Food, Family, Fun.

Under the sea lunches for the girls. Heidi was up feeling very ill in the middle of the night and is staying home from school with a fever. I hope she's better soon. I am desperately trying to get to the last bit of sorting out from the room switch but something keeps popping up! I don't mind a day of cuddling on the couch with my little darling though :)

Amy's Lunch

carrot sticks and cucumbers, goldfish, sharkbites

honeydew melon, grapes and a starfish sandwich

Rosie has almost the same packed in her planetbox

I added a small container of ranch dip for her veggies and gave her S'mores goldfish instead of cheddar.

Even though Heidi was sick last night and had a fever this morning, I still packed her a lunch in her EasyLunchbox and put it in the fridge. If she's not interested I can always eat it!

Heidi has peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, cheddar goldfish with grapes & honeydew melon.  It might be difficult to see in the picture but those are small portions of fruit and crackers in the hopes that she will eat something.

Here are some things that I used for these lunches:

I just came back from a quick weekend business trip to Disney. I didn't take the kids this time as I wasn't able to add any extra days for some family fun. I did bring home a few $$$ Disney snacks so that I could make them a few fun lunches. Here are a few Minnie and friends lunches that I made them yesterday morning.

Amy's Planetbox Lunch

Mickey Mouse crackers, and Mickey & Friends cookies

carrot sticks,with peanut butter for dipping and a few cucumber rounds

Minnie Mouse chocolate coin, strawberry and grapes

Minnie Mouse ham sandwich

Rose has the same thing

I did bring them a few Disney surprises but I came home to the biggest surprise of all. My husband, Mom and brother orchestrated a huge household project. They switched our larger bedroom with the girls' smaller bedroom so that they could have more room. TRUST me it was a TON of work. I also understand there were some other helpers involved in looking after the littles while this huge project was underway - especially during the painting, I have wanted to do this for some time but it was just a huge, daunting task and usually this kind of thing gets me all flustered. There is still some work to do to make sure that everything has a place and I will start on that this week. Somehow they even got my husband to agree to pink walls for the girls' room! He thinks everything should be white. Truthfully I am not fussed over decorating or aesthetics so if white makes him happy so be it. The girls' really love their new larger, pink room so I am glad he let them pick. (sort of -- I understand they really wanted dark turquoise walls and compromised to their second choice of light pink - LOL!)

The sandwiches look very good in real life, but my photography skills do not do them any justice! I followed  Wendelonia's advice and stamped the image into the top slice first before making the sandwich. Her's come out great even in photos. My Mickey Mouse press is meant for toast and the image looks great on toast!

My last flight into Bermuda was crazy. It was raining so heavily when the plane first tried to land that the pilot couldn't see properly so the landing gear only slightly touched down and then we took off again and circled. The second time was better and the heavy rain had moved off and we landed slightly bumpy but safely. I was worried that they wouldn't even try again and we'd have to fly back! Thankfully it worked out and I am glad to be at home once again.

Here are some items that I used making these lunches:

carrot sticks and cucumber trees, strawberries

red grapes, Madagascar gummies, and a Gloria hippo sandwich

I used my animal picks to represent some of the other characters. Even though you can't tell in the photo, the gummies are characters too. She ate everything! I didn't have time to make lunch in the morning for Rose and Heidi to put in the fridge. I made their lunch at lunch time. It's definitely better when I make Heidi's lunch in the morning and put it in the fridge so she can eat right when she gets home. The first thing she said when she walked in the door was "can I have my yunch now?" Mommy had to work fast!

 

This morning I am off before the girls wake up. The house is so quiet at this time of the morning, just the sound of my typing and the hum of the aquarium. Ah peaceful bliss! Just what I need before a busy weekend,

Amy Planetbox lunch

grapes, cantaloupe melon balls and a ladybug shaped ham sandwich

Heidi's EasyLunchboxes Lunch

sandwich rectangles with cheese butterflies, nutter butter bites cookies  

carrot sticks and cucumber sticks, cantaloupe off cuts from my melon ball fiasco, red grapes

No ladybugs for Heidi, but she has their garden friends  - some butterfly cheese cutouts. This is a lunch that I made in the morning with the other two and left it in the fridge until she came home at midday. That system works out wonderfully as it really is easier to make several lunches at once and keep up the variety. All three lunches used -- 2 carrots,  a small cucumber, 2 mini packages of nutter butter bites, a few grapes, a few strawberries and the fixins for three sandwiches and a little bit of dip for Rose. Heidi also had dip for her veggies,  but I didn't put it until she asked for some at lunch time.

