Bento Monday
Photo from Fed Up
I can remember going to school with a packed lunch daily, even through high school. It was fairly rare when I had to eat an actual school lunch, unless you consider 10 rolls for a$1 lunch. Which is what I usually ate when I had to have a school lunch.
I remember the pizza and spaghetti being decent, and the cheeseburgers weren’t bad.
But I do believe if I had to eat a trayful of food that was packaged like this, I’d lose my appetite on a daily basis.
How to Date Your Husband
Photo from How Does She?
I recently discovered How Does She?, a mama blog authored by three creative and funny moms, helping to unite us all in our universal search to figure out how to get it “all” done.
Along with wonderful crafty tutorials, recipes and parenting advice, I stumbled across this particular post on dating your husband, with ways to keep that spark sparklin’.
Tags: family, valentine's day
Candy Rings for Kid’s Valentines
Such a cute idea from Kaboose.com for some sweet and easy candy rings for your loverly valentine, or valentines. The craft is recommended for ages four and up, but I’m sure any toddler would be willing to help out! They suggest the best candy to use would be foil-wrapped chocolate hearts, which sounds adorable. I can also see little paper valentines rolled up and threaded through the ring. Kaboose also has a ton of great Valentine’s day craft ideas on their website.
Tags: holidays, valentine's day
Wordless Wednesday
Baking soda + red food coloring + vinegar=
VOLCANO!
For more Wordless Wednesdays, hop on over to Arkie Mama.
Tags: wordless wednesday
Kid’s Petal Backpack
Photo from Happy Together
After the ice and snow we’ve had over the past few days, I’ve been in the mood for a springy-fresh craft or two. And look what I found! A precious little petal covered backpack, made with items you could probably find at a dollar store! No sewing required, just a inexpensive child’s backpack, a package of silk rose petals, and a glue gun.
Go to Happy Together for the tutorial. Can’t you imagine your sweetie sporting this oh-so precious number? Oh, the cuteness of it all!
Tags: crafts
Bento Monday
Photo from What's for lunch at our house
Here’s a new bento blog I’ve found, What’s for lunch at our house…a Dallas mom with two kids making snack bentos for her them daily. She was featured on Dallasnews.com in 2007; the article has some great tips and resources at the end.
Tags: bento
Reusable Mesh Produce Bags
Mesh laundry bag = produce bag. Ingenious!
If you read this blog on a regular basis, I’m sure you are by now aware that I am a fan of the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. I use reusable bags 90% of the time when I go shopping, but I don’t know how to avoid using the plastic produce sacks at the grocery stores. I try to use as few as possible every time I go, and the two or three I do use make me slightly cringe.
I visit Dollar Sore Crafts at least once a day, looking for cheap crafty goodness. I stumbled upon these reuseable mesh produce bags and was, like, “DUH! Why didn’t I think of this before!” I added the mesh bags to my list of items to look for the next time I was at the Dollar Store.
I usually hit the Dollar Store on Cantrell…I can’t walk out without spending $10 or more. I looked in the home organizing section and found a 3-pack of 12 x 12 mesh laundry bags with a zipper closure. I decided these would work just fine as is.
I took them to the shiny Kroger (Kroger on Polk) and filled one with apples. As I was checking out, I wondered what kind of reaction I’d get from the cashier. He said, “Is this a laundry bag? That’s pretty cool.” No problems.
So pick up a pack of these mesh bags and keep them with your reusable bags for your next trip to the grocery store!
Tags: eco-friendly, food
Valentine’s Day Ideas
Photo from Skip to My Lou
Oh, I just LOVE these Bath Bombs from Skip to My Lou! Always with a ton of fun ideas for adults and parents to make, she has a whole page of Valentine’s Day gift ideas, for friends and teachers. I remember making the “stained glass” hearts as a kid, and the lollipop butterflies (downloadable .pdf included) look like a simple and cheap alternative for your child’s class valentines.
Great ideas are also to be found on FamilyFun…I am loving the Chews-a-card Valentine’s card holder and the Gnome Sweet Gnome treats. And don’t forget my last post about the salt shaker photo holders…another great gift idea.
Have you any good ideas for Valentine’s treats, for the classroom or family? Share, share, share!
Tags: valentine's day
Prwee-K
I registered the kiddo for Pre-K this afternoon. It was fast and painless, with no lines or hysteria. It was almost too fast. I had wanted to take a picture to document the occasion, but there was nothing to photograph. It was just me and the nice lady sorting the papers. No hype, just life catching up to me.
Last night, as I filled out the registration paper work by candlelight…we had no electricity between 1:00 and 11:30 p.m., after some electrical work we had done…I was a bit sad but mostly in shock.
Where has the time gone? It seemed like the little squiggly, sweet-smelling, chubby-legged 8 pound baby I gave birth to a few short years ago just got up, sat on the couch, counted to 100 and wrote his name, right before he taught me how to play Star Wars Legos on the Xbox.
I’m excited. Really I am. He’s starting a new chapter in his life, and I’m looking forward to his new friends and new horizons.
But my baby can’t be ready for big kid school, for “Prwee-K” as he calls it?
He still gets into my bed in the mornings for some snuggle time. And he wants me to carry him around, and snuggle with me before he goes to bed….holding my hand. Is that how a big kid, ready for life in the fast lane, acts?
No! Big kids in Pre-K dress themselves, and have their lives all figured out daily by 9:00 a.m. They ask questions like, “What’s blood? What does it do?” and “What are clouds?”
Oh yeah. That’s right…he does all of that. Cause he’s a big kid now.
Amazing beings, these children. How they grow so fast and change, right under your nose, catching you off guard with their wee-wisdoms and kindness. We are so blessed.
Wordless Wednesday
Making time for art
My husband set this up for him so right after school he could have some artistic fun while I made dinner. My heart skipped a beat.
For more Wordless Wednesdays, skip on over to Arkie Mama.
Tags: wordless wednesday
