Boogs Has Been Busy!

Spring is such a busy time for activities for Boogs. Grandmaman, here are a few pictures for you.

The weather has been unseasonably cool. We have really enjoyed playing outside in the breezy sunshine.

 Boogs' baseball season is more than halfway over. Yesterday, he had three solid hits.

 He is really enjoying playing this year.

Boogs moved up to Level 2 at swim team evaluations.

Boogs lost two more teeth this past week!

Boogs is definitely busy. He has a few more Lego Robotics classes, QUEST Fair and presentations are coming up this week, daily swim team practice begins tomorrow, he is still in a weekly swim lesson class, we have three more baseball games, and we are making sure to schedule "do nothing" time and hang out with the hamster time. One more month until summer break begins.

May the 4th Be With You Blog Hop

Last year, Bento Bloggers & Friends had so much fun making our Star Wars Bento hop that we decided to do it again this year. We had so many in the group want to participate that we had to break our hop into two separate hops. Names were given to differentiate both parts of the hop, Bento Lunches... the Way of the Jedi and Come to the Dark Side... We have Bentos. The names do not denote villains only in one hop and good guys in the other.

I am in the Come to the Dark Side hop and I did not put any villians in this lunch.

 

Boogs likes Star Wars almost as much as I did when I was his age. He has several Star Wars books and has seen Episodes IV, V, and VI. I put Boogs' Star Wars lunch in an ELB. In the lunchbox: Little Debbie Star Crunch Chewbacca with chocolate chip features and peppermint teeth, boiled egg R2D2, ham & cheese Yoda sandwich, Yoda shaped Now & Later, cheese SW for Star Wars, pretzel light saber, kiwi, and salad with broccoli trees for the Ewoks home planet.

 

I had fun making this lunch, but I think last year's Star Wars lunch was better. Boogs said he really liked this year's Star Wars lunch. He ate every bit of it.

Here is last year's lunch. The right hand side of the lunch depicts the trash compactor scene in Episode IV.

In the lunchbox: marshmallow storm trooper, carrot stick light sabers, nori Darth Vader, Yoda spinach tortilla quesadilla, leftover rice/beans/cheese/sour cream "garbage" with Luke, Leia, & Han cheese heads, chocolate Teddy Graham Chewbacca, pretzel rod to brace the walls of the compactor. The M&M filled light saber was for a treat after school and did not go to school in Boogs lunchbox. Boogs also had a few apple slices not included in the pictures.

You must click on the Come to the Dark Side button to hop over to Biting the Hand That Feeds You. I can't wait to see what Star Wars themed meal Kendra has created!

Once you have completed the Dark Side hop and returned to this post, I am sure you will want to see the Way of the Jedi hop. Just click this button to view the second Bento Blogger & Friends May the 4th Be With You Star Wars Hop.

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. To view other Bento Bloggers & Friends hops, click the "blog hop" label at the end of this post. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by.

Lunches April 29th - May 3rd

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.

I did not make Boogs a lunch on Monday. We had the day off from school and went out to lunch with friends.

13 Words by Lemony Snicket

This book begins with the word Bird. Word #2 lets you know that the bird is Despondent. Boogs used context clues to figure out that despondent means sad and gloomy. The next eleven words (cake, dog, busy, convertible, goat, hat, haberdashery, scarlet, baby, panache, Mezzo-Soprano) are supposed to cheer up the little bird. But being a Lemony Snicket book, the last page tells you that the bird is still despondent. By looking closely at the last illustration, Boogs was able to give me a reason for the bird's sadness. We put part of that reason into his lunch today. There are many opportunities for vocabulary discussions throughout this book. Boogs especially liked verve and swagger. He did not like it when I sang the words (opera style, of course) that the Mezzo-Soprano sang in the story. In the Laptop lunchbox: blue bird (yes, that blue blob is supposed to be a bird, I should have used a cookie cutter) ham & cheese sandwich staring mournfully at the broccoli tree with pretzel trunk, 13 Words written in cheese, orange slices, and yogurt.


