i repent! and lunch box love notes

Ok.

I REPENT.

I have been so negligent in blogging. I know noone really cares because none of you are really sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for my next post. But I do feel guilty as this is my way of keeping my family's history. I have just been heavily bombarded by other things that have had to take precedence. Good things. Meaningful things. Time consuming things. Some of them that I will blog about lata....Fact of the matter is: I know my limitations and so I had to sit back and evaluate what was most important and blogging got put on the back burner. I hope to do better in the coming weeks and plan to blog several times a week until I get caught up. I have been compiling a list of all the things I want to blog about so that I won't forget anything.

Anyway....

When I went to Brady's first grade meeting with his teacher, she mentioned how much the kids love to get notes in their lunch boxes to read. This is a challenge for me because most days I pack FIVE lunches. And it usually late at night. And I really need to get in bed so I can wake up with my seminary kids at 5am. And I am already dog tired. So the last thing I want to do is come up with an original thought for a love note.

So, I got a brainstorm that I thought was worth sharing. We tried this tonight and the 3 little ones and the oldest really got into this (Tanner was a good sport even though he is not much of a note writer.) I think it might just be one of the funnest Sabbath day type activities we have ever done.

It started with this stationary I found at Target. 200 colorful cardstock cards with a matching envelope for $13.00.

Then I made "sticks" out of fun foam with the name of each child in my family. Actually, because our kids take their lunches 4 days a week (and only buy 1), I wrote each child's name on 4 sticks. I stuck them in a pail so that they could draw one out.

(sorry, taken with an iphone.)

Then they wrote a note to whoever's name they drew out.

Actually my kids loved it so much that they wanted to do them all for the entire week so they wrote four notes a piece.

I keep the finished notes on a pail on our kitchen table so that when I am packing lunches, I can stick one in quick on the fly.Mission accomplished and they had fun doing it. Besides. when you are a 6 year old first grader it is waaaay funner to get a love note from your much cooler, 15 year old brother than your mom. :O)