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Two Three Questions today…..
~Do you save cards and letters people send you? I am talking Christmas cards, wedding cards, birthday cards or just little notes people send you here and there. A friend of mine texted me a picture of a card I’d given her for her Bachelorette Party YEARS ago and said she was cleaning out all her old cards. She said she had been keeping them but didn’t quite know why and wanted to know what I did with mine. I *think* I still have all mine from assorted events in a bin in the basement, but I am not really sure why? My Grandma, who passed away this winter, saved ALL of the cards and letters she’d ever received and would go through them every once in a while and read them. But I don’t do that, so do I really need to save them?
~What do you pack in your kids lunches? I am specifically looking for ideas for the “main course”. I don’t just want to do sandwiches everyday. I want to mix it up a bit. I am pretty sure his school is peanut free, so no carrots and peanut butter or anything along those lines. I want to do more hot stuff like soups and spaghetti I think? Does anyone have a good thermos recommendation?
~Can you sleep while traveling? I never used to be able to sleep in the car (and have always been amazed by B’s ability to fall asleep anywhere), but now if we are traveling up-north or something I try and sneak a nap in. B always drives and if the kids are settled and / or napping, so am I! Before we had kids I just didn’t need that extra sleep I guess? Now I can fall asleep much more quickly! Moving vehicle or not.
I can’t wait to hear everyone’s answers! Oh and I am doing some organizing of posts which I am hoping will make things easier to find, so if things look a little funky the next few days, that’s why!
Ok here I go.
No I do not save all my cards that I get. I do take all my Christmas Cards and punch out a piece of them to make a scrapbook page. I’ll have to take a picture and share it with you. That way I get pictures of people I know and little pieces of the other cards to keep but I don’t have to keep all the cards. If you send me a store bought card I will read it and usually set it out for the occasion it was sent but then it gets recycled. Not sure about you but I think some preschools and stuff are always wanting old cards to cut up so possible you could donate the ones you’ve kept.
I’ve told you our lunches are so boring. I’ve tried other things and he says it was good but I’d rather just have my bread. LOL so that is what he gets most of the time just plain ole bread. Oh we mixed it up today by sending a hamburger bun 😉
I can sleep anywhere and I fall asleep fast so I’m very lucky. M drives most of the time too so I nap as I can. He used to laugh but when we shared a car he would drive us to his office and I would nap on the way there and uhm I had been up all of maybe an hour but the extra little bit was always so nice.
Yes take a picture!
B seriously drives everywhere. I believe I have driven with him in the car MAYBE a dozen times in the last like 9 years we’ve known each other?
I only keep cards that have something genuine written in them. NOt the generic “love, sally sue”. I always ask myself with mementos, would someone keep this if I died tomorrow? If the answer is no into the recycle bin it goes. Kind of morbid, but saves someone from one day having to throw out a bunch of my crap. Might be even more morbid that I am 30 and think this way. LOL
Makes total sense!!!
I usually pack her foods she doesn’t mind eating at a little above room temperature like chicken & rice, and always include some type of homemade sauce so it’s not too plain. I stay away from soups, but I do use a Klean Kanteen Insulated food canister to make sure her lunch is warm. On Mondays I sometimes send her mini pizza’s that I baked the night before and that’s always a hit. I also throw in some chicken and yuca fries that I set to cook in a T Fal Actifry some mornings, and include veggies on the side. Hope that helps!
I need to check into this Klean Kanteen. You are the second person who recommended it.
I totally save most cards, and everytime I move or reorganize I question why.. I really have no idea, other than I feel guilty throwing them away!
I don’t have kids but I pack a lunch most days. I like leftovers but not sure how practical that is for kids?
And finally I love love sleeping in cars! haha Even if we’re headed to the mall, and I’m not driving I totally fall asleep. Its weird because I have such a hard time falling asleep for bed but put me in a car & I’m out
I wonder if you were like that when you were little too??