White Is For Blueberry by George Shannon

Reading this book is kind of like reading a book of riddles. In very simple text, the author makes a statement that at first does not seem to be true. The first page has a picture of a large black crow but the text says, "Pink is for crow." I asked Boogs to try and guess why that color might be true for crows. When we turned the page, it showed a nest full of pink, featherless  baby crows. Boogs immediately guessed why black is for poppy - "Oh those flowers have the little black seeds that get stuck in your teeth when you eat them on a muffin." Boogs really enjoys these types of books. He loves playing with words and figuring out riddles. In the ELB lunchbox: blueberries, salad, bread ham & cheese sandwich swirls, dried apricot, and raisins.

What's That Awful Smell? by Heather Tekavec

There is a horrible smell coming from the barn. The animals investigate and discover a new piglet in the barn. They try everything they can think of to make the piglet smell better but nothing seems to work. The animals are forced to stay outside, huddled together under the little bit of shade in the yard. Eventually, the animals figure out that it is not the piglet who smells.  The illustrations in this book are adorable. In the ELB lunchbox: almond butter & jelly CuteZcute sandwich, Pringles, blueberries, broccoli, kiwi, and yogurt.

I am not posting Friday's lunch until tomorrow. Bento Bloggers and Friends are getting together to have another May the 4th Be With You Star Wars hop. It will be fun to see all of the creative ways my bento blogger friends have turned lunches into Star Wars images. Check back tomorrow at noon to start the hop on my 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.

Cardmaking

I have not been making very many cards lately. Here are the few that I have remembered to photograph in the past several months.

I love the Pocket Fun stamp set from Stampin Up. We are going to a birthday party for another 7-year-old in Boogs' class today.

I can't remember where this chip board flower came from. I used a sponge and Rose Red ink pad to get the color I wanted on it. Instead of ribbon, I used twill tape.

I saw a tutorial for a pop-up card using small strips of transparency sheets. My Stamp Lady's directions in the video were very easy to follow. I decided to try it with the Stampin Up Hedgehog Happiness set. This is one of the first stamp sets I bought over a decade ago.

I covered up the greeting for this pic.

Boogs and I had fun making these shaving cream thank you cards for his Christmas presents. We put shaving cream in a big bowl, added a few drops of food coloring, and swirled the color around. Then we laid paper flat on top of the color and lifted it off. Once you scape off the excess shaving cream, you can see the cool patterns of color left on the paper.

I love this Extreme Skateboard Stamp from Stampin Up. It is perfect for making boy cards.

 

 This is just a simple card using the Stampin Up Bird Builder Punch. I love how clean and simple this card looks.

 

Birthday card using the Stampin Up Toy Box set. Boogs helped pick out which stamps to include. 

Boogs made his own thank you cards for his Minecraft birthday party.

Lunches April 22nd - 26th

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 Porc in New York by Catherine Stock

Monsieur Monmouton's farm animals have left the farm in France and traveled on an airplane to New York City. It is up to Monsieru Monmouton and his dog, Cabot, to find them and bring them home. Luckily, they found a list of things the animals wanted to do on their vacation: Blooming Dells, boat trip, Central Park, Mooam Museum, Empire State Building, eat in Chinatown, and go to the Kool Kat Klub. They have quite an adventure. Boogs really enjoyed the fun colors and detailed illustrations. I had a hard time pronouncing the French words in the story. Luckily, Boogs' dad is French Canadian, French was his first language. He came in and snuggled with us for this bedtime story. He pronounced the French words for us. In the Laptop lunchbox: CutetZcute pig & sheep almond butter & jelly sandwiches, Pringles, grapes, broccoli, and carrots with hummus. There are also farm animal cupcake picks in the lunchbox. Cookie cutters make it very easy to fix a lunch fast. This lunch took less than 15 minutes to make. I am linking it to Bentos on the Bayou: 15 Minute Friday Linky Party. 

