Bento Bloggers & Friends Thankful Hop

Bento Bloggers & Friends are joining together to share what we are thankful for and to turn our thanks into lunches. This was a lot more challenging than I realized it would be. I always base my son's lunches on one of the books we read at bedtime the previous evening. For this lunch, I grouped together a few books about family that we have enjoyed reading - I Udderly Love You by Kate Toms, A Father's Song by Janet Lawler, I Love You As Much by Laura Krauss Melmed, and The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant. These are all books we have read and enjoyed many times. These books definitely have a message about being thankful for family.

I am thankful for many things in my life. My lunchbox is full of love and thankfulness:
* the marshmallow drawing of my husband and my son represents my thankfulness for my family, they are my heart and my reason for welcoming each day's surprises
* the cheese house with a cheese heart represents my thankfulness for the home that we share
* the blueberries and carrot chip represent my thankfulness for the blue and sunny skies of my home state of Texas. I am thankful to be a Texan and an American.
* the BBF picks in the chicken represent my thankfulness for having found such an amazing, talented, accepting, encouraging, and supportive group of women (and Keith) in the Bento Bloggers & Friends group
* the salad represents my thankfulness for having easily accessible, fresh, healthy, and delicious food
* the box of raisins represent my thankfulness for the sweetness of life

Boogs, my 6-year-old, looked at this lunch and decided he was not going to take it to school because he did not want to eat cold chicken for lunch. So, I traded lunches with him. I really enjoyed this lunch. Boogs did not really like the lettuce wraps he took to school and he came home hungry. I love that little boy even when he is driving me crazy! I am thankful for him every single day.

Now hop on over to Bento For Kidlet to see what Jenn made for her thankful lunch. You can click the Thanks button or click HERE. Be sure to continue hopping after Jenn's blog to see the variety of thanks lunches Bento Bloggers & Friends have made. The hop will be live November 15th, starting at 8 am CST.

                                                      

You can 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.  

Sock Hop

Boogs had a Sock Hop at his elementary school today. He seemed to really enjoy it. The school cafeteria was turned into a "drive-in". Everyone had Sonic burgers and watched The Lorax on a huge screen. Then we were off to the MPR (gym) to dance the night away. Boogs was a little slow to warm up to the dancing. He was also a bit tired. He has not gotten used to the Daylight Savings time change and has woken up every morning this week before 5:10. We had fun tonight. Boogs said, "I am really glad that we went to the Sock Hop, but I am not happy I put a hole in my frog socks." Boogs went straight to bed when we got home. Hopefully he will sleep in Saturday morning.

Aaaaaaa... Where's The Fonz?

I was shocked that Boogs ate the entire burger.

I love this picture. Boogs had a great time bustin' some moves.

Boogs laid down on the floor to take a little dance break.

Their Conga line was hilarious. They kept splitting up the line, yelling, then running back to make a new line with a different line order.

Boogs was looking a bit crazed by this point. It was well past him bedtime. We left just after this picture.

I love that silly boy!

Lunches November 5th - 9th

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.

Mercy Watson Goes For A Ride by Kate DiCamillo

Boogs received a boxed set of Mercy Watson books for his last birthday. We love to read them over and over. Mercy Watson sure can find a way to get in and out of trouble. In this story, she ends up driving a car while the police are chasing her. Boogs laughs every time he reads this. Mercy Watson also really likes buttered toast and eats it in every story. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j CuteZcute pig driving a cheese car, Chex Mix for buttered toast, crackers, carrots, broccoli, and berries.


Anansi Does The Impossible retold by Verna Aardema
Anansi the spider is upset that the Sky God holds all of the stories. He climbs up to the Sky God and makes a deal with him to buy his stories. Anansi must accomplish three impossible tasks to buy the stories - 1) bring a live python to the Sky God, 2) bring a live fairy to the Sky God, 3) bring 47 stinging hornets to the Sky God. Anansi decides that he can manage these tasks. With the help of his wife, he is able to trick the python, fairy, and hornets. The whole village rejoiced. In the Laptop lunchbox: ham & cheese Anansi spider, cheese stick python, grape hornets, Pirates Booty, and salad.