"Cannonball" honey dew melon, strawberries, goldfish

cucumbers & carrot sticks, chocolate gold doubloon, treasure map on ham sandwich

Today's post is a special one. It's part of a fun blog hop with a surprise at the end. Every blog in the hop has a piece of the map to the bento booty treasure - a giveaway! As you go through the hop, collect the pieces and put them in the right order to find out where to enter! You'll probably need something to write with, because there are 39 blogs to visit, so 39 pieces to collect! 37 pieces will spell the URL, and 2 bonus pieces with words on them will get you 2 entries to win! You will want to enter this giveaway - it's sponsored by All Things For Sale . Giveaway is open to everyone and closes Sunday, September 23rd, 2012 at MIDNIGHT EST

Rose's Planetbox Launch Lunch:

carrot sticks and apple slices, ham sandwich pirate ship & chocolate gold doubloon

s'mores goldfish, cantaloupe "cannonballs", strawberries

Ye "Blistering Barnacles!" might notice that this be a  carbunculously new planetbox. It's "Thar She Blows!" their  blunderingly new  one called th' Launch. It's "Blow Me Down!" a  lustily different  configuration an' has deeper compartments. Amy "Ye Landlubber!" & Rose both have th' same pirate joke in their lunches. They  don't eat lunch together so they won't mind.

Heidi's EasyLunchboxes Lunch: 

Princess Spaghetti, Captain Waffle apple with carrot sticks underneath

grapes and cantaloupe under a pair of cantaloupe roller skates

Heidi's pirate lunch be based on th' book Ye Can't Scare a Princess. It's a fun an' blistering silly  book bout a pirate named Cap'n Waffle who comes t' Cupcake Castle t' search fer th' treasure that be hidden in Princess Spaghetti's Garden. Th' lasses just laugh th' whole way through :) At th' end th' princess gives all o' th' pirates roller skates. Th' "Cap'n waffle" apple be a very abstract representation o' Cap'n Waffle. It's meant t' look like a waffle print on th' apple. It's "Stab That Crustation!" a stretch I know, but it be  blunderingly late . I put th' silicone cups in th' side compartments so that I can easily scoop them out when I heat aloft her spaghetti  later. I made some o' th' sticker picks specifically fer today. They will be one time use picks as they be just a sticker taped t' a toothpick.

This here's my piece o' the map! Good luck, Mateys!

"Blistering Barnacles!"  Click on th' button t' hop along t' th' next pirate lunch from  Debby at I Pack Lunch

I am glad to be back at home from a 5 day business trip. Daddy made the girls' lunches while I was away and he assures me that they were healthy. No photos of those lunches and I am sure that his morning was busy enough trying to get the girls out the door. These are today's lunches - I am still not settled into my morning routine especially after being away for a week but the girls did manage to leave on time so that's a plus!

Amy's Planetbox Lunch

diced peaches. red grapes, strawberries, goldfish, sun and sailboat ham sandwich.

I totally made the butter the wrong side of the already cutout bread mistake today. Last time I did that I made a triple-decker sandwich. This time I just added some sprinkles to the sail. So then I had to add sprinkles to all of the sails.

Rose's Planetbox Lunch

Rose's lunch is the same as Amy's except she has the S'mores Goldfish which are her new favourite. The round sandwich has little cut marks in it to make it look more like a sun. It looks better In real life I swear ;).

Heidi's EasyLunchbox Lunch

Heidi has a sailboat and palm tree sandwich, red grapes and some goldfish.

It really does work out well to make Heidi's lunch in the morning and leave it in the fridge until she comes home at noon. She is usually hungry and it's very convenient to just take it out of the fridge when we get home. She ate almost everything today -- except a few goldfish.

carrot sticks & dip, grape tomatoes, cantaloupe, strawberries

vitamin gummies, goldfish smore's

roasted chicken sandwich with a cheese flower topper

Amy's is quite similar with only a small variation due to her taste preferences and the fact that I am trying to use up little odds and ends of fruit and veggies before the storm.

Amy's lunch

cucumber sticks, carrot sticks and a grape tomato that she probably won't eat

strawberries, black grapes, vitamin gummies

plain goldfish (original), same roasted chicken sandwich as above

I do not know what the heck happened to these photos, I must have taken them with my eyes shut. There is some weird angle thing going on and it looks all skewed funny. The sandwiches were definitely normal looking circles in real life. Oh well, that's what I get for a late morning start. Regarding Amy -- I am probably going to give up on the tomato soon as she's approaching her 9,876,543 presentation of them! That's how many times it takes picky eaters to try something new right? ;)

Heidi's at home Lunch

2 chicken rainbow sandwiches, mini cup with 2 vitamin gummies

cucumber sticks and carrot sticks

black grapes, strawberries

I did not put any dip for her veggies, but as she is at home I can add it later. I figured that I might stand up her veggies and put some dip in the bottom of that section if she asks for any. I am pretty sure that she will since she loves to dip stuff. I drastically decreased the amount of food this time. This should be a better amount for her.

