International Fake Mustache Day & Hop

Did you know that today is the special day to celebrate fake mustaches? Bento Bloggers & Friends are having a blog hop to honor the fake mustache.

As soon as I signed up for the hop, I headed to my local library to find a cute mustache book. Here is what I found:

The illustration on the cover of Mustache by Mac Barnett really intrigued Boogs. He could not wait to read it. It tells the story of a vain king who ignores the rundown conditions of his kingdom while he constanly gazes into his mirrror. His subjects have valid complaints about potholes and broken playgrounds. Instead of fixing the problems, the king puts up posters warning his subjects "Your handsome King says: Beware of Pothole". When the citizens storm the castle to complain, the king tells them he will reveal a wonderful plan for the kingdom next week. A week later, he reveals a gigantic poster of himself with the caption "I'm Great!" The people of the kingdom were not pleased and someone painted a mustache on the king's poster. The king then made up wanted posters to find the culprit. Pretty soon all of the posters were sporting mustaches. The king tricked the citizens into admitting their crimes of vandalism and put them all in jail. He has to build a jail big enough to hold everyone. During the building of the jails, roads are repaired, buildings fixed,  and many other things are improved. 

In the ELB Lunchbox: salami and cheese sandwich king with mustache pick, cheese letters, grapes, salad with a mushroom wearing a mustache like the book's cover (unfortunately the color ran).

The next book we made a lunch out of was Hee-Haw-Dini and the Great Zambini by Kim Kennedy

Hee Haw the donkey and Chester the mouse were the best of friends. They wanted to be magicians but the rest of the animals on the farm laughed at their dreams. When a trunk full of magic supplies fell of off the circus train, Hee Haw and Chester took the magic supplies and practiced all of the tricks. They had a plan to make the other animals believe in them. They disguised themselves and put on a magic show in the barn as Hee-Haw-Dini and Zaba Zaba. The huge crowd of animals were amazed at the fantastic tricks. The animals said they wished Hee Haw and Chester were there to see the show. Hee Haw and Chester removed their costumes and the crowd gasped. In the back of the crowd a voice called out. It was the Great Zambini, the owner of the magic trunk. He was so impressed with Hee Haw and Chester's magic show that he asked them to join him on the road. The three magicians stood on the stage until the Great Zambini made them all disappear in a puff of smoke. Boogs told me that the "mortal" (moral) of this story is "Don't let people tell you you can't get to your dreams. Hee Haw and Chester got their dreams cause they kept practicing." Then he asked me NOT to sing the practice song. Practice makes perfect, practice makes perfect, I guess if I practice than better I'll be.

In the ELB lunchbox: Hee-Haw-Dini cream cheese & turkey on pumpernickel bread with a nori hat, Zaba Zaba mouse drawn on a marshmallow, the Great Zambini orange, broccoli, and blueberries on letter picks.

Click on the mustache button at the top of  this post or click HERE to hop over to My Epicurean Adventures wonderful mustache creation.

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. 

Lunches January 28th - February 1st

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.

Those Can-Do Pigs by David McPhail

Those Can-Do Pigs are friendly, helpful, talented, brave, and fun. This book does not really tell a story. It is a collection of things that the pigs can do during their day. The pictures are adorable and Boogs really liked reading it. In the Laptop lunchbox: Super-Dooper Can-Do Pig drawn on a grilled cheese sandwich, Pringles, marshmallow, salad, and blueberries.

Tissue, Please!  by Lisa Kopelke

There has been a lot of sickness at Boogs' school lately. Many children have been absent because of flu and colds. This book is about 5 froggy friends who always have fun together. Unfortunately, they all have runny noses, are always sniffling, and wiping their noses on their sleeves. The parents of one of the frogs instructs the frog how to use a tissue. It is a revelation to the frog. He can actually breathe better. At a dance recital, he helps his friends discover the joy of using tissues. Boogs and I discussed hand washing and nose blowing. It drives me nuts when he won't use a tissue. Maybe this book helped him see the value of tissues. :-) In the Laptop lunchbox: salami & cheese on sourdough roll frog with cheese tissue on his nose, extra tissues (cheese), okra chips, broccoli, grapes, and dried apricots. 

