It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Or is it??? And for who???

Although Pickle Pants (right) said he was excited to go to school and learn multiplication, of all things, he was a reluctant customer when I pulled out the camera on the way to the bus stop. :) I loved Chester's comment upon returning home - "Mom - the bus driver rolled through like THREE stop signs!!!" Spoken like the true son of a driver instructor!!!

Poor guys - it was a balmy 5 degrees celcius when they headed out to catch the bus and about 28 degrees when they came home - how do you dress for that kind of weather!?!? These are the days that you hope they don't lose TOO many sweaters!!! lol

And then there are the forms, forms and more forms. Lists and more lists....and LUNCHES, oh the lunches! I'm sure many of you are dealing with the same thing....this year we cannot send peanut butter, nuts or fish. Yikes, that eliminates so many healthy things! I completely understand the need to be safe for the children who have life-threatening allergies, but gee it keeps me on my toes when it comes to creativity! And of course, just when you think you've found a great thing, they get bored and they won't eat it anymore.

I am always chatting up other Moms to find out what they are sending. Here are a few of the things that have worked for us:

• pea butter sandwiches - I do write a note to the teacher at the beginning of the year to assure him/her that it is not peanut butter - thankfully, my boys love pea butter as long as I don't send it too often
• apples sliced and sprinkled with cinnamon - tastes fab and the cinnamon covers up the brown spots - also a great way to send only half an apple if a whole one is too much
• veggies & dip - if you can find tiny containers for the dip, this works well. Tupperware has some great ones, I also use mini jam jars, the kind you get with your room service at a fancy restaurant (not that I had any room service, I found these at a yard sale, lol)
• pasta salad - a total break from the boring sandwich - my boys love this - we usually keep it pretty plain, rotini (usually whole wheat), some cucumbers, maybe red peppers and cheese with Italian dressing on top
• quinoa salad - this recipe has red peppers, cucumbers and homemade sesame seed dressing - this was a big hit when I tried it this summer and the boys cannot wait to have it in their lunch at school. I feel good about this one for sure since quinoa is packed full of good stuff. If you haven't tried it, go and find some, it's very healthful and is faster to cook than brown rice, so is becoming a popular hot side dish in our house. It looks like tiny pasta - Pickle pants calls it "baby food," but loves it with a bit of soya sauce.

C'mon, I want to know what you are all sending in the lunches..... please share! In a couple of weeks, they will be bored of everything and I will be looking for new ideas and it's hard to be creative under pressure!


Enough about lunches, I did make a card. I'd been playing around with this fab imaginisce line and the new "School Rocks" set from CTMH and came up with this which will probably go to the bus driver at year's end - one less to do when the end of the year rolls around - what can I say - I was in the mood to play with school stuff! lol

And here is the inside. I think I had as much fun with the inside of these school cards - check out that fab graph paper!!!

I would like to share my card at "If the shoe fits" where the challenge is none other than "Back to School". I shall share at the Ribbon Carousel Challenge blog as well since the challenge is "Anything goes".

Oh well, off to school they went today for their official first day back. I think it's time to get back to routine and have a definite focus and the stacks of forms should slow down after the first week....

Enjoy what's left of the week - we are half way to the weekend! I'm looking forward to your lunch ideas!

Shanna :)