{Tyke Bites} Five Tot-Friendly School Lunches

Since the kids started Mother's Day Out and go one day a week, I've been prepping lunch for them to take to school. It took a little getting used to because I had to pack stuff that didn't need to be warmed up and that they can easily eat with little assistance since they aren't at home. Even with just one lunch (or four, depending on how you look at it) to pack per week right now, I'm always thinking of stuff that's a little outside the norm—since the latter tends to be a PB and honey sandwich or lunch meat and cheese. I'm no nutritionist and though we try to eat healthy around here, some meals contain extra carbs or typical kid fare. Regardless, here's five lunches that went over quite well with the kiddos and the lunch boxes came back empty!

peanut butter & honey sandwich squares, whole grain goldfish (with a gummy worm hidden in the mix!), all natural white cheddar cheetoh puffs, cherries, cheese stick and honest juice pouch 

Seasoned black beans, homemade guacamole, half banana and white corn chips

elephant-shaped grilled cheese, chex mix, greek goddess yogurt, rice krispie treat, veggie/fruit squeeze pouch and honest juice pouch

whole wheat toast pizzas (all natural pepperoni, pizza sauce and mozz cheese - was out of pitas and tortillas!), strawberries, raisin and nuts with a few m&ms

cheese quesadillas (brushed thin layer of coconut oil on outsides of tortilla, sandwiched shredded cheese in the middle and cooked on pan until brown), half a cliff zbar for kids (granola bar) and strawberries

And I'm always looking for new ideas, so please share some of your fave lunches (adult-friendly lunches too!) in the comments section...

Our Easter Weekend

The husband and I have decided that holidays are infinitely more exciting now that we have kiddos. It's true! Everything holds so much more magic and charm when you're simultaneously enjoying a family-laden holidays while watching your children discover new things, open packages and participate in new experiences with wide-eyed delight.

This Easter started off first thing Saturday morning as we whisked the kids downstairs for a quick breakfast and then off to our church for a tot-friendly egg hunt. They got to see the Easter bunny, sing fun songs in the sanctuary and even watch a brief performance by a bubble lady before we headed outside for the goodies. We had to remind them not to open the eggs as they went but rather toss them in their baskets and move on to the next one then look at their loot later!

We'd already done more in a morning then we typically do on a weekend so we opted to head for the park and enjoy the sunshine. I've got one handsome husband! He loved getting to see how great the kids had gotten at climbing, sliding and swinging.

Kailey tried giving momma a push on the swing and I think I only knocked her over five times. She's a feisty one!

We picked up fried chicken on the way home for an indulgent lunch, then put the kids down for naps while the husband and I tackled a few things around the house. He put down new grass in the whole front yard last week! It's looking awesome, and he put the leftover grass in the backyard while I baked a cake to take to my mom's house. The quads refused to nap and it was a rather painful afternoon, so we finally gave up, got everyone dressed and grabbed our 96 stuffed Easter eggs for an evening at my parent's house. They were thrilled to see their cousin Rayne and put their egg hunt skills to the test again!

It was a late night, but one well enjoyed, and the kiddos fell asleep super fast—thank God! There's nothing worse than a cranky, overtired toddler. Or momma, for that matter. I got some sleep then woke up early to put their Easter baskets together, bake another cake for our dinner later in the afternoon, pick up the house, run some laundry, clean the play room, stuff Easter eggs for one last hunt and so on. A mother's work is never done or so the saying goes right!?

The Easter baskets were an awesome gift from my sister-in-law and I filled them with lots of good finds from Target's dollar section as well as some homemade bunny crayons, a Paw Patrol toy for Harrison, cute little straw fedoras from Target and bandaids. Which were arguably the top gift in the lot. (We're crazy about bandaids in a major way over here.)

We made hash browns, scrambled eggs and turkey bacon for breakfast and let the kids go through their baskets as soon as they came downstairs. Pure excitement!

Despite running late, we made it to church in time for a wonderful worship service that literally brought me to tears. There was a song that told the story of Jesus' sacrifice and I became so overwhelmed by His love for us. I felt reminded that He sees each of us in our daily lives, with both our small struggles and our big ones. He is aware of everything and never leaves our side. God is truly good...

After church, we snacked for lunch and the kids went down for naps while I frosted a homemade Peeps and egg cake with shredded coconut, which the kids were pumped about having!

The husband's brother, Uncle Mark (below left), joined us and their parents for Easter Sunday dinner. The guys all hid eggs in the play room while the quads napped since it was rainy and muddy outside. Didn't seem to matter one bit, the hunt was a hit! They loved finding hidden goodies among all their toys.

The kids all got super cute Easter bags with more fun things from their grandmommy, including some adorable stuffed bunnies, books, coloring pages, a bunny movie and more. 

