{Christmas Countdown} Advent Lunches 2014: Week 3

Twas' the week before Christmas and all through the days, everyone was preparing for next weeks craze.
Wrapping had started - gifts under the tree, And lunches were made with festive glee!
Friday marks only six days left on our countdown until Christmas. This week was also special because Hannukah began! Did you know there are 17 different ways to spell Hannukah? More on that below... 

{Christmas Countdown} Advent Lunches 2014: Week 2

Welcome to Week 2 of our Advent Lunches, Christmas Countdown, Round-up!
This week we did simple but festively fun themed lunches. They're all gluten free, peanut free, tree nut free, and more! Making them not only adorable, but allergy friendly. ;)

{Christmas Countdown} Advent Lunches 2014: Week 1

This week kicked off our yearly holiday tradition of #AdventLunches! Each year, I make Little Miss holiday theme lunches with a Christmas Countdown. I include the countdown number somewhere in the lunch, either written on a Lunchbox Love Note or made into a cute food item within the lunch itself. She looks forward to it every year! 
Here's what we packed for week one of 2014: 

Lunch Made Easy: Halloween Ideas for Kids

'Twas the week of Halloween, as the children prepared.  Costumes and buckets and goodies to share.  There were scary ghoblins and spooky ghosts,  but the tiny princesses were eager most. Going door to door, teal pumpkins in sight. Clinching each other hands, in fear of a fright!

Lunch Made Easy: @Planetbox for Track & Field Day #LBLmoms

Today is Little Miss' Track & Field Day at school for the third and fourth grade classes, which means they'll also be picnicing outside on the grass around the track for lunch.
To let her know I was thinking about her and how proud I am for doing her best, I made her this fun lunch filled with stars and encouraging words packed in our Planetbox Rover: 

Little Lunch Lessons: Music of the Heart #TuesdayTeachings

Little Miss has her winter singing program at school this week. She's so excited because she has a small group solo (she and two of her classmates) during the performance.

In honor of her show and Valentine's Day, I automatically thought of doing a special "Music of the Heart" themed lunch with a fun fact about singing for her Little Lunch Lesson {Tuesday Teaching} this week. 

{Lunchbox Love} Valentine's Day Cards! #LBLmoms #LBLholiday

Lunchbox Love Notes are one of my favorite items to have on hand for Little Miss' special school lunches. 
They come with sweet sayings, fun facts, and even jokes. They can give inspiration for a fun themed lunch, teach your kiddos a new fact for the day, or even lift their spirits by telling them thank you or that you're proud of them and all their hard work.
I know my daughter loves when I sneak them into her lunch box. She loves knowing her Mama is thinking of her and sharing the fun facts with her friends.
Valentine's Day is no exception thanks to Lunchbox Love's Valentine's Day Cards! Perfect for lunches or sharing with friends. 

Little Lunch Lessons: Surviving Storms #TuesdayTeachings

I'm so glad to be back, now that the holidays are over, with our Little Lunch Lessons {Tuesday Teachings} series.
Each Tuesday, I try to tie into the theme for Little Miss' school lunch something we're reading about or learning. It can be a lesson from a song, book, or bible study. 
This week, we're focusing on "surviving storms". Psalm 46:1 says God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 
No matter how big our storm is, we must have faith and turn it over to God and trust he will see us through. Even in those storms, when we feel like we've hit rock bottom, we cannot lose sight of our many blessings. 

{Christmas Countdown} Advent Lunches: And then there were 12

14...13...12...

Friday's lunch marks only 12 days left until Christmas!

 

I can't believe how quick this countdown has gone. Time flies when you're having fun.

 

Now for a little blog catch-up with school lunches from the past few days. You can see all our advent lunches by clicking here.

 

{Christmas Countdown} Advent Lunches: Rudolph With Your Nose So Bright

Each year during our Advent Lunches {Christmas Countdown} there's always one day... one lunch... where I forget to include our countdown number inside before snapping a photo.

 

Tuesday's lunch would be this years culprit. lol

I didn't catch it until uploading the picture onto my laptop. So that means in the morning, I'll be writing it on the Lunchbox Love Note packed or right on the reindeer's belly on the pick included.

