Several Photos

I made the "cool lunches" Monday, Tuesday, and tonight.  Half the time, I just don't have the energy to look at a computer!  Last night, I simply needed a mani/pedi with my mom, and then after getting home, I just HAD to watch Glee ;-)  So, here are Hailey's lunches from Tuesday, today, and tomorrow, and a lunch of mine and Cailyn's from Tuesday! :)  At least I see they are getting some variety over the course of a few days....doesn't seem that way when I'm packing lunch!

A butterfly soynut butter and jelly sammie, flower cheese hearts, carrots and ranch, flower cucumber slices, cherry vanilla yogurt, strawberries, and grapes.

I'm fortunate Hailey will eat a simple (and healthy!) lunch like this!  Cantaloupe, grapes, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, ranch, cheese, and crackers.

This was my lunch from yesterday - salad (with tomatoes, cheese, and cucumbers), strawberries, and a laughing cow light w/crackers (sea salt and olive oil - omg so yummy!).

Soynut butter and jelly, cheddar slices, salad with a container of ranch, strawberries, and some vanilla mini cookies.

This one was Cailyn's from yesterday: Soynut butter and jelly, diced cheddar cheese, blueberries, applesauce (in the container), and some mini vanilla cookies.

Three Bentos for a Monday!!

I love making Monday lunches. I love that - on Sunday - my refrigerator is full of good healthy, fresh produce.  Heck, I love that my fridge actually has stuff in it!  By Friday, it seems so bare!!  I'm hoping to start sending ore fruits and veggies for myself in the upcoming weeks.  I get those things in there for the girls, so why not myself?  I'm actually quite excited about MY lunch for tomorrow. ;-)

Hailey's lunch: Cream cheese & jelly, cucumber and mushroom (can't say I've ever had a mushroom, myself!!) slices with a container of ranch, cantaloupe, and a few mini vanilla cookies with a sprinkling of M&Ms.  

Cailyn's 1st "toddler room" lunch: Cream cheese & jelly, mini pretzel rods, diced cantaloupe, and diced kiwi.  She has a few extra things thrown in her lunch bag also!

Mommy's lunch: Cheddar cheese, sea salt & olive oil crackers (omg - SO yummy), cucumber slices, carrots, a container of blue cheese, kiwi, and 2 peanut butter & fudge cookies.  Mmmmm!!!!!

A Couple of Bentos from the Week!

This is my crazy time of year - after April vacation until the last day of school.  Concerts, general performances, report cards (before I know it!!), daily classes, and then room clean up.  I feel like the end of June will be here before I know it....and I'm so overwhelmed already!

I still make Hailey's "cool lunches" every day, bu I know I'm a slacker with taking the photos and posting.

Here are a few from this week:

This one has cheese, a mini potato roll, kielbasa, goldfish, grapes, and a small piece of my homemade vanilla mousse cheesecake. :-)

For tomorrow: grilled cheese, grape tomatoes with ranch, goldfish, grapes, and a brownie with vanilla frosting (yum!).

Beautiful Day!!

It was so nice to come home from work to see the sun shining in my town.  Who woulda thought that the temperature would be 15 degrees cooler, and the sky filled with clouds just 25 minutes away from my house.  That said, I was hoping to get a really yummy "spring" lunch to go along with Hailey's "Spring week" at school.  I'm too tired, and still recovering from this past weekend. I had good intentions!

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow: A butterfly-shaped cream cheese and jelly sandwich, grape tomatoes with a turtle pick, flower-shaped cucumbers (and the ever necessary container of ranch - she won't eat the veggies without the ranch!), strawberries, and chocolate pudding with sprinkles.

This was the busiest weekend we have had in quite some time!  Hailey came down with strep throat on Friday. My brother got married in Boston on Saturday (and Hailey was the flower girl - you never would have known she didn't feel well.  She did awesome!!). Paul's grandfather celebrated his 80th birthday today in the form of a HUGE surprise party.  Lots of fun and excitement, but now, everyone is exhausted!!

Needless to say, it pained me to take the girls grocery shopping at 5:00 on a Sunday evening.  I truly contemplated having the two of them buy lunch tomorrow and send for a Peapod delivery. But, we managed, and I made Hailey a decent lunch for school on Monday.

