Holly Jolly Lunches

     Tomorrow marks the beginning of another week, and as much as I'm looking forward to working with the newborns in the nursery, I'm not ready to let go of the weekend.  There just wasn't enough of it in my opinion.  But in the spirit of the weekday, I thought I'd share a few festive lunches I've been making for Monkey.

Monday:  Olaf Bento

     Monkey loves sushi.  I love making sushi.  Normally, that's a win-win for everyone, but unfortunately, I haven't had time lately to make it.  So when Monkey requested sushi for lunch one day, I decided to compromise.  I made the sushi rice, shaped it into two balls and one egg-shape, and placed it in the bottom of her Bento box.  Next I surrounded the rice with this crab salad I normally stuff in the sushi.  I added a few touches by making Olaf's face, arms, and buttons out of nori.  I topped it all off by giving him a true carrot nose.  A friend of mine asked if I put avocado in my sushi, and I normally do, but I wasn't sure how to keep it nice and green in Monkey's lunchbox, so I decided to leave it out.  If anyone knows a trick, please share.  I finished off the box by packing a few sides like celery, carrots, and tomatoes (not pictured).

Tuesday: Snowman Breakfast Bento

     For this fun-filled breakfast, I used a wooden kabob stick and threaded two boiled eggs onto the stick.  I had two different sized eggs, because my awesome MIL had sent some of her homegrown chicken eggs home with use after we visited for Thanksgiving.  Next I made him a hat out of sliced bits of carrot and stuck those onto the tip of the kabob.  I also stuck a bit of carrot into his face to form the nose.  The face and buttons I made using my favorite food markers.  I added some turkey bacon, pretzels, tomatoes, and strawberry yogurt raisins to the box.

Wednesday: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Sandwich

     For this famous reindeer, I cut circles out of two sliced of bread, filled it with mustard and ham I had also cut into circles, added a mini turkey pepperoni for the nose, half of an olive for the mouth, and bit of the same black olive for the eyes.  I broke up a pretzel to form the antlers.  I serve him up with some extra pretzels, a few cherry tomatoes, and a couple of Halo oranges.

Thursday: Snowmen Sandwiches

     This one was super easy.  I cut four snowmen out of bread using a cookie cutter.  I cut four sliced of ham out with the same cookie cutter.  I assembled the sandwiches using mustard to help them stick.  Next I decorated the snowmen's bodies using my food markers.  I threw some carrots, celery, strawberry yogurt raisins, and a Halo orange into the box too.

Friday:  Santa's Belt Lunchables

This is not my photography (as you can probably tell from their obvious possession of actual photography skills).

     I'll admit that by Friday of last week, I was feeling a bit tired exhausted, so when I realized I had forgotten to buy white cheese, I simply packed Monkey her usual DIY Lunchable.  However, this was such a cute idea, I just had to share.  For the original post, simply click here.

     While we're talking Christmas themed items, I figured it's time I update you on a few more of those lovely ornaments from our Advent calendar.  (If you missed out on the first few ornaments on our calendar, click here.)  We left off on day 5, which was the ram, yes I have since added a photo of the little guy.  Here's the next few:

Day 6: Jacob's Ladder

    For this ornament, I cut out a ladder shape from light brown felt, and I backed it with a bit of white felt to make it less stretchy and floppy.  I added a bit of cord to hang it on the tree and voila!

    This ornament represents the events of Genesis 28:10-22.  I told Monkey about Jacob's dream and how Jacob had a choice of whether or not to follow the God of his father and his father's father or to go his own way.  Jacob chose to follow God, and in turn God promised him the land He had mentioned to Abraham in His promises to Abraham.

Day 7: Joseph's Coat of Many Colors

     For this ornament, I cut the coat-shape from a bit of light brown felt.  I cut a few strips of felt in different colors to make the coat nice and colorful.  Next I added the loop of cord to hang the ornament on the tree.

    This time, Monkey and I talked about Joseph's whole story (she's heard this one many times, and has even watched the movie, so it went pretty quickly).  The main thing we focused on with this story is that God always watches over us and protects us, and how even when it seems we are all alone, God has a plan for us, just as He did for Joseph. See Genesis 37:1-36.

Day 8: The Burning Bush

     For this ornament I cut a squiggly bit of orange felt, topped it with a squiggly bit of yellow felt, and then topped those with a squiggly bit of light brown felt to make a tiny bush that was burning.  Don't forget the cord for hanging.

     Tomorrow when we discuss this one we'll look at Exodus 3:2-22, where God calls Moses to lead His people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land He promised Abraham and Jacob.

Day 9: The Ten Commandments

     This was actually the first ornament I made way back when I started this project.  I used 4 bits of grey felt cut into tombstone shapes.  On two of the pieces that would be the front pieces, I stitched 10 tiny Roman Numerals to represent the 10 commandants.  I sewed the four pieces together, back-to-back, and side-by-side as shown before adding the loop of cord with which to hang them.

     For this ornament, we'll be going to Deuteronomy 5:1-22 to explore the Covenant with Yahweh.  We will talk about how God chose the Israelites to be His own people, set apart from the rest of the world, and since they were to be set apart, they were expected to uphold certain standards for themselves to represent God on earth.

To see the Advent adventure from day 1, click here.
To see what days come next, click here.