THERE IS A 7-YEAR-OLD IN THE HOUSE

Boogs turned 7 on Friday. I had to make a special birthday lunch for him:

In the Laptop Lunchbox: double layer pb&j "cake" with frosting and cheese 7, raisins & apricots, Bugles for party hats, salad with #7 snap pea, and yogurt with a frozen yogurt Texas for my big Texas boy. When I was making his lunch, Boogs asked, "Why is there a salami Texas in my yogurt?" He was happy to find out that it was not salami.

I cannot believe how quickly these years are flying by. It makes me a little sad that he is no longer a such a little guy, but I am very proud of the young man he is becoming. Flashback picture time:

For his birthday, Boogs asked to become a pet owner. He decided that he would like some fish. Last Saturday, we went to three different pet shops to look at fish and aquariums. At the third shop, we picked out the aquarium and its decorations.

Eeny, meeny, miny, mo, which one should I get?

Then we went and looked at the other animals in the store, just for fun. We fell in love with a little Winter White Dwarf hamster. Daddy agreed that Boogs could take her home, too. Boogs named her Winter and has been having such a good time with her.
 

Boogs had to wait a week to get his fish. We wanted to be sure the aquarium was set up and ready for them. We also had to reinforce the dresser we wanted to put the fish tank on. The orange fish is a Sunburst Platy named Sticker because he likes to stick close to the plants. The other fish is a Ghost Catfish named Caty. Her body is clear, you can see right through her.

Our big 7-year-old on the morning of his birthday. Boogs is holding Winter in her exercise ball. We take her out of her cage every morning for a bit of exercise before we head to school/work.

GM & AJ he received both of your cards in time to open them on his birthday! He loved that they both contained a riddle.

Boogs had a great day. He is super excited about tomorrow. He is having a MineCraft themed birthday party with a small group of friends.

Lunches April 1st - 4th

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.

After seeing this week's lunch pictures altogether, I realized that I used EasyLunchboxes every day this week. These lunchboxes make packing a nicely portioned lunch SO easy.

 Pickles to Pittsburgh by Judi Barrett

This book is the sequel to Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Kate has a dream that she and her brother visit the town of Chewandswallow that was long ago abandoned because of raining food. In her dream, the people of the town have taken control of their endless supply of food and have started shipping it all over the world for free so that even with poverty and drought all people will have enough to eat. 
In the ELB lunchbox: chicken salad sandwich with picks of the types of food mentioned in the story, spinach & broccoli tree with a cheese bird on a Mini-wheat nest, and berries.


Springtime lunch inspired by our sunny weekend weather.

In the ELB lunchbox: salami wearing shades, black olives, cheese, graham cracker Scooby Snacks, veggies with dragonfly pick, grapes and blackberries with flower pick.
I linked this lunch in Bento On the Bayou: 15 Minute Friday linky party.



Ants by the Editors of Time for Kids with Brenda Isevoli

Boogs was really surprised to read that there are 12,000 different kinds of ants. He was very interested in the weaver ants who use larva silk to glue the edges of leaves together to build nests in the trees. The photographs in this book showed extreme close-ups of these active insects.
In the ELB: pb&j ant, Babybel cheese sun, graham cracker Scooby Snacks for the ground, salad, and blackberries.



Poppleton in Spring by Cynthia Rylant

Poppleton is such a silly pig. He tries to do some Spring cleaning and ends up with even more things in his house. Poppleton also set up his tent in his yard to listen to the sounds of Spring all night long. This reminded Boogs that I promised we will have a backyard camp out. 
In the ELB lunchbox: Poppleton pig made with CuteZcute cutter, cheese butterflies and flowers, carrot flowers with spinach, yogurt, and an orange.

 Jack and the Baked Beanstalk by Colin Stimpson

This is a new twist on the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack and his mother own a cafe that loses most of its customers because a new overpass directs traffic away from their location. Jack buys a can of baked beans which his mother throws out the window. Jack climbs the beanstalk and meets a helpful giant who is in a bit of a rut. The illustrations in this book are amazing, vibrant, and detailed. In the ELB lunchbox: pb & Nutella sandwich, beanstalk drawn on cheese, snap peas, and berries.


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. 

Spring Is Here

It has been raining for the past two days. We really need the rain but I hope it stops and the ground dries up by Sunday. I have outdoor things planned for Boogs' birthday party. We have had so much lovely weather lately. Here are a few pics from a day of sunshine:

Sweet Berry Farm Strawberry Picking

Grandmaman, I finally found my camera. I took Boogs and his cousin, Little J, to Sweet Berry Farm to pick strawberries during Spring Break. Unfortunately, the berries were pretty picked over by the time we went. The boys still had fun, they just did not have very many strawberries to bring home.

You know I can't have a strawberry picking post without a flashback picture. We have made it to Sweet Berry Farm every year to pick strawberries since Boogs was two-years-old.
                                         

They added a new thing this year, it was like a bouncy house in the middle of the field. Boogs and Little J LOVED it!

After all that bouncing, we had to have homemade strawberry popsicles before we left the farm.

We went from the farm to the library for a Mad Science show. Boogs went up on stage to take a ride on a "hover craft" made out of plywood, plastic sheeting, and a leaf blower.

This post has been linked up to Country Kids from Coombe Mills weekly linky party.

Bunny Lunches March 25th - 27th

Boogs had a short school week due to Easter weekend. This week he took three bunny lunches to school. 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.

The Biggest Easter Basket Ever by Steven Kroll
Boogs has enjoyed the other Steven Kroll books featuring Clayton and Desmond. In this book, the mice work together to create the biggest and best Easter basket for the contest. They discover that teamwork makes big jobs easier. Easter baskets in an ELB lunchbox: pb&j basket sandwich made with my Funbites tool, marshmallow bunnies, cheese Easter eggs, cheese stick, dried apricot & raisin eggs basket, olive and tomato eggs baskets.

The Easter Bunny Is Missing by Steve Metzger
The animals in the forest discover that the Easter Bunny is missing. Each animal thinks they would be the best one to hide eggs on Easter morning. None of the other animals are quite right for the job. Will the Easter Bunny be found in time? In the ELB lunchbox: Easter Bunny drawn on cheese, bunny Peeps, salad, and pineapple with a Stampin Up bunny on top. This lunch took less than 15 minutes to make. I added it to Bentos on the Bayou 15 Minute Linky Party.

The Case of the Puzzling Possum by Cynthia Rylant

This is another mystery for Jack and Bunny to solve, it has nothing to do with Easter. Bunny and Jack must help the music store owner find out who keeps stealing and then putting back a trombone. They find several clues at the crime scene - straw and mud. These clues lead them to the Hayride where the Big Brass Band is playing. Working together, Jack and Bunny solve the case. In the Laptop lunchbox: mango haybales, Zbar muddy clue, marshmallow with Jack Racoon drawing and cowboy hat pick, boiled egg bunny, spinach, carrots, and hummus.


Here is a round-up of some bunny lunches I have shared in the past. Click the pictures to get the details:

 

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 linked to Lunchbox Dad: Throwback Thursday Link-Up.

Grown-up Lunches

My lunches are very boring compared to Boogs' Story Themed lunches. Beth from A Boy & His Lunch is now hosting a Grown-Ups Gotta Eat linky. I thought I would link-up this week. Here are a few of my lunches:

 Hmmm... I guess I pretty much eat the same thing everyday. Well, sometimes I just have soup. If you want to see cute lunches, you have to look at Boogs' story themed lunches.