Shel Silverstein's Birthday Blog Hop

We love birthdays around here, and books! So the Bento Bloggers & Friends are celebrating Shel Silverstein's big day with a blog hop of his beloved works. One of my all time favorites and my son's is The Giving Tree. They read it at school each year. This year is its 50th anniversary! As a parent it holds new meaning for me now that I didn't understand reading it as a child. But like the little boy, our needs change as we grow and so does our understanding.

"Once there was a tree, and she loved a boy very much....even more than she loved herself"
~Shel Silverstein

The Giving Tree 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• The tree and her boy - Ham sandwich with provolone
• Apples - Watermelon
• Apple slices

In tough times it helps to read this book again and remember that all of the struggles, the tantrums, the work that goes into raising children is all part of our gifts as parents. They use up our resources and we gladly give as much of ourselves as we can, because we love them more than ourselves. And I love two boys very, very much. And the boys are happy. And this mom is happy. 

Now please click the button below and see what Amanda over at Food, Family, Fun has created. As always keep clicking until you have turned through all the pages and wind up back here. Enjoy!

For more learning fun check out Shel Silverstein's Learning Resources page.

No Place for Hate Blog Hop

The Bento Bloggers and Friends are back for another blog hop, but this one is for a great cause to show our support for those that travel the tough road. If you haven't been bullied at one time or another chances are you know someone who has. Some have it so rough they lose all hope, and resort to drastic measures like school shootings or suicide. No one should have to live like that, in fear, or hide who they are to "fit in". So we say Make Lunch Not War! There is no place for hate at the lunch table or anywhere else. If you see something, say something! Here are just a couple of the disturbing stories making headlines lately.

11-Year-Old Boy Attempts Suicide After Being Bullied for My Little Pony Passion

To help with Michael Morones Recovery Fund check out GoFundMe.

 North Carolina school bans boy’s “My Little Pony” lunch bag rather than confront its bullying problem

My son's school has a group called C-squared that meet once a month to come up with acts of kindness to do around the school. Their goal is to facilitate the No Place for Hate atmosphere and create a bully-free school.   Promote Prevent : Preventing Bullying  and Stop Bullying.gov are just a couple of the many resources available to help you and your family take action to stop bullying. Let's work together to make the world safer for our kids. 

 So come hop along with us and raise awareness and bring a little more kindness and understanding to the lunch room and every room. Click the button at the end of this post and check out all the wonderful lunches.

C-Squared 

 In this lunch :

• Smiley Face - Jelly sandwich
• C and 2 Trader Joe's Schoolhouse cookies
• Carrots with Smiley face ring
• Heart Strawberries with Stop sign

With over 150 members Giddens Elementary School is promoting a culture of kindness. I hope this hop will inspire you and your schools to keep it going. Now click the button below and see what The Lucky Lunchbox has in store next.

Valentines Day Hop

Will you be my valentine?

Love is in the air. Hearts and roses are in every window and aisle. Cupid's arrows are flying left and right. My friends at Bento Bloggers and Friends are prepping for the chocolates and cards with a lovely pair of hops. That's right 2 hops today! This is the first dozen and in a few short hours another sweet dozen Bento Bloggers and friends will hop so keep an eye out for them. Once you're done here click the sweethearts to see what our friend over at Keitha's Chaos has dreamed up and keep collecting hearts until you end up back here.

We've been spreading the love this week, despite a delayed start cancelling preschool.

I Mustache You To Be Mine

 In this lunch : In an Easy Lunchbox

• Mr. Love - Ham and cheese sandwich. Crazy hair using a mustache cutter, heart head with sprinkle eyebrows, candy eyes, mustache, and teeth. Heart marshmallow bow tie.
• Heart strawberries
• Peanut butter and celery with heart pick

I Love You Berry Much 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunchbox

• Berry - Peanut butter an jelly sandwich with heart marshmallow bow tie
• Carrots with heart pick
• Strawberry hearts

Cupid's Arrow 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunchbox

• Cupid's arrow through the heart sandwich stamp - Nutella and jelly sandwich
• Chocolate strawberry marshmallows
• Heart strawberries
• Peanut butter and celery with heart pick

I hope you and your Valentines have a sweet holiday filled with love, and then carry it with you every day.

Now as promised head on over to Keitha's Chaos for more Valentines Day goodies.

Winter Olympics Blog Hop

Today is the opening ceremony for the 2014 Winter Olympics being held in Sochi Russia. To celebrate some of the bloggers at Bento Bloggers and Friends have teamed up to kick off the winter games with a blog hop. Once you've slalomed down these slopes. Click the button at the end of this post and keep hopping through all the rings until you glide all the way down the slopes back here.

Every year they have different mascots for the games. Some years they have been quite odd. This year they kept it simple with the polar bear, the hare and the leopard. I chose the hare the busiest of the winter animals because I can relate ha ha.

