Our Weekend

Last Thursday and Friday, Boogs told me, "My voice is hoarse." I told him he was probably suffering from allergies. I really did not think anything about it until Friday night when he would not eat his dinner. He said, "I can't even swallow water. I can't eat." I looked in his throat with a flashlight and it was speckled red and white. We went to his pediatrician's office on Saturday morning for a strep test. It came back positive. Boogs was very upset that he was not going to be able to play with his friends on Saturday and Sunday. We spent most of the weekend just hanging out and resting.

After two doses of antibiotics, Boogs was feeling a lot better Sunday morning. He wanted to go out on the back porch and play a few games. We had a cold front come through and it was (Texas) cold outside. Boogs and I bundled up and played a few games of checkers before getting too cold to stay out any longer. We came back inside, started a fire, and played cards for awhile. The cold weather only lasted about a day and a half.

We spent part of our Sunday getting a new battery for my car. In a way, I am glad that my car and Boogs got "sick" on the weekend.

This is my third week back at work in an elementary school. My posts are most likely going to be more sporadic as I adjust to my new schedule.

Lunches October 1st - 5th

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 Poem A Day By Helen H. Moore (and other poets)
Boogs and I were inspired by a poem for lunch today.
Roy G. Biv
Roy G. Biv is an odd name for a fellow, 
but what his name means is Red Orange Yellow. 
The G is for Green which as you may know 
comes right in the middle of every rainbow. 
Next: Blue and Indigo more pale than dark. 
Then V for Violet - and that completes the arc! 
by Carol Weston 
In the Laptop lunchbox: a rainbow of colors, orange carrots, green kiwi, yellow cheese, red(ish) ham, blue blueberry, almonds, and pumpkin chocolate chip muffin.

The GUM Chewing Rattler by Joe Hayes
This lunch was part of a Bento Blogger & Friends blog hop. See the details here.

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett
Boogs thinks this book is hilarious. Last year, we used a different page in the book for inspiration for a chicken lunch. Today's lunch has a snake slithering out of his pants. In the lunchbox: plums, broccoli, spinach, Clif Bar snake, cheese stick snake slithering out of ham & salami pants, and carrot snakes.

A closer look.

Too Many Toys by David Shannon
I think this book pretty accurately describes Boogs' toy collection. The boy in the story has toys everywhere, too many to play with them all. His mother decides it is time to sort some of them out to give them away. After a very trying day, a box of toys has been set aside to leave the house. This book makes me want to go organize and purge the playroom. After reading this book, Boogs said, "I think I have just the right amount of toys. We don't have to get rid of anything." In the lunchbox: ham & cheese boy wearing a space helmet, milk, pretzel pick-up sticks, grape balls, salad with tomato marbles, and two small lego-like candies.

Mom And Dad Are Palindromes by Mark Shulman
Boogs was fascinated with this book. It has more than 101 palindromes, words or phrases that are spelled exactly the same forwards and backwards. In the story, Bob's teacher pointed out to the class that "BOB" is a palindrome. This freaked Bob out a little bit. Then he began to find palindromes everywhere: Mom, Dad, Anna, Nan, eye, pup, race car, noon, rotor, and many more. At the end of the book, he figured out a way to stop being a palindrome. He decided to stop calling himself Bob and go by his full name. Uh-oh, even his full name is a palindrome - Robert Trebor. In the lunchbox: pb&j BOB sandwich, sad faced Babybel Bob, MOM picks on tomatoes, DAD picks on olives, LEVEL picks on strawberries, and yogurt topped with palindromes.

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.

World Animal Day Bento Blog Hop

                                                                   

Bento Bloggers & Friends are having a whale of a hop... I mean a kangaroo of a hop... I mean a penguin of a hop... Well, we are joining together for a World Animal Day hop. So, click through all of the links to see a menagerie of lunches.


Boogs and I chose to take a closer look at a few snake stories this week. They helped inspire his snake lunch.