Tacky and the Winter Games by Helen Lester

Tacky the penguin is back. The other penguins are training for the Winter Games. Tacky begins training with them but he is really out of shape. He has trouble racing up hills, exercising, eating right, and getting enough sleep. Team Nice Icy Land heads to the Winter Games. Tacky causes all sorts of trouble - he got his team disqualified in the bobsledless race, accidentally thawed out his frozen fish skis needed for the ski jump, and he even ate the baton in the speed skating relay. In the end, it all turns out okay. In the ELB lunchbox: Tacky on frozen fish (spinach) skis, Team Nice Icy olive, carrot, & cream cheese penguins, carrot Winter Games torch, and pineapple.

This lunch is linked to Eats Amazing World Book Day.

Oliver and Albert, Friends Forever by Jean Van Leeuwen

This is a sweet story about friendship. Albert is a new boy in Oliver's class. Albert is not a very good kickball player but he does love insects. He and Albert become great friends who help each other out. Boogs read this story to me and he really enjoyed it. When Boogs read the table of contents, he could not wait to get to the chapter titled "The Fight". Albert and Oliver learned that friends can fight, make-up, and still be friends. In the Laptop lunchbox: Albert & Oliver pb & almond butter sandwiches (cut out with the CuteZcute Food Cutter), BFF cheese, pistachio ants, olive bugs, grape kickballs, and a butterfly pick on top of a salad with a mushroom flower.

If you want to see the fifth lunch Boogs had this week, you will have to come back on Sunday for the Bento Bloggers and Friends International Fake Mustache Day hop. I can't wait to see their mustache lunches.

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.   

Kitchen Time

Boogs has been my kitchen helper this past week. When he was little, he LOVED working in the kitchen with me. Lately, he would rather not. I was happy to have him back in the kitchen with me to make an old favorite and a new recipe.

Baked Kale Chips - Rinse one bunch of kale, tear into pieces, dry in salad spinner, spread out on parchment lined cookie sheet, spritz with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Boogs' favorite thing about making Kale Chips is using the salad spinner.

 

 He put waaaaaaay too much salt on half of the kale before I could stop him.

 Boogs waited patiently for his chips to bake.

Yum! Nice and crunchy! Boogs ate at least half of the kale on the cookie sheet with his dinner.

Boogs was not as willing of a helper when he found out I wanted to make Beet Pancakes. He let me know that the beet puree smelled like dirty dirt. I put three large beets in 1/4 inch of  water in a lidded baking dish at 425 degrees for an hour and then skinned and pureed them. Then Boogs read the ingredients we needed to get out for our pancakes.

Boogs was being very careful with his measurements.

 Yay, no eggshells in the bowl!

 Greek yogurt for extra protein.

Boogs is in-between being not quite tall enough to help while standing on ground and being too tall to help while standing on a chair.

 

 Didn't the beet pancakes turn out gorgeous? I thought they were delicious.

Boogs only ate the ones that had chocolate chips in them. He said the chocolate helped hide the dirt taste of the pancakes.

Kitchen helper flashback:

Homemade pizza with zucchini and a ton of cheese.

Making pear creatures for a snack.

I miss that messy art cabinet in the background.

Marshmallow snowmen spoons for hot chocolate.

Boogs with his chef hat and doggy apron.

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar. I linked up to Highhill's Hobbies and Handicrafts Linky.

Lunches January 21st - 25th

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.


Dina from What the Girl's Are Having, sent me this adorable hamburger bento box. I had to find a burger book to read to Boogs so I could put a burger lunch in it. 