1. I always save the photo cards. The others not as much. Sometimes I pile them all up and throw them in a box along with billing statements and what not. Then clean out at the end of the year. The photo cards stick around though. Who doesn’t love pictures?!
2. My kids all have four legs and full coats…. so not sure I can help much here!
3. You know how people drive babies around in the car to get them to fall asleep? Still totally works for me. Long car trips are brutal when I’m the driver! I often have trouble falling asleep the first night in a new place, but also it depends on how exhausted I am I guess. I imagine chasing after the littles leaves you ready for sleep by the end of every day!
I kept all cards. ALL. Its sickening when I look at the box because I am a small hoarder but at the same time when I go through them I appreciate it. I used to write my 5th grade teacher after she retired and I kept all of them.
And YES! I knock out on my way back from the grocery store, lol. I feel bad to fall asleep when someone else is driving but I can’t help it. lol
I used to save all cards/letters from people. I always had the thought of–what if this is the last card I receive from them? But in the past few years, I’ve been getting rid of some earlier cards, particularly if the person just signed their name or if it was a generic photo card they sent to everyone (and it’s not someone I’m close to). If they wrote a nice note, I’m inclined to save that.
For kids’ lunches, do your kids like hummus? Or some other sort of dip, like black bean dip, white bean dip, etc.? Because then you could send carrots, cucumbers, pita bread, tortilla chips, etc. with a dip. Or yogurt if you have an ice pack. Have you tried Sunbutter? That’s a sunflower seed spread that is nut-free and can be used in place of peanut butter. They have it at Target. Or if it’s only peanut-free, cashew butter is quite good! You could also do a wrap instead of a sandwich for some variety.
As an adult, I also have lots of trouble sleeping in a moving vehicle (car, train, plane). And if I do manage to sleep, it’s not restful. Meanwhile, my husband can fall asleep most anywhere. We spent a year commuting to DC on the metro, and he had that ability to fall asleep and somehow wake up just before his stop! I’m sure if I fell asleep, I’d wake up at the end of the line. As for the car, I prefer to drive–I sometimes have anxiety in the car and driving gives me something to focus on, plus gives me a sense of control (even though I have no control over what other drivers do!) I’m also a better driver than navigator, so I let my husband check traffic on his phone, etc.
He’s not a fan of hummus. My 2 year old is though. I should do a sun butter. I think he’d go for that!
Ohh, I would have ended up sleeping through my stop every single day. I am not one of those people with an internal alarm clock.
For school lunches – my son is not a huge sandwich fan so I have the same problems. I have heard, for soup or spaghetti or anything hot, that nothing beats the funtainers by Thermos for keeping them hot. There are a few tips and tricks to help – fill the funtainer with boiling water for 5 minutes or so to ‘preheat’ it before putting piping hot food in it. I have also sent food items like hotdogs, corndogs, or chicken nuggets warmed up in the morning, wrapped in foil, and then put in a funtainer. They stay warm as well. You can wrap them first in a paper towel if you have condensation. Some other ideas are just a ‘homemade’ lunchable – my DS loves this – basically just some cut up lunch meat, crackers and cheese. A few more ideas – waffles and sausage, bagels or bagel sandwiches, tortilla rollups, or a ‘kabob’ of meat and cheese.
What are the funtainers?? I bought a Spiderman thermos from Target today. Is that a funtainer? It looks pretty sturdy.
My mom would pack beef stew and taco salads for my brother and I’s (sometimes my Dad’s too!) lunches to mix it up a little. She would make the beef stew in a crock pot overnight and put it in a thermos for us. For the taco salad, she would use leftover ground beef or chicken from the night before taco dinner (using those little taco kits at the supermarket) and would put that it a thermos and would just pack a salad with cherry tomatoes, mexican shredded cheese, peppers, and onions in tupperware. When it was lunch time we would just dump the meat onto the salad and pour on the taco sauce. Yum!