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow:

Ham and cheese on wheat (with a container of mayo), cheez-its, peach yogurt, strawberries and grapes, and some gummy snacks.

Couple Bentos

In this lunch, Hailey had ham and cheese roll-ups, grapes, carrots with ranch, strawberries, popcorn, and a little debbie easter snack cake thingie.  

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow is much less colorful, but I simply can't be bothered.  My DVR is calling my name this evening. ;-)

A heart shaped grilled cheese (looks more like a broken heart though!!!!), grape tomatoes with ranch, cheez-its, cantaloupe, applesauce, and some pez. 

I know I haven't posted in a couple of weeks.  I'm going to have to go through my pictures though, because I know I have some that I must just not have gotten around to.

Lately, Hailey is wanting to help out with cooking meals, preparing her lunch on the weekends, and now be a part of packing her lunch for school.  I'm fine with that!  So, here are Hailey's choices for lunch tomorrow.

Cream cheese and jelly on wheat, grape tomatoes with ranch, cheez-its, blueberry yogurt, cantaloupe, and a mini kitkat.  

I think she did a good job!!! :)

A Bunch o' Lunches!

I take the photos, but I can never get on the computer to update my blog (blame Paul).  Here are some of Hailey's lunches from the past week.

A wheat and cheese palm tree, some goldfish, carrots and ranch, yogurt with blue sprinkles, strawberries, and a few jelly beans.

Peaches, carrots, ranch, cheddar cheese, crackers, grapes, and a cookie.

This was the start of T week at school.  I thought I'd have Hailey search for T things in her lunch. :)

Cheese on wheat (like mommy like daughter!) in triangle shapes - with a little turtle pick to hold it together, cheese-itz, a teddy bear container with mayo, grapes, toy story gummies, and some vanilla pudding with the letter T spelled out.  

I don't think I like daylight savings anymore.  We were all running late this morning, more exhausted than ever. I think schools should have a late opening the Monday after "Spring Ahead" weekend.  It would make for more pleasant children, and more pleasant mommies (well, a more pleasant ME anyways).

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow: a turkey and cheese rollup help together with a heart pick, baby carrots with a container of ranch, grapes, peaches, and some vanilla pudding with pink sprinkles.

So after a fun-filled (sunny!) weekend, I get back to the grind...making lunches, and trying to remember to take a photo.  Too bad we lost an hour of sleep last night.  I have a feeling that one little hour is going to make this next week draaaaaaaaaaag on.  Hopefully Hailey's lunch will brighten her day tomorrow!

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow: Heart shaped cheese sandwiches (with a container of mayo), carrots and a container of ranch, strawberries, vanilla yogurt with sprinkles, and some jelly beans.

Beano

Just kidding!  That is for Angie who can never remember the word Bento. ;-)  I wanted to stick with a "rainbow" type lunch for tomorrow.  The pre-schoolers are having a Pizza Party since they filled their marble jar - I hope Hailey has room for lunch (we were told to pack one anyways!!).

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow:  Cheddar cheese and wheat crackers, applesauce, broccoli, carrots, a container of ranch, strawberries, grapes, and a sugar cookie.

R Week

Hailey is very excited for R week at school, so I thought I'd give her an "R" lunch.  I tried to get a rainbow of color in there!!

A soynut butter and jelly sandwich (cut in a Rectangle) with a cheese R on top, cheese it crackers, grapes, strawberries, carrots, broccoli, and a container of Ranch, and a half of a brownie from the batch she and I made this morning.

One more for this week!

I forgot to post Hailey's lunch from today, so here it is.  Tomorrow is leftover day.

Hailey's lunch: Half a soynut butter and jelly sandwich, grapes, a cheese stick (cut in half), a container of yogurt raisins, strawberry cheesecake yogurt (um, the best yogurt I've even tasted - I'm not a yogurt fan, either!), and some chocolate rice cake minis.

Cookies!

Last day of February, and I've met my goal of finding 20 followers!  I think for March, I'll look for 5 more. :)

Cailyn has mastered a word - cookie.  It was originally cute: every time she would pass through the kitchen, she would say in her cute little angel voice "cookie?".  She was obviously good....we all gave in every.single.time.  Well, then it became funny.  Each time the pantry would open, no matter where she was, her little feet would come running, no longer asking for a cookie, but demanding "Cookie!".  I stopped giving in, but Paul wouldn't.  I found it was becoming a problem when I told her no one day, and she flopped on her belly kicking, banging the floor, and crying while panting the word over and over.  Who would have thought I would have a 15 month old terror!  The final straw came just last week, while in the grocery story, she screamed the word in every aisle we were in.  

