"Love"ly Lunch

In This Lunch:

Half a Banana

Strawberry jam sandwich on whole wheat

Cheddar hearts

Cheesy heart crackers

Green apple hearts

Lovey-Dovey Lunches

Feeling particularly lovey-dovey this morning,

and wanting to show my loves some lovin,

We have hearts today :)

In Lily's Lunch:

Strawberry jam and crunchy soy-nut butter sandwich on italian white

Strawberry and raspberry fruit-to-go hearts

Green grapes

Carrot sticks

Cheddar hearts

Chocolate chip granola bar

In Craig's Lunch:

Strawberry jam and crunchy soy-nut butter sandwich on italian white

Strawberry and raspberry fruit-to-go hearts

Chocolate chip granola bar

Cheddar hearts

Cheesy heart crackers

Cucumber hearts

Green and black grapes

Shapes and Stars Lunches

In Lily's Lunch:

Green and red grapes (Ovals)

Cucumber triangles

Cheese whiz sandwich on enriched white

Green beans (lines)

Cheddar shapes

In Craig's Lunch:

Carrot sticks

Cucumber stars

Black grapes

Cheese and chicken sandwich on enriched white

Sugar snap peas

Cheddar stars

Girly Lunch

In Lily's Lunch:

Chicken and cheese sandwich on enriched white

Cheddar heart

White cheddar flowers

Gummy butterfly

Green grapes

Strawberries

Hearts and Bunnies Lunch

In Lily's Lunch:

Green grapes

Blueberries picked from our own bush

(Given to us as a housewarming gift)

Plain triscuit crackers

Cheddar cheese bunnies

Gluten-free blueberry heart pancakes

(Syrup on the side)

Side note:

Though the other time I sent syrup,

it went well,

this time, well...

not so much :/

Lets just say her toes got some extra scrubbing that night!

In Craig's Lunch:

Leftovers

(No picture)

Our beautiful blueberry bush
(which has since been planted)
(Huge thank you to Mike and Ashley for such a thoughtful housewarming gift!!)

Bears and Hearts Lunch

In Lily's Lunch:

Carrot sticks

Green grapes

Marble cheese bears

Chicken nuggets

Cheese whiz and ham sandwich on white

Cheese slice heart

In Craig's Lunch:

Craig had left-overs from supper,

and I didn't think to take a picture :(

Flowers & Pizza Lunches

In Lily's Lunch:

Apple slice flowers

Green grape tulips

Cheese slice and chicken breast slice sandwich on white

Cheese slice heart flowers with

Cheesy pretzel stick stems

A note about Craig...

This summer, Craig underwent some testing 

to see if he had a gluten resistance.

As a precaution, we went gluten-free

for about a month and a half!

When I say we, I mean all of us!

(Myself, Lily and Craiggers)

It was just easier cooking one meal,

baking one kind of cookies, etc.

As it turned out, he's not resistant to gluten,

but we have some gluten-free lunches all the same :)

In Craig's Lunch:

Apple slices

Black grapes

Gluten free home made pizza,

 (dough & sauce from a box)

Random Cute Duckie Lunch

In This Lunch:

Carrot sticks

Cheddar duckies

Green grapes

Fruit snacks

Cheese whiz sandwich on enriched white bread

Stars and Hearts Lunch

In This Lunch:

Apple slices

Cantaloupe hearts

Strawberry jam sandwich on whole wheat

White cheddar star

Heart Lunch

In This Lunch:

Ham and sliced orange cheddar sandwich on multigrain bread

Raspberry fruit leather hearts

Cucumber hearts

Green apple hearts that turn brown really quickly :/

BFF's Lunch

Today, we're having another friend from school over today,

The Marvelous miss M.

Lily is beyond excited!

(We look forward to the day when we live

closer to kids her own age, but until then, 

organized playdates will have to do)

So in honor of playdates, and the friends we have them with,

we have a BFF's Lunch :)

In This Lunch:

Cheesy heart crackers

Apple hearts

Cheese whiz sandwich on brown bread

Mozzarella heart

Cheddar Kraft singles letters and ladies

Mozzarella Kraft singles Hair

EGPS Bento

In This Lunch:

Caught Being Good Card

Blueberry bagel bits with butter

Cucumber hearts

Carrot hearts

Strawberry hearts

Lily's school is closing :(

We have another year and a half before the big change,

but it's happening.

