What A Change In Our Weather!

This past weekend we went from sunny and hot to several days of huge rainstorms. We welcome the change and the rain. The lakes in our area are so low due to the extended drought.

On Friday, Boogs and I went to the park after school. We had a little moose toy with us. I hid the moose and Boogs had to find him over and over again. It was a lot fun seeing him figure out how to reach the moose each time. We spent almost two hours running all over the park with moose.

Saturday was a stay at home and hang out kind of day. Boogs finally got to play with his Alien Autopsy Candy kit he received for his last birthday. It was kind of creepy and disgusting! The candy had a very strong coconut flavor.

Boogs and I spent Sunday morning enjoying the lovely rainfall. We stayed out in it for about two hours until we got too chilly. We had leaf races, visited two parks, walked through the woods, and enjoyed spending time together.

 

On Sunday, I spent the day with a friend while Boogs and Daddy hung out together. They made yummy crepes with Nutella, bananas, and whipped cream. Yum!

Boogs had such a great weekend, he said he is already looking forward to next weekend.

This post is linked to:

Lunches October 7th - 11th

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. We like to pack our lunches in ELBs and Laptop Lunchboxes. 

Leaf Trouble by Jonathan Emmett

I fell in love with the illustrations in this sweet book. Caroline Janye Church, the illustrator, used beautiful collages which perfectly matched the story. A little squirrel, Pip, experiences Autumn for the first time. He is extremely distressed when he notices that his beloved tree is falling apart. He enlists the help of his sister, Blossom, to help gather the fallen leaves and try to put them back on the tree. Mother squirrel explains the tree's resting cycle during Autumn and Winter. She assures Pip that leaves will return to the tree in the Spring. Pip compares the leaf cycle to the sunset - brilliantly colored before resting for a bit. Boogs and I both thought this was a sweet story. He loved how fiercely Pip tried to save his tree.

In the ELB lunchbox: almond butter & jelly Pip trying to catch and save the leaves. Leaves made of cheese, pineapple, strawberry, red/yellow/orange peppers, radish, and spinach leaves. Leaf cutouts on Babybel cheese and a tangerine. Zbar mini acorns. I linked this lunch to Bento Blog Network's leaf themed link-up.

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro

Boogs sang the text of this book to me. The old lady swallowed leaves, pumpkin, shirt, pants, and a rope. Eventually she sneezes out a familiar Fall sight. This book was a quick, fun read for Boogs.

In the Laptop Lunchbox: pb&j leaf sandwich, swiss & cheddar leaves, pb&j scarecrow, salad, and grapes.


Cows Can't Fly by David Milgrim

A young boy draws a picture of flying cows. Pretty soon he notices cows flying in the sky. He tries to get people to notice the flying cows but everyone is too busy looking down to look up. Near the end of the book, it looks like the boy might try to draw a flying dog next just to see what would happen. Boogs enjoyed this story. He thought he might like to draw his hamster floating in air to see if she would fly. Bummer, she didn't.

In the Laptop Lunchbox: nutella & pb flying cow and clouds, Pirate's Booty clouds, Babel cheese sun, dog pick in berries, and salad.

The Family Tree by David McPhail

A man clears land to build his house. He leaves one tree in the front yard. As generations of people live on the land, the tree remains in the yard. Eventually, a new highway threatens the tree. A little boy and his animal friends stand up to the highway planners. The planners alter the path of the highway to save the tree. This story has simple text and beautiful illustrations. 

In the ELB lunchbox: Zbar tree trunk with kiwi foliage, popcorn clouds, Babybel sun, turkey, and broccoli. This lunch was very quick and easy to make. I have linked it to the 15 Minute Friday linky on Bentos on the Bayou.

Ant Cities by Arthur Dorros

Boogs wanted to read a non-fiction book instead of a fiction book to me. His class has been discussing fiction vs. non-fiction this week. This books is packed with interesting facts about ants. Boogs really liked learning about the different roles ants have and how much the ant hill functions as a community.

In the Laptop Lunchbox: two different kinds of ham & cheese ants, small raisin ants, large dried apricot ants, berry ant hill, popcorn, marshmallow (I forgot to draw an ant on it), and broccoli.

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.

Finally, Some Cooler Weather

This week is Fire Prevention Week. Home Depot had some extra activities during their monthly Kids Workshop. Boogs really enjoys going to the workshops and building something new. This Saturday he built a wooden rescue plane.

Boogs was able to talk with a police officer and several firemen while looking at a police cruiser and a fire truck.