Owl At Home by Arnold Lobel

Owl is such a silly creature. He invites winter inside and starts to freeze. He wears himself out trying to run fast enough to be upstairs and downstairs at the same time. Boogs favorite short story in the book is the one where Owl has to sleep downstairs in a chair because he is worried about the two bumps moving in his bed (his feet under the cover). Boogs really enjoyed reading this book to me. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j owl with cheese eyes, turkey, Mini Triscuits, cheese stick, fruit, and carrots with hummus.


This is our "throw some food in an ELB and run out the door" lunch for the week. It has Babybel cheese, dried apricots, salami, roll, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, and pineapple.

Gertrude McFuzz by Dr. Seuss

Gertrude McFuzz is very upset with her one small tail feather. She finds out that she can eat a certain plant to make herself grow more tail feathers. Pretty soon she eats so many tail-growing berries that she is unable to fly. Gertrude has to go through the painful process of having all of the extra tail feathers removed. Boogs told me the lesson of this story is to be happy with who you are and not to change yourself to try and be like other birds. In the ELB lunchbox: grapes, carrots, broccoli, ham & cheese sandwich with Gertrude McFuzz drawn on a piece of cheese.


Marley and the Runaway Pumpkin by John Grogan

Boogs has a storybook treasury of Marley stories. Boogs likes to read seasonal/holiday books all year round. In this story, the family has grown a prize worthy pumpkin. Unfortunately, Marley's mischievous ways cause the pumpkin to roll down the street and smash into a bunch of pieces. Marley's owners are pretty upset until they realize they can still win a prize at the fair by making pies with their smashed up pumpkin. In the ELB lunchbox: almond butter & jelly Marley breaking out of his red licorice string leash, rice cake pumpkin pie with a cheese 1st place ribbon, orange pumpkin, grapes, and veggies.



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 April 15th - 19th

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 Dumpster Diver by Janet S. Wong

The kids in the apartment complex get very excited when Steve puts on his dumpster diving gear. Steve finds treasure in trash. Steve turns this trash into one-of-a kind pieces of art and furniture. This story encourages the reusing and repurposing of items. Luckily, Boogs was not ready to dive into a dumpster after reading this book. We frequently use items headed for the recycling bin as material for our own craft projects. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j Steve sandwich with snorkel mask, Goldfish crackers, raisins, veggies, kiwi, and blueberries.

Dino-Baseball by Lisa Wheeler
The Green Sox battle against the Rib-eye Reds at Jurassic Park in this cute baseball story. Boogs' baseball season began a couple of weeks ago. We have been reading many baseball stories since then. Boogs checked this one out from his school library. He really liked reading all of the dinosaur names in the story. In the ELB lunchbox: ham & cheese dinosaur and home plate sandwiches, peanuts, sesame stick bats, marshmallow baseball, Cutie orange balls, and salad.

Face to Face with The Hamster by Paul Starosta, Hamsters by Susan Merideth, and My Pet Hamster by Anne Rockwell
Boogs is now a pet owner. For his 7th birthday, he received a Winter White Dwarf Hamster (Winter) and three fish (Sticker, Bluey, Caty). We have been doing a lot of research on our new pets so that we can be responsible pet owners. Boogs asked me to copy a couple of pages from some of these books so he would know what kinds of fruits and vegetables were safe to give to Winter. Winter is a very bite-y hamster. Boogs response to me calling Winter bite-y was, "Winter is not really a biter. I think she sometimes gets a little frantic and sometimes she is a mouth explorer. She might miss being at the pet store. We have not had her long enough for her to know we want to be true friends. Besides, her bite does not hurt us as much as our fear of her bite." He makes me smile every day. In the ELB lunchbox are some of Winter's favorite treats: cashews, broccoli, apples, and blueberries. Boogs also has a pb&j Winter sandwich ball, Mini Triscuits and cheese.