"The Hare is the busiest creature in the winter forest. Her friends are always amazed: just how does she find the time to do so much! For the little doe hare not only studies at the Forest Academy (where she gets excellent grades) and helps her Mum in the family restaurant, “The Forest Dam”, but also takes part in all manner of sporting events. The little doe hare trusts her friends so much that she doesn’t have any secrets. She simply loves sport with all her heart. And she also loves to sing and dance." ~ Sochi 2014 Winter Games Photo Stream Flickr

The Hare - Ski Team 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunchbox 

• Sochi Hare on skis - Ham and provolone with sugar snap pea skis, and hard boiled egg bunny head
• Spinach and Kale salad with coconut shred for snow
• Sugar snap peas with Fruit loops Olympic rings (the black ring is actually purple with food coloring)
• Olympic torch - orange slices and a strawberry flame

We wish all the competitors good luck and hope to see the USA bring home lots of gold medals.

Now I will pass the torch to Licious Lunches, enjoy!

Jolly Holiday a Blog Hop

We had so much fun the first two days of hops Winter Wonderlunch and Season's Eatings, that we are back for day 3 of 4 Bento Bloggers & Friends Holiday blog hops,. The final act will take place this Thursday so be sure to follow the Bento Bloggers & Friends blog.

This week is a collection of Jolly Holiday themes, so click the button at the bottom of this post and keep clicking through all the wonderful lunches until you get back here. After all 'tis the season to be jolly to save a town called Christmas from the Doctors nightmares.

Time of The Doctor

The Doctor Who Christmas special is the end of a prophesy that has described the end of the Doctor's life. Surrounded by Weepings Angels, Cybermen, Silence and of course Daleks. I hope he's ready to run you silly boy, RUN!

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Holiday Dalek - Ham sandwich with red food coloring details, babybel cheese Santa hat
• Christmas Tree Peep with Chocolate Cyberman and Weeping Angel ornaments
• Present under the tree holding ranch dip
• Carrots with jingle bell ring
• The Silence cantaloup, and a sneaky strawberry

 Now hop on over to Bent On Better Lunches and see was she has trimmed up the bento tree.

Season's Eatings A Blog Hop

Nothing says Holidays quite like food, so of course the awesome Bento Bloggers and Friends needed to have a blog hop to celebrate. But let's face it Christmas is all about excess and indulgence...so we're having 4 hops! I thoroughly enjoyed the first hop Winter Wonderlunch and can't wait to see what the other 3 hops have in store. So after you've awakened your inner child please click the button at the bottom to see what Loving Lunches has decked the bento box with this holiday season, and now All Aboard!

The Polar Express 

All aboard! All aboard!
Tickets please, tickets
Well, you coming?

It's a magic carpet on a rail
Never takes a rest
Flying through the mountains and the snow
Ride for free and join the fun
(You can ride for free)
If you just say yes!
Cause that's the way things happen
On the Polar Express
You bet!

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Polar Express - Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Snow - Yogurt covered raisins
• Reindeer - Carrots with deco ring
• Santa - Grapes and Strawberries with deco ring

Hot Chocolate

Hot! Hot!
Oh, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
So, we got it!
Hot! Hot!
Yo, we got it!
Hot chocolate!

Here, we've only got one rule:
Never ever let it cool!
Keep it cookin' in the pot,
You've got-
Hot choc-o-lat!

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Santa Mug - Ham and cheese sandwich 
• Hot chocolate - Brownie toffee
• Marshmallows - Yogurt covered raisins
• Carrots
• Strawberries

Believe 

Children, sleeping.
Snow is softly falling.
Dreams are calling,
Like bells in the distance.
We were dreamers,
Not so long ago.
But one by one, we
All had to grow up.

When it seems the magic slipped away...
We find it all again on Christmas Day.

Believe in what your heart is saying,
Hear the melody that's playing.
There's no time to waste,
There so much to celebrate.
Believe in what you feel inside,
Give your dreams the wings to fly.
You have everything you need, if you just believe.

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Santa and Ornament - Pizza Pockets. Crescent rolls from Immaculate Baking with a spoonful of sauce, 1/4 cheese stick, and sprinkle of parmesan cheese inside. Baked in a holiday cookie pan, and decorated with food coloring and candy eyes.
• The North Pole - Pirouette cookie with food coloring stripe
• Wreath - Gummy by Wilton
• Trees - Honeydew melon
• Santa's suspenders and shirt - apple slices
• Featuring my kids gingerbread house they made this past weekend...not sent to school 

  Now off to more edible goodies from Loving Lunch and the other wonderful bloggers sharing the holiday spirit. Keep dreaming of sugar plums until you dance back here. Enjoy!

May the 4th Be With You - Blog Hop

In a Galaxy far far away....Bloggers around the world gathered...to bring balance back to lunch... Join Bento Bloggers & Friends as they serve the way of the Jedi to unsuspecting padawans.

Yoda the one 4 me 

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?" >> Yoda

In this lunch :

• Peanut butter and jelly Yoda sandwich using our brand new Cute-Z-cute cutter, pirates booty hair, beef jerky robe
• Cucumber Yoda, nori details using our new nori punch, carrots, and broccoli
• Yoda hovering over the pears of Dagobah

R2-D2 Too 

I couldn't resist including our little friend from just before Christmas.

In this lunch :

• R2-D2 on Tatooine ham and cheese
• Grape planets
• Santa hat brownie
• Snowy ants on a log - yogurt raisins, peanut butter, celery

Now don't stray from the path just yet continue on to see what Chaos and Confections has created and once you return here completing your Jedi training, like all awesome things...there is a sequel. Click the second button at the bottom of the page and cross over to the Dark Side.




Once you've completed the hop...