Inside Home Dept, there was a little course set up for the kids to play a few holes of mini-golf, bean bag toss into a ghost's mouth, and football toss. Boogs had really good aim.

Boogs had a very full Saturday. Saturday afternoon, I took Boogs to a friend's birthday party at a jumpy house. Then in the evening, my nephew came over to watch Boogs while my husband and I went to a Texas Stars hockey game. My nephew played Skylander and Mario Cart with Boogs before putting him to bed. Boogs told me he would love to have J babysit anytime.

We have been staying inside in the air conditioning quite a bit lately. Pool season has ended but the temperatures have still been hitting the 90s most days. Saturday evening a cold front blew through and dropped the temperatures into the 60s. Boogs and I took advantage of the cool weather and went for an early Sunday morning walk on the hike and bike trail. He started the walk with a lightweight jacket and then asked if we could go back to the car for his fleece lined jacket because it was too cold.

We have a lovely hike and bike trail a short drive from our house. The trail goes for miles and miles and connects several parks to each other. Boogs and I walked about four miles on the trails with stops to splash in puddles, play in the sandbox, look for fish, climb, and play on the playscape.

  

One part of the trail has several chin-up bars. Boogs and I tried to see how long we could hang upside down without hands. I won!

I had to talk Boogs out of burying himself in the sand. The sand was wet and cold. He made a few sand castles before we got back on the trail.

We ended our weekend with a fire blazing on the back porch while we ate dinner. Of course we had to have roasted marshmallows for dessert!

Boogs said he wants to have more weekends like this one. With cooler weather on the way, I am looking forward to getting back outside and exploring more with Boogs.

This post is linked to:

Lunches -Week of Sept. 30th

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. We like to pack our lunches in ELBs and Laptop Lunchboxes. 

The Greedy Apostrophe: A Cautionary Tale by Jan Carr

Boogs brought this book home from his school library. All of the punctuation marks gathered together to get their next assignments. No one really wanted the Greedy Apostrophe to have an assignment because he always tried to take over more words than he should. This book is really a cute jumping off point for discussing the differences between possessives and plurals. In the ELB lunchbox: Greedy Apostrophe turkey & cheese sandwich with a cheese S, fruit snack commas, pistachio periods, olive colons, salad, and a banana with a message for Boogs to Smile For Picture Day.



Dogzilla by Dav Pilkey

A few weeks ago, Boogs and I read Kat Kong. He loved that book and was very excited when I told him there was another book like it called Dogzilla. In this story, the mice of Mousopolis are having a cookout when Dogzilla arrives and ruins everything. The mice join forces and figure out a way to scare off Dogzilla. In the ELB: Dogzilla salami & cheese sandwich, cheese mouse, soap bubble Pirates Booty, strawberry & plum lava, tomato & carrot flames, and broccoli.



 E-MERGENCY! by Tom Lichtenheld & Ezra Fields-Meyer

Uh-oh! Letter E fell down the stairs and cannot perform her letter duties. The other letters have to decide how to avert a crisis. If people use the letter E while speaking, E will be unable to recover from her injuries. O has to step up and be used in place of E. Boogs roally onjoyod roading the rost of tho book without tho injurod lottor. Ho thought it was challonging and fun! We decided to try and make a lunch using the letter E as little as possible. In the ELB lunchbox: O & E ham & choose sandwichos, fruit snacks, pistachios, kiwi, raspborry, radish, tomato, carrot, and spinach.
Reading extension - I had Boogs write a note to his cousin without using the letter E. He is happy that E is back on the job.



The Toughest Cowboy: Or How the West Was Tamed by John Frank

The toughest cowboy in the West, Grizz, decided he had to have a dog. On his next trip into  town, Grizz discovers that one of the locals is giving away a dog for free to a good home. Grizz can't believe his luck. He hurried to the saloon to claim the dog. When he arrived, he came face to face with a little ball of fluff - Foofy, a miniature poodle. This dog eats fancy food, likes to be brushed, and wears pink ribbons in her hair. She is afraid of cows and is pretty useless on the open range. Amazingly, Foofy wins over the hearts of the rough cowboys with her dinner plate catching abilities. Boogs laughed all the way through this amusing book. In the ELB lunchbox: Grizz almond butter & jelly sandwich with cowboy picks, leftover chicken tumbleweeds, cauliflower Foofy, FOOFY picks in berries, and salad. 


Happy Birthday Hamster by Cynthia Lord

Boogs is obsessed with hamsters. His pet hamster, Winter, just had her 1/2 birthday. Boogs thought the hamster in this book was very cute, even though this book was a bit young for him. In the ELB lunchbox: hamster drawn on cheese on top of ham & cheese sandwich, berries, and salad. 