State Shapes: Texas by Erick Bruun
This book is chock full of interesting facts about Texas. Samuel Austin Cartwright (aka Tex), Merideth, and their dog, Rufus, take the reader on a tour through the great state of Texas. They cover topics ranging from geography to history to heroes of the Lone Star State. You have to read thru this book a bit at a time. Boogs did enjoy singing our Texas song from his preschool days after we read some of this book. The song is sung to the tune of B-I-N-G-O: There is a state that's big and great and Texas is its name-o. T-E-X-A-S, T-E-X-A-S, T-E-X-A-S, and Texas is its name-o. In the Laptop lunchbox: almond butter & jelly Texas sandwich, "burnt orange" fruit leather letters, cheese sun, bluebonnets drawn on cheese, strawberris, frozen yogurt Texas, and salad.

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 April 8th - 12th

Usually I start my weekly lunch post by mentioning that Boogs' lunches are inspired by the bedtime stories we read. This week, my lunch-making skills have mostly deserted me. But I figured I would post them anyway. I think Boogs' Minecraft party deleted my creativity/craftiness for a bit.

I asked Boogs almost every day this week if he wanted to buy a school lunch. He told me the school food is gross most of the time and he would rather have a Momma-made lunch.

I will start with the best lunch of the week:

Mary and Her Little Lamb by Will Moses 

By chance, Will Moses, discovered the actual school house that Mary and her lamb went to. He looked into the song/poem further to find out more about its origins. Mary Had A Little Lamb is based upon a real girl who was born in 1806 in Sterling, Massachusetts. This book, tells what might have been the events that led up to the creation of the song. Boogs was very interested in determining how to classify this story - fiction or non-fiction - since it had some true facts but also a made-up story. I love having these kinds of discussions with Boogs. It gives me a peek at his thought  and reasoning process. In the lunchbox: salami & cheese Little Lamb, fruit leather, cheese schoolhouse, marshmallow with Mary drawn on it, Cutie oranges, salad, and yogurt.

The Wolf Who Cried Boy by Bob Hartman

Yeah... some mornings my ability to make Boogs' lunch look decent disappears. This was one of those mornings. Usually, I give myself a 20 minute window in the morning to make lunches. During that time, I am eating breakfast, listening to Boogs read, helping Boogs with homework, finding lost things for school, and other things while making our lunches . As horrible as that wolf looks, I actually spent way too much time on it. Then I gave up and told Boogs, "This lunch may look horrible but it is tasty and nutritious, just take it and eat it." He took it to school and ate everything but the wolf(ish) sandwich. He said it looked "too creepy" to eat. I linked this lunch up to BentOnBetterLunches "When Bentos Go Bad" linky. Sadly, the majority of lunches posted there are mine.


So, the next morning, I sent him to school with this:

No theme, no story... just lunch. It took all of five minutes to throw in my Laptop Lunchbox. I plan to link it to Bentos on the Bayou: 15 Minute Friday linky party. Veggies, hummus, ham, Cutie, and cottage cheese. He ate all of it.


Today's lunch was not that bad.
Subway Sparrow by Leyla Torres

A little sparrow flew through the subway train doors just as they were closing. A little girl and others on the train tried to capture the sparrow to release it at the next stop. The little girl spoke English, the man on the train spoke Spanish, the boy on the train spoke English, and the woman on the train spoke Polish. They all worked together and saved the bird. The illustrations carry the reader through the story. Boogs thought it was pretty amusing when I was trying to read the Polish dialog in the book. I told him what I thought the woman's words meant by using context clues. Boogs thought I was probably pretty close with my translation, but he wanted a word-for-word translation. So we got online and figured it out and even had each word pronounced correctly for us. In the ELB lunchbox: kiwi, carrots, Cutie, pita chips, hummus, and almond butter & jelly sparrow.

They are having pizza at school tomorrow, so Boogs is going to buy that for lunch. Maybe I will get my Bento mojo back 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.