Ho-Ho-Ho!!! A Holiday Blog HOP

It is that time of the year again when the globe is lit with festive tea lights, air filled with holiday music, people dressed in fancy attires, everywhere smelled of scrumptious cuisines and delicacies, children opening presents, while everyone shopped and ate till they drop.

My families are Catholics and we live to its practices and doctrines by heart.  We grew up with the Christmas traditions of the Nativity, Christmas Eve Mass, Noche Buena, Christmas carols, Santa Claus and its reindeers and elves, exchange gifts, joyful celebrations, and everything else Christmas-sy.  My children believe in Santa Claus, and so did I when I was growing up.

To celebrate the holiday tradition, my Bento Bloggers and Friends Group are hosting a weekly blog hop with a FESTIVUS Theme.  Nothing religious.  Since there are a huge number of participants, we decided to break the hop into 4 weeks with 16-17 participants on each week.  It's the second week, so if you haven't seen the first week, find a link at the BBF Blog where you can revisit all the passed Christmas lunches.

I was originally going to make use of a book to inspire my entry for this week's hop. But things were not well for us to brainstorm a lunch based on a book.  For the spirit of Christmas, we have to celebrate and observe the holiday season with my fellow BBFs.

For this hop, I have packed a simple lunch to represent the ornaments we put up every year. It doesn't look as much festive as you see them at my home, but my children enjoyed them pretty much.

Missy A had a Gingerbread Lunch with a family of Gingerbread cookie (Dad, Mom, and Boy & Girl) all stacked together, which symbolizes togetherness. She also had a Sun Butter & Jelly sandwich with gingerbread rings as ornaments.  The grapes served as the festive lights that we wrap around our big tree and cozy home on Christmas holiday. All packed on her Lunchbots Trio container box.

Day 8: Thank A Veteran

Why is Veteran's Day special?

On this day we honor our nation's heroes, who died fighting for our country in foreign shores.  Without our brave soldiers, we would not have known peace or tranquility.  Let us honor the martyrs who laid down their life to protect their country from external threats.  ~courtesy of Veteran's Day quotes~

Holiday Dress-ups & Makeovers

It is President's Day, a school holiday, but not for all working parents.  We planned a swap play-date this time to save up for childcare because it's a good reason for kids to play and bond. We're the host since hubby's off and I stay home for most part of the day.  We were expecting 2 girls coming over today for a playdate with my daughter, but it turned out that one of the girl's school is actually not on holiday.  So we're down with just one today. Easy-peasy!

Spaghetti was served for the kids, courtesy of a good friend, with Lychee Almond Jelly that never made it to my post.  But will make a separate post for that and its recipe.

We also served soy chicken, a Chinese dish we love to eat over and over because it's so juicy, tender and comforting to eat.  We love this served over white rice along it's sweetened soy sauce, or just by itself.

The girls did a major dress up and makeover playdate. And I was distracted all the time. I need to check on these girls often to capture every moments.  BTW, they're just 5, but quite serious about this date. Glad they had so much fun together for 8 hours of play.