Here is a picture of Winter escaping the maze Boogs and I built for her. Can you see why Boogs thinks hamsters are the cutest pets?



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.

This post is also linked to:
After School Linky 

Story Themed Lunches

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. We like to pack our lunches in ELBs and Laptop Lunchboxes.

Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long

In the sequel to How I Became A Pirate, Jeremy Jacob is surprised by a visit from Captain Braid Beard and his crew. Jeremy Jacob enlists the pirates help to take care of his little sister who has woken up from her nap. Oh what a mess when the pirates try to change a diaper and take care of Bonney Anne! Later in the day, Bonnie Anne sneaks off and eats part of Captain Braid Beard's treasure map. Luckily, Jeremy Jacob was able to locate the hidden treasure in his back yard. Boogs really enjoyed looking at the illustrations in this book. He also said he is glad he does not have to take care of any little sisters.

 Pirates at the Plate by Aaron Frisch

 

A baseball game between pirates and cowboys is quite a sight. Famous players, like Bluebeard and Wild Bill Hickok, battle it out in a fierce game of ball with cannons blasting and lassos swinging. The story is peppered with puns. In the Laptop lunchbox: Boogs decided he wanted to have leftover pizza in the pirate lunch, so we turned the pizza into a baseball field with black olive players. Also in the lunch - mango gold, Pirate's Booty, lasso & rope Chex Mix, carrot bats, and tomato balls.

 Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth

Stillwater, the panda, meets three neighborhood children and shares Zen stories with them to help them focus on the way they view the world around them. The three stories Stillwater told really gave Boogs and I good conversation starters about luck, anger, and charity. Boogs favorite lesson was summed up by the character of Micheal, "Maybe good luck and bad luck are all mixed up. You never know what will happen." Boogs related this to his teeth. He said, "This is true with my teeth. It is bad luck that they hurt and bleed when they are loose but really good luck when the tooth fairy leaves money." The message in the last story Stillwater told was that carrying around anger towards another person can steal your own happiness. Boogs and I both enjoyed this Caldecott Honor book. In the lunchbox:  Stillwater johnny cake, banana slices with panda pick, blueberry water with panda pick, cottage cheese with red star umbrella.


Raccoon on His Own by Jim Arnosky

A little raccoon was out eating breakfast with his family when he discovered an old canoe. He climbed inside and soon found himself adrift in the swampy waters. The little boat carried the raccoon downstream. Little raccoon saw many swamp creature swimming and floating by his canoe. In the background of the pictures, mother raccoon is seen keeping a watchful eye on little raccoon during his adventure. Eventually, the canoe bumps against the shore and little raccoon discovers that his mother has followed him downstream. This was a sweet little book. In the ELB lunchbox: raccoon boiled egg, cheese sun, ham swamp water, Goldfish crackers, swamp flowers & foliage salad, and plum crawfish.

We also had a boring, throw some stuff into a lunchbox lunch this week. There are some mornings when I have no creative ideas for Boogs' lunch. This was one of them. In the Laptop lunchbox: salami, Goldfish crackers, strawberries, raisins, carrots, Babybel cheese, 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.

Redneck Party

My husband decided he wanted to have a redneck party. What a fun theme for a party! One guest commented that she was disappointed with the food. She said, "The food is great for the redneck theme, but I didn't eat before I came over because you always make such delicious food for your parties." The food I served for the party was more fun than delicious.

 Redneck Calamari

Hostess Cakes Cake

I was surprised at how much people liked the watermelon on a stick. Behind the watermelon, were chips, pork rinds, crackers and spray cheese. I was surprised by how many people tried the spray cheese on top of the pork rinds.

 I made little signs for some of the food.

Our guests got a kick out of the toilet paper silverware holders. I also decided to use leftover party napkins and fast food napkins.

As guests entered, they were directed to the "Build Your Own Wine Glass" craft station. Whew, saved me the trouble of putting the bottoms onto all of those little plastic wine glasses. We had a ring toss game out just for fun.

 How can you have a redneck party without pigs in a blanket?

I made taco salad and only put lettuce and tomato on half so guests could choose to have or not have veggies.

 There were prizes for first and last place.

 And, of course, there were  costumes.

 

The focus on my point-and-shoot camera is getting a bit iffy. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. I really liked how this picture turned out. Sadly, many of the pictures were not in focus.

This post is linked to Truly Lovely's Fancy This Fridays linky party.