Do They Look Like Worms?

I was trying to make a cute curly q design with the fish and when I finished I think they may just look like worms.  What do you think?

The dark pink is tuna and the orangeish ones are salmon, they have a fish and turtle toothpick for ease of eating.  The top is cheese, a stuffed pepper, hard boiled egg and a mini baguette.  The rest of the bottom row is red onions and some radish kimchi.

We used to get a delicious dish from Hubby's favorite Irish Restuaurant (The Irish Channel) that was a smoked salmon platter.  It was sort of a "build your own sandwich" platter that I tried to recreate here.

MAC shared Monday's bento with her best friend so I tried to make today's a little bigger.

I gave her 2 toothpicks (both of them turtles), her favorite fish cake kimchi, and mini baguette slices.  Since there are two of them I gave them each a little treat of a mini cadbury egg.

A New Start!

Yes, I know it has been a long time coming and I apologize for not getting to this sooner.  I have been worn out and been unable to connect my old laptop to the internet.

I have decided, after many little reminders from my mother, to make this a more fun blog than just what MAC is doing/not doing these days.  Let's just say that high school is a challenge and she is growing up fast!

I have decided to make this a pictorial history of lunches.  Now I know that doesn't sound very exciting but stay with me...bento boxes are fun!  As mothers most of us have packed lunches since our kids first went to day care/school, and I know at times it can be boring but take a look!

This is the bento that I made for Hubby on Monday.  He has really been enjoying the different items and seeing lots of colors.  It is slices of a mini baguette, 3 slices of cappacoli ham sliced and held together with little toothpicks,  1/2 a braeburn apple, a strawberry sliced in half with carrots, and a tomato mozzarella salad with enough dressing to dip his carrots into.

This MAC's.  She doesn't usually eat lunch but decided her father's looked too good to pass up.  She has the other half of the braeburn apple wrapped in a wet papper towel to stop it from turning too brown, a few pieces of the mini baguette, some pop-chips and strawberries with a turtle pick for eating with.

Talent show

Yesterday MAC was able to perform an original song for the School Talent Show.  She had a good time and although was disappointed that she did not win a trophy and gift card (boy did she want the $25 to Cold Stone) she said she just really likes performing on stage.

I am glad to hear that.  I have been a little worried that although she has a wonderful voice the last few disappointing auditions would sour her on performing.

She is interested in maybe trying out for the musical which both her father and I support.  I hope that school continues to be “interesting” for her.

Disappointment

The first major disappointment of the year happened on the 6^th.  MAC found out that she did not audition into the women’s choir.  Auditions were held on the 4^th and she didn’t check the list until the 6^th when she had chorus class.

It was a great disappointment for her and she didn’t even go into class that day because she felt if she wasn’t good enough for the women’s choir, she didn’t want to go somewhere that she wasn’t wanted.  It took us the whole weekend to convince her that she had a lovely voice and that she should continue to sing.

 We didn’t quite understand why she didn’t make it and I sent off an e-mail to the director on Friday to which I received the following answer on Monday:

With regrards to MAC not being selected for our women's choir:  I can tell you that, although she has a big, Broadway type voice, that is not the refined, controlled type of voice I was looking for to add to an ensemble which performs mostly classical choral repertoire.  

We didn’t quite understand why she didn’t make it and I sent off an e-mail to the director on Friday to which I received the following answer on Monday:

She felt that everyone else who auditioned got in and felt very aggrieved until she found out that the school’s anime club met on Thursday’s too.

When she got picked up from Anime club last week she was very excited and said, “I’ve Found my PEOPLE!”

Hallelujah

Well here we are almost done with the second week of school.  MAC has tried out for the Choralaries (women’s chorus) and has asked that I contact the Anime Club sponsor to see when they meet.  She has made it through six days without needing her stress pass and being able to sit in the cafeteria during lunch.

I have been very proud of her remembering to put her house key in the same pocket, being able to put her hands on the $100 graphing calculator when I have asked to see it, and waking up when I ask.  We have reverted back to her asking for an extra 5 minutes (I’m her personal snooze button) which I usually give her.

She has changed girls groups and is now in the high school group which meets on Wednesday evenings.  Most of the girls from the Middle School group moved with her but it seems as if all of the parents are getting tired of a 5:30 group that doesn’t start until 6:05.  Hubby has been wondering if we need to change practices, I’m not sure…

Life hasn’t quite fallen into a pattern yet but it is getting there.

Things that Make you go “Huh?”

For the second day in a row I have woken MAC up before I left for work.  She has been unhappy to have to get up so early, but has done it when I remind her that school starts in __ days.  I know that I have read studies that state that teenagers work better when they sleep later but school will be starting on Monday and that means she will have to be up and at school ready for the day by the time I have been waking her up!

I guess that tomorrow will be closer to 6:30 instead of 7 (which is going to be the time that we’ll have to leave the house!).  I have told her that I will drop her off so she only has to ride the bus home.  This means that I’ll have to be getting up earlier too!  ***Sigh***

Why high school starts so early and the elementary school (you know those kids that wake up at the crack of dawn!) starts so late I’ll never understand.  A lot of the parents I’ve spoken with have the same question, if the older kids do better if they sleep later why not start school later?  If they switched the High School and Elementary school times the kids would be working when they are really awake and there would still be time to do after school activities.

You would think the “powers that be” could figure this out.  Oh well, here's to the start of school!  :) 

A Summer of Growing

It has been much to long since I last blogged, please forgive me.  I have been trying to work a few things out in my head before I put them on the internet where as my mother says, “they’ll stay forever”.

It has been a pleasant summer here on the East Coast.  MAC has figured out that since she doesn’t have any place to be that she can sleep in as late as she wants, which most days is until well after 10am.  When school starts next week it is going to be hard for her to wake  up at 6am!  We have tried to get her to wake up and start her day a little earlier but she has been saying, “It’s Summer!”

She did the horse camp again this year for 4 days in July.  They said that they saw a lot of progress since last year and hoped that she would come back again next year.  She says that she really enjoyed it and even though she missed her father and I she would like to go back.  I think she enjoyed the tubing, boating, and swimming too.

She and I will be going to the high school on Friday to “check it out”.  We may get to meet the teachers if they’re in, and if nothing else we should get her schedule and be able to walk out where her classrooms are.  She starts on Monday (and luckily it will only be the 9^th graders).

I see so much more maturity in her and look forward to her moving forward!