bunnies on pizza

Ryan's lunch: green beans; green olives; Annie's saltines; leftover pizza (piled 2 high) with bunny rice cheese slice; meatless meatballs; honeydew melon; strawberries.

AJ's snack: meatless
meatball; green beans;
1 slice leftover pizza;
honeydew melon; Annie's
saltines.



Nate's snack for his
playdate (which he
shared nicely):
Annie's saltines & bunny
rice cheese slices.

Sorry for the total lack
of quality photos today...
I was busy cleaning up
the dining room table from yesterday's mess and had no time to spare to get the bentos into good lighting. Why is it my husband's bath is twice as long as my lunch prep time??

Ryan & AJ were busy drawing with markers this morning at the crack of 6:30...I love the upper left one Ryan did of Darth Vader battling Yoda.

The boys, breakfasting
on clean dishes, LOL.

finer moments

Parenting only looks easy on the outside...
Ryan's lunch: blanched spinach; strawberry "blossoms"; green grapes; soba noodles w/enoki mushrooms (w/soy sauce); cucumber slices; edamame; vegetable gyoza. And sitting outside the bento is a rice cake filled with sweet red bean paste, a typical treat during cherry blossom season....I'm sure there's a technical name for them in Japanese, but I don't know it!

AJ's snack: green
grapes; soba noodles;
edamame; blanched
spinach.

Nate's lunch: more of
the same...





Despite the cheerful daily
bento pics, things aren't
always neat and tidy and
efficient outside the camera
frame...not that you think
they are...and I'm certainly
not trying to maintain that
illusion. But today contained
prime proof that sometimes
one's lunch is not only the epicenter but the sole source of calm and order in an entire day.

Exhibit A - the dining room
table, remnants of not one,
not two, but THREE meals,
all I must shamefully admit
served on the SAME plates...
and no, I don't mean that
they were washed in between,
I mean the same DIRTY plates.
For what it's worth, the first
two meals contained things like cinnamon toast, carrot sticks, nuts, and giant soft pretzels...not terribly messy. But surround the dirty plates (in this pic it's Ryan's, hence the "RYAN" spoon) with an unconsumed cup of oj, a dirty cereal (rice) bowl, an empty water cup, a mouse finger puppet, a wounded upside down Imperial probe droid, and a plate containing an inverted Tech Deck and two Lego boulders...well, you get the picture...

While I got lunches ready,
AJ adorned Maia's exersaucer
with Bionicles.

Nate cried for the first time
at preschool...for over an hour...
because I didn't say goodbye
apparently, distracted by AJ
needing his shoe tied in the hall...but they couldn't reach me once I'd left because my cell phone was out of juice and to top it off apparently the classroom schedule had been changed a third time and my husband was supposed to be parent helping in Nate's class today...and it was raining too of course, and AJ almost went to school in his pajamas (no there was not another pj breakfast on the schedule).

Well, after playing in the
wet yard, followed by a
handful of chocolate chips
(two handfuls for me), Nate
was back to his moody 2
year old self. He stuck Ryan's
bows into my boots and
balanced his sneakers on top.
You would not believe some
of the things I sometimes find in my shoes when I go to stick my feet in.

But as the day wore on
and frozen whole wheat
pizza dough defrosted on
the kitchen counter, things
began to improve. Even
though I had to wake her
from her nap, Maia survived
being surrounded by 22
kindergarten kids as the
object of Ryan's "star sharing",
formerly known as show & tell
back in the day. She smiled and drooled and babbled and "danced" and dropped her ball enough times that almost every child who wanted to got a turn to toss it back to her.

But I'm better at showing you my day through the guise of a quickly-crafted bento.

If you want daily parenting wit and humour (and Photoshop prowess I do not possess), you need to check out my friend's blog Unruly Helpmeet. She also gives away DAILY free art here. And she just invented a hysterical brand new blog award and gave one to ME! Is it stupid and lame to get a made-up award from a friend?? NO! It's even better than some "big" award from some body I don't know because a) she's not vegan & never will be b) doesn't make bentos c) only chose 5 blogs to start her award cascade with and I'm one of them! I'm totally flattered whether she likes it or not.

And so you see, every day has its finer moments.

Miss me?

