Skate Night

Boogs' school had a skate night this week. It was the first time Boogs has ever been on roller skates. He did pretty well. The skate place we went to had rolling supports that you could rent. What a fantastic idea! Back in my day (yes, I am old) you had to cling to side wall if you could not skate. It was a fun night. I am glad I tied on some skates and skated with him.

Before renting the rolling support.

 

 

After renting the rolling support.

Boogs said he wants to go skating again.

Boogs participated in the 2nd/3rd grade boys race.

Lunches September 2nd - 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 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.

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet

In the Laptop Lunchbox: salami & cheese caterpillar balloon, Sarg hummus face, carrots, cucumber, blueberry sky, and yogurt (not pictured).
 
Boogs and I loved reading this book. It is based on the biography of Tony Sarg. Tony Sarg was known as The Father of Modern Puppetry in North America. He moved to NYC and had his own Tony Sarg Marionettes company. Macy's department store was impressed by his work and asked him to design a puppet parade for their holiday window. He used gears and pulleys to make his story book creations move. Macy's had its first Thanksgiving Parade in 1924. Sarg designed floats and costumes for the parade. Live zoo animals were in the parade, but they scared the children. Macy's asked Sarg to create puppets for the parade to take the place of the live animals. Sarg designed puppets made of blimp material held up on rods. Soon he decided to use rubberized silk filled with helium to make the puppets strong, light, and more visible to the crowd. These were like upside down marionettes, controlled through wires beneath them instead of above them. These became the starting point and model for balloon character  floats still used today. Boogs was very interested in how Sarg's interest in art and making things work, led Sarg to such an unusual career.

I thought it would be fun for Boogs and I to design our own parade balloons. Boogs made a bird and I made an elephant. We still need to decide if we want to add a few wires or rods to them.

Momables had a simple mini quiche recipe on their weekly menu plan last week. Boogs and I made the quiche for breakfast on Labor Day. It is always fun to spend time in the kitchen together. The quiche turned out great and went perfectly with yogurt, a plum, and some toast for a yummy breakfast.

Momables is a subscription service whose mission is to help parents pack quick, healthy lunches filled with a variety of fun and nutritious food. With your subscription, you receive access to a new menu of lunches, packing tips, recipes, and a grocery list each week. If you would like to receive a free week of the subscription service, stop by the website and sign up for it by clicking the "free week" tab on the home page. I think is it a wonderful service and I was not compensated for saying this. :-)

 The Magical Life of Mr. Renny by Leo Timmers

Mr. Renny is an excellent painter whose paintings do not sell. One day, he was so hungry he wished he could eat the realistic looking apple he had painted. A little man appeared and granted his wish. The man also told Mr. Renny that anything he painted would turn into the real object when the last brushstroke of the object was complete. At first, Mr. Renny was delighted with his new talent. He painted everything he had ever wanted - car, plane, mansion, boat, and many other material objects. When an old friend stopped by to see if Mr. Renny would paint something for her, Mr. Renny realized that he was no longer an artist. None of his paintings remained paintings. He soon fixed this problem and realized that having all the materials things in the world cannot make you happy. Boogs and I discussed this concept. Boogs said he would paint the Pokemon White video game. Then he decided he would also paint a Sandals Resort (we saw it on Wheel of Fortune) and Disney World so his whole family could take a nice vacation together for some family time.

In the ELB lunchbox: cheese Mr. Renny flying his airplane on top of a pb&j sandwich, Pringles canvases, sunflower seeds painter's palette, rainbow of colors salad, and fruit. 

When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic

This was a fun book about an eight-year-old boy, Billy, who had wild ideas about the kind of jobs he wanted to have when he grew up. The illustrations were detailed and vibrant. Billy's job choices had Boogs and I laughing and groaning. I tried to include many of the jobs Boogs thought were amusing in his lunchbox.

In the Laptop Lunchbox: ham & cheese snails for Master Circus Snail Trainer, pickles for Pickle Inspector, Zbar shaped like a foot for Foot Model, yogurt for Giraffe Milker, grapes with hat & boot picks for Rodeo Clown, kiwi, and salad.

Kat Kong by Dav Pilkey

Several months ago, Boogs received a pet hamster for his 7th birthday. He is slightly obsessed with books and stories about hamsters, mice, guinea pigs, and the like. Boogs loved reading Kat Kong to me. This book is a spoof of King Kong with photos of real mice portraying the human roles and a cat portraying King Kong. There were several puns/sayings in the book that had Boogs laughing out loud. After reading it, he immediately asked when we were going to read Dogzilla, the companion book to Kat Kong.

In the ELB lunchbox: Kat Kong almond butter & jelly CuteZcute sandwich on top of cheese Mousopolis buildings, Babybel mouse being held captive, carrot chip search lights, spinach for the jungle, and a container of pineapple on which Boogs wrote Kat Kong.

Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

I absolutely LOVED Shel Silverstein's poems when I was a kid. Boogs likes to hear them over and over again, too. My favorite poem in this book is Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out. You can clearly imagine how disgusting the trash at Sarah's house is by the desciptive words used in the poem.  Of course I had to make Boogs a garbage lunch to go with this poem!

In the ELB lunchbox: garlic green baloney, chunks of cheese, gristly bits of beefy roasts beef jerky, cold french fries, withered greens salad, crusts of black burned buttered toast croutons, and peach pit plum pieces.


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.

Labor Day Weekend

Whew! We had a busy weekend visiting with friends we have not seen in a while. Boogs is usually in bed by 7:30. We had not planned on keeping him up way past his bedtime three nights in a row, but it happened and he was a trooper.

Saturday was a beautiful day, plenty of sunshine and blue sky. When I mentioned what a beautiful day it was, my husband said, "It is always a beautiful day here. We need some ugly days filled with a lot rain." That is true. We spent most of Saturday with friends at the Lakeway Resort & Spa. It was shocking to see how low the water level was in Lake Travis. But it was wonderful to hang out with friends that we had not seen in years.

Boogs and his Daddy had a great time playing in the pool! It was nice to cool down with a bit of ice cream. Yum!

 Boogs must have gone down this slide 25 times. He loved it.

We spent Sunday with friends at their house. They have a game room filled with all kinds of pinball and video games. Boogs likes to play the slot machine when we visit. He also insists that he has to wear this Hawaiian shirt each time we go to their house because, "They have a pool and this is my pool party shirt." Boogs is such a cutie.

We were in the pool most of the afternoon. I think Boogs is part fish.

 

We even had time for cooking and crafting on this long weekend.

Now we are ready to face week 2 of school. I hope Boogs will enjoy the coming week more than he did his first week. Our Story Themed Lunches have started back up with the new school year. Be sure to check them out HERE.

This post is linked to:
 

First Week of 2nd Grade Lunches

Boogs' lunches are inspired by the books we read together at bedtime, for homework, or just for fun. I usually use a book we read the previous day for the next day's lunch. I post a week of lunches at a time, usually on Fridays. You can click the "lunches" label at the end of this post to see the story themed lunches we have made in the past.  All of this week's lunches were inspired by back-to-school stories.

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg

Sarah is not ready for her first day at a new school. She hides under her blankets and kind of feels sick. Sarah delays leaving the house as much as she can. She imagines her class will be filled with wild kids who like to pick on each other. When Sarah finally arrives, the nice principal takes her to her new classroom. The last page of the book has a little surprise ending that lets you know everyone can have the jitters. Boogs has had a bad case of the jitters this year. When we saw the class list, Boogs realized that none of his best buds were going to be in his class. It made him really sad and nervous about 2nd grade. I am hoping his second week of school will be much calmer than this week. 

In the Laptop Lunchbox: Babybel Sarah hiding under an almond butter & jelly blanket sandwich, "JITTERS" cut out of fruit leather, dried apricot, Chex Mix, apple, baby spinach, cucumber in the shape of apples, carrot hearts, and salad dressing.


Troll Teacher by Vivian Vande Velde

Miss Turtledove is a teacher and a troll! She eats chalk and backpacks, throws things, runs her fingers down the chalkboard and many other troll-like things. No one but the children seem to realize Miss Turtledove is a real troll. She eventually leaves the school. At the end of the book, Elizabeth  discovers that the replacement teacher looks like a vampire. Boogs said this book was okay but not great. He let me know that his new teacher is definitely not a troll. He said she is really nice but he still does not want to go to school. (sigh) 

In the ELB Lunchbox: ham & cheese inside spinach tortilla Troll with ham hair, candy eyes, sunflower seed nose & cheese teeth, dried apricots, Pirates Booty, mango, and broccoli.


Miss Malarkey Doesn't Live in Room 10 by Judy Finchler

A little boy and his classmates thought their teachers lived at school. They imagined what all of the teachers were doing in the school building after school - eating dinner in the cafeteria, playing in the gym, and sleeping on bunk beds in the Teachers' Lounge. When Miss Malarkey moved into the same apartment building as one of her students, the student learned the truth. Boogs read this book to me and let me know that he never believed teachers lived at school. He said he has always known better than that! 

In the ELB Lunchbox: salami & cheese Miss Malarkey sandwich, pita chips books, okra chips, salad with radish stars, and grapes with letter picks from All Things For Sale.


Froggy Goes To School by Jonathan London

On the first day of school, Froggy woke up late and ran to the bus stop. Oops! He forgot to put on clothes and was only in his underwear. What a terrible beginning to a new school year! Luckily, it was all just a bad dream. Froggy's father woke him on time and he had a wonderful first day of school. 