It was really a great Easter weekend and we continued to talk about the reason for the season with the quads on and off throughout. We want them to have fun and enjoy all the mainstream stuff, but to also understand who Jesus is, what He did for us and how much He loves us all. 

Spring Home Tour

It's been a long day. And I just sat down for only the second time since I woke up this morning....and it's 9:56pm right now. My freaking knees and feet are screaming in protestful pain and I'm on my second glass of wine, y'all. Good Lord have mercy.

The best thing that happened today, without a doubt, is the fact that my house got cleaned. I started with a maid service a couple weeks ago because I just couldn't keep up with the cleaning anymore. I don't need to have a spotless house to be happy, but it does need to be clean. And I'm not talking clear of toys and clutter. I'm talking dust, dirt and smudges. The kids strew toys around the place, and there's pretty much always a few piles of laundry waiting to be folded and put away—that's the norm around here. But when I'm constantly seeing layers of dust and grime that I just can't ever get back to in order to clean (or I forget within five minutes because there's a major disagreement over who had the red lego), things get messy. Thankfully the maid service has helped and we're doing the best we can to work it out budget-wise so we can keep up the cleanings every two to three weeks.

I had a lot of clean up to do in order for the maids to actually clean, so I was busy late last night and alllll morning getting stuff put away and counters cleared so they could get to everything. Yes, I literally have to clean up so my house can get cleaned. Ha! But it was worth it because everything's sparkling now. Thus I decided to take advantage and snap some photos for a quick spring home tour. Everything's not perfect like I'd have it if I took the time to style a few rooms or refresh the week-old flowers on the kitchen table, re-situate the pillows and blankets on the couch, put an actual photo into the new frame on the fireplace mantel and so on. But I always like a peek into other people's homes so I figured you'd like to see how Quadville looks in ours!

Off the kitchen, you can access the breakfast area and playroom, which are all the busiest places in our home on any given day.

The pretty spring mantel I put together in the playroom and an Easter banner that the kids helped my mom string while spending a day at her house.

And because there's no better place for it, our two dogs reside in the dining room more or less. There's a patio door right there so they don't traipse through the house every time they go in and out. A nightmare when it's been raining and is muddy outside. I hate all the dust and dog hair that accumulates like crazy because of it, but they like to get breaks from the weather and nap in their kennel during the day sometimes and they typically sleep in there at night as well. 

We also don't have chairs around our dining table right now, those are temporarily at our giant round granite kitchen table until I find more permanent fixtures. 

The image below isn't a great vantage point of our living room since you can't see much and the blankets and things are haphazard, but the setup works. I have a turquoise book case in the corner but don't have it pictured since it's in shambles right now and I haven't decided how to redecorate it yet.

The entry table is one of the few things I'll keep themed to a season or holiday. The white frames hanging on the wall are from Ikea and I took the black and white photos at the Dallas Arboretum one day, while the other images are free printables I found on Pinterest.

Upstairs to the master bedroom (and where the kids rooms are as well)...

Here's the amazing painting my mom did for me to hang above our bed! Love it!!

Not pictures are the kid's bedrooms (they were napping), bathrooms and laundry room and, lest you think everything looks orderly, here's my guest room...

Any type of project I have ongoing gets stashed in here, from toy sorting and laundry folding to decor and gift wrapping. Eek!

Hope you enjoyed the home tour, time to get back to my wine!!

DIY Bunny Shaped Crayons

So there was a phase that Kailey went through during which she preferred not to color, but rather to tear all the paper off the crayons and break them into pieces. It kept her extremely occupied—sometimes as long as 20 minutes—so I endured because it provided the opportunity to throw dinner together or finish cleaning something. Over time, though, the broken colors all just got shuffled into the mini buckets of crayons I keep handy for the kids to use. I got fed up with it eventually, though, and sorted through everything and tossed all the broken pieces into a ziploc and shoved them into my craft closet.

Thanks to Pinterest, I hung on to the broken crayons so I could try making new ones with them. I found  this Wilton bunny silicone mold, stripped the paper from any pieces that Kailey hadn't already torn off, broke or smashed larger crayon pieces and filled up all the bunny molds. 

I put it on top of a lined baking tray just in case something spilled or melted over, because I had no idea how this would actually go. Turns out, I could have really packed the molds full because the crayons melted waaay down and turned out thinner then I wanted. Next time!

They took 30 minutes on 180F degrees, then I carefully put the silicone tray in the fridge to speed up the cooling but you can just let them cool down on the counter, too. I popped them out and tested them on some paper and they worked great! I'll be putting a handful of bunny crayons into clear cello bags with an Easter gift tag to put in my kiddo's Easter baskets as well as some for cousins and friends.

Check out these free Easter gift tag printables as well as more Easter crafts and decorating ideas on my Easter board on Pinterest!

Update: I put together a page of printable gift tags of my own using some free clipart from the web, you can download them for free right here!