Lunch Lessons

So in the last post I mentioned that I'd be talking about lunch. Particularly the kind of lunch your kids eat. The kind you pack for them when they head off to school. Before this year, I didn't really know or care much about packable lunches but I"m deep in the trenches now. I fear the less than stellar choices that are offered at Sweet Pea's school. In addition to the choices, Sweet Pea gets about 25 minutes for lunch. That includes standing in line, sitting down, eating and packing up. Not much time right!? So yeah,since the beginning of kindergarten last September, I have packed her lunch every single day.

I've also packed a lunch for myself and Jojo three days a week since August. I have a little more flexibility with our lunches since we have access to a refrigerator and microwave.

So why am a blogging about this.  It's because of some of the comments that I've heard recently regarding lunches.

Sweet Pea says, "Mom, why can't you ever send me a NORMAL lunch?"

One of my preschoolers says "I don't eat ANY fruits or veggies". He brings a sandwich, fruit roll up and 2 sweet snacks each day.

The lunch staff at Sweet Pea's school said today "So YOU are the mom who packs the famous lunches. Wish you could come give lessons to all the other moms".

Well, I might offend a few people by heading to elementary school to give lessons on packing school lunches, but I can put my ideas out over the internet for interested parties to read.

So now that you've read that, I'm sure your curious what sort of magical stuff I'm sending my kids to eat every day huh?? Really it's not that special, I just try to mix it up and keep it healthy. I have a "you must eat your veggies" policy and that goes for lunch too. So this is what my babies are having for lunch tomorrow.

The top box belongs to Sweet Pea: Left over AmyLu chicken, apple & gouda sausauge, a Babybell cheese, ketchup, carrot sticks, fresh strawberries and blackberries.

The bottom box belongs to Jojo: Leftover Italian Sausage and Spinach Soup, carrot & bell pepper sticks, ranch for dipping & fresh strawberries and blackberries. His bottom tray will get popped in the microwave at school for a few minutes.

So that's what lunch looks like for my kids. No lunchables and no fruit snacks. I'll tell you more about my nifty lunch boxes and little containers for dip and such later!

Trying again

So I dumped this blog. Summer came and I had two kids and nice weather to keep me busy. Blogging was the last thing I wanted to do. Then fall came and I went back to work. My sewing machine has been VERY lonely and most of my craft time is spent making cool animal projects to go with the letter of the week with the 12 preschoolers in my class. On my days off, I clean, shop, go to the gym and run my kids around.


That said, I'm going to try again. However, this won't be so much about crafts. I'm going to try to blog about other things like


- lunches. I'm a bit shocked at what shows up in my preschoolers lunch boxes each day and I'm going to show you what I pack for my kids.

- pictures. I have a fancy camera. I've taken a ton of photos. I think my mother in law might like to see some.

- life. my kids are insane, make me insane, and can be really darn funny.

- preschool, I still have some craftiness in my bones and my preschoolers and I do some fun stuff. I get ideas from other bloggers so I'll put some of my ideas here.

- crafts. Like big girl crafts. Like stuff you do after your kids go to bed. This may be mostly other people's ideas that I have tried.

So that is that. Read if you like. :)


S


and see. we are all alive. that's us at Christmas.

Mommy's New Camera

The hubs, bless his heart, finally came through with a new camera as a mother's day / birthday gift for me! It took our taking really cool photos of some BMX bikers in action to prove to him that it was a necessary purchase. I am one happy momma and have been busy snapping away and reading up how to use my camera instead of crafting and blogging. Here's a few images so far!

Simple Skirts

Hello again.

So I like the blog MADE. Great tutorials. Including the one for the Simple Skirt! I figured it was simple enough that I could show my friend Amanda how to make it on her brand new sewing machine. So a few weeks ago we took her machine out of the box and whipped up a pair of matching skirts for Sweet Pea and Cinderella! It took us two days to finish them thanks to a pair of rowdy little brothers that needed to be supervised and a pitcher of margaritas that needed to be consumed on Cinco de Mayo but we got them done!

I really wish Amanda blogged too because after this she made the cutest tank top to go with the skirt with little star buttons and ribbons! I made both girls another version of the skirt too which is great for doing all sorts of things!  

Like Jump Rope 

and blowing bubbles

Sports Pillows

Yup, avoiding my blog like the plague. Bad blogger just hasn't been in the mood. Not sure why. I've been up to a few things though, like working on these cute sports pillows for Jojo's room. I was happy to be able to give new life to an old rugby sweatshirt and a really awesome Official USA RUGBY Jersey. The white baseballs were made with an old white t-shirt and a bit of red fabric paint. The little man loves them though!

And I'm back

So good weather hit and I vanished from the blogging world. I just can't seem to make myself work on many projects or sit at the computer when I want to be outdoors soaking up the sun. We've been busy visiting the park, riding bikes, running, playing, etc. Crazy how life just gets in the way sometimes.

One of the highlights of the past few weeks for me was running in the GO! Saint Louis Marathon Relay. How it works is that a four member team each runs a six or seven mile leg to complete an entire marathon. The church we attend had four teams running. I ran the last leg when it was very hot and mostly uphill. I was happy with my time and was amazed by all the people out there running.

Another bit of excitement around here is that we have our garden planted. It's just a little bitty raised bed and a few post but it's still super fun for the kids. Our peas and beans have sprouted and are looking great!

And today we are wishing the husband a very happy birthday. And yes, JOjo is wearing a tie on a Tuesday. He likes to dress like daddy, bless his little heart.

And I have been doing a few crafty things. Jojo got a new BIG bed last week so I've been working on a few things for his room including some pillows and lamp. The hubs and I are off to the STL Cardinals game tonight so those will have to wait till tomorrow!

Wall Pockets & Organization

True confession of the day. I am not an organized person. I'd like to think that I am but I'm not. Honestly it drives me crazy and I try and try again to be more organized but it never quite comes together. This week, it a fit of frustration, I'm at it again. I could NO LONG STAND what was happening in my laundry room. It's a big laundry room but the space is sort of wasted. What does one put in a laundry room?? I have a washer and dryer and on the opposite wall is a double closet, and a pantry type closet and on the third wall is the door to the garage, oh and there is also a door to the kitchen!

I really should have taken a photo of what was going on in there but it was pretty sad. I added this table that had become the dumping ground. Mail, keys, craft stuff, a half eaten hot dog, random snacks, bubbles, tools, a jump rope. The kids had no good place to put their bags & coats. I tried to get them in the closet but it just wasn't happening. So on Monday, I snapped. I banished the table to the basement and brought in a shoe rack and a pack of command hooks (I need to do a post on my love affair with command hooks!) I created these awesome fabric wall pockets and a new chore chart. Now, who wants to guess how long this attempt at organization will last!?!?

 I made the chart from the metal sheet of a dry erase board we had that had lost it's frame. I covered the edges with strip of fabric from an old bed sheet that I hot glued on. It's stuck to the door with command strips.  The chores, etc are written on with a marker so I can change them as needed and the kids mark their completed chores with a magnets made from craft foam. 

These super cool wall pockets were made from a tutorial found over at Thrive. I LOVE that they are made from corrugated plastic and an old bed sheet. You can use cardboard too but I have tons of corrugated plastic on hand. Please don't look to closely at these since my fabric got glued on a bit crooked. It was a hazard of attempting to craft and supervise a toddler at the same time. I'm hoping that these small things help get life back in order around here just a bit!