Ahhh...School lunches....

My husband laughs at me 99.9% of the time when my type A personality shines through!!  I am pretty crazy about pre-planning dinners on Saturday night and I head to the grocery store bright and early Sunday morning so I can prep food for the week ahead. Recently, I had a brilliant idea to buy some cheap (79 cents each to be exact) baskets to help organize our pantry and refrigerator for lunches. I have 2 different baskets in the pantry and 3 in the fridge.  I pre-prep food every Sunday and baggie up goodies for the boys to choose from. I mainly pick 2 from each of the categories below and rotate each grocery trip so the foods selected allow the boys to have a variety of lunch options.  I don't pre-make the main course but the planning of fruits, veggies, protein, snacks and treats come in pretty handy.  Below are a list of items that I buy, cut up, baggie up and the boys simply pick and place in their lunch.  The best part is that I only have to make the main course the night before, let's be honest mainly sandwiches and throw in a juice box and it takes less time each night to make lunches and the boys get a kick in helping "pack" their own lunch for the next day. The list below are some ideas and like I said I don't give them every option.  For example last week I pre cut and baggied up cucumber and carrots in one basket, hard boiled eggs and string cheese in another, you get the idea......

Veggies (boys pick one)
cucumbers
baby carrots
celery w a small pack of peanut butter
bell peppers
pickles
snap peas
cherry tomatoes
broccoli
jicama sticks
*hummus snack packs are one of my boys favorites to dip with their veggies

Fruit (boys pick one)
strawberries
blueberries
raspberries
applesauce
grapes
watermelon
apple slices
Fruit cup (if fresh isn't available):
peaches
pears
mandarin oranges
pineapple



Protein (boys pick one)
hard boiled eggs (my kindergartner LOVES these)
string cheese
edamame
yogurt
elk jerky (we make our own)
pumpkin seeds
almonds or nuts

Snacks (boys pick two) one for lunch and one for their snack: 
cheeze-its
pretzels
kid cliff zone bars
yogurt covered raisins
dried cranberries
organic fruit leather or snacks
goldfish
ritz crackers
granola bars
popcorn
jello cups
pudding cups

Treats (Sometimes I skip this one, oh I lie...actually this only happens sporadically): 
cookie
brownie bites
small piece of candy
rice krispy treat
small donut hole

ENJOY packing lunches for the next 180 plus days.... :)

Raising my boys to be gentleman....

17 years ago I became a mom for the first time.  10 years later I became a mom again, and a year later our 3rd little baby boy was born.  Being a mom of 3 boys is one of my greatest blessings.  My motherhood journey started when I was 21 years old.  I had little experience with life at that point but knew one thing, no matter what I was going to raise my son to be a true gentleman. I pride myself in teaching my boys to be respectful, responsible, kind and confident young men.  Especially when they are dealing with the opposite sex. My boys know that when the garage door opens and mom is coming in from the grocery store they come out to help carry in the groceries, hold the door open or help put away what they can.  I love seeing my boys hold open doors for others and lend a hand when needed.  The other day I was brought to tears when my mom text me a picture of some beautiful flowers that my oldest son brought to her.  He stayed and talked with her about her day and made her laugh and smile a little brighter.  He is sensitive and has the kindest heart of any kiddo I know.  Now that he is 17 he has started dating.  He has been dating the same girl for the last 8 months and we have had our fair share of teenage battles with dating but the one thing that I have stayed strong on is him treating his girlfriend with respect.  When she was recently sick he brought her a sweet card and her favorite flowers.  He has surprised her before school with her favorite coffee or left notes on her car.  He has seen that the little things mean the most and don't go unnoticed.  So you can imagine my concern when I started reading some of the text messages between the two, the way she talked to him when I was around (which I quickly brought to his attention when she was gone) and the emotional roller coaster of break-ups that she initiates and the comments about how he doesn't do "enough" for her made my blood boil.  Parker and I have a very open relationship and he comes and talks to me about many different things going on in his life.  I couldn't help but remind him that although he needs to always be a gentleman he DOES not deserve to be a doormat to someone.  We talked about how you teach someone how to treat you and if he was to continue to allow her to text and talk to him the way that she does then it will only continue without any change on her part.  I thought that him simply seeing the example that his step father and I have set would be enough for him to follow but I realized that he needed to hear it from me too.  It kills me to see him hurt and upset over someone who manipulates and takes advantage of a good hearted boy who was raised right. Thankfully, he does know his worth in a relationship and will stand up for himself.  I just hope that there are moms out there raising their daughters to respect, love and treat the good guys the way that they also deserve to be treated.  I won't stop teaching my boys the value of being a true gentleman and only pray that they will find the right heart that will do the same daily for them.