I never thought I would have to do the "cry it out" method over a cookie.  The pediatrician's office said it would be a rough couple of days (um, yes, very!), but then the habit would be broken.  Well, it is.  She is perfectly satisfied with a few animal crackers after dinner.  Occasionally, I will catch her looking at me with that coy smile as she walks by the pantry.  Now, when I hear "cookie?" it is followed by a little giggle as she walks away.

Cailyn's lunch for tomorrow: peas and carrots, quartered grapes, chicken nuggets (diced), and mozzarella cheese.  There are a few animal crackers in there, too. ;-)

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow: wheat thins, a cheese stick, goldfish, chicken nuggets (with a turtle pick), a container of ketchup, celery, grapes, vanilla pudding with sprinkles, and some Toy Story gummies.

Last week I tried to use a lot of leftovers.  I didn't want to make lunches, let alone post photos of them.  As a matter of fact, I didn't want to even be in school (it was supposed to be our February vacation, after all!), but now it is a new week.  I'm hopeful it will be a good one!! :)

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow: cream cheese and jelly on whole wheat, pirate's booty, grapes and strawberries, yogurt, yogurt covered raisins, and a container with a few jelly beans

I was SO excited to see jelly beans in the grocery store this weekend.  I may have to hide them from now on though - Paul has already finished the bag!!!

Tonight I took pictures of both girls' lunches for tomorrow.

Cailyn's lunch: halved blueberries, cubes of cheddar cheese, peas and carrots, and smile fries, cut into smaller pieces.  She also has a vanilla pudding cup.

Hailey's lunch is cheese on bread (ahem, I used to LOVE getting this in my lunch!!) with a container of mayo, cheez-its, blueberries and strawberries, yogurt, and a fruit roll-up.

Non February Vacation Lunch

This week was supposed to be February Vacation week.  After all of the snow days, we had President's Day off, but need to go to school/work the remainder of the week.  Oh well.  I can't complain after all the days off last month!!  I figured I'll give Hailey a palm tree to pretend that she is someplace warm. :)

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow: A cream cheese and jelly palm tree, baby swiss Cheez Its, vanilla yogurt with green sprinkles, chocolate rice cake minis, strawberries and blueberries, and a small packet of Pez as a treat.

There MUST be an easier way to upload a picture from Facebook.  I have my "bento" folder.  Well, FB has messed with how pictures are displayed, and now it is taking me too long to be able to update my blog.  Any ideas on how to make the photo uploading process easier (I'm using my droid and sending to FB)?

Anyways, things are well for all of us.  It is weird to lose our February break next week, but I don't mind too much.  I'm certainly looking forward to a three day weekend!!!

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow: half a soynut butter and jelly sandwich, grape tomatoes with a container of ranch, blueberries, pirate's booty, applesauce, and a mini 3 musketeers.

Valentine's Day - a little early.....

Hailey has been a bit sad this week, and having a hard time with going to bed because "mommy is leaving."  I tried to explain to her that I will always be in her heart.  I figured I would give her some extra hearts tomorrow.

She has two heart shaped grilled cheese sandwiches, grape tomatoes (forgot the ranch again!!! darn!!!), chocolate rice cake minis, pirate's booty, mixed berry yogurt, and a hershey mini candy.

Breaking out the Love

Since Valentine's Day is sneaking right up on me (ummm, hello? I feel like January never existed this year!!!!), I figured I'd start introducing hearts, pink, red, cupid, etc. now.  Hailey loves Valentine's Day, so I hope she enjoys.

Hailey's lunch: two mini cheese sandwiches (heart shaped), some grape tomatoes (oops!!! I just realized I forgot ranch....I wonder if she will eat them anyways??), parmesan flavored goldfish, a fruit roll-up, mandarin oranges (in honor of "o" week at school) with a little heart pick,  and vanilla yogurt with pink sprinkles.

Monday!

"This is going to be a good week" is going to be my mantra.  I figure, if I keep chanting it, it is bound to be a good week, right?