The Gum Chewing Rattler by Joe Hayes
Joe loved chewing gum more than anything else. Sometimes, he would chew 7 pieces at a time. He always kept an extra pack of bubblegum in his shirt pocket. That habit saved his life one day when he stepped on a rattlesnake's tail. That snake rose up and aimed his fang's at Joe's heart. Luckily, it sunk it's teeth into Joe's extra pack of gum. That snake was so mad he started working his jaws to get away from the gum. Wouldn't you know, he ended up blowing a bubble three times as large as a basketball. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j rattlesnake blowing a strawberry bubble, GUM spelled in cheese, strawberries, yogurt in a Mini Dipper, and salad with extra gumball tomatoes.

These are a few of Boogs' snake lunches from last school year:

Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae
The page Boogs liked best in this book was the snake page. "The boa constrictor's a slippery snake who squashes then swallows his prey. He knows that it's not very friendly or kind, but they do taste much nicer that way." In the lunchbox: a boa constrictor squeezing a ham & cheese squirrel sandwich, a nest of baby snakes made out of pasta salad, snake orange pieces, and yogurt tube snake.

Snakes Slither and Hiss - DK Readers
When I went to check on Boogs this morning, he was in his room playing "snakes". He had taken several blankets and piled them on top of each other for a nest of leaves because he was a pit viper. I love his imagination. In the lunchbox: Box full of snakes! Spinach tortilla and hummus snake, salami snake, cheese stick snake, carrot snakes, pretzel snakes, cucumber snake, spinach tortilla strip snake, Adam and Eve apple, and yogurt.

Verdi by Janell Cannon 
I have loved this book for a long time. It was nice to be able to share it with Boogs and see him enjoy it, too. Verdi is an acrobatic young snake who can't understand the older snakes at all. As he grows older, he begins to understand their lethargy and grumblings. But he decides he will always remain young at heart. In the Laptop lunchbox: pb&j sandwich with Verdi curling through the air, carved snake carrots, watermelon, Goldfish, Pirates Booty, and yogurt.

To continue your World Animal Day hop, click the button below. It will take you to a foxy lunch at Mommy Kiki Can's blog.
                                                

                                                   
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.

Lazy Weekend

We had a lovely weekend. The weekend was sunny. We spent quite a lot of it in the shade on our back porch. We also went shopping, played Skip-bo, and shot Silly String at each other. Grandmaman, here are a few pictures of your boys:

Lunches September 24th - 28th

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.

The Looking Book by P.K. Hallman
Two young brothers are watching television when their mother tells them to turn off the t.v. and go outside to play. The boys protest loudly until their mother hands them a very strange surprise, lookers. Lookers are glasses without lenses. The mother encourages the boys to use the lookers to see things outside they have never noticed. The lookers opened up a whole new world to the boys and made them ignore their television. In the Laptop lunchbox: chocolate chip banana bread muffin with fruit leather lookers, cheese butterflies, duck, and flower, salami twigs, tomatoes for ladybugs, raspberries, and carrots.

 Boogs and I went looking this past weekend on our sunrise walk. Another walker told us about a bee tree. We found the bee tree right off one of the walking paths. We got pretty close and just watched them for a while. Boogs did not like it when one bee bounced off his head.

Wodney Wat's Wobot by Helen Lester
Wodney is unable to pronounce the letter R. His friends get him a special robot for his birthday. When Wodney whispers to the wobot, it pronounces correctly whatever Rodney Rat has said.  A big bully makes Wodney and all of his friends tremble. Luckily, Wodney's wobot saves the day. Boogs thought this was a cute story. In the ELB lunchbox: pepperoni pizza, cheese letters, plum slices, and salad with a cucumber robot.

 

Bravery Soup by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Carlin the raccoon is afraid of everything. He approaches Big Bear, the bravest animal of all, to help him get some courage. Big Bear sends him on a journey to bring back the secret ingredient to bravery soup. Carlin must complete the journey through the Forbidden Forest all by himself. Carlin's journey helps him develop bravery and courage. In the Laptop Lunchbox: pb&j fox, boiled egg Carlin the raccoon, okra chips for the Forbidden Forest, blueberries for the perilous river, and applesauce "Bravery Soup". (Thanks Bent On Better Lunches for the idea of turning a paper muffin cup upside down for extra cuteness!)

