The lonely dimwit distracted the trustworthy throat, or Sticker books and a castle of books.

The theme for this week's Unplugged project, which is being guest-hosted by Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile, is "books."

First we made sticker books out of construction paper, wax paper and yarn:





And then we decided to make a castle like this one from Castle of Books:



Here is our attempt:





It should be done in about a month...

The ungainly movie star imposed upon the forlorn squid, or Muffin Tin Monday.

Here is our snack for Muffin Tin Monday:



(spinach-carrot-banana-strawberry-yogurt-orange juice smoothie, cottage cheese, baby carrots, graham crackers, banana/pretzel, prunes)

And the boys enjoying it:





For more Muffin Tin Monday ideas, check out Her Cup Overfloweth.

The armed trousers struck the aging mullet, or Ice cream.

Today we made vanilla ice cream with my impulse purchase of the week, the Kid Concoctions Ice Cream & Slushy Maker. We took turns shaking the ingredients and the ice, but it got a little boring:



So we played our own version of freeze tag:



It was quick to melt, so no pictures of anyone actually eating the ice cream. Daddy missed the guar gum and butterfat, but we all agreed it was much better than not having any ice cream at all.

The half-eaten flan raved about the oversensitive durian, or Fun with spaghetti.

First, we put Froot Loops onto strands of uncooked spaghetti:





Then we dipped cooked spaghetti into colored glue:







And if it ever dries, we'll use it as a mobile...

Then we played with the leftover spaghetti:



And finally, we made spaghetti for our play kitchen:





OK, it's the next day, and the spaghetti mobile is dry:



For more crafts, visit We Made It, Showcase Saturday at The Ramblings of a Crazy Woman.

The stinky pine tree coughed on the brave pig, or Chocolate letters.

Today we made chocolate letters. Here's what you need: 1 large, high-quality chocolate bar (not milk chocolate) and sprinkles or mini-candies.

1. Place the chocolate bar in a sealable plastic bag and microwave on high for one minute at a time until the chocolate melts.
2. Snip a tiny hole in the corner of the bag and then squeeze the chocolate onto wax paper. Decorate with sprinkles.
3. Refrigerate the letters until they harden.

Zachary and Corey had fun with this, but I think next time I'll try to get them to make thicker letters:









For more kid-friendly ideas, check out I Blame My Mother.

The dapper milk flirted with the horrible pork bun, or A science experiment.

Last night Zachary wanted to make up his own science experiment, and since today was cleaning lady day, I let him. Here's what you need: food coloring, water, graham crackers, sesame seeds and toothpicks. Combine:

The big celery fed the clean lunchbox, or Nature collages.

This week's theme at Unplug Your Kids is "long," so the boys and I went for a long walk:



We brought a paper bag to collect treasures along the way:



And then we made our nature collages:

The soggy elephant danced with the harmful pea, or Muffin Tin Monday.

This week's Muffin Tin Monday theme is "rainbow."



(strawberries, Mini Babybel cheddar cheese, clementines, Chickadees snack crackers, tortilla chips, sunflower seeds, lime, bleu cheese, cranberry pomegranate juice, and Yummy Earth Googly Grape lollipops)

Here the boys are enjoying their snack:



For more Muffin Tin Monday ideas, check out Her Cup Overfloweth.

The peeing eel tracked down the alcoholic churro, or S'more cupcakes and a smoothie.

Today we made s'more cupcakes, from 500 Cupcakes. Here's what we used:

• 24 graham crackers
  
• 1 cup (7 ounces) semisweet chocolate bars, broken into 12 squares
  
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3 tablespoons sweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup lightly crushed raspberries
• 1 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 325, place 12 paper baking cups in a muffin pan, and lay a cracker in the bottom of each cup, followed by a piece of chocolate:



Add a sprinkle of walnuts, coconut and raspberries:



Lay another cracker on top:



Bake for 7 minutes, or until the chocolate has melted, and make a peanut butter banana smoothie (bananas, peanut butter, milk, wheat germ and kale) while you wait:





Remove the pan from the oven, push the cracker "lids" down so that they are secure, and add a couple of marshmallows on top of each cupcake:



Bake for another 10 minutes, cool and eat:





Don't forget to clean the blender:

The effervescent skull knocked down the spidery checkerboard, or Guinea Pig Salad and fence-painting.

Today Zachary made Guinea Pig Salad, a recipe from The Little Pigs' First Cookbook.

The recipe:

1. Peel 1 fresh ripe pear, or use canned pears.
2. If using a fresh pear, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the core.
3. Place 1 lettuce leaf on each of two small plates.
4. Grate a 1-inch cube of cheddar cheese onto each leaf for the bed of straw (or use pre-shredded cheese).
5. Place 1 pear half, round side up, on each bed of cheese.
6. Place a mound of cottage cheese at big end of pear for tail.
7. Decorate the small end of the pear with raisins for eyes and nose. Use sliced almonds for ears.

Enjoy:



Later, I pulled the boys away from their Leapsters to paint the fence for me: