Memoirs of a Moorings

A Week of Bento Box Lunches ~ September 21-25, 2009

Last week got by me and I didn't get to blog so I'm not even sure what days go with what lunches. And there's one day that I totally forgot to take pictures of the lunch. Such is the life of a mom with a kid newly in kindergarten. I'm trying to catch a groove.

So this is my lunch. I packed it since my big boy ate in the cafeteria a few days last week.

Chicken taquitos, grapes, strawberries and yogurt.

This lunch sadly did not go over well. Most of the quesadillas came back since he said they weren't warm enough. I gave him some chicken lunch meat rolled up. He ate one. All the fruit was gone.

I was a little worried about this lunch and the mac and cheese staying warm enough. I'd bought two insulated bags for the bento boxes and tried them out. The mac and cheese was halfway gone. He said I put too much in there. The hawaiian bread roll was half eaten and the yogurt untouched. He said he was too full to eat it. But of course the fruit and fruit snacks were a hit. Oh yeah and on the bottom level of the blue bento box I packed a hot dog. It was gone. I ended up microwaving the mac and cheese and boiling the hot dog in the morning and packing it up hot in the insulated bag (I'll take pics of it this week if I remember.) He said they were warm enough. I'm thinking of packing lunch in the bag myself to see how warm it stays.

Simple Thanks: The One Thousand Gift List

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." ~Oprah Winfrey

250. Warm weather well into September

251. Pudgy toddler arms around this momma's neck

252. A 5 year old still holding my hand--if only for a second

253. My baby/big boy on bended knee at bedtime

254. Answering a zillion questions about God

255. Requests to listen to the story of David and Goliath on the Adventure Bible Audiobook over and over

256. A mighty cloud of witnesses

257. Sunday's sermon reminding me that God loves me

258. Middle of the night checks on the boys; pulling up blankets and covering cold toes

259. Cookies and cream ice-cream on a sugar cone

260. Texting and LOL with an old friend

261. Homemade lunches

262. Afternoon coffee

263. This podcast series that inspired me to walk through the book of Habakkuk

264. Questioning...yet trusting God

265. Watching God cultivate Noah's heart in me.

This Week's Bento Box Lunches ~ September 14-17, 2009

Thinking I'll make my big boy's bento box lunches a regular feature since a certain friend of mine requested that they be spotlighted so she'll have some ideas. This is for you LaCrecia :-)

I only had to make two lunches this week since the cafeteria was serving three of his favorite things this week: macaroni & cheese, quesadillas and pizza.

TUESDAY

Monday night I made stuffed muffins for the boys. I got a request to include one in lunch for the next day. This time I made them with chopped up rotissiere chicken, cheddar cheese and peas. I also included a hot dog, mandarin oranges, sliced apples, grapes, a pop tart and Capri Sun. This lunch was a hit.

WEDNESDAY

Packed a sweet hawaiian bread roll, crispy chicken tenders, peas, sliced apples, oranges, Cheez-It crackers and a drink. The entire second level (chicken etc..) came back untouched. Turns out he didn't know it was there. Aaarrgh. So we will have to do a dry run the night before. He ended up eating it when he got home.

THURSDAY

Although Rhyan ate in the cafeteria today, I still packed him a snack because they get to eat a healthy snack at second recess. So this was his request, hawaiian bread, grapes and sliced apples. I included the strawberries even though he insisted he didn't like them. When I checked this afternoon, there wasn't a strawberry to be found.

I'm too tuckered out to include tomorrow's snack...maybe I'll add it on next week's post. Any ideas on what to tuck in these bento boxes? I'd love to hear them!

I'm the Apple Of His Eye

"Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings" Psalm 17:8

 

This little dude here never ceases to amaze me. He's so multi-faceted. He's a boy's boy. A man's man. I don't think I've ever seen him with a doll. But here he is displaying his nurturing side in a picture snapped at daycare. He's all about quick left punches, dinosaurs and playing with cars. But when I think about it, I shouldn't be surprised at this photo. Littlest has a soft touch and is known for being a bit of a momma's boy. In fact, being gentle (at the right moment) is something that comes quite naturally to both of our boys. So really..it's only fitting that he would take the time to gaze into this baby's eyes.

Reminds me of how God is with us. He is in one instance, like a mother eagle, protecting her young under her wings. And in another moment, He is fighting on our behalf like the powerful warrior that He is.

That's what I love about God. So much rolled into One. Limitless.

Yet through it all, He holds us up and He keeps His eye on us. I'm in awe of His love.

 

Watching Him Grow Wings

"Labor Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the next day.  It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was already taken."  ~Bill Dodds

First day of school got me all wound up and excited that I didn't pay attention to the settings on my camera so I ended up getting a bunch of over-exposed shots. Boo Mommy! Plus, all my big boy wanted to do was get out of the door. So all I really got was some fake smiles. Oh well. I have a bit of history.

My kid was not the one who was crying. No, he was the one at the front of the pack to get into the classroom, waving and yelling the teacher's name.

It's a weird place to be--watching your child growing wings right before your very eyes. If I wasn't so proud, I probably would have cried.

But probably the best part of the whole day is that he and his best daycare/preschool buddy (who also happens to be the daycare provider's daughter) are in the same class and will be sitting side by side. While waiting in line, they were holding hands supporting each other. Too cute!

First Day of Kindergarten Lunch

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch." ~Orson Wells

Kindergarten starts tomorrow. I'm taking deep breaths and practicing crying without tears.

My big boy is a picky eater. So when the lunch menu came for the school, I knew I'd be packing lunches for him. Here's a peek at what he'll have for his first day of Kindergarten. I know half of this food won't be gone, but I'll feel happier knowing I packed too much rather than not enough. He's going to have to use mommy's bento boxes until I can find him something more boyish. I don't think he'll mind a bit. And I've repeated myself a million times that these containers must come back home. He reassured me they would. We'll see!

Lunch includes two stuffed cornbread muffins (stuffed with chicken, spinach, onion and cheese.) He's not big into sandwiches, so I had to find an alternative. Found the idea and recipe here. Smooshed up next to them are peas. There's a juice box and small pack of raisins in the back along with a pop tart (his request). Mandarin oranges and apples in one container and I think I'll also throw in some frozen grapes (the boxes come with two layers) and a small thermos of water.

Here it is all packed up.

 

Hope Around Every Corner

Photo taken by NON-Superoman

When I look down the highway of my life, hope often seems like a mirage. You know, like that puddle of water in the middle of the hot pavement that is non-existent by the time you get up on it.
How can hope survive in the midst of a father's cancer diagnosis?
An unknown future?
Messy relationships?
Friendships gone awry?
Yet, hope is............Click on over to (in)courage to read the rest.....

Stripping the Weight

"....let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." Hebews 12:1 (New Living Translation)

I have a confession to make.

I need to lose 20 pounds.

For real. Like right now.

Not just for vanity sake (though that's part of it) but because of health reasons as well. 20 extra pounds is just not good for me or my heart. And my doctor is reminding me of it. So are my clothes that are fitting too snugly.

Sure, there are those who look at me and say, "you don't look like you need to lose that much." But trust me, I know the awful truth. And I see and feel how the extra pounds have distributed themselves evenly over parts of my body that don't need the extra padding.

It's amazing how easily a pound here and a pound there sneak up on you. Crazy how a warm chocolate chip cookie here and a spoonful of cookies & cream ice cream there, spell disaster down the road when added up. Until you find yourself tugging on clothes that fit with ease a few weeks back. Tricky how the pounds slow you down step by step and how a flight of stairs can start to wind you.

Then the thought dropped in my spirit: that's exactly the way sin is.

A lie here. A flirt there. Small comprises. Until you turn around and see that you have drifted so far from the shore. Farther than you had anticipated. And the life that you once had no longer fits because the sin has grown bigger. Fatter.

Satan doesn't start us off with big sins. Just like this 20-pound weight gain wasn't the result of a bowl of ice cream. No, the devil uses the the subtleness of sin to entrap people. He parades death in front of us making it appear like it's life. It's fun. It's satisfying. It tastes good. But when we bite and keep biting, we feel sin's sting. Watch death creep up all around up and fill our bellies with poison.

I see clearly the subtle ways the enemy works. A cross bone and skull on clothes because, well, it's really cute and hip right? There's the start of his parade of death disguised as life. A lie spoken to protect which quickly takes on a life of its own until the truth is no longer recognizable. Galatians 5:9 says: "a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." It takes nothing for what we thought was a small sin to zip its way through our lives leaving its mark of destruction. I think back on all those one or two fries that I taste-tested from the boy's Happy Kids' Meals. They added up and led to where I am now.

Every sin has a doorknob that opens the door to another. But of course, satan doesn't let the first door open to hell. No, he whispers in your ear that you are to seek your happiness at any cost as he leads you down the primrose path to hell with his arm around your shoulder. As soon as he gets you to his den of death, sin loses its appeal and he locks you into it's tangled web telling you there's no hope. God could never deliver you. You're in too deep. Done too much damage. His lies are insidious and convincing to those who don't know the Word. So they have no choice but to believe his lies.

I could sit here and think that these 20 pounds are too much. I've done too much damage. Gone too far. But any health care professional or trainer can tell me it's easy stuff. Get that body moving and push the dessert plate back. Way back! God is saying the same thing. There's no pit so deep or mess so tangled, that His love can't reach down and unravel it all. God can make the life that He designed for us fit again--minus the sin.

I won't believe the lie. And neither should you.