Here are some items that I used in these lunches:

Simple lunches with lots of variety for the girls. This was Rose's first day of school (Thursday) and she couldn't wait to go and see her friends and the new materials in the classroom. She was also excited to be a big sister to Heidi and to help walk her to her classroom in the morning.

Amy's Lunch

black grapes, strawberry hearts, 

carrot sticks, goldfish smore's, vitamin gummies

craisins, cantaloupe

ham sandwich on a bun

Somehow we managed to run out of bread already! The girls love these little Portuguese rolls so it worked out wonderfully.  Amy did not eat her goldfish or carrots because they got mixed up and were "yucky". Good to note for next time.

Rose's lunch

blueberries, strawberry hearts

grape tomatoes, carrot sticks, mini cup of dip

vitamin gummies, cantaloupe, goldfish smore's

hand and cheddar sandwich bun

Rose said "those goldfish were delicious" and she ate them all. I decided that I would make Heidi lunch and keep it in the fridge until she got home from school. It worked out great as she said that she was starving as soon as she walked in the door and all I had to do was take her lunch out of the fridge. I have been trying out the EasyLunchboxes this summer. This is the first time posting one. So far we like them but we haven't actually taken them out and about too much, mostly to the pool in the summer. No complaints! They aren't marketed as leakproof so I would not pack yogurt like this and send it off to school. Others have said that you can put a piece of press n seal over the yogurt and send it that way, or use a small lidded container inside. There is a brand new product added to their line up called mini dippers. These are leak proof, and while I don't have any yet, it would be a great option to contain yogurt.

Heidi's  At Home Lunch

chocolate chip cookies, goldfish

half of a ham and cheddar sandwich on a bun

cantaloupe and blueberries

vanilla yogurt with some sprinkles in the mini green cup

It's been a bit busy around here as we make preparations for Hurricane Leslie. At first it was looking like a direct hit, but thankfully it seems to be tracking to our East so I am hoping that we will be in the safe zone. Only time will tell and it's not due to pass near us until Sunday. Finally I have a minute to share school lunch for Day 2 for Amy.  Heidi also started school on Amy's day 2. She was very excited to go and it was an easy drop off. She doesn't take lunch to school but I think I might make her a lunch in the morning as she is pretty hungry by the time she get's home from school. Having it all ready and in the fridge might be the best idea. 

Amy's lunch

gingermen cookies, carrots & tomato

cantaloupe & honeydew melons

fairy sandwich

Amy chose the picks, the sandwich and of course the cookies that she wanted. I just put it all together. 

We have pretty much a whole week of back to school here. Yesterday was the holiday and today the school starts phasing in the students. Amy started today with most of the school, Heidi starts tomorrow and Rose on Thursday. We completely overslept this morning and didn't wake up until 7:55 am! Very late but we made it. It was a blessing that we only had to get one daughter out the door today for school :) The others went on a play date with some children who will be in Heidi's class so that was a good diversion this morning. We didn't have to be there until 9:30 so no trouble there. So needless to say lunch didn't go quite as planned but it's still mostly healthy and colourful and I think Amy will love it.

2 gingermen cookies (the least healthy part!), 

blanched broccoli and raw carrots sticks with peanut butter for dipping, 

strawberries, cantaloupe and ham sandwiches.

Amy is in Primary 2 this year so that's what the P2 is all about. I was going to cut out some ham and cheese letters and put them the horizontal sandwich ( "is FUN") but time ran out.I just about had time to snap this quick photo of lunch and then take one of her all dressed in uniform and ready to go -- then my camera battery died! Boo. no time to go grab the phone so no first day photo. I think I'll fake it and take a photo of all of them on Thursday ;). I hope everyone else had a more relaxed first morning of school than we did. I might start making lunches the night before but I always wonder how the sandwiches taste etc. Does the bread stay soft?

As I sit her writing this I can't help but wonder about how Amy's first day is going. I hope she makes new friends pretty quickly. She is in a new class this year and there is only one other boy from her class last year in her new class this year. I have probably been more worried about it than she has as she's so easy going. Well there is only 2 hours of school left so I guess I'll hear all about it shortly.