What's in Your Lunchbox?

Jaymz tagged me for the "What's in Your Lunchbox" meme.

Now, being a homemaker, I don't actually pack my lunch up in a cute little box each day just to transfer it from the kitchen counter to the kitchen table. That would be cool, but also a little nuts. So once again, I'm not sitting at the cool kids' table. If I did pack my lunch up, I'd probably need two lunch boxes, though.

I looove lunch time. It's the only meal of the day I put any real work into (even then, I don't spend more than 10 minutes preparing it - I sure hate cooking). I like to sit at our kitchen table with the back door open and Margaret in her saucer. I watch the horses grazing in the pasture behind our house and linger as long as she'll let me.

On the menu today, cucumber sandwiches on whole wheat rolls (because I had some left over from burgers the other night), salad with a bunch of leftover ingredients from my fridge (blackeye peas, blue cheese, chopped almonds, granny smith apples, and pomegranate vinaigrette), and raspberry herbal iced tea.

Not pictured is the half a banana Margaret didn't finish from her lunch that I just couldn't toss.

My lunch looks basically like this every day. Occasionally I'll substitute 2 lettuce wraps for the cucumber sandwiches or tortellini and sun-dried tomatoes for the salad. Inexpensive, filling, fresh foods are my usual lunch fare.

I tag... whomever else would like to play.

Sneak Peek Portraits

Some of you may have already seen these on Facebook. We had a photographer out to our house on Saturday to take some springtime pictures of Meggie. Here are the ones she sent to torture me with so I could see how they turned out. She told Fritz that there are so many good ones, she had trouble choosing which three to send. I can't wait to see the rest! She was great fun to work with. I can't recommend her enough.

Oh, and new clothes!

Diapers.com was having a great deal a while back. 40% off all clothes and shoes. I bought some nice Carters stuff for later this summer, and I also got a Tea dress and some Robeez for Meg's birthday outfit.

Summer clothes

For next winter

Wrinkled, but lovely, dresses and a Zutano hat

Birthday outfit

There's also another pair of Robeez and another Tea dress that are coming in a separate shipment. Fun!

Ahh, cute baby clothes and a killer deal? It was a good day.

Still Springing

Our little sprouts are doing great. They're just begging to be transplanted outdoors. We've had a crazy week, so we haven't been able to get the raised beds built, but hopefully next week, as it's Fritz's short week at work. Maybe he can even finish painting the house!

I need to get my bulbs into the ground too. A little late, but I'm holding out hope that they'll still get a good bloom in before it gets too hot.

We also need to get our new jasmine and honeysuckle in the ground before they die. Let's hope the cool spring weather can hold out just one more week for us!

Peppers

Cucumbers

Okra

Butternut squash, zucchini, and pumpkins

Yup

I'm giving a talk in church on Sunday and have yet to read the source material.

Margaret is having her pictures taken at our house on Friday and I haven't vacuumed or mopped.

State taxes are due on Thursday and I'm staring blankly at Fritz's W2.

Someone bought a set of my blocks today and I haven't made them.

I have an overdue library book.

I have to tell all of our utility companies that we got a new credit card number.

I also have to activate said credit card.

I have 4,000 emails to reply to.

What am I doing right now?

Ripping apart old Family Circle and Parents magazines and sorting the useful articles into my idea binders while my kid chews on discarded pages.

Oh, yeah, it's one of those days...

Melissa & Doug puzzle review

We love Melissa & Doug around here. Love. The toys are cute and safe and offer some fun twists you don't find in a lot of the bigger-name toy brands.

A few weeks ago, I got a tip on some M&D puzzle deals at (I think) a Christian homeschooling supply store. I spent a good hour and a half waffling back and forth over all the fun choices before I finally placed my order.

They came on Thursday, and I immediately broke into the box to try them out let Meg try them out. They're all still just a bit old for her, but she had fun pounding away and sucking on everything.

When I was shopping, I knew I had to have the chunky tool puzzle. I don't know why, but the idea of puzzle pieces shaped like tools just tickles me. When my mom saw it this weekend, she mentioned that I had a similar puzzle as a child. Great minds and all that, I guess. The puzzle lives up to its name, as the pieces are nice chunky hunks of wood.

I had trouble deciding between the vehicle maze puzzle and the hide and seek farm... so, naturally, I bought them both. The maze puzzle has 9 different locations to match each vehicle to. The cars and trucks slide along the track and can't be removed. No small pieces to lose! The hide and seek farm has a different magnetic animal behind each door. I liked the idea of opening little doors to develop motor skills, and eventually it can be a fun memory game.

One important thing to note, these are not meant to be teething toys. Meg already did a bit of a number on the Phillip's head by sucking on it. These will best be saved for a time when everything doesn't immediately go in her mouth. I'm so glad I snatched up such great deals, though!

Another gold star in my book for Melissa & Doug.

Bibs... I Did It Again

Whew, finally finished another mondo bib order. "Pictures?" you ask. Pictures, I've got.







I was contacted today by a woman who wants to sell my bibs in her store. I'm flattered, but it's an awful lot of work. We're in the throes of sleep-training at the moment, and I'm not sure I have the energy.

April

April is a big month for our family. We've got my dad's birthday on the 2nd, mine on the 6th, my mom's on the 17th, Easter (usually), and a lot of fun events around town.

Since this weekend was smack dab in the middle of four of those events (Dad's birthday, mine, Easter, and the city art festival), my family came up for a visit.

I told my husband the only thing I wanted for my birthday was for him to (finally) paint the exterior of our house. We live in an area covered in thick red dirt. It's beautiful landscape, but it makes such a mess. The person who designed our home brilliantly painted the stucco white. You see what I'm getting at here? We decided that a nice reddish brown would be much better. We're accenting with moss green trim and a burgundy door. (I've always wanted a red front door!)

On Saturday, I made a little Easter luncheon, and we ate and opened birthday presents. Then my dad and Fritz worked on painting the house while my mom, grandma, sister, Margaret, and I went to the art festival (and ate the most incredible scone on Earth, but shh, don't tell the boys!).

My mom gave me some beautiful summer clothes. This new post-pregnancy body just didn't fit properly in a single thing I owned before, so it was looking like I'd be wearing sweaters and cords all summer. Here's a peek at some of the lovely skirts (Excuse the poor lighting. It's really overcast today.):

sunny yellow linen tulip skirt with rick-rack, embroidery, and organza lace

teal, red, and brown full tapestry-style skirt

aqua, brown, and purple panel skirt

sky blue and forest green toile fit and flare skirt

(black photographs horribly)
black pencil skirt with pleats in the back

My sister gave me Boggle (gosh, I'm obsessed with that game), and a Tide-To-Go pen because she cunningly destroyed my old one. ;)

My dad got me an external hard-drive so I can stop obsessing that I'm going to lose all the pictures I have on my computer of Meg and our previous foster/daycare kids.

My grandma is buying us some new carpet for the basement. Let the hallelujah chorus begin, Laaaaaa! We currently have some terrible orange carpet down there that clashes with our red sofa and is pulling away from the tack strips along the walls. I can't wait for the new stuff, especially as it won't be too much longer before Meg's crawling.

I'm so blown away at the generosity of everyone. Such thoughtful, wonderful gifts.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Now, just to finish painting the house!

Margaret's New Trick

(excuse the shaky camera)