Cute idea! He’d love a taco lunch!
I used to save cards, but I think I’m going to scale it back to just the ones that have more writing than just “Love, Soandso.” We recently bought our house and the previous owners left our recycle bin full of junk. I kept a lot of it (towels and plastic bins) but at least half of the box was used cards!
I don’t have kids but if I did I’d probably buy one of the many bento books. Like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Yum-Yum-Bento-Box-Recipes-Adorable/dp/1594744475 My sister-in-law always packs me a lunch when I go on field trips with her kids. It’s usually a lunchable outside of the box and put into a brown paper bag that she prints my name and a cute picture (Lion King and Invader Zim so far). Her kids are very young, kindergarten and third grade, so the kids in their classes always think it’s a riot that I have a similar lunch to them.
I can sleep literally anywhere. If I’m the passenger and the ride is more than an hour, I will fall asleep. I sleep a lot though and could sleep on a pile of boulders if I had to, I’m sure. Sleep is one reason I’m afraid of having kids.. I really need like 8+ hours a night to function.
Totally agree. I think I need to pare my collection down to only cards that have notes in them or something?
Your SIL sounds so fun!!!
So weird! My family & I were just talking about saving cards this weekend. I do save a lot of my cards that are mostly from my grandparents (both passed away at the end of last year), mom & a select few from my boyfriend. We’ve been together 6 years & I usually save the cards he actually writes in (which is very few)! In any case, I have no idea why I save them. Sentimental value? Idk. They are all in a box somewhere in my closet. I always have plans to organize them, but I never do. Just know you aren’t the only one!
I think I still have cards from when B and I would write to each other when he was away for the army!
1. I don’t keep cards. I have enough clutter in my life. : )
2. My little one doesn’t do sandwiches either. Lunches: mini bagel pizzas; ham/turkey/cheese rollups; pasta salad with tomatoes, salame and cheese; leftover chicken; spaghetti; rice and beans. I use the thermos brand purchased at target.
3. I always fall asleep in the car.
Great ideas! I bought a little spiderman thermos one from Target today.
I don’t save birthday or anniversary type cards but I save all the wedding/graduation invitations and the little booklets from funerals. I like looking back at them years later. I also save all of the Christmas cards/letters in a big basket and drag them out every year. My family loves to look at them again.
1. No, I don’t save cards unless they were made by my kids. But now I feel very bad that I haven’t…
2. A favorite lunch for my kids was a thermos full of Spaghettios with a leftover hot dog tucked in the middle. I packed a bun and they used the fork to get the hot dog out and always thought that was the best lunch ever.
3. I can sleep like a rock in the car, but can’t sleep on a plane.
Ohh, my little guy would love that lunch!!!!
My kids have to bring lunches and they are always thrilled to get a boiled egg. I pre-peel and that helps reduce the smelly factor. I also send cut up veggies and sometimes ranch to dip.
I’ve been reading this blog for awhile, but have yet to post. I hope you don’t mind me just jumping right in!
as far as lunch main-courses, when my daughter was younger I used to do things like:
cold pasta salad
home-made lunchable stuff (crackers, sliced cheese, meat)
leftovers were a mainstay. I’d boil water and put it in the thermos first (with the lid on) and let it sit for awhile. Warm up the food and put in the now-empty but warm thermos. It kept the food warm but not piping hot.
I also used to read this blog http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/ (not my personal blog btw) and get ideas. I’m not vegan, but it helped me come up with more healthy and non-traditional meals. I believe she has a book that she wrote with more kid-friendly dishes.
Not at all!
I need to do more leftovers. I love the thermos tip! I have never sent anything in a thermos before, so this is super helpful!
1. I keep a lot of the cards we receive. Not everything, but a lot. Each girl has a box I store the cards they’ve received in.
