School
November 30-30-30 Challenge: Saying Thanks 30 Ways to 30 People for 30 Days (Days 18 – 19)
As I was reflecting back on the many amazing blessings in my life I realized that don’t let those around me know how much I truly appreciate them enough. The idea of participating in a “thankfulness” challenge for the month of November was started a few months ago when I purchased cards for my family to send out for the Thanksgiving Holiday (see the picture of the front of the card below).
It is my wish to show my gratitude to the people I interact with day to day. For the month of November I am planning a 30-30-30 Challenge. It is my goal to say thanks in 30 ways to 30 people for 30 days. Each day I plan to do at least one activity expressing my thanks to one person every day for thirty days.
Day 19
Who: School Teachers
Since they only have a couple days of school this week with the Thanksgiving Holiday the girls delivered their Thanksgiving gifts to their teachers today (Monday). The girls took thank you cards and some sweet treats to give to their teachers today.
Day 18
Who: Awana Leaders
The girls go to Awana on Sunday evenings when Jake & I go to Community Group. Our church does the Awana program at our local school. Brina and Karlie are in the Sparks right now. They have been learning various verses, books of the bible and more recently. As a way to say thank you to their Sparks Leaders on Sunday we sent a thank you card and some goodies to give to their leaders.
Day 17
Who: Neighbors
Over the last few years we noticed a big difference in our interactions with our neighbors once we started reaching out more. We try to stop by their homes to say “hi” and deliver goodies several times throughout the year. Brina and Karlie especially enjoy bringing vegetables from our garden or little gifts around the Holidays to share with the people who live on our block. The girls took time this morning (Saturday) walking from house to house delivering “Happy Thanksgiving” cards to each of our neighbors. They had a blast talking with the neighbors and delivering the notes. Hopefully the notes were a blessing to those who live on our street too. Thankful for our little street and the neighbors who live here.
Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Lunch is ready for the kids to take to school.
The girls love taking their lunch to school. I try to pack a protein, a veggie, fruit, drink, and snack. With one kid with food allergies she doesn’t have dairy, but the other chickie usually takes yogurt and cheese stick.
Lunch Box Meal:
- Tuna Fish Sandwich
- Fresh Apple Slices with Caramel
- Fresh Banana Pepper
- Dried Peaches
- Fruit Chew
- Mott’s Pomegranate Applesauce
- Animal Crackers
- Stila Blueberry Granola Bar
- Yogurt Tube
- Windmill Cookies (Egg, Diary, & Peanut FREE)!
- Cranberry Juice
The girls are pretty good about helping put together their lunches, however, on busy days I will do it for them. Do you pack your kids lunch everyday? What do you like to put in their lunch boxes?
Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Karlie and Brina’s school lunches are ready to go!
Some days it is hard to get everything done. I am a person who likes to have things done in a timely manner and on schedule, however, you have those days….weeks…..that just don’t happen the way they are planned. Thankfully, I have spent time on the weekend prepping for lunches so usually it doesn’t take too long to put them together!
Lunch Box Meal:
- Hot Dog Slices
- Fresh Apple Slices
- Fresh Carrots with Hummus
- Peanut Butter Crackers or Teddy Grahams
- Strawberry Yogurt
- Foot Long Strawberry
- Mixed Flavored Mini Marshmallows
- Capri Sun Sunrise Juice Bag
Fresh apple slices, carrots & hummus and more!
I am thankful the girls enjoy eating leftovers and taking their lunches to school. I like knowing what they ate for lunch. Plus Karlie’s teacher lets any kids that have a lunch or brought a snack eat something about mid-morning to keep everyone going.
Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Lunch is ready to go!
The best part about Holidays is you get a lot of fun food to eat. On this particular day the girls got to take a rice krispie treat “cat” with the first letter of their name on it. When Grandma Penny was visiting she made these cute cats for the girls. They were super excited to see them in their lunch bags.