 

No Frogs for Dinner by Frieda Whishinsky
Melvin could not wait to visit his Aunt Rose in the big city. He dreamed and planned of all of the things he wanted to do. Unfortunately, his Aunt Rose had also planned what to do. Instead of eating pizza and hotdogs at a huge stadium while watching baseball, Melvin had to accompany his Aunt to the opera and to several museums. She also served him things to eat that he did not like - sushi, oysters, and oatmeal with stewed prunes. When Aunt Rose told him they were having frog legs for dinner, Melvin had to speak up. Boogs has eaten frog legs with my mom. He thought they tasted good and he could not understand why Melvin would not want to eat them. Boogs did say that sushi and oysters were disgusting but he would "let" me fix him shrimp for dinner. In the ELB lunchbox: ham & cheese skyscraper, marshmallow baseball, pb&j CuteZcute frog sandwich, kiwi, and veggie chips.

The King of Ireland's Son by Brendan Behan
The King of Ireland sends his three sons out into the countryside to find the source of some heavenly music. The two older brothers tricked Art, the youngest son, into going down into a deep hole. Art persevered through this challenge and eventually found the source of the heavenly music. With the help of a fierce stallion, he was able to outsmart a giant and bring the music home to his father. Boogs said it reminded him a little bit of Jack and the Beanstalk. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j stallion with Babybel Art hiding behind him, Chex Mix, yogurt, veggie pancake, and blackberries as dark as the tunnel Art journeyed through to find the music.

The Lonely Book by Kate Bernheimer
When a brand new book arrived at the library, everybody wanted to read it and check it out. As time passed, the book became less popular and more lonely. It's cover became worn and the last page of the book was torn out. Then, Alice found the book and loved it. This is a story for book lovers to treasure. While we were reading this story, Boogs was really sad about the lonely book. He decided that he needed to take out all of the books on his bookcase and at least read their covers so they would not be lonely books. The illustrations in the book are beautiful. In the Laptop lunchbox: pumpkin muffin "mushroom" with fairy drawn on cheese for the lonely book's cover, salami, tomatoes, raspberry & blueberry fairy heads, and carrots with ranch dressing.

My cheese drawing skills are not the best. If you want to see AMAZING cheese drawing skills, you have to check out Jenn at Bento For Kidlet.

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.  

Sandbox Park

Boogs and I went to a nearby sandbox park this past weekend. When Boogs was little, we used to spends hours and hours at this park. We had to stop by the dinosaur climbing area before reaching the sandbox.

 We worked on digging tunnels for quite a while. When this tunnel was finished it had four entrances.

 Boogs arm was almost long enough to reach the other side.

You can't go to the sandbox park without burying yourself.

I always bring a change of clothes when we go to this park. Boogs enjoyed playing on these bars after we cleaned up.

Lunches October 29th - November 2nd

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.

Not A Box by Antoinette Portis

I love this book. Antoinette Portis dedicated this book to "children everywhere sitting in cardboard boxes". The little rabbit has a box and someone keeps asking him why he is sitting in, standing on, etc. a box. Each time the little rabbit replies, "It's not a box." Then you see the box as part of a larger picture. When the rabbit is sitting in the box, he is imagining it is a race car. When the rabbit is standing on the box, he imagines he is on top of a tall mountain. I have been reading this book with some kindergarten classes this week. After the story, I have given the kiddos a piece of construction paper with a rectangle on it and asked them to imagine something else the box could turn into. It has been fun to see their ideas. The last time we had a big box at home, Boogs decided that it was his restaurant. He invited his dad and I inside to read his menus and place our orders. Another great book about boxes and imagination that Boogs really enjoyed was Christina Katerina and the Box by Patricia Lee Gauch. In the lunchbox: ham & cheese mini sandwiches with the rabbit, rabbit on a mountain, rabbit spraying the box with a hose, and the rabbit in a race car, yogurt, carrots, ranch dressing, and strawberries.

Happy Halloween, Mittens by Lola M. Schaefer
Boogs read this story to me about a little cat who wanted to help his owner get ready for Halloween. Little Mittens keeps making big messes. In the end, he is able to help his owner make a spooky ghost. Boogs thought this was a cute book and he was happy that it was not a creepy story. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j jack-o-lantern, boiled egg Mittens, cheese Fall leaves, dark as night blueberries, broccoli, and a candy ghost.

Franklin's Halloween by Paulette Bourgeois
Franklin is excited to go to his school's Halloween Costume Party. He has a hard time deciding what costume to wear. Eventually, he decides to go as Frankenstein. Franklin and his classmates have a good time at the party and even solve the mystery of the floating ghost. Boogs enjoys Franklin stories. He easily figured out the mystery of the ghost when a clue was left behind. In the ELB lunchbox: hummus & turkey on spinach tortilla Franklin, carrots, strawberries, pretzels, yogurt (under the owl pick) and candy corn.

