We woke up this morning to see the first snowflakes of the season falling and the boys couldn't have been more excited. They no sooner saw the first flake hit the ground and they were scrambling for their snow boots, hats & mittens and ran outside to play in what little snow there was. It's been an unusually warm Fall and the temps are expected to climb again throughout this week so the boys are soaking it all in while they can.

Today's snow-themed lunch includes a peanut butter sandwich, Ellsworth cheese curds, strawberries/blueberries, carrots, dark chocolate square, two mini almond flour chocolate chip cookies in the small bags all packed in aPlanet Lunch Box

If you've been reading my blog for a while you probably remember that before having kids I worked as a high school American History teacher. Combine that with the fact that both my husband and I are fairly passionate about politics and it should come as no surprise that there's been a lot of "election talk" in our home for the past few months. Having said that, my husband and I have made a deliberate choice to spend a majority of our time talking with the kids about the election PROCESS. It's very important to us that our kids have a solid understanding about how our government functions, how leaders are elected, and how laws are made in our country. We do our best to provide our kids with facts about how our government was established and how democracy works. We've had a number of books available to the kids over the years and we continue to refer to them often...especially around election time!

Today was a big day for our boys as they accompanied us to the voting booth which they've been anticipating this for months!! Our hope is that our kids will grow up knowing their duties and responsibilities as American citizens. We want them to know what an honor it is to have the right to vote and we hope they'll continue to admire those men and women who protect that freedom.

Happy Election Day! The following lunch is packed in the Planet Lunch Box!

Earlier this week we celebrated my youngest son's 7th birthday. It's hard for me to believe my baby boy is already 7 years old...oh, how time flies! I sent a "7" themed lunch to school with him on his birthday so I thought I'd share that along with seven of his favorite things right now. Christmas is right around the corner so if you have a 7 year old on your list I would highly recommend any of the items on this list. He is LOVING all of it...especially the Snap Circuits! Today's lunch is packed in a Planet Lunch Box!

1) Snap Ciruits

2) Ed Emberly's Funprint Book

3) What Shall I Draw

4) Pop Bottle Science Kit

5) Chess Set

6) iTunes Audiobook Gift Card (Our boys love listening to audiobooks when they are in their rooms so audiobook gift cards are always a huge hit!)

7) Custom Photo Puzzle

The custom photo puzzle featuring our newest addition was a HUGE hit. Our little man loves puzzles so he was absolutely delighted when he opened that and saw his best furry friend on the cover! This would be a fun gift using pet photos, family photos, vacation photos...the possibilities are endless!

I recently went on a field trip with my son to Crystal Cave, the longest cave in the state of Wisconsin, where we learned a lot about how caves were formed and a variety of cave formations. While that part was interesting for my son it didn't quite compare to the furry friends we spotted all along the cave route. Oh, yes! You read that right, we were 70 feet underground in a cave filled with BATS! Let me tell you...that was a "mommy moment" I'll never soon forget. Luckily, the harmless bats stayed sound asleep and not once did I have to duck for cover although I was hyper aware and ready to dive under a rock throughout the entire tour. HA! Ever since that trip my son has been interested in bats. He's learned a lot about various species of bats and some fun facts about bats in general.

I thought Halloween would be a good day for a "bat-themed lunch". Today's lunch includes: peanut butter bat sandwiches, white American cheese mini bat, cheese curds, almond flour cookie, carrots, grapes, almond trail mix in the bag all packed in a Planet Lunch Box.

Here are some fun bat printables for the kids if you're looking for some pre trick-or-treating activities!

Learn to Draw A Batfrom Activity Village

Bat Color by Number from Activity Village

You can also download a fun bat activity book HERE

Monday mornings are always a bit hectic for us as my oldest son has to be to school early for Orchestra practice. Combine that with the fact that both boys usually have hockey and/or football after school and Mondays are busy for me at the studio and, well...things can be a little challenging. Now that we are a few months into school I've learned that it works best for me to plan ahead and make things as easy as possible for us to get out the door on time on Mondays. Over the weekend I'll mix up a batch of muffins, donuts, sweet bread, etc... things that are easy for the boys to grab and eat as they are running out the door. Today for example, I served pumpkin mini donuts that I baked the last time I made pumpkin bread. I simply doubled the recipe and made two mini loaves of pumpkin bread and a dozen mini donuts. These are great to stick in the freezer or fridge so they are ready to go on those busy mornings.

Today's breakfast includes pumpkin mini donuts(click on the link to see the recipe) and "chocolate milk".