2. This is our first year packing lunches for school, but I’ve had to pack the girls’ lunches for when I’m at work for years. Ella doesn’t eat sandwiches much, so I’m thinking it’ll be a lot of crackers and meat cut into smaller pieces with a fruit or veggie.
3. I can’t usually sleep when travelling but my husband can sleep anywhere.
So can my husband. It’s unreal.
I have tried many insulated thermoses in my kids lunches, and the only one that I have found so far that does not leak is the Kleen Kanteen insulated ones. I send soup, mac & cheese, spaghetti, meatballs etc. I used to put my thermoses in a ziploc when I put it in their lunch bags, because they always leak. I will only use metal ones from now on…it seems that the plastic ones develop gaps after awhile. Good Luck!
Awesome! I got a Thermos brand one today, but I will be on the lookout for a Kleen Kanteen one!
I’ve found the best place to get Klean Kanteen is on Amazon, they usually have them discounted more so than other places.
I don’t have kids (well furry ones but the don’t require packed lunch, they pretty much just eat the furniture) and thank God because they would end up with the weird lunch everyone laughs at.
I can sleep anywhere and when it is warm in the car I am out light a light.
I save all my cards, I still have them from when I was a kid. I’m not entirely sure what to do with all of them but I feel like if I loose someone I will want to be able to go back and read their words. Sappy but I just cannot throw them away.
That makes sense though! That’s probably why I have been saving mine.
curious but why can’t you pack carrots? How are peanuts related to carrots?
Oh, no I can do carrots, but not carrots and peanut butter. My son likes to dip the carrots in peanut butter.
oh gotcha….I’ve never heard of carrots in peanut butter. I don’t like carrots but I am actually eating some now but smothered in ranch. I’ve heard of celery dipped in peanut butter but not carrots. I should try it…might make me like them more?
Oh it’s good! Actually I pretty much like anything dipped in peanut butter. Apples are the best in peanut butter.
Unfortunately, I am a saver so have my cards, my moms and the grandmas, but it is fun to read some of the old letters. Didn’t know about all the drama my grandma had.
You are on your own with lunch because mine all had to take hot lunch. I would have never been able to keep enough stuff on hand to get lunches packed every. Rarely do I sleep in the car or during the afternoon and if I do it is for like 10 minutes. My organizing method is if I know where something is just leave it there because I will never find it once I put it where [at that particular time] it seems like it should be. Guess I could leave a note in the old resting place with directions to find it.
I could’t even imagine how much food all those boys ate growing up!!!!
Regarding packing lunches for school kids. My niece hates sandwiches, so my sister packs her slices of ham or turkey with ritz crackers and string cheese, along with her futie and whatever else she wants. I think she changes it up on the deli meat, so it’s always different and also does different string cheeses.
That’s a good idea. I got a thermos today, so that should help mix things up too.
I do something weird with Christmas cards. I cut a square out of each one and do a scrapbooking layout. I also cut out all the photos from Christmas photo cards and do a layout. That way I don’t feel guilty about not saving them.
I saved some birthday/holiday cards from my Grandma and my Mom which I’m thankful for. Now that they have both passed away, it’s nice to maybe once a year go back and read them and be reminded.
Cards from my husband get hole punched and then put on a ring.
I do have some letters from my mom/grandparents that I’ve kept. Moms are in a special box I made her years ago for her letters.
None of the cards or letters really meant much to me until my loved ones passed away 🙂
Yes, that is kind of what I am thinking. Maybe I will just throw away the ones that are kind of just generic and don’t have a handwritten note in them?
I’m a semi-card saver. If it means something or has pictures of family/close friends, then I’ll save it. I need to organize though! I have a box here and a box there that I’ll just put cards into… I saw an idea somewhere on punching a hole out of the corner and putting it on one of those metal ring things. Then having a tag on each ring that says “Birthday Cards” “Christmas Cards” “Anniversary/Valentine’s Cards” Etc… I thought it’d be cute to do sometime!
