It's a bento blog today.  (So, those of you on Facebook may have seen these pics before.) Plus a word about our weather.

I'll start with the weather....HOT! Okay, isn't it May? And isn't this Vermont? And don't you think three days of 90 degree temps is a bit much? Well, I sure do.  I am meltingly hot.  The heat just zaps the energy out of me.  Luckily, I am not cranky.  (I think it is true, I think NB and dh would concur.)  Luckily, we are supposed to have some normal temperatures over the weekend. I. Can't. Wait.

So, you likely recall my recent bento find.  I must say, I am sooo loving my bento.  It is great for portion control, but honestly, it is just plain fun to pack and have little bits of good food.

Here's what I have been packing over the last week or so.

Strawberries, dried cherries, cous cous salad, snap peas, sliced turkey.

Leftover potato salad, snap peas, teddy grahams and sunbutter on cinnamon raisin bread.

Teddy grahams, snap peas, strawberry yogurt, apple slices, peanut butter and one coconut marshmallow (you are right spinner_mom...so yummy!)

Sliced turkey with pepper jack cheese, snap peas, strawberry yogurt, carrot slaw and my HK container with sweet vidalia onion for the slaw.

Yum!!!

K.....I know it was weeks ago...But I have pictures of those baby shoes to share.

You may recall I started them when I was working on the bibs.

Yes, now you remember!

And the shoes in progress:

And finished:

(How about that picture...That's when I was about to wrap them and then realized I hadn't snapped a picture yet!)

So, they were totally fun to make and I will definitely make them again.  A lot of people squeeed over them at the baby shower.  And I had encouragement to make and sell the bibs and shoes. 

I do love to sew! And baby things are so much fun to sew.....Luckily, there is another baby due in the fall at work.  I will get a chance to do some more sewing.

We had quite the day today.  Just busy....though I even got in a nap.  As a matter of fact, I slept longer than I expected and thus am wide awake now, when I should be making my way to bed.   However, my wakefulness is your gain....I will blog.

We are nearly done our chicken coop.  I know, I know....you thought it was finished last summer.  But dh built the nesting box bump-out (it is made so you can access the nests from outside the coop) in the winter and at that time we just put in some cardboard boxes for them to lay in.  Today, dh put in 5 gallon buckets for nesting boxes.  He cut off most of the bottom of the buckets and then we laid them on their sides.  The chickens go in the top opening of the bucket and we can reach in through the bottom to get the eggs.  Mind you, this is while the bucket is on its side, so top and bottom are really front end and back end.

Now, I just have to put some white trim on the coop and it will be done to my satisfaction.

I also got out the mower and did the first mow down by the coop.  Some of the grass was pushing knee high (amazing how in some places the grass grows so lush) so I had to mow it into submission.

I have pictures of my lunch for tomorrow.  I am loving the Bento box and enjoy the fun of putting it all together each evening.  It actually makes me think more about what I am eating and I think I make better choices because of that.  Also, because it takes some time to prepare, I make it the night before, so no last minute scrambling in the morning to make my lunch.

Here's tomorrow's lunch.

In the box that is layered on the bottom of the bento, I have my yogurt (blueberry), a slice of turkey cut in two pieces, and cous cous salad (So, yummy!  From the Hannaford deli, you should try it!). You can see, I have the silicone baking cups to hold the yogurt and cous cous.

The box that is the top layer has strawberries. (Kinda obvious, I know).

The boxes go together like this.....Snap the lid on the bottom box.

It has a groove around the edge so the top box will set nicely on it. Then I snap on its top.

Next, is the cover. This fits over the top and comes down the sides. There is an elastic band that goes around the whole thing to keep it together.

And then I have a tidy little bundle waiting in the fridge until morning.

For those of you who know me, you can see that this totally obsessive way of packing a lunch is right up my alley....little containers, planned food, tidy packaging....Squee!

Okay, okay....You point out my empty blog and yes, I will fill it. (You know who you are.)

Today, I will talk about Bento Boxes. 

Bento Boxes are small lunch boxes that are used in Japan.  I have long been attracted to Bento Boxes, but never had the courage to order one online (because I couldn't touch it and be sure I liked it).  I certainly had never seen any in stores around here either.  I did one time see some lovely tiffins....But never a bento box.  Until Sunday.

Sunday, as we were trying to multi-task after church, dh and I ran to Border's which is only a half block away from church. (NB was still in his Religous Ed class as it gets out 15 minutes after church ends).  We needed to pick up a book for NB for school...But since we were there, I wandered past all the cute little cosmetic cases and pencils cases and laminated fabric bags....If you ever go in Borders, I think you know what I am referring to. 

I stumbled across.....A bento box.  An inexpensive one at that! I drooled on it a bit, and dh whisked it out of my hands with a "Happy Mother's Day."  And so the bento came home with us.

Here it is.: