running into the water)

Walking on Water Dive

Ready to go!

Waiting on the ready bench.

Backstroke at the divisionals meet.

Team pictures

6 & Under Group

Fun at the last swim practice.

Checking out his trophy.

At the divisionals meet, the 6 & Under Boys tent got flooded. I was one of the tent moms for this group this past weekend. The away teams tents were set up outside of the pool area. The 6 & Under Boys tent was closest to the soccer fields. Someone forgot to shut off the soccer field sprinkler system. During the meet, one of the powerful sprinkler heads was pointed directly into our tent. Luckily, we had a fast thinking Dad nearby who dumped out an ice chest and dropped it on top of the sprinkler head. The ground was a muddy, squishy mess! We had to move the tent across the field to a dry patch of ground. The boys LOVED it. They ran through the sprinklers and mud with glee. I wonder what adventures we will have next summer. Boogs told me last night after the banquet, "I think I want to be on swim team all the way until I am in high school."

Lunches July 2nd - July 6th

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.


Fair warning: For some reason, I was really not into making lunches this week. Sadly, it shows. I am posting them anyway.


We Eat Dinner in the Bathtub by Angela Shelf Medearis
This is a very silly book. Boogs laughs every time we read it. It is about a family who uses the rooms in their house in unconventional ways. They eat in the bathtub because they sleep in the dining room. They sleep in the dining room because they cook in the bedroom. We had fun trying to guess what they were going to do in each room. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j bathtub sandwich, checkered apple wall, blueberries, broccoli, and yogurt (not pictured).

Morris and Boris at the Circus by B. Wiseman
This was another book that made Boogs laugh out loud this week. Morris the moose has trouble understanding what Boris is telling him about the circus. This caused some funny events to occur. It reminded me a bit of how Amelia Bedelia gets everything mixed-up. In the ELB lunchbox: Boris the bear boiled egg, mini spinach quiche (using Momables recipe), blueberries, red/white/blue strawberry, veggies, and ranch dip.

Wolf by Becky Bloom
Wolf is hungry and thinks he will make a meal of some barnyard animals. Wolf ran and howled at a pig, duck, and cow, but these "educated animals" were too busy reading to be disturbed by Wolf's noise. Wolf was intrigued by the idea of educated animals. He enrolled in school and learned to read. Wolf went back to the farm and proudly read to the animals, "Run wolf! Run! See wolf run." The animals were not impressed. Wolf went to the library and the bookstore. He practiced reading until he could read a story with fluency, confidence, and passion. Finally, the educated animals stopped reading their books and asked him to read more to them. Wolf learned that hard work and dedication helped him become a good reader. I love the message of this story. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j wolf with fruit leather glasses reading a cheese book, carrots, strawberries, and yogurt.

Pokemon: Time Out for Torchic adapted by Tracey West and Katherine Noll
This is a Pokemon story. I think I have already mentioned that I will be happy when Boogs can read Pokemon stories by himself. In the ELB lunchbox: cheese Torchic sitting on top of pb&j sandwich, blueberries, blackberries, salad, and yogurt.

That Bad, Bad Cat! by Claire Masurel
A trouble making cat causes messes and destruction all over the house. His family frequently gets upset with him. When the cat runs away from home, the family misses him. They realize that good or bad, they love their cat. Boogs was easily able to read this book to me. In the ELB lunchbox: salami & cheese cat knocking over a Momables spinach quiche flowerpot, Goldfish crackers that cat tried to fish out of the aquarium, kiwi & blackberry flowers the cat ate, 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. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by. 

This Summer Is Flying By

Boogs has been back home for almost an entire week. It was very nice to have kid-free time while he spent a week with my parents, but I really missed him. We easily got back into our routine and have been having fun together this week. We had our 2nd to last swim meet last Saturday. Boogs was very happy to get to go to swim team practice every day this week. We even had practice in the morning on the 4th of July. This is the last week of practice. Summer is going by fast!

Swim team is almost over this year.

We always bring K-nex for the boys tent.

Finishing the breaststroke. 

Free swim at half time.

Boogs favorite part of every swim meet, the concessions.

Making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Are they ready, yet?

Painting a puzzle. 

Boogs said he wished this puzzle came with brown and black paint.
He was not very thrilled about having to paint the pirate's boots purple.

Army men war!

I think Boogs is cheating! He does not let me get that close to shoot.

Delicious spinach quiche from Momables recipe.

We spent the 4th of July with friends. This is their gameroom.
Boogs walked into the room and stood there with his mouth
open for a couple of minutes before he tried out any of the games.

Fun!

Once we pried Boogs away from the gameroom, we had a lovely
afternoon in the pool.

I love this picture.

Warming up in the hot tub.