It's monday, not sunday. I didn't post yesterday. I was too giddy over a friend's baby's homebirth. But I was also still in shock about an amazing blog post...about me and my blog...I'm gonna mull it over for the week and post about it next weekend. I must think of something worthy to say!

Also, after March's daily posting experiment, I haven't decided whether I should continue blogging daily, or take 1 weekend day off, or just wing it. :::shrug:::

Ryan's lunch: vegetable gyoza; meatless meatball; edamame onigiri; shiitake corn edamame salad (with roasted red pepper & cranberries); mango gel cup; Veggie Booty; a tiny baby carrot; watermelon "cherry blossoms".

AJ's snack: green grapes;
meatless meatball; edamame
onigiri; tiny baby carrot;
Veggie Booty; watermelon
"cherry blossoms".

And now a weekend recap...

A muffin tin meal when
dinner supplies were
running low...

row 1: green & red bell
pepper, Annie's bunny
saltines, carrot & celery
sticks; Good Dog hot dogs.
row 2: Trader Joe's straw-
berry cereal bites, cucumber slices, cinnamon sugar pita chips, dried apricots & dried strawberry slices.
row 3: yellow apple slices, mixed
nuts, edamame, flat pretzels.

The daffodils in front of the
house are in bloom (though
the ones behind the house
get less sun and are always
a few weeks behind). However,
there's a gap (where the ditch
was dug last year when the
pipe to the water main broke
and flooded our basement) with
no daffodils that needs to be remedied. It looks like the workmen spread grass seed, grrrr, because grass is growing in a big rectangle in that spot. Why oh why? Now I have to deal with removing that. I know, petty complaint.

After a morning meeting with
some mama friends (or "mama's
playdate" as the boys call it),
it was quite windy. Ryan & AJ
wanted to try flying a new kite.
So we went to the school field
next door to give it a go.


Maia was less than impressed.
It was windy but cool too, and
the boys weren't that adept at
kite-flying yet. Plus it was
getting close to Maia's afternoon
naptime. But hanging out in
the baby backpack was probably
wasn't all bad...as long as my hair
wasn't in her face the whole
time.


When the boys were tired
of flying kites, we played
at the school playground.
I'm always surprised that
Ryan isn't tired of it, since
he plays on it at school,
though only for 15 minutes
per day, and that's if it's nice
weather out. I really wish
they got more exercise & outdoor time at school.

You have to catch Ryan
in action...otherwise he
gives the camera some
pretty goobery poses.




AJ on the otherhand
is always photogenic.







Maia and her favourite
brother AJ.



















And Ryan had more to show off from his backpack than just schoolwork this weekend...he had a card from his "girlfriend" with dozens of hearts on it. In his 6 year old mind,he says she must like him because they sometimes watch the same tv show, LOL.
Here he is practicing his cupid skills with his new bow & arrow.

Restaurant Review: Bruegger's Bagels

Bruegger's Bagels, Framingham, MA

I know what you're thinking...Not another bagel restaurant review!!
Well, when you have kids and you don't do junk fast food, you go to bagel joints. The food is quick, usually fresh, the kids like it, and most of the time the bathrooms are clean and easy to spot.

And a family of six can eat
cheap, especially at places
like Bruegger's where they
tend to heap the toppings
on their bagel (round or square)
sandwiches. Just get sliced
toasted bagels for the kids
and a tub of hummus, or
order yourself a Leonardo da
Veggie (without the cheese) and
spread the toppings between
the kids' bagels.

Don't tell the kids, but I
actually don't care for
Bruegger's hummus! Maybe
I'm just a hummus snob--
or connoisseur--but it's too
herby and dry for my tastes,
but the kids like it and it's
thick like my homemade
stuff so it doesn't fall off the bagels while they eat it.

Bruegger's does have good
soup to make up for their
less than stellar hummus.
There's usually a vegetarian
offering--though not always
vegan. Their fire-roasted
tomato soup is excellent. But
the lentil & spinach soup
contains parmesan (though it's
clearly marked--they're good about that sort of thing).

And they have nice sour
pickles, but you have to
order a sandwich or ask
for some on the side.
Besides the usual fruit
cups, salads & coffee,
this Bruegger's has Naked
juices and a basket of mini
Lake Champlain dark
chocolates for sale in front of the register...the kids know I can't resist a good chocolate!

This Bruegger's is located
in Shopper's World in
Framingham, which is in
between route 9 & route
30. 508-875-5244

There is plenty of parking
nearby, but the spaces
immediately in front of the
restaurant may be full at lunchtime or during birthday parties at the Snip-Its nextdoor.

6 and a half

Why is 6 and a half important you ask?? Well it's half way to being a teenager! AGGHH!!!!
Ryan's lunch: wheat flax crackers w/Tings "6" & soy cheese "1/2"; underneath is a lychee gel cup; edamame; wakame onigiri; cucumber; broccoli; vegetable gyoza w/soy sauce.

A few weeks go, Ryan was sharing a bag of Tings with his brothers and came to show me one that looked like a number six. We saved it in an airtight container until today!

Teacher conferences in pajamas!

Yes, I wore my pajamas, Hello Kitty pajamas, to two parent-teacher conferences today. There was a reason--my 5 year old's pajama breakfast (or brunch really) at preschool--but ya' know I'd have probably done it anyway as I often don't get dressed til the afternoon anyhow, if at all. Four kids will do that to a person.

I sent vegan equivalents
of bagel w/cream cheese
(Tofutti cream cheese),
scrambled eggs (broccoli &
onion tofu quiche), pancakes
(just basic vegan pancakes
made with Vitasoy soymilk),
and real maple syrup versus
corn syrup sweetened fake
syrup. I tossed in some raisins too.
For the class we provided sliced oranges, and a bag of oranges so the kids could learn to squeeze their own juice. There were also banana slices & strawberries, cut by the kids. This was a huge amount of food, but AJ ate all but a few crumbs plus some of the class fruit, and a full size drink box of Rice Dream rice milk!
Instead of allowing the leftover fruit and class bagel pieces to be tossed in the trash, we brought them home and made fruit smoothies with coconut milk, and spread some peanut butter on the bagel pieces.

Just beforehand we met with
Nate's teacher for spring
parent-teacher conferences.
Maia came along and played on
the floor while we chatted with
his wonderful teacher. She is
just so great with the toddler
age. I wouldn't normally consider
sending a 2 year old to preschool,
but when we visited the school for
Ryan when he was 3 and found
out about the toddler class, we
just had to send AJ too. It's been a great experience for everyone. The boys have all loved going to school, never a complaint!

So this is AJ's third and
final year in preschool. I
think he will miss it!

Since he was having
breakfast for lunch, I
just gave the other boys
the same food in their
lunches...



Nate's lunch: pancakes w/maple syrup; sliced strawberries; piece of broccoli & onion tofu quiche; bagel w/Tofutti cream cheese.

Ryan's
lunch:
same
as his
brothers'
lunches,
with the
addition
of some
dried
apricots.

At Ryan's
parent-
teacher
conference
today,
one of the
assisant
teacher's who apparently ends up on cafeteria duty commented on his awesome lunches. And his teacher said he is "very ready for 1st grade" and is doing so well in all areas of school.

Spiderman & Bionicles

For April Fool's Day, Ryan wanted to have the same things his friends have whom he always says have "boring" lunches or "always throw their food away" or "just has junk". LOL. I was lucky enough to get this Spiderman sandwich box recently from someone who lives near a dollar store (amazingly the strip-mall-topia here doesn't have one). I have an extra one too for future blog candy in the next few months, so stay tuned!
Ryan's lunch: strawberry gel cup; chicken-free nuggets w/ketchup for dipping; 2 layers of pbj sandwich; steamed broccoli (I admit it, I just couldn't give my child a meal with no vegetables!).

AJ's snack: chicken-free
nuggets w/ketchup;
onion & flax pita chips;
steamed broccoli.




I definitely have boys.
Despite keeping my comic
books in the basement and
forbidding anything but
Pokemon on Cartoon Network,
Ryan still loves superheroes.
It's rubbing off on AJ as well.
They are obsessed with
building Lego Bionicles, always
saving their allowances for the
newest robotic creatures.

Ryan's top bunk is totally
decked out in Bionicles
scaling the footboard and
swinging from the light.

And AJ sleeps with them
in the bunk below, along-
side his Littlest Pet Shop
poster.

Of course Ryan still sleeps with his "Giraffey" too that he's had since he was 2 months old. Aww.