I’m helpless for lunches… In fact I’m hoping I see some ideas in your comments!
And as for sleeping…I’d love to be able to, but the hubs drives a lot of the time and is a chronic fall asleeper, so if he’s driving…I’m AWAKE. Just in case!
That would be cute to do with the cards. At least they wouldn’t be piled in a big bin like i have mine now.
I nanny for 6 year old twins and have nightmares about packing lunches. I do hummus and wheat crackers and veggies some days, “deconstructed” mini sandwiches ( all the components of a deli sandwich cut into shapes so they can assemble them, which is totally more fun) and yogurt and granola. The container store has amazing metal containers that are perfect for storage.
I keep cards that have a lot of meaning to them. Christmas cards and birthday/anniversary cards I toss lol.
I can totally sleep on vacation! We leave here and it’s a 9-11 hour drive–so we leave at like 1-2 a.m. and I’m asleep by 2:30 lol. I like to sleep the bulk of the trip because I absolutely hate driving anywhere longer than 3 hours. On a plane–can’t do it.
Lunch ideas–Lands End has a great thermos. the key is to fill it with boiling water for at least 2 minutes before putting whatever you want in it so it stays hot. then heat up whatever you have and put it in. We’ve done soups, taco meat (with chips on the side), spaghetti, meatballs in the thermos. We tried chicken fingers but my kids say the breading got soggy. We’ve also done Chips/salsa, turkey club (toast bread lightly, put on turkey/crisp bacon, cheese, lettuce, miracle whip) and wrap in foil–we also add yogurt, and some fruit, with flavored water. the peanut free school would literally kill my one daughter–she won’t eat any deli meats–she will only eat peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread. We have a peanut free table zone but not the whole school.
Thanks for the tips!
I get motion sickness when flying, so I try to sleep as much as I can although it’s not a very restful sleep. I will say, I went to Chicago and I have never slept as well as when I was on the Subway. The second I sat down, I was out. Thankfully, I was with a group of people, because I would have had all of my stuff stolen and missed my every stop. I don’t know what it was, but I would sleep so hard I would wake up almost disoriented! On nights that I can’t sleep I wish I lived in a state with one!
As for the cards, at Christmas I obviously leave them out until we take down the decorations (Like Feb 1st lol) and then I put all the cards in with the decorations. That way the following year, it’s nice to look at them again and I’ll throw them out then unless I feel an urge to keep them, some I’ve had for 5+ years but thats a great time to look at them again. Birthday cards usually last a couple months on a shelf and then into recycling (unless hubby wrote something really sweet or the kids colored in it, then I’ll put it in a drawer).
My daughter’s lunches have been a struggle for years! She hates sandwiches so I’ve had to get creative with the “main dish”. Sometimes I’ll heat up refried beans and put them in a small thermos and send tortilla and cheese and she makes her own burritos. I’ll also make quesadillas but those get cold. I need to find a flat type of thermos…. Otherwise we will do pasta or soup and when we’re really desperate we just do a bunch of small things like a hard boiled egg, edamame, nuts, fruits, etc.
1. I keep every little card I get, but eventually throw a few out at a time.
2. I don’t have kids yet 🙂
3. I can’t sleep at all unless I’m in a bed.
I keep all my cards and letters,sometimes I even print out email. Everything is so electronic now anything hand written is really special to me even dumb little notes my husband writes. I can never sleep while traveling because I’m always so excited to get where I’m going, problem is when I get there I want to nap so tired from traveling. I don’t have kids but I always used to get toasted raisin bagels and cream cheese.
I keep all the cards. I still have them from my first birthday!
OMG!
1.) I don’t save all of the cards I get but I do save some of them. I save wedding invitations, picture cards like from shutterfly.com, other cards with sweet sayings in them, notes from my boyfriend and cards from friends.
3.) I fall asleep very easily when I’m in the car. It can make driving at night difficult because I feel so comfortable sleeping in the car!