My kids think I can control the music in the car by car dancing. Seriously.

While we listen to lots of Beatles music at my house, it's usually on the radio and so I've been trying to play full albums for the kids. Because I love how on the good ones, the songs just fit together in a way that "shuffle" just doesn't satisfy. Anyway, we've done Sergeant Pepper and so now I've been playing my favorite album for them while we're in the car. As we pulled up in our driveway, the song "Wait" came on. (Totally underrated, I love that song.) So I parked the car and did a little car dancing in the driveway to the percussion.

On each verse, the first line just has a little tambourine, then maracas or some other kind of shakers on the second line, and then all out drumming. The kids weren't as familiar with that song and for some reason honestly thought I made the drumming happen, with my booty. Peter demanded to know how I did it and when I didn't understand what he was asking, he was furious with me for keeping the secret to myself. He got all red in the face and yelled, "I! Asked! You! How! You! Did! That!" And the other two just looked bewildered.

Once I explained it and played the song again while staying still, they cooled off a bit. Now they make me play it and actually say "clap clap" when they get to those parts in the song (while clapping). I don't think Ringo needs to quit his day job just yet, but I am pretty proud of their sense of rhythm. And they are learning to accept that I don't have any magical powers. At least not when it comes to the car radio.

Sophie's very excited about having LUNCH at school now that she's in the first grade. We are going bento to have as little waste as possible. No plastic baggies, no paper, and apart from this special lunch, she'll be eating leftovers from (planned ahead of time) dinner. The cuteness factor is a big plus too, of course.

I'm excited too - it's a chance to get creative in the kitchen and make sure they're eating healthy at school. Besides, it's fun!



Sophie's lunch, clockwise:
Watermelon balls
Purple cabbage salad
Little container of soy sauce
Veggie sushi rolls with carrots, cabbage, cucumber, and avocado
Annie's bunny grahams
Not pictured: Her water bottle and chopsticks (she wants to bring them!)

Angela is bringing her own container of sushi rolls for a snack (again, she wants chopsticks too, but she's actually pretty expert with them)

Peter wants pretzels and goldfish crackers today. Tomorrow they've all requested roasted chickpeas for snacks and Sophie's having an apple and cheese sandwich.

Anyone want to swap recipes? :)

Ultra-inspiring links to get you started:
Vegan Lunchbox: You don't have to be vegan or a have a fancy lunchbox, but this mom shows some excellent twists on old favorites. Sophie's first-day-of-school lunch was inspired from this site.

Lunch In A Box: Great site with lots of recipes and tips for making lunches fun and to get you up and out of the kitchen fast.

Bento accessories and supplies: This link's on Amazon, or go on eBay and drool over all the fun stuff they have. I think we might get a set of teeny sauce containers. You do not need any of these things, by the way. They're just, again, cute.

Cooking with Dog: We love love LOVE Cooking with Dog. It's a Japanese cooking show you can subscribe to on YouTube, that is hosted and narrated by Francis, the poodle. This link is for bento - look, an apple rabbit! Just awesome. We are fascinated by the dishes they make, though I have not attempted any of the recipes... although I did try to make veggie sausages into octopi and they just didn't work (maybe not enough fat?) Anyway, these are just so fun to watch.

Bento Boxes Win Lunch Fans: How timely that this was in the NYT this morning. :)