Max's Castle by Kate Banks
This is another great book that plays with words. Max takes a box of blocks out from under his bed. His two older brothers think the blocks are too babyish for them to play with. Max changes their mind when everything he builds changes into the real thing. Max is able to play with and rearrange the letters in the words to keep moving the story forward. When the two brothers argue over who should be king, Max makes them both knights and tells them, "In every knight there is a king." Anagrams are used throughout the story. Boogs thought it was really neat when Max defeated PIRATES by rearranging the letters into RAT PIES. When the boys end up in a dark dungeon, they declare it a CATASTROPHE. Soon they discover that in every CATASTROPHE there is HOPE. In the Laptop lunchbox: ham & cheese CATASTROPHE mini sandwiches (made with FunBites Square Cutter), yogurt, plums, and salad. 
 
 Boogs bought his lunch one day this week because I overslept on Thursday. :-)
 
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.  

Halloween 2012

We had a very low-key Halloween this year. We had our traditional Sweet Berry Farm day to pick a pumpkin but Boogs did not attend any festivals or Halloween parties. We had family in town and a couple of birthday parties to attend when all of the Halloween stuff was going on. Boogs did have a great time going trick-or-treating with a group of kids from our neighborhood. My husband and I got dressed up for a Halloween Party. He went as Bubbles from The Trailer Park Boys. I went as an Elvira type vampire. Here are a few pictures:

Those purple spiderweb lashes were really quite annoying.

Bubbles with his cat. We went into Walmart in full costume to purchase that cat. Two different people took my picture while we were in the store. I am pretty sure I will end up on the "People of Walmart" website.

Every year, Boogs decides what to carve on the pumpkin.

He had fun cleaning out the pumpkin guts.

My little alien

None of the kids wanted to go up to this door. Their porch was super creepy.

Boogs wanted to hand out candy after he finished trick-or-treating.

Boogs gets to eat one piece of candy on Halloween night. He looked through all of his candy and decided to have a small bag of Kettle Corn.

Lunches October 22nd - 26th

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.

Fall Mixed Up by Bob Raczka

Boogs absolutely loved this book. In it, a little boy tells about his favorite time of the year. The story begins, "Every Septober, Every Octember, Fall fills my senses with scenes to remember." From that point on, everything about Fall is mixed up. Bears gather nuts, geese hibernate, leaves fall up, squirrels fly south for the winter, kids jump in piles of sticks, trick-or-treaters receive turkey and gravy for treats, and many other mix-ups. The illustrations are gorgeous. At the end of the book, the reader is told to go back through and try to find all the mixed-up things in the story. Boogs studied every page closely. This is definitely a book I have to purchase. In the Laptop lunchbox: pb&j squirrel flying south for the winter attached to a strawberry balloon, hotdog mummy bat, pretzel sticks pile, nuts gathered by the bears, strawberry balloons to help the squirrels fly, and broccoli.


 On Halloween Night by Ferida Wolff and Dolores Kozielski
This is a counting book about all the things that stir on Halloween night. Two boys follow a foggy trail that takes them by witches, cats, owls, creeping bugs, and other creatures. This was a cute little book. In the Laptop lunchbox: ghost & witch grilled cheese sandwiches, candy corn, yogurt, blackberries, and salad.

Halloween Is... by Gail Gibbons
Gail Gibbons is the author of many informative books for children. In this book she explains the history of Halloween, Halloween symbols, and traditions. Boogs thought it was interesting. In the ELB lunchbox: boiled egg ghost, orange jack-o-lantern, salami & cheese cat sandwich, Babybel full moon, witch drawn on Mini Dipper of yogurt, skeleton pick in carrots, and some batty grapes.

Mrs. Piccolo's Easy Chair by Jean Jackson
Mrs. Piccolo and her chair are great friends but sometimes that chair can be quite difficult to be around. When the chair is hungry he softens up his cushions and traps Mrs. Piccolo until she agrees to give him his favorite snack of cheese puffs. When Mrs. Piccolo left the house one day, the chair decided to walk to the grocery store and buy his own cheese puffs. Along the way, he met some people who tried to stop him. So that chair swallowed up anyone who got in his way. Boogs giggled all the way through this story. We read it together twice and then he read it on his own many times before we returned it to the library. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j chair with the hat (picks) of two of the people who got in his way, nuts and cheese coins that were stuck under his cushion, Pirate's Booty Cheese Puffs, berries, 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.  .