Lunch Box Meal:
- Hot Japanese Beef, Vegetables & Rice (in the thermos)
- Fresh Fruit Salad or Fresh Fruit Salad with Creamy Sauce
- Fresh Cucumbers
- Sugar Free Cherry Jello
- Cashews
- Apple Peel Confetti Crisps
- Halloween Cat Rice Krispie Treat with initial of their first name
- Corn or Bugle Chips
- Ritz Bits Cheese Crackers or Kellogg’s Pop Tarts Mini Crisps
- Reduced Sugar Grape Hugs Drink
Japanese food, Halloween rice krispie treat, fresh fruit salad and more!!!!
I always love sticking in a surprise for the girls every once in awhile. Sometimes they see it before lunch but several times they don’t open their bags until at school. One day I was able to go to lunch with them and watch their faces when they pulled out the special treat (a new container with their name on it). It made my day seeing the thrilled looks on their faces when they discovered their new container. Although it was something simple and easy it really was special to them!
Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Karlie is ready to pack up her lunch!
I found fresh strawberries marked down at the grocery store last week and after picking out 1 bad strawberry the rest were perfect. The girls were excited to get strawberries in their lunch this week for their fruit. 🙂
Lunch Box Meal:
- Peanut Butter & Jelly or Almond Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
- Fresh Strawberries
- Fresh Carrots
- Cashews or Peanuts
- Strawberry Yogurt
- Ritz Cheese Bits or Elf Grahams
- Bugles or Corn Chips
- Whole Grain Crackers
- Cherry Kool-Aid Jammers or Yahoo Chocolate Milk
Fresh strawberries, carrots and more!
The girls are always excited to help with their lunches and they do a great job. This year we have a lot of extra activities going on after school so it has been hard to get all the activities, homework, dinner, baths, lunches made, and everything else done after school so I have been pitching in to help them when it is getting too close to bed time. If they don’t get a chance to pack their lunches before beds they are always eager to find out what is in them. Many times I catch them sneaking a glance in their lunches at breakfast or on the way to school.
Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
School lunch is ready!
Today the girls chalkboard note read “You’re the BEST!” A lot of their lunches consist of leftovers from the evening meals together as our family. They love it when they get a roast beef sandwich from the roast we had the night before or something similar.
Lunch Box Meal:
- Roast Beef & Mash Potato Sandwich
- Fresh Grapes
- Fresh Cherry Tomatoes
- Cashews
- Peach Yogurt
- Chocolate & Vanilla Oreos
- Teddy Grahams
- Reduced Sugar Orange or Fruit Punch Juice
Fresh grapes, cherry tomatoes, roast beef sandwich and more!
The girls really do eat most of the items in their lunch bags! I have found that the food I pack them hold them longer than when they eat lunches at school. Part of the reason may be because students that bring lunches get a few extra minutes to eat, plus they can eat any of the leftovers for a snack on the way to our after school activities.
Goodies are ready for the girls to packed up.
Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Getting the school lunches ready
The biggest challenge for me when making and prepping the school lunches is finding a good variety of items for the girls to take to school. Thankfully they eat almost everything (they don’t like liver) so that makes it easier for me. Although I do have one that if she gets the same item in the lunch several days in a row she’ll stop eating it, guess she needs a little food variety to keep her excited!
Lunch Box Meal:
- Beef & Bean Burrito
- Fresh Banana
- Fresh Broccoli
- Batman Fruit Snacks
- Red & Blue Tortilla Chips
- Strawberry & Lemon Circle Crisps
- Chex Mix or Animal Crackers
- Jelly Beans
- Fruit Punch Juice
Fresh banana, broccoli, burrito and more!
The girls really do eat most of the items in their lunch bags! I have found that the food I pack them hold them longer than when they eat lunches at school. Part of the reason may be because students that bring lunches get a few extra minutes to eat, plus they can eat any of the leftovers for a snack on the way to our after school activities.
Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Karlie’s lunch is packed and ready to go
The girls and I try to clean out their lunches after school and homework so we can re-pack them for the next day. It is easier for our family make the lunches the night before and stick the whole lunch bag into the fridge. The mornings tend move quickly and I want them to go as smoothly as possible for everyone.