 

Oh by the way, 15 more days until Christmas! ;)

 

{Christmas Countdown} Advent Lunches: ♫ Oh Spinach Tree, Oh Spinach Tree! ♫

Thursday's school lunch pays homage to an Advent Lunch of Christmas past... 
We made an "Oh Spinach Tree" lunch in 2011 and I thought it would be fun and festive to do another play on it again. 
{20 Days Until Christmas}

Little Lunch Lessons: Turkey Dinner! {Did you know?} #TuesdayTeachings

This being Thanksgiving week and all, I decided to have a little fun with our Little Lunch Lesson {Tuesday Teachings} for this week. 
Inspired by one of our Thanksgiving Lunchbox Love Notes, Little Miss has a turkey dinner inspired lunch box for school:

Little Lunch Lessons: Give THANKS #TuesdayTeachings #LBLholiday

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, I wanted to tie that into our theme for this week's Little Lunch Lesson {Tuesday Teachings} school lunch. 

A simple card from our Thanksgiving pack of Lunchbox Love Notes was just the answer.

Little Lunch Lessons: Miracles Blossom #TuesdayTeachings #LBLhope

This is our eighth week in now in our {Tuesday Teachings} Little Lunch Lessons series. Time flies when you're having fun!
Each week I try to bring a new approach to Little Miss' lunches and the lessons I share. Whether it be through a song, Bible story, life lesson, or book. 
Today's lunch was inspired by a simple little card.  It had the most beautiful quote on it. The card came from our new Lunchbox Love Notes Strength & Hope set. The heartfelt message, I felt, was great for Little Miss today. A reminder to have hope, patience, and let miracles grow.

Lunch Made Easy: Happy Halloween!

Right now, it's raining and thundering outside. It's suppose to continue through tomorrow (Halloween). 
1) That stinks for taking photos - no natural light, lol, and 2) Trick or Treating might be a bust if it's crummy weather. Boo!
At least we can have fun with lunches, right? RIGHT! Woo!
For Little Miss' Halloween School Lunch, I made her an EasyLunchbox filled with vampires, bats, and creepy crawlies. What could be better than that!? ;)

Little Lunch Lessons: We are the Harvest #TuesdayTeachings #LBLmoms

With this week being Halloween, my goal was to do fun lunches all week in keeping with the "holiday theme"... but when it came to our {Tuesday Teachings} Little Lunch Lessons, how would I incorporate that?
So, I started focusing on fall itself... and harvesting. The bible talks a lot about "harvest"- from a food perspective and metaphorically, as well. 
After reading a few passages, my favorite verse came from Matthew 9:38 and inspired today's school lunch: 

Little Lunch Lessons: The Golden Rule #TuesdayTeachings

After two weeks off from our #TuesdayTeachings posts, we're back with our Little Lunch Lessons series. 
This week, I just did a simple play on colors. Gold to be exact. 
The Golden Rule: "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you." In other words, treat others how you would like to be treated.

Little Lunch Lessons: The Story of Esther #TuesdayTeachings

Today starts a new lunch series on KMG Blog:  {Tuesday Teachings} Little Lunch Lessons. 
My intention is to focus each week on a different Bible story, verse, or life lesson. Inspiration could even come from a Christian song. 
I have felt compelled for some time now to share this new series - while sitting on the plane to NYC for the Mylan Summit a few weeks ago (post on this coming soon), it finally all came together in my head and I immediately started making notes. I'm so happy to share it with you, and most importantly, with Little Miss!
This week we are focusing on one of Little Miss' favorite books from the Bible: The story of Esther. 

Lunch Made Easy: First Day of Third Grade! #BackToSchool

Little Miss went back to school yesterday. The first day was only a half day of school, so today is our official first full day and also the first school lunch of the year!
My baby is in third grade, how did that happen!!??!
She loved her first day of second grade lunch so much (we did all the items in groups of two), I decided to repeat it this year making her foods in groups of three!
Back to School: Kids Lunch Idea! Gluten, Peanut, Tree Nut, & Dairy Free {Allergy Friendly}

Giveaways for Days: @Lunchbox_Love Notes {Day 1} #LBLmoms

Today {Monday, August 12th} kicks off our GIVEAWAYS FOR DAYS fun on KeeleyMcGuire.com! Each day we'll be posting a new giveaway, giving you multiple chances to win multiple prizes! WOO! Get excited. 
Day 1: Rock your kiddos lunch box and back to school  with Lunchbox Love Notes!  We're giving away a FOUR-PACK of Lunchbox Love Notes for Kids  (3 volumes of trivia & 1 volume of jokes)