The Monster Who Ate My Peas by Danny Schnitzlein
The boy in this story HATED peas and wished they would disappear. His wish came true when a disgusting, rotten sardine smelling, bloated bodied, gruesome monster appeared and offered to eat the peas... for a price. The boy chose to give up his soccer ball and bike so he would not have to eat peas. Boogs was very concerned about the boy when he made these trades. He said, "That was not a good trade. I am really sad for that boy. The monster is just going to keep coming back until the boy has traded away his mother and father and maybe even his self. That would be the last thing he could trade."  When the monster came around the third time and said it would cost the boy his cute little puppy, the boy decided to eat the peas. As he chewed his first pea, the boy had to admit that the pea tasted good. Boogs really liked the ending "And now there's not one single food I won't try. If others can eat it... well then, so can I. I am happier now than I have ever been, and I never will trade with a monster again!" When I told Boogs I was going to put peas in his lunch he was disgusted. Boogs does not eat cooked veggies. I repeatedly serve them to him, but he does not like mushy vegetables. He eats a good variety of raw veggies. I expect to see that teeny tiny container of peas come home with every pea in it.
In the ELB lunchbox: sloppy pb&j rolled sandwich (it was not supposed to be sloppy but sometimes things just don't work out), Babybel boy frowning at some peas, berry yogurt with a frozen yogurt "sardine" on top in a Mini Dipper, raspberries, carrots, and broccoli. 

Wild Boars Cook by Meg Rosoff and Sophie Blackhall
Whew! These little boars sure do make pigs of themselves. They scarf down everything from pickles to cookbooks. While Doris was eating a page in the cookbook, she noticed an interesting recipe for pudding with ingredients including broccoli and squid. Boogs said he would never eat that pudding but he would eat broccoli. In the ELB lunchbox: pig ham & cheese sandwich, pickles, yogurt in a Mini Dipper, pretzels, broccoli, and an apple.

Did you notice that perfectly cut out pig face on Boogs' sandwich? I was fortunate enough to receive an all-in-one bento tool from CuteZCute. The set comes with four different cutter/stamps - frog, pig, panda, and cat - 1 outer face cutter frame, and an assist pick to help get small pieces out of the cutter. It was so easy to use. I plan on using it often.


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.

Catapult

For Father's Day, Boogs gave Daddy a Tabletop Catapult Kit. The kit came with a book about 7 different types of ancient catapult designs. Boogs said he wants to try and make them all. The weather was perfect this weekend to hang out on the back porch and put it together.

Boogs very carefully followed the directions.

Daddy helped him get things just right.

Tightening the tension on the rope.

Boogs aimed the first shot at me then Daddy let him aim the next shot at him. (We were listening to an all 80s radio station. They just don't make songs like Toy Soldiers anymore.)

We changed from brown to pink clay so we could locate the projectile easier.

Boogs even tried out the catapult with two projectiles at once.

We had a lot of fun working on this catapult. Last week I looked at Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk's blog on the day she posted about a physics experiment for her young son. She introduced the words aerodynamic and trajectory for her activity. I realized it would be the perfect time to introduce the word trajectory to Boogs while he was fine tuning his catapult's aim.

Boogs moved the catapult all over the porch, tried to get a clay ball in the bowl, aimed at us, shot 5 clay balls from the same location and then measured to see which went the farthest. We discussed the variables that influenced the differences between the clay balls - weight, size, shape. Later in the day, Boogs and I went online to look at videos of catapults and trebuchets in action. This is one Boogs particularly liked:
 Trebuchet throwing car & piano

I think we will be playing with this for a long time to come.

Lunches September 17th - 21st

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.

Boogs is such a sweet boy. One morning this week, he was watching me get a lunch ready and he said, "I've never seen a true artist at work. Your lunches are works of art." He brings me silly smiles all the time.