Chocolate Milk:

• 1 c. unsweetened chocolate almond milk


• 1 scoop Jay Robb chocolate protein powder


• 4-5 ice cubes

If you haven't noticed, it's been a bit of a challenge for me to keep up with the blog over the past few weeks. Not only is this the busiest time of year for me at work, but I've had a few trips added to the mix as well. I was at Alys Beach in Florida for a business trip and the very next week I turned around and left for a girl's trip to NYC with my mom, sister, and niece. NYC is easily one of my favorite cities to visit! I try to get there at least once a year and if I can plan a trip there in the Fall it's even better! This was our second trip with just the girls and we had a riot. We did some shopping, saw some Broadway shows, ate at some amazing restaurants (Balthazar, Tao, The Monkey Bar, The Modern so many great ones...) and hit some of my favorite spots including; Central Park, ABC Home & Carpet, Fishs Eddy, McNally Jackson Books, MoMA, and much, much more! I had a blast, but after 4 days of hitting the streets of NYC I must say that I'm happy to be back and settling into a routine again.

The kids are always so eager to hear about NYC when I get home...they love hearing about the traffic, crazy cab rides, skyscrapers and such! I can hardly wait to take the boys to NYC for the very first time. I know without a doubt they want to see the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and of course they want to ride in a cab (it might be as fun as a roller coaster if we get the right driver)! Today's NYC lunch includes: peanut butter lavash sandwich, grapes/strawberries, broccoli, almonds, string cheese, hard boiled egg and an almond flour chocolate chip cookieall packed in a Planet Lunch Box

As the mom of two boys I have to admit that it's been a bit of a challenge for me to find ways to connect with my kids. It seems the older they get, the more I have to work at finding activities that they want to do with me. You see, both of my boys are "B-O-Y-S". They love all things sports which means they spend a lot of time outside playing street hockey, football, basketball, golf...you name it! When they're not doing that they love going fishing and/or hunting with my husband. When it's too cold to be outside they like to watch sports, play army guys, build intricate lego sets, you get the idea... The time I spend with my boys is typically in the kitchen where they are working on their homework or waiting patiently for their food. (Isn't it funny how moms of boys can all relate when it comes to going through food?! Ha!!) There is one other activity that I've done with my boys since they were babies though and I plan to continue the tradition for as long as they'll let me and that is reading aloud to them before bed.

When my oldest son started reading on his own I worried about continuing the nighttime ritual fearing that it might interfere with his desire to read on his own. However, he really enjoyed it so we continued and I must say that if anything it has only reinforced his love for reading. In fact, I might go so far to say that reading aloud to him is the reason he loves to read as much as he does today.

There was a stretch of time when we noticed our oldest son was frustrated with reading and was having a hard time connecting the dots to become a fluent reader. Rather than stressing about it and adding more pressure by forcing him to read, we simply continued reading to him on a regular basis. Eventually we discovered that giving him ownership over what he reads independently was an essential part of building his skills as a reader. Often times he was reading books below his suggested reading level, other times he tackled books that were well above his reading level. Rather than trying to force him into books we thought he should read we simply let it go, allowed him to read whatever his little heart desired, and continued to read stories aloud each and every night. Something clicked a few years ago and reading has become an enjoyable activity for him. I'm certainly no reading expert, but I can't help but think that there was something about being read to every night that opened his eyes to the joy of books. Although he loves to read on his own now we continue to read aloud just for fun. And now our youngest son is following in his big brother's footsteps and absolutely LOVES our bedtime reading routine.

Over the past few months I've read a few books related to this topic and found that reading experts say that reading to children has many benefits including; stimulates imagination, expands vocabulary, develops analytical and logical thinking, strengthens adult/child bonds, gives children a love for books, strengthens a child's love of books, increases attention span, and by expanding children's experiences through books it helps them understand more about the world in general. In 1985, The Commission on Reading, funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education, declared, "The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children." They went on to say, "It is a practice that should continue through the grades." So, needless to say, we will continue our tradition of reading aloud to our kids.

Here are a two of the books I read that I found particularly interesting. Reading Magic outlines the benefits of reading aloud to kids. The Reading Promise is a book written by a young woman whose father read to her for over 3,000 days in a row when she was growing up. She reflects on the experience and shares how much it meant to her as a child and how it instilled a love of reading in her.

Below are the books we're hoping to read to both of our kids throughout this school year. Finding books I think will go over with each of my boys based on their interests and book style preference is a bit of a process, but I'm finding that it's worth the effort and then some. I thought I'd share my selections in the event that any of my readers are looking for book suggestions!

To find out more about the books I selected for our first-grader click HERE

To read more about the books I selected for our fourth-grader click HERE

If you're looking for more book ideas I would highly recommend the "Read Aloud Handbook" by Jim Trelease.