Burger Boy by Alan Durant
Benny is a very picky eater who loves burgers more than any other food in the whole world. He constantly eats burger after burger. His mom warns him, "If you don't watch out, you'll turn into a burger one day." Pretty soon, his body begins to resemble a burger. He is then chased all over town just like the Gingerbread Man. His mother saves him by feeding him lots of fruits and vegetables. Benny then starts eating so many veggies that his mother warns him to watch out or he will be a veggie. The last page shows Benny turning into a carrot. Boogs thought this was a funny book. He has been learning about fables at school. He told me, "The mortal (moral) of this story is that you should eat different stuff, like a variety. Not only eat one thing every day." In the lunchbox: three mini hamburgers surrounded by a dog & cow who were chasing Benny, Benny carrot, fruit leather letters, and grapes.


Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney

 

The girl in this story is figuring out her place in the world. She draws herself on a map of her room, then her house, street, city, state, country, continent, and finally planet. Boogs and I discussed his place in the world and made a concentric circle model of it to show how we can be in so many places at once. In the ELB lunchbox: cheesehead Boogs in Texas on top of a cheese map of North America with the United States outlined, crackers, strawberries, yogurt, and veggies.



A Good Night Walk by Elisha Cooper

 A walk down the block shows the busy neighborhood while the sun is shining then it shows the quiet neighborhood once it is dark. Boogs really enjoyed seeing all of of the details in the drawings. He especially liked the noisy squirrels in the trees. Boogs and I often go for sunrise walks. We don't usually take walks late in the evening when it is getting dark. We will have to do that this weekend and see how our experience is different than the one in this book. In the Laptop Lunchbox: pb&j house, Babybel full moon, Zbar tree trunk with green bean chip leaves, orange slices, and carrots with hummus.


The Z was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg

 I know I have mentioned before how much I like Chris Van Allsburg's books. This is one of Boogs' favorite ones. He checked it out from his school library this week. This book showcases each letter of the alphabet in its own act of a 26 act play. Each letter is pictured onstage with something happening to it. You have to turn the page before you find out how the author described it. For instance, the J looks very shaky. Boogs guessed that the J was "jumpy". The text said the J was "rather jittery". This book is great for stretching your vocabulary. I used to read it to my 3rd graders and have them make a class ABC book following this format. In the ELB lunchbox: almond butter & jelly Z that was zapped and T that was all tied up, applesauce, carrots, tomatoes, and yogurt.



Fish Fry Tonight by Jackie French Koller

Little Mouse was so excited when he caught a fish. He declared, "The biggest fish I've ever seen." Mouse invites his friend squirrel over for a fish fry and tells squirrel to bring a friend or two. Squirrel tells rabbit about the fish fry, rabbit tells badger, badger tells deer, etc. Pretty soon all of the animals in the forest are headed to Mouse's house for the fish fry. Mouse gets quite a surprise when she opens her door. She quickly closes her door and calls for 100 pizzas. Then she cuts up the fish into small pieces and offers the animals fish fry hors d'oeuvres. Boogs thought mouse was a very fast thinker. In the ELB lunchbox: fish fry fillets, Mouse drawn on cheese, fish drawn on marshmallow, pears, and baked kale chips.


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.     

Lunches Jan. 14th - 18th

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.

 A Pirates Twelve Days of Christmas by Philip Yates

Boogs likes to check out Christmas and Halloween books all year long. This 12 days of Christmas book is really cute. Boogs and I sang our way through it. The gifts were: 12 pirates cheerin', 11 swallows swoopin', 10 sloops a-sailin', 9 mermaids singin', 8 dolphins swimmin', 7 monkeys swingin', 6 Jolly Rogers, 5 chests of gold, 4 cacklin' hens, 3 black cats, 2 cutlasses, an' a parrot in a palm tree. The illustrations are bright and cheerful. You can see the other pirates hiding in the shadows while delivering the gifts. Boogs wanted to know why I did not get the correct number of each item into his lunchbox. Silly boy! In the ELB lunchbox: parrot pick in tomatoes & spinach salad, pb&j dolphin, marshmallow Jolly Roger, two chest of cheese gold, and a cacklin' hen pick in blueberries & blackberries.