Cailyn's lunch for tomorrow: half an open-faced grilled cheese, cut into bite sized pieces, grapes (cut into quarters), a few animal crackers, and applesauce.  I'm also sending some yogurt in case she is overly hungry.  She is feeling much better now, but is now unpredictable with how much she will (or will not!) eat.

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow: Half a grilled cheese, minus the crusts, with a little cupid pick, pirate's booty, pudding with sprinkles, grapes, and some animal crackers.



How Many Days of Work This Week?

The snow is comical at this point.  I can't do anything about it, so I had better just be able to laugh about it!  They weather icons are either snow, ice, or freezing rain for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday of this week.  Absolutely nuts!! 

Cailyn spent the weekend recovering from bronchiolitis and pneumonia...my poor baby!  Fortunately, she responded really well to the antibiotics, and she seems to be her happy, smiley self again.  The downside is that she still hasn't seemed to regain her pig-like appetite yet.  I'll see how she does with lunch tomorrow.

Cailyn's lunch is an open-face grilled cheese, grapes, pirate's booty, and applesauce (in the container).  I'm hoping she eats it all, though I wouldn't be surprised if more than half of it comes home.  I will certainly keep my fingrs crossed.

Hailey helped pack her lunch this evening.  She chose every item that went into this lunch - even the salad!!  Good choices, Hailey!! :)

Cheese and crackers, salad, a container of ranch, grapes, pirate's booty, applesauce, and a little chocolate candy treat.



Forgot to post yesterday!

What a nutty week (yet again)!  We had only one full day of school because of all this snowy weather.  I wonder when we will ever have a full week again?  We haven't since....hmmm.....the middle of December??  Insane!

This was Hailey's lunch from today:

Half a cream cheese and jelly on multi-grain bread, pirate's booty, yogurt, grapes (with a snowman - how apropos), and some scooby doo gummies.  

Can it be??

Two days of school in a row???  I'd better not jinx it......

This past weekend, I took Hailey to Barnes and Noble.  Her Uncle had given her some money to buy a book as part of her birthday gift.  So, Saturday morning, Hailey got her little purse, put the money inside and off we went.  She found these "Step Reader" books that she wanted to get, buy 2 get the 3rd free. Perfect!  We then went to Stop & Shop, again Hailey walking in carrying the brown purse with the blue stripe.  The change from the books was clearly burning a hole in her pocket.  She was psyched when she found these little chocolate Tinkerbell Valentine's candies...for $1.29.  I hope she gets excited when she opens her lunch tomorrow afternoon.  I wouldn't be surprised if she tells her teacher all about how she bought the candy (and the books - with the money from Uncle Bryan!) "all by herself.":)

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow:  Cheese and crackers, grapes, pirate's booty, applesauce, broccoli and a container of ranch, and a mini Tinkerbell chocolate candy :)

No Bentos Today (for the girls anyways)

I've been sick all weekend, and truly had difficulty having enough energy to make lunches at all.  I love my Easy Lunch Boxes, but I can't heat leftovers in them (well, not if I have cold items in there as well).  Tomorrow will be a leftover day for my little ladies.  Baked rigatoni (from dinner this evening), grapes, and pudding.  I have my lunch ready to go in my ELB container.

Cheese and crackers, celery with a container of blue cheese, grapes, and a 100 calorie pack of chocolate covered pretzels.  Yum!

Tomorrow, I was going to send Cailyn with leftovers from tonight's dinner: pulled pork.  I had never made it before, but was excited to try.  The girls loved it, but I thought it was a bit dry.  I have no idea what I may have done wrong (not that I'm surprised), but I figure I'll try it again another time.  Cailyn has leftover mac and cheese, yogurt, animal cookies, and something else....but I'm too tired to think.

I don't send Hailey with items that need to be reheated, but she seems fine with that. :)

Hailey's lunch: half turkey and cheese (other half from yesterday - I was going to eat it myself tomorrow, but Hailey said she really liked it today!) on  sandwich thin, a container of mayo (the green spoon is for her to spread the mayo on herself), white cheddar cheez-its, blueberries, vanilla yogurt, and two oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Mid week, first bento!