Monday night I attended an info session for parents,

and we were asked that if we could say something

to defend our school from being closed,

what would it be.

All I could think of, 

was how relieved we were to be starting here in September,

because she had been bullied so much

at her preschool, 

with little support from the staff.

I did my homework on this elementary school,

and based on two things,

decided she HAD to get in here,

even though we don't live in the area.

Thing one:

It's the only french immersion school in our area.

Thing two:

Their approach to behavior reinforcement.

Negative behaviors are dealt with immediately,

quietly, and strictly.

Positive behaviors are rewarded immediately,

and celebrated publicly.

Not to say bullying doesn't happen,

and it has, but the difference here is,

it doesn't last long.

Each time a child does something positive worth noting,

e.g. Help pass out class notes,

Help a classmate with their work,

Stand up for themselves or someone else...

they are given a 'Caught Being Good Card.'

One copy is sent home for the parents to see,

another is put in a bucket for the class,

and at the end of the month can be drawn for a prize.

Classes with the most get rewards,

Students with the most also get rewards,

and it's just such a wonderful example 

of positive reinforcement.

Here is one of Lily's from November,

along with one I made for today's lunch.

If I could say one thing to the school board members,

it would be that this school saved my daughter.

Saved her from 7 years of torment 

with no positive end in sight.

And for that, they deserve a

Caught Being Good Card.

We'll miss you EGPS ♥

I Love U Lunch

Getting back into the swing of things after a long break :)

In This Lunch:

Cucumber slices

Fruit snacks

Teddy Grahams

Fruit leather

Chocolate chip granola bar

Pita's filled with cheese whiz and grated marble cheddar,

(heated for 15 seconds so the cheese melts together)

'Mr Valentine' Lunch

Lily drew me an early special valentine picture, 

who I've dubbed 'Mr Valentine'

due to his suave and dashing good looks ;)

I've made this lunch in his honor :)

In this lunch:

Strawberries

Cheesy heart crackers

Strawberry jam sandwich on whole wheat

Havarti cheese heart

Cheese slice cheese heart

Food-safe marker face

Cheesy pretzel stick limbs

'Squirrel Love' Lunch

I love valentines day, 

(I'm a bit of a schmuck for love, hehe),

and doesn't love make us all a little squirrelly?

In This Lunch:

Cheesy heart crackers

Macintosh apple hearts

Havarti cheese hearts

Cheese slice squirrelly's and dots

Cheese whiz heart sandwich on whole wheat

Hearts Lunch

Today's lunch!

In this lunch:

Strawberries

Green grapes

Strawberry jam sandwich on multigrain bread

Havarti cheese hearts

Cinnamon heart candy

In order to protect the cheese from the candy getting 

sticky cinnamon stuff on it,

I put it in a little treat cup off to the side

But then realized that using regular cupcake cups 

and regular size sliced bread

leaves a huge gap between the food and the roof, 

which is terrible for shifting food!

I ended up putting a napkin on top for filler.

Hopefully that holds it!

Valentine Hearts Lunch

Since Thursday was a snow day, this is Friday's lunch

In this lunch:

Strawberry jam sandwich on whole wheat

Havarti hearts with food coloring

Strawberries

Carrot sticks

Cucumber heart sticks

'Be Mine' Lunch

Lunch from Wednesday, Jan 26th

In this lunch:

Strawberries

Blueberries

Cucumber hearts

Cheese whiz sandwich on whole wheat

Havarti letters

Strawberry fruit leather heart

Pita Snack Lunch

So, we have bread, but Lily loved the pitas so much

she asked for them again today!

This time though, she decided she'd prefer them plain.

I doubted her a little, 

so I made sure to put some cheese in the lunch 

for her to add in if needed, 

but she went for plain, go figure :/

In This Lunch:

Green grapes

Cucumber slices

Mini pitas

Vegetable thins

Herbed havarti hearts

Follow Up:

She ate all but the cucumbers and half the grapes.

Not too bad I guess

Hearts Lunch

In This Lunch:

Strawberries

Cucumber slices

Cheese whiz sandwich on whole wheat

Cheddar cheese hearts

Lily announced to her sitter the other day

That she LOVES cheese and bread.

(cheese with bread, cheese on bread, 

really any combination there-of)

We'll be trying out some different combinations of this in the near future :)