 Riddles and More Riddles! by Bennett Cerf

Boogs gets a big giggle out of riddles and jokes. We found this beginner book of riddles that was just right for him. Boogs' lunch contains the answers to the riddles I wrote on his napkin. I wrote the questions in purple to match the beautiful new lid color choices for ELBs. In the Easylunchboxes (ELB) BRIGHTS lunchbox: salami & cheese hog face (the cheese is cracked because Boogs was playing with it while I was packing his lunch), horsefly drawn on cracker, Fig Newton umbrella, sheep pick in blueberries, and dog/hot dog picks in spinach & tomato salad. Boogs' salad dressing in in the ELB Mini Dipper container.

The hog is made with the CuteZCute cutter.

Fly Guy vs. The Fly Swatter! by Tedd Arnold

Boogs has been obsessed with Fly Guy recently. We ordered a few Fly Guy books from his classroom Scholastic book order. Boogs also frequently checks out Fly Guy books from the school library and the local library. In this Fly Guy adventure, Fly Guy accidentally goes on a field trip with Buzz to a flyswatter making company. He has to face the menacing mechanical flyswatter to save a young fly. Boogs laughed throughout this book. In the ELB lunchbox: almond butter & jelly Fly Guy, cheese fly swatter, kiwi, and broccoli.

*You have to check out What's In Our Lunch Bags? Hi Fly Guy and I Spy Fly Guy lunches. They are awesome.*



 Phonics Comics: The Fix-It Crew by Lara Bergen

Boogs loves to read comic books. I am not a big fan of the ones he usually chooses (Transformers) because they have long made-up words/names and bad plots. Phonics Comics are fun for both of us. In The Fix-It Crew,  three friends help each other repair a shed for a new club house. Their wonderful work is noticed by someone who needs help fixing a leaky roof before a big performance at the school. The three friends fix the roof and make other improvements to the auditorium. Boogs is going to look for more Phonics Comics at the library this week. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j beaver with fruit roll-up hat, Babybel bear with construction hat pick, marshmallow bird, pretzel logs, mango boards, and salad tools.


Looking At Liberty by Harvey Stevenson

 In 1869, French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi had a vision to create a monument to celebrate liberty. This book tells the story of how the Statue of Liberty was created from vision, design, hard work, transportation, collaboration to its final placement in New York Harbor. In the Laptop lunchbox: Statue of Liberty drawn on cheese with salami on a sourdough roll, veggies, blackberries, and yogurt.

 

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.     

Stuff We Have Been Up To

It seems like it has been taking a while for me to get back into the groove since our holiday vacation. 

We went to Luling this past Saturday and had lunch with my 94-year-old grandmother, my parents, my sister and her family, my cousins, and my aunt & uncle. It was nice seeing everyone.

Boogs and I started working on some late Thank You cards. We decided to do some shaving cream/food coloring prints on them. We put shaving cream in a pie pan, added a few drops of food coloring, gently swirled it around, then pushed cardstock on top of the designs. They turned out really well. Now, we just have to sit down and write the cards.

After the shaving cream prints, Boogs decided that he wanted to make a "brew". He takes all sorts of things from the spice cabinet, pantry, and fridge and mixes them together. He really enjoys doing this.

This time he used salt, cinnamon, paprika, pepper, pickle juice, corn starch, cloves, olive juice, lime juice, parmesan cheese, perfume, and a few other things. It looked disgusting.

Daddy helped him add some vinegar and baking soda to see what would happen. Ewwwww!

Then, Boogs smelled it. His expression says it all.

Boogs also spent some time this weekend with his bike. Daddy helped him ride his bike without training wheels for the first time. I was taking a nap so I did not get a picture of it.

It has been pretty quiet around here. We are just trying to find our groove again.