Lunch Boxes

Today is Tuesday and that means so much at our house. Tuesday is our very busy day. The girls have piano, Joshua has a game, and Christian has practice. Mike and Christian will not be home until around 8pm. The rest of us will be home around 7pm. Can you believe that we all actually like Tuesdays? We do!

I'm not sure if my girls like piano because of piano or because of their friends that they get to visit with when it is not their turn. I'm betting it is the latter. Everyone likes Joshua's games. He's such a go-getter and he always scores at least twice. That makes it really fun. Then there's Christian who loves anything SOCCER.

The problem with Tuesdays is that there is no time for dinner. Our solution....lunch boxes! When I first started this I had no idea how much my kids would like it. I guess when you homeschool a lunch box is a big deal b/c you don't get to do it often. Everyone has their own fun lunch box that they've picked out or gotten as a gift. They usually get to make their own lunch but sometimes Maegan chooses to make everyone's so that she can put a surprise in each one.

Since we've recently seen G'ma and G'pa we have lots of fun lunch box goodies. Laura's favorite is V8. If we don't have anything fun then I will try to make cookies or granola bars. Everyone likes having their very own ziploc bags of food. For some reason that is more fun than Mom just bringing a box of crackers for everyone to share. Who knows?

We will have our lunch boxes at the piano teacher's house. She has a big front yard with a great rope swing. I pull out the little boys' lawn chairs and they eat their lunches on their laps. It's even more fun for them b/c they never know what is packed in their lunch box!

Christian's soccer is very busy right now b/c they are gearing up for the State Cup in May. This means that we won't get to have dinner together so often. Eating together and talking around the table is so important to a family. Lunch boxes to the rescue! Mike's office has a pretty pond with a fountain. My boys call it "the ocean". They love going to the ocean for lunch. If we have a particularly busy week, we will take our lunch boxes up there and eat lunch with Dad. The kids look for frogs and throw rocks in the pond while Mike and I sit on the bench and talk. There's plenty of grass to play ball or frisbee. It's a fun time and a good alternative if you can't always have the traditional dinner evening.