In the ELB Lunchbox: salami & cheese CuteZcute Froggy, tomatoes with S S radishes for Swamp School, Pringles, marshmallow with Froggy's underwear, carrots with hummus, blueberries, and plums.


The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

Details of this lunch are in my First Day of 2nd Grade post.

Boogs told me he is ready to read something else beside back-to-school stories. Good, because I have already picked out a couple of good, non-school related books for next week.

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.

First Day of 2nd Grade

How is my little boy a great big 2nd grader???

The night before Boogs started Kindergarten, we read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn.  It has become a night-before-school-starts tradition. I started making story themed lunches on the first day of Kindergarten and have made one almost every school day since then. Boogs asked me to keep making them for 2nd grade. He also wanted to continue our tradition of having the first lunch of the new school year themed to The Kissing Hand.

In the Laptop lunchbox: sausage & cheese hearts, mini Sunbutter & jelly hand sandwich, Momables recipe No-Bake Energy Bites shaped into hearts, salad with heart radishes, yogurt, berries, and a marshmallow with 2nd grade written with a Foodwriter marker.

After school, we kept up our tradition of going to the book store to get a new book for the new school year. Boogs loves picking out books.

 He had to read through quite a few before he found the perfect book to take home - Skylander Giants.

This is the first year that Boogs was sad for the new school year to begin. During Open House last week, he discovered that his 3 best buds were not going to be in his class. He said he had a good day but was still missing his friends. I love my little sweetie with all my heart. I wish him the best 2nd grade school year EVER!

Kindergarten Kissing Hand Lunch

 1st Grade Kissing Hand Lunch

This post is linked to:


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.

Last Week of Summer 2013

We began our last week of summer in Arkansas at the Crater of Diamonds State Park. I wrote about it here.

Boogs was pretty tired after we returned home and wanted to hang out at the house for most of the week. We did make it to our library's Explorer's Club on Thursday. The theme this week was back-to-school. The kiddos made pencil decorations with pipe cleaners. That evening we went to Boogs' school to meet his new teacher and drop off his school supplies. I forgot to bring my camera. Boogs is very sad that none of his K/1st grade buds are in his class. It was a very upsetting discovery.

On Friday, we spent most of our morning at the car dealership waiting for a second key to be made for my car. Then we spent the afternoon at the pool. Boogs talked me into jumping off the high dive. Yikes! He is very brave to keep going off of the high dive again and again. I did not really enjoy it.

Friday night, Boogs went to his first (non-family) sleepover. He had a blast. His friend's mom sent me this picture:

He LOVES Monopoly! Boogs told me they flew a remote control helicopter, held a bearded dragon, played games, did a science experiment, made mini-pizzas, and they started watching Spy Kids at 9 p.m. They went to bed around 11. Yay for a successful sleepover!

We spent the rest of the weekend running a few errands, hanging out together, and relaxing before our busy school year begins.

Crater of Diamonds Trip

Boogs and I had a great time taking a little trip with D and the four J boys to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. Five boys in the car for 6 hours led to a noisy drive. Luckily, they had books, crayons, and each other to occupy themselves.

We stayed at the Diamonds Old West Cabins in Murfreesburo. The boys loved being in the jail house cabin. On day two, they put me in jail and tried to keep me there.

 

 

We went to dig for diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park three times during our stay in Arkansas.

 

The diamond fields were huge. There was plenty of room to dig. We spent about two hours in the fields on our first evening. It was pretty late by the time we had dinner and got everyone settled for the night.

The boys were up bright and early the next morning. Boogs said they planned a jailbreak at sunrise. I don't think J2 was ready for the morning to begin.

We enjoyed the wooden playscape near our cabin until we discovered several large wasp nests in the bottom part of the boat.

We made it to the fields by nine in the morning for another round of diamond hunting. We found quartz, glass, volcanic rock, and LOTS of jasper. The boys were disappointed that the diamonds were so hard to find. We stopping digging and went to lunch. While we were at lunch, someone found a diamond right where we had been digging.

Boogs and J3 had more fun making clay figures at the sluicing tub than actually digging for diamonds. They played with the clay for hours.

The state park had a really neat pool. Boogs, J2, and J2's cousin really enjoyed it while the other boys took a nap.

 

We spent part of the afternoon at the mini golf course. It was nice to have it all to ourselves. We thought the 93 degree weather was perfectly cool after having been in 103 to 107 degree temps last week in Texas.

 We went back to the fields in the late afternoon for more digging.

 

 Boogs and J3 pretended to sleep on the front porch after our long day.

The ride home was pretty quiet. The boys slept off and on for several hours. 

 Thanks D for inviting us on this great adventure! We can't wait for the next trip together.

This post is linked to Coombe Mill Country Kids Outdoor Linky Party.