I am really excited about the girls new lunch bags from Thirty-One! They are spacious and easy to clean. The girls were SUPER EXCITED to get them! A big thanks to Jennifer Kauffman for helping me get these bags ordered and monogrammed! If you are looking for a monogrammed bag for yourself, a child, or to give as a gift Jennifer would be happy to help you.
What’s for lunch today?
Lunch Box Meal:
- Beef Stew & Jasmine Rice
- Fresh Banana Bread
- Apple Peel Confetti Crisps
- Pickles & Dip
- Batman Fruit Snacks
- Strawberry & Lemon Circle Crisps
- Spiderman Cheez Its or Grahams Bug Bites
- Peach Yogurt or Sugar Free Strawberry Jello
- Oyster Crackers
- Jelly Beans
- Fruit Punch Juice
Beef Stew, pickles & dip, homemade banana bread and more!
It has been better for our family to send our girls lunches to school. Before sending lunches a lot of afternoons the girls would come home from school starving. When I asked them what they ate for lunch they could never remember. I like knowing what they are eating and I make sure to pack enough so they can have a snack after school too since we go to after school activities every day. If they finish everything in their lunches then they can get something else to eat once we are home.
Brina’s lunch is packed and ready!
Exploring Roper Mountain Science Center
Getting ready to watch the show at the Roper Mountain Science Center
The first time I took a tour of Roper Mountain Science Center was with the girls class earlier this year. It was a blast watching a space presentation, going on a nature trail, seeing the wildlife, having a picnic and more. The girls had so much fun. I always knew that Roper Mountain Science Center had some activities for the kids but until I went with the girls I had no idea how much!
Karlie entertained by the show, anything to do with space is always a hit with her!
Brina having a fun time! I got to sit next to Brina for the show.
What are they looking at? Don’t fall in the water!
Red Eared Slider Turtles (of course)! The girls were super excited to see the turtles, these are the same kind as Shipwreck and Overboard!
Beautiful flower garden and butterflies near the butterfly crossing.
The girls had a lot of fun exploring Roper Mountain Science Center and learning a lot of great stuff. Roper Mountain has since become one of the girls favorite places to visit. We try to go every month or two. It is a great learning environment if you have kids.
Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Brina & Karlie’s Lunch Bags are ready to go!
Today I have a picture of the girls packed lunch bags. These are the ones they used last year so they will look familiar to some of you. Our friends gave the girls these lunch bags for their birthday a couple years ago and we have gotten a lot of great use out of them. The girls love having their names on their individual bags and I like that when they lose the bag at school, bus, or some other random place we always get them back. There are not a lot of “Brina” and “Karlie’s” at their school so it makes it easy to identify whose bag it is.
What’s for lunch today?
The bags are showing some wear after much use but still have plenty of life left in them so we are using them some again this year. This year I am trying to rotate through the different lunch bags to keep them from getting too moist or smelly. Giving them a break helps them dry out, air out, and will help them last a little longer (hopefully) too.
Lunch Box Meal:
- Tuna Fish Sandwich
- Fresh Watermelon
- Fresh Yellow Pear Tomatoes (from our garden)
- Mott’s Plus Mixed Berry Applesauce
- Strawberry Yogurt
- Quaker Blueberry Stila or Animal Crackers
- Cinnamon Teddy Grahams
- Strawberry Fruit Stick
- Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookie or Chocolate & Vanilla Oreos
- Cubed Beef Jerky Stick (in the container)
- Berry Blast Fruit Drink
Watermelon, yogurt, tuna sandwich and more good stuff to eat!
The girls are excited about rotating through their lunch bags because it adds a little extra variety. They get excited to see what’s in their lunch that day. With the lunch bags sometimes I pack a note too or write on their sandwich container or something else as a special surprise for them that day. Whatever they don’t have time to eat at lunch they can eat it as a snack during class or as an after school snack.