It isn't really funny anymore. In one week, we've had two snow days, one day of work, a three day weekend due to MLK day, and another snow day today (oh, and a partridge in a pear tree?).  I'm anxious to get back to work, and I know Hailey is looking forward to seeing her friends and teachers back at school tomorrow.  Hopefully we will have a full day....but, looking at the sheet of ice surrounding my house, I would not be the least bit surprised to get a phone call that we have a delay tomorrow.  

You would think with all the extra time I've spent at home over the last few days, I would have the coolest bento for tomorrow.  However, I'm so exhausted from having all this time off with the girls that I'm counting down the days til February vacation!  Needless to say, I just threw some things into Hailey's Easy Lunch Box container, and I'll add some snacks in the morning. :)

Hailey's lunch: Half a turkey and cheese on a sandwich thin (mayo is in the fish container), some caramel rice cake minis, broccoli with a container of ranch, some frozen blueberries that will thaw before lunchtime, and a small homemade brownie for dessert.

The end of a CRAZY week!

I love snow.  I love the powdery white stuff even more that we have 25.5 fresh inches in our yard.  The storm gave us two unexpected (well, I completely expected one - not two!) days off  from school.  It was so nice to have the extra time just to "be" home.  We didn't have to rush around to a variety of places.  As a matter of fact, even if we wanted to, we couldn't.  The plows didn't have our street cleared until the middle of this afternoon!  It was fun to bake, cook, play dollhouse, read, watch Cinderella, play dress-up...I could do that every day! I'm secretly hoping for a delay tomorrow morning also.  Well, I guess it isn't a secret anymore, but I'll still keep my fingers crossed.

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow:

Soynut butter on celery (she asked for three of these....I'll see if she actually eats them since they came home last time!), a diced cheese stick, strawberries, Pirate's Booty, yogurt, and yogurt covered pretzels

Two More Bentos :)

I did take a picture yesterday, but forgot to post.  It is looking like I won't post again until Wednesday night....big snowstorm predicted for Wednesday!!!!!! YAY!

Hailey's lunch today:

Two mini heart sandwiches (turkey, cheese, and mayo), yogurt pretzels, broccoli and ranch, blueberries, a couple caramel rice cake minis (those came home though...guess she didn't like them!), and a truffle.

Lunch for tommorrow:

Yogurt, Pirate's Booty, cheese (with a festive little snowman pick - I'm SO excited for this big storm!!), yogurt pretzels, strawberries, and a mini candy.

Two Bentos

Cailyn and Hailey both have "cool lunches" for tomorrow.  I don't think they are cool, but if it makes Hailey happy (Cailyn could obviously care less), then I'm happy. :)

Cailyn is having diced chicken, diced cheddar cheese, cinnamon goldfish, and yogurt melts.  She is kind of throwing me for a loop lately, so we'll see if she appreciates any of these options!

Hailey will eat cheddar and leftover chicken on white bread, cheeze-its, yogurt, cinnamon goldfish, and peaches. No, I couldn't even bother to remove the peaches from the package.

Is anyone looking at this?

To an extent, I'm doing this for myself.  I like getting some ideas when Hailey says "I don't know what I want..." or just putting this bookmark down as a time when I was somewhat creative (well, in this manner anyways!).  I figure, Hailey won't like these lunches forever.  Quite honestly, she may decide that she hates them as soon as she enters kindergarten.  But, for now, she loves them, and I'm going to continue making these bentos, taking pictures of them, and posting for the whole world (umm....me?) to see. 

Hailey's lunch for tomorrow: Cheese and crackers, grape tomatoes on a bed of baby carrots with a container of ranch (the carrots can't really be seen in this picture), vanilla yogurt, pineapple cubes (frozen...will thaw in time for lunch, of course), a small container of raisins, and a mini candy for a treat. 

A New Year!

I can't believe how quickly the past week has come and gone.  We had a fantastic holiday and a wonderful, relaxing break.  I'm sad to see my loves go back to school tomorrow - they were so much fun to hang out with this week!!  It pulls at my heart to see how close they are....I truly hope they maintain this bond forever.

I didn't take a picture of Cailyn's lunch, but I did snap one of Hailey's.

Two mini heart sandwiches (soynut butter and jelly), pomegranate Craisins, a cheese stick, strawberry yogurt, "Scrabble" cheeze-its, and a couple shortbread cookies.