Today's "Book Time" lunch includes a turkey sandwich with pepperoni accents, celery and peanut butter, strawberries, cream cheese, and a new cookie recipe I found on-line for Oatmeal Free Oatmeal Cookies (I substituted organic erythritol for the honey...the boys gave these two thumbs up!) all packed in a Planet Lunch Box

One day this summer the boys came home from a bike ride and both of them had a book in their hands. I asked where the books came from and they told me they found a "Secret Library" down the street. We've lived here for 10 years and I'd never seen or heard about a Secret Library. I thought maybe the boys found a box of free books on the side of the road, or there was someone passing out free books?! So I asked the boys to show me where it was. We took a short bike ride through the neighborhood and wouldn't you know...there was, in fact, a Library on the side of the road! I'm not so sure it's meant to be a "Secret" per say, but to two young boys who stumble across it while out on a bike ride that's exactly what it was to them. All summer long they took several trips down to the little library and delighted in selecting books from the stash and returning them all using the good faith system. This fall has been unusually warm so they continue to visit the Secret Library and have asked that we contribute some kid's books as they've made their way through most of what's available. Ha!

Of course, I was intrigued by their find so I came home and did a little research to see what this little library was all about . I discovered that the library was built as part of the Little Free Libraryprogram which was started as a way topromote literacy and the love of readingby building free book exchanges worldwide and
to build a sense of community. As part of the program you can order a variety of "libraries" built by local artisans using repurposed materials. You can choose a fully finished model or you can choose an unfinished model that you can finish yourself. It got me thinking about how fun this would be for us to do at some point in our lives. With as much as I love to read and with the collection of books we have here in our home, I think this would be a great project!

Today's "Secret Library" lunch includes: nitrite free turkey sandwich with white American cheese accents, strawberries/blueberries, cucumbers, almond flour brownie

It's been a while since I've written a "Monday Morning"post and since my son is off on a hiking field trip with his class today I thought it would be a good day to share a breakfast. If you've been following my blog you probably remember that it's important to me to start each day with a meal that's high in protein and fiber.

Studies show that children who eat diets rich in fiber and protein perform better in school than those who consume diets low in protein and high in sugar. Not only does protein and fiber take longer to digest than high sugar foods, but they also supply essential amino acids that combine to form proteins that are essential for managing the neurotransmitters in the brain. So the bowl (or two) of cereal I was feeding my boys before transitioning to a healthier lifestyle not only contained at least a days worth of sugar, it also had very little protein or fiber to keep him going throughout the school day. My goal now is to feed my kids a breakfast that will sustain their energy levels and keep their blood sugar stable on a daily basis.

Yesterday, as part of my "Sunday bake-a-thon" I made a batch of cinnamon streusel muffins knowing they would be great as a side dish with dinners throughout the week and would serve as a great breakfast option. Not only are they healthy, but they made the house smell so good!

Cinnamon Streusel Muffinsrecipe by Maria Emmerich

Muffin Batter:
2 cups hazelnut meal (or other nut)
1 cup freshly ground flaxseed
2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon cupSwerve(or Erythritol)
1 tsp stevia glycerite
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup coconut oil or butter, melted
4 eggs

Streusel:
1 cup hazelnut meal (or other nut meal)
1/4 cupSwerve(OR erythritol)
tsp stevia glycerite
1 TBS cinnamon
1/8 tsp Celtic sea salt
1/4 cup chilled butter

Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin pan. In a mediums sized bowl, mix streusel ingredients until crumbly. Set aside. In another bowl, mix all muffin batter ingredients together. Put a thin layer of muffin batter into each muffin cup. Add a tablespoon of streusel, top with another layer of muffin batter, then top this with the remaining streusel. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until set. Let cool and enjoy! Serves 12.

Another one of my boys absolute favorite breakfast "treats" is our Pumpkin Cheesecake Shake. This concoction is a fall staple and has been great not only for breakfast, but it also makes a great after school snack before we are off to football and hockey practice. Because it is loaded with protein and healthy fat the drink alone can sustain them and keep them from feeling hungry until we get home for dinner.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Shake by Maria Emmerich

1 cup unsweetenedvanilla almond milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 oz cream cheese or coconut cream
2 TBSSwerveor 1 tsp stevia glycerite (or more to taste)
1 scoop Jay Robbvanilla wheyoregg white protein
1 cup crushed ice

Place all ingredients in a blender, blend until very smooth and enjoy! (I usually divide this between my two boys and it's just enough for both.)

Today's hearty protein & fiber packed breakfast includes: cinnamon streusel muffins, pumpkin cheesecake shake (topped with homemade whipping cream), scrambled eggs