Bento Bloggers & Friends Valentine Bento Hop 2014

Bento Bloggers and Friends are joining together for two special Valentine blog hops today. I am part of the first hop which begins at 3 a.m. PST. The second hop begins at 7:30 a.m. PST. I can't wait to see the Valentine lunches from all 24 blogs participating in the hops. My son's lunches are inspired by the books we read together.

Dear Bunny: A Bunny Love Story by Michaela Morgan

Valentino and Valenteeny were two rabbits who lived across the field from each other. Valentino wrote a letter and left it in the hollow log, hoping Valenteeny would find it. Valenteeny also wrote a letter and left it in the hollow log. Unfortunately, a small family of mice took shelter from the rain in the hollow log and used the letters for their bedding. When each rabbit checked the log for a response to their letters, they were sad to find none. The mice realized their mistake. They searched through the bedding and found sweet words and phrases to put on a big heart for the rabbits to find. The rabbits found the new note and were happy.

Breakfast for lunch in the ELB lunchbox: boiled egg (split in half) Valentino & Valenteeny, cinnamon raisin heart bagel, pb&j mice mini-sandwiches, cottage cheese with sprinkles, and heart shaped strawberries.

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli

Mr. Hatch led a very orderly, repetitive, solitary life. His life changed suddenly when the postman delivered a giant box of chocolates with a note to his door. The note said, "Somebody Loves You!" That made Mr. Hatch feel so wonderful, he began to break out of his routine. He started smiling, talking with, and helping out his neighbors and co-workers. His life became full and joyful. Then the postman returned and let Mr. Hatch know the delivery had been a mistake. Mr. Hatch felt so unloved he reverted back to his orderly, repetitive, solitary life. His new friends and people in the community really enjoyed Mr. Hatch so they surprised him with an overflowing mailbox of cards, hearts, and candy to show their love. Boogs and I discussed the message of this story. Boogs decided the message was "to make a friend, you have to be a friend".

In the ELB lunchbox: ham & cheese sandwich with Mr. Hatch drawn on the cheese, mini marshmallow hearts, pretzels, orange slices, and salad with hearts made of carrots, radish, tomato, and peppers.

Now that you have seen my Valentine themed lunches, you should click the button below to hop over to Summer Mum's blog to view her Valentine lunch.

                                                 


Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post or go to My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by.

Valentine Lunches

Boogs' lunches are usually inspired by the books we read at bedtime the previous evening. 

Today is Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Tuesday, so I thought we would have Valentine heart beet pancakes for breakfast. More Than Your Average Mom is hosting a Shrove Tuesday linky party here. Be sure to check it out. In the Laptop lunchbox: heart beet pancakes, bacon, berries, and yogurt.

Boogs and I have been reading quite a few Valentine books this past week. Valentine Mice by Bethany Roberts was a sweet and simple book about a group of mice who deliver Valentines to all of the forest animals. In the Laptop Lunchbox: Cheese toast hearts, ham hearts, marshmallow with one of the mice drawn on it, fruit leather hearts, carrot hearts, radish hearts, and berries.

Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink by Diane deGroat
Gilbert and his classmates have to write Valentine poems for each other. Gilbert writes 13 nice poems and two not-so-nice ones. He knows he should not send the mean ones so he signs someone else's names on them. Gilbert's classmates are not pleased with his poems. Gilbert wrote the two mean poems because those two classmate had been mean to him. After talking it out, everyone becomes friends again. In the ELB lunchbox: heart quesadilla, ham roses, berries, and carrots.

Arthur's Valentine by Marc Brown

Arthur receives a couple of Valentine's from a secret admirer. Eventually, he finds out who sent the sweet Valentine to him. In the ELB: mini pb&j Valentine sandwich with cheese hearts, broccoli, and berries with a kiss pick.

Here is a link to my two favorite Valentine lunches we made last year.

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post or go to My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by.

Valentine Lunches

I made two Valentine-ish lunches for Boogs. One on Monday and one today. Happy Valentine's Day!

From Me to You by Anthony France
Rat is feeling blue until he receives a letter that says "This letter is from someone who really admires you. I think you are very special, and I just want you to know how lucky I feel to have such a true and dear friend as you." While he tries to discover who sent it, Rat helps out his friends and spreads the love. This book has such a sweet message. In the lunchbox: Almond butter & jelly Rat and envelope sandwiches, fruit leather flap and heart on the envelope, strawberry hearts, blueberries, and broccoli.

One Zillion Valentines by Frank Modell
I did not put in a zillion valentines, but did put a lot of heart into this lunch. Heart pb&j sandwich with heart cut-out, cheese hearts, hotdog hearts, carrot hearts (idea from here), spinach hearts, tomato heart, fruit leather heart on a semi-heart shaped apple. I love Boogs, my sweet little Valentine!

Be sure to check out the Valentine themed bentos at Bento Blog Network.