Healthy lunches

In am effort to make my whole family more healthy and eating better foods I am going to be packing their lunches for this school year.  School starts next Wednesday, so I have been busy as a bee trying to get all the supplies ready to go.  I think the key to success is planning.  If I plan foods for the week and I have all the supplies I need to pack healthy lunches it will be easier to be successful.  Or at least that is the plan.  See... better already: I have a plan to have a plan!  

The kids all have insulated lunch bags.  I just needed the dishes to put inside of them.  So I bought these LOTG brand (lunch on the go) lunch systems.

So it comes with 2 smaller dishes, and ice pack and then the whole thing is is covered with the lid.  The ice pack sits on the side pegs and provides a shelf so you can put a sandwich below the shelf, then the ice pack and then the containers on top.  Green lid covers the whole thing.

In addition to the lunch system I also purchased some other things that will make their lunches fun...

Various cookie cutters, hearts, rectangles, circles, Suns, flowers, stars.  And then small silicone cups to separate foods from touching in the containers, small metal dishes to serve same purpose.  And lastly... what kid wouldn't like to eat small fruits, vegges, cheese and meat cubes with small appetizer forks and little plastic swords?!?!

I also have reusable water bottles for them to take as well.  My lunch plan is not only healthier for their bodies but because it will be a "no waste" system it will be healthy for the Earth.  No plastic wrap, sandwich bags, paper bags, or napkins to throw away.  Oh speaking of napkins.... I am going to tie dye some cloth ones for them so they will have enough for the week!  When I get them done I will post pictures!

My goal is to also take pictures of their lunches after I make them in the morning.  And then once a week I will post what I packed for them.  I know that I have gotten lots of ideas off other mom blogs, maybe I can help someone else. :)

And this weekend I am going to try to make and freeze some muffins and other baked goods that are healthy and tasty to add to their lunches.

Facelift

My blogger got a touch of a face lift.... I updated the pictures and the template.  I hope that these changes will inspire me to start blogging again.  Facebook is much faster to get short updates out on by I would like to get back to blogging again.  It is therapeutic!

Enjoy!

Jasmyn's finger

Yesterday Jasmyn was playing tether ball at recess and she bent her finger backwards. The joint swelled up and by the time she got home her finger was purple around the joint.

But she could still bend her finger and while she "babied" it she still used it. I gave her some Motrin hoping that would help with the swelling. As the evening wore on she started getting more emotional and upset. I really thought it was because she did not want to go to bed, and lately she has been a bit of a drama queen. To appease her I crafted a splint out of some popsicle sticks and some tape. I splinted it up and sent her to bed. She went to bed willingly and slept well. In the meantime I went onto Facebook and asked my other Mom friends what they would do. Most of them said to take her in to get an X-ray. I decided I would take her in to the Doctor in the morning.

So this morning I got the 2 older boys off to school and then called our pediatrician. He suggested taking her into an Urgent Care facility so that an X-ray could be done. Our Pediatrician does not have x-rays in the office. We went to our local Urgent Care and after waiting for a very long time they took her back to get an X-ray.

I was SHOCKED to discover that her finger was in fact broken.

Here is a quick picture I snapped with my cell phone of her finger X-ray.

This picture shows the break. Her finger got bent backwards. So the fracture is right above the growth plate. You can kinda see how the bone snapped and then got jammed in. The Dr said that children's bones are like a green stick. They do have some "bend" in them. This is the case for Jasmyn's break.

The Urgent Care Dr recommended we follow up with an Orthopedic Dr. so that it could be properly splinted and followed up on until it heals. The Urgent Care Nurse put on a make shift splint. It was a horrible splint job. Jasmyn could still move her finger side to side which could make it worse, since the bone is not stable. We already have worked with an Ortho Dr. for Jasmyn a few years ago when she broke her wrist. I called them when we got home and they were able to see her that same day.

The Dr said that Jasmyn's finger is in good position to heal properly. It does need to be stabilized to protect it while it heals. But at the same time he does not want her to lose mobility in her finger. Since the break is above the joint he felt that moving the joint a few times a day would help her maintain the mobility in her finger but still allow it the stability to heal. So he put her in a finger splint that is removable. Her little finger just slides in and out of the plastic form.

Then to stabilize it on her hand we use Coban to wrap it. Coban sticks to itself but not to the skin. It is perfect for keeping it in place and easy removal.

The Dr wants her to take the splint off 3-4 times a day and just make a fist and then extend her fingers. She is to repeat it in sets of 10. We will do it before school, and after school a few times and then right before bed. This also means that she can remove it for bathing, hand washing, etc. In fact the Dr said that if she was willing to wear the splint in the water that she could even finish her last 2 swim lessons this week. :) She was willing to try it today and did great in her lesson! We just took the splint off after she was out of the pool and dried it off really well. After her hand was dry I just re-wrapped it. Easy Peasy.

Dr wants to see her again in 10 days to take another X-ray. We will then see how she is healing and how long she will have to wear the splint.

She is in good spirits and for now is enjoying getting out of some of her chores since her finger is broken. :)

Never a dull moment in the Bray Bunch household!