Year-End School Holidays 2016

this year's year-end school holidays felt really short. it started in late november, like really late, and will end very early january, like really early. i think we usually have 6 weeks but we have 5 this year. not exactly sure why.

for 2 of the 5 weeks, we'll be away. the boys have been hinting that we haven't been on a family holiday in ages, so we'll be taking them for a very-packed 2 weeks in japan.

the first weekend of the holidays, hubby took the boys for a haircut. i've been waiting for this forever. the boys' hair were looking like the hair on a lego person.

the first week of the school holidays will be all towards getting their school items ready - uniform, stationery, shoes, the many many books. in between we'll be taking the boys to get their winter clothing - shoes, jackets, joggers and socks generally.

i'll set aside the last couple of weeks of the school holidays for name tages, uniform ironing and taking a trip to the school bookstore to get their activity books. i used to go by myself but i think this time around i would need manual labour to carry the books, they are theirs after all, aren't they?

the boys also have things to do - get their school bags prepared, get their school shoes prepared, write names on their exercise books, prepare their pencil cases and pencil colour cases. other than wrapping the text and exercise books and ironing, most are done by the boys.

the school holidays were not just short on calendar, it was really short. i think we didn't spend much time together during the holiday, shame really.

The Lunch Box Journey - Year End

as the school year comes to a close, so does the lunch box journey for the year. i learned a lot from the journey. some i practiced into the preparation process, some i put aside so that i'll do them next year.

i learned that it doesnt really take a lot. i thought i would get bored and i thought the boys would get bored but sandwiches lasted the whole year. filling needs to be of many variety, bread needs to be of many variety. that's the key lesson, variety. but sandwiches lasted a whole school year, which is awesome because i can only bring myself to prepare sandwiches.

rice is too filling for the boys. and there's not enough time during recess for rice. except maybe fried rice. not white rice with lauks. so another big yeay. fried rice i can do, white rice not so much.

we need cookies, loads of them. cookies and cookies and cookies. next year, the boys and i agree, cookies and fruits or veggies would be the sides. they are actually excited about veggies and fruits, i'm surprised.

i realise that every morning, i would only need to spend around 10-15 minutes if everything's all prepared. so i will prep, about twice a week. cut veggies and fruits, set aside cookies, maybe bake a few things. some of course needs to be done the morning itself like puffs, those take longer but i guess i can spare 10 minutes of sleep every now and then.

another lesson learned is...i need bigger lunch boxes. there was one time when i had to resort to packing half a toast because the sauce container was too big. big boo boo, that one. the boys need to separate the lunch boxes and the water tumbler, they cant both fit in their bags.

anyway...so here's the last batch of lunch boxes from the last 3 months of school. we made it...phew!