Brother's Birthday!!!

Monday is Molly's little brother's 3rd birthday!!!  We are so excited to watch him hit this milestone.  The year that he starts preschool on his own.  The year that he really becomes a little boy in his actions and looks.  (Yes, I had a hard time typing that since he's my baby.)

We have a lot of fun things planned for the day from homemade doughnuts (baked with our Babycakes doughnut maker) to plans for breakfast for dinner.  He LOVES breakfast.

Molly can't wait for the school day to be over so that she can participate in the celebration.  She and her sister made some beautiful birthday cards and are giddy with anticipation to give them to their little brother.  School first, then the party!

Our main entree is a turkey and smoked Gouda sandwich on 12 Grain bread.  We used some fun cookie cutters to make these shapes, then put smiley faces on the circles and a heart on the diamond with our food safe markers.
*We recently won a contest by Chef Corey at Family Fresh Meals and will be trying FunBites with one of our sandwiches in the very near future.  Thanks Chef Corey!!!  (Be sure to click on the link to check out her blog.  She has some incredible recipes and ideas.  Lots of inspiration!)

Our vegetable side is sliced cucumbers and small golden tomatoes.  Molly had some cucumbers today and requested them in her lunch.  We decided to add the tomatoes because they looked so yummy.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  The smell of these strawberries just reminds us of summer and all of the wonderful flavors that await us.  (After we get 6 inches of snow overnight.  Yep, the northeast is supposed to be blasted with a winter storm tonight.  booo!)

Our dairy side is a cheddar/mozzarella cheese stick.  This will hopefully help to keep Molly full.

Finally, our dessert is a Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt.  Some things are always perfect!

Fun Friday

Why is it when the kids are sick, the week seems to drag on?  Molly was sick on Monday and it seems to have made this week take forever.  I was afraid that Friday wouldn't come.  I'm hoping that next week will seem short because, well, it is.  We have Monday and Tuesday off for parent/teacher conferences.  Until then, we have a Fun Friday Lunch!

Our main entree is tortellini pasta salad.  We cooked some Trader Joe's fresh cheese tortellini, cooled it down and added black olives, hard salami pieces, orange peppers and light Italian dressing.  This is one of Molly's absolute favorites.  It's also a great way to add some extra veggies to her lunch.

Our vegetable side is golden tomatoes.  Molly likes these because they are less acidic than red tomatoes.  They are also lighter in flavor and have a nice sweetness.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  We've been going through strawberries at rapid speeds here in our house.  We're okay with that because the kids are asking for them instead of Halloween Candy.

Our dairy side is a Castle Wood Colby Jack cheese stick.  This is one of the best ways to add bulk to Molly's lunch and she really enjoys them.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a little bit of that Halloween candy that we were just talking about.  A small bag of M&Ms and a small Nestles Crunch.  We think that Molly will be very pleased with our selection for her.