The Mystery of King Karfu by Doug Cushman
Boogs loves to figure out a good mystery, especially when you have to crack a code to discover hidden treasure. This picture book has it all. A mysterious person stole the Stone Chicken that belonged to the Ancient Egyptian pharaoh King Karfu. The chicken held the clues to finding King Karfu's hidden treasure. Seymour Sleuth, the wombat hero of this story, carefully lays out the evidence against each of the suspects. It is up to the reader to follow the evidence to solve the mystery. The author even threw in a "red herring" to throw us off track. I helped Boogs decode the secret message. He said, "I think we should take this decoded secret message to Egypt so we can find the treasure. No, wait a minute. We can't do that. We might die in the hot Egypt sun." When we went to the library this week, we had to check out the other Seymour Sleuth mystery - The Mystery of the Monkey's Maze. In the Laptop lunchbox: strawberry red herring, salad, pb&j Seymour Sleuth, cheese Stone Chicken, dried apple "cookie crumbs", and trail mix representing the crumbly walls inside the pyramid.

A closer view

In One Ear, Out The Other by Michael Dahl
I admit it, I have said this phrase to my son many times. In this story, a little 3-eyed monster lets everything he hears go in one ear and out the other. He is too busy climbing, falling, swimming, shouting, hiding, running, sleeping, etc to listen to what others say. This caused him a few problems. For instance he answered a math test question, 2+2, with the answer 'France'. The little monster almost missed out on the big party because he did not listen. He decided to stick a sock in his left ear to keep the words in and it worked. Boogs thought that was hilarious! In the ELB lunchbox: 3-eyed monster made of hot dogs baked in a cornbread muffin, "2+2=France" written on his flat bread ear, boiled egg, cottage cheese for potato salad, grapes, broccoli, and salad dressing in a Mini Dipper.

Idea for hotdog corn muffin from What's For Lunch At Our House

The details for these two pirate story lunches can be found HERE. I put them in a post on Wednesday for International Talk Like A Pirate Day blog hop. 39 blogs showcased pirate lunches and linked together for a megahop with a chance to win some pirate treasure until Sunday, 9/23. 

Ten Wishing Stars by Treesha Runnels
We actually read a book about the Dewey Decimal System. I was not feeling creative enough to turn it into a lunch, so I asked Boogs if he could pick out one of his favorite old stories for me instead. He read Ten Wishing Stars to me. It is a cute little count-down-to-bed book about sheep making wishes and getting what they want. In the Laptop lunchbox: ham & cheese sheep with "WISH" alphabet picks, star kiwi, star Babybel cheese, raisins with star dried apricot, salad with star cucumbers.

The Runaway Wok by Yin Chang Compestine
Boogs really liked this story. He said it reminded him of The Magic Dreidels by Eric Kimmel. I thought it had a bit of Jack & the Beanstalk in it. Ming is instructed by his mother to sell some eggs for a bag of rice. Ming meets an old man who offers to trade the eggs for an old rusted wok. The boy is unwilling to make the trade until he hears the wok sing to him. After Ming makes the trade, he heads home to his mother. The wok magically helps Ming's family have a perfect Chinese New Year celebration. Boogs and I discussed the many ways the wok moved in the story. The wok rolled, briskly hopped, skipped, jumped, trotted, galloped, spun, scooted, slid, and sped off. Boogs and I tried out each of these ways to move across his playroom. I think he liked rolling the best. At the back of the book, there is a recipe for Festive Stir-Fried Rice. I asked Boogs if he would like some in his lunch, he told me he would prefer Cilantro Rice and Black Beans. In the Laptop lunchbox: Cilantro rice & beans pretending to be fried rice, carrots, Momables meatballs, golden cheese coins, mixed berries, and a small container of ranch dressing.

Happy Blogiversary to Bento Blog Network! If you have not visited Bento Blog Network, you are missing out. Diana has a new bento theme each week, a friendly competition, and wonderful tutorials. I stumbled across her site when I began making bento-ish lunches for Boogs last Fall. She has brought a whole community of bento makers together to share our love of cute lunches. Thanks, Diana!

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.