aMOOsing Quote of the Day

My daughter told me we live in a castle. 


When I replied that we had a nice house, but not a castle, she told me that our house was a castle because it was full of friendship. So sweet....


...and then she said that maybe it wasn't really a castle, because it was too messy!

Bring On Summer

...and you thought I'd never be back!

So, it's been about nine months...who's been counting?  School is out in less than a week, and we're gearing up for summer.  (although I've been in denial about summer almost being here up until now).

Leo is now 19 months, and a VERY active 19 months at that.  Thankfully, my lil' guy still loves his naps, so between pulling him off of furniture, putting everything back in my cupboards, and playing chase to get back the sharp object / small object / object that will wreck the furniture that he manages to find, I can still get some work done at home.

Sophia will be 7 years old in September, and is my nature-lover.  Anything to do with bugs, flowers, and exploring, and she is there (all the while wearing fairy wings and fancy dresses).  Sometimes I just sit back in amazement thinking of how quickly time is flying by.

As for me, I am still working part-time on evenings and weekends and do some work from home.  I also recently started an on-line course that will take a year to complete. (Great timing right before summer, huh?!)

The key word for this summer is going to be time management!!....and coffee!

Bring on summer!  I'm ready for you!!

Bentos 8, 9, 10, 11. and 12 (Bet you thought I'd given up!)

Psychedelic  Sushi

Snack: Grapes, clementines

Lunch:  Ham/cream cheese/carrot/green bean/tortilla 'sushi', grapes, carrots, bear paw cookie, grape juice

Snack:  Broccoli, carrots

Stripes

Snack:  Apple and cantelope

Lunch:  Chicken fingers, rice, corn, green beans, orange juice

Snack:  Oatmeal muffin, striped apple slices

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Snack:  Grapes, granola bar

Lunch:  Chicken rice, cheese bears, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, grape juice

Snack:  Apple (picked by Sophia at the apple orchard!)

This and That (aka grocery day this afternoon)



Snack:  Clemetine flower

Lunch:  Macaroni casserole, carrots, grapes, popcorn (in a fabulous re-usable snack bag made by Ottawa mompreneur Oh So Belle ), grape juice

Snack:  Granola Bar

Stick It!



Snack:  Grape and Clementine Kabobs (in her Oh So Belle snack bag)

Lunch:  Shredded Carrots, cheese/turkey/cucumber kabobs, rice crackers, orange juice

Snack:  Apple crisp (still using up the apples from apple picking!!)

Bentos 6 and 7



Protein Power!

SNACK:  Boiled eggs with cauliflower and broccoli hair

LUNCH:  Tortilla/cream cheese/ham/carrot/green bean "sushi", green beans, Bear Paw, water

SNACK:  Graham Crackers with soy butter, mock chicken

A Day at the Pond

I debated dying the rice blue, but I'm not so sure Sophia would have appreciated it!

SNACK:  Cantelope ducks and watermelon flowers

LUNCH:  Rice, fish from roast pork, carrots, apple, orange juice

SNACK:  Mock chicken frog sandwich, zucchini

Bentos 4 and 5

Teddy Bears' Picnic

SNACK:  Granola Bar

LUNCH:  Ham and cream cheese bear, cucumber and carrot bears, beary good apple, broccoli, apple juice

SNACK:  Bear Paws

Bugs and Friend

Wasn't quite sure what to name this one...the leftover birthday hotdog octopus threw me off!

SNACK:  Cantelope butterflies

LUNCH:  Steamed Veggies, Ocotodog on bread and cheese, bumblebee cupcake, water

SNACK:  Plums

Party Time!

Moo turned six this weekend.  Of course, that is reason to celebrate right?  Well, we celebrated not once, but twice in the same day.  This entailed me being up at 5:30 to finish last minute preparations for the 11am party.
 


My overjoyed birthday girl in the morning.  She had no idea what an Easy Bake oven was..(but she did know it was not what she asked for)..she loved it once she found out it baked....seriously....we even made chocolate chip cookies to go with breakfast!

 Thankfully, the weather cooperated and we were able to be outside, which helped keep the house a bit cleaner for the family pizza dinner later in the evening.  (Have I mentioned this will be the LAST year we will be doing two parties on the same day?)  You'd think after six years, I'd have gotten wise to that idea a lot sooner.


Buggy Cupcakes, complete with rainbow cake on the inside, of course!  A tradition for Sophia's parties



Thankfully the kids party, which was a bug theme, went off without a hitch, and the house was ready for the 5pm arrival of grandparents and family.  At least we got wise to the idea of ordering pizza instead of trying to cook dinner for 20 while hosting a kiddie birthday party.  I even used paper plates for the family party *GASP*....and I may just do it again for Leo's birthday in November ;)


Daddy and Sophia's birthday cake in the evening (their birthdays are one day apart).  Have two cakes and eat them too?  Why not?



Anyhoo....after having worked a large trade show today (yes the day after two parties), I'm keeping this brief because I'm baked. 

Bentos 1, 2, and 3

Because I am so creative and have nothing better to do (or maybe to ease my guilt for being so happy Moo is in school full time), I decided to try to do a year of bento style lunches for her.  Anyways, I'll post my lunches on here to keep myself motivated, maybe give you some cool ideas, and to get ideas from you!!

Surprise!

Sophia was quite excited when she opened this at lunch time.  So far, so good!

SNACK - fruit cocktail

LUNCH - jasmine rice with baloney shapes, cheese shapes and green beans, fruit to go bar, apple juice

SNACK - plum and arrowroot cookies

Beary Good

SNACK - banana

LUNCH - chicken rice with carrot bear, rice crackers, cucumber flowers, whole wheat/ham/cucumber/carrot/cream cheese roll-ups, apple juice

SNACK - carrot bears in a cucumber boat, cheese fish, granola bar

Superstar!

SNACK - checkered apples and foot cheese (hehehe)

LUNCH - super star ham and cream cheese sandwiches, super star cantelope, rice crackers, carrots,cucumber, apple juice

SNACK - Bear Paws

Well three school days down, and...well, a lot to go.  I have no idea what I'm doing for tomorrow yet, but I'll start posting these every few days :)