Ouch! If that's the sound that you have made while walking across the floor at night, you are a parent who's kid loves LEGO. You know what I'm talking about because you have had to surgically remove one of these building blocks from your feet before. Because I love my kids and, despite the pain, because I love LEGO, I made them this LEGO minifigure lunch for my family.

This is actually easier to make than it looks because I used silicone molds, which you can find on Amazon. I used them to make the colored parts of the LEGO brick sandwich and the chocolate minifigs in the LEGO trail mix. The lunchbox that the lunch is in is an Easy Lunch Boxes container. The other building brick lunchbox and utensils were bought online. I think you can find those on Amazon as well. I packed my youngest's lunch in that box. Scroll down to see the whole recipe.

How to Make a Santa Bruce Christmas Lunch

This post is in partnership with Disney Book Group. All opinions are my own.

Let's be honest. Is it ever really too early to start thinking about Christmas? In our house we are unapologetically Christmas obsessed. This is why I was thrilled to get this new Santa Bruce book in the mail! I was so thrilled in fact that I had to make a fun Christmas (and Bruce) themed snack for my youngest. If you haven't checked out the Bruce series of books from author Ryan T. Higgins, you really need to. If you haven't ordered this newest Bruce book, then you absolutely must! Santa Bruce was just released on September 4th. You can get it in my Amazon shop HERE.

I love that we even received a special edition ornament with the book as well! Ever since we opened the box, my kids have wanted to read this book over and over. It's a fun story where Bruce gets mistaken for Santa Claus and well...let's just say he's pretty grumpy about it!

Harry Potter Birthday Party Ideas on a Budget!

Let's face it. It's hard to escape Harry Potter. Even if you had a magic wand from Ollivanders you couldn't cast a spell to make this phenomenon disappear. So why not embrace it? My kids are all about Harry Potter and their dream is to get to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios one day. My daughter's birthday was not the day to make that happen, but we did put together a ton of ideas to create a magical Harry Potter themed birthday party for her!

I wasn't sure that I would write this up but it turned out to be a fantastic time so I thought, why not? This whole thing began when my daughter wanted a hand in planning the party, so we gave her a small budget to spend however she wanted. She had the freedom to buy party decorations, food, etc. What did she immediately find out? That things are expensive! Even after scouring the internet for days on end she was still over budget. So we helped her find the best deals and supplemented what we couldn't buy with props from around the house.

We also did what you are doing right now, scouring blog posts! We ended up thinking up some of the ideas that you see below, and other themed activities we found on different websites. Where possible, I'll link to the original blog posts below so you can see how to create those activities in detail. I hope you have a party filled with laughs, chocolate frogs, and Bertie Bots Beans!

6 Tips to Make Back-to-School Lunch Packing Easy!

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Staples. All opinions are my own.

Nothing puts the fear of back-to-school in parents like the thought of the every day grind of making lunches. It starts off easy enough. You end the summer on a high note looking to get back into a routine. You convince yourself that this is the year that things will be different. Then it's one month in and you're back to the morning scramble trying to throw something together with three minutes to go before you leave the house. The good news is that it doesn't have to be that way! You have already taken the first step toward school lunch success by visiting my blog because I have tons of fun lunch ideas to help guide you this year!

The next step is also good news because you're reading this blog post. I have been doing this lunch thing for awhile so I have learned quite a bit along the way. As you scroll down you will see some of my favorite tips for making school lunch packing easier. The great thing is that you can pick up most of the supplies at your local Staples. I hope that these tips help your school year go smoothly and that your kids come home with empty lunchboxes!

1. Dips are your new best friend.
Have you ever tried to get your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables? Have you ever failed miserably? Join the club. We have found that including dips in your kid's lunchbox can make a huge difference. All you need are some good dip containers, like these Rubbermaid TakeAlongs, and a few simple ingredients. Greek yogurt and honey, nut free spreads with granola, hazelnut spread, and ranch dressing all make easy and tasty dips. Don't laugh but my youngest even loves dipping his apples in ketchup!

Harry Potter Hermione Granger Lunch

This is actually a birthday lunch in surprise! My daughter is turning twelve today and one of her favorite all-time things is Harry Potter. She even had an entire Harry Potter themed birthday party this weekend. I might eventually have to do a blog post on all the fun parts of the party that we created. However, I have never made her a Hermione Granger lunch, so it was about time!

This is not my normal style lunch but I figured why not try something different? I think this might be the second lunch in which I have ever used rice in as the main dish. I'll even let you in on a little secret. I took the easy route and just went and bought sticky rice at a local sushi place today instead of making my own. It cost all of $2 and was worth every penny. Another hack is to put cold water on your hands as you're shaping the rice and rolling it in nori. This will help the rice not stick to your hands and also make the seaweed easier to seal. I made the lunch in an Easy Lunch Boxes container. So make sure to read the recipe below and share this with all of your Potterhead friends!

5 Ways to Stay Sane When Your Kids Get Home From School

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Carbona. All opinions are my own.

Some parents couldn't be more excited for this time of year, and some parents are crying that the school year is about to start. Regardless of where you fall on this back-to-school debate, there is one thing that this is true for all parents. That whirlwind of a few hours after your kids step in the door has the potential to shake your home to the foundation. Who knew that your house could be destroyed in six minutes by a second grader using nothing more than a granola bar and juice box? However, with a few of the tweaks below you can turn after school frustration into a distant memory.

Create a Backpack Station
Have you ever had your kids walk in the door and leave a trail through the house of well...pretty much everything they own? Oh it happens everyday? Exactly. That's why if you set up a backpack station near the door they will have a place to hang and store their bag right when they walk in. This also creates a consistent place at night to store everything they will need for school the next day which eliminates the morning mad scramble to find homework, permission slips, binders, and more!

Avengers Infinity Gauntlet Lunch With the Dust of Dead Superheroes

Ever since my kids and I saw Avengers Infinity War this summer they have pretty much been obsessed. My son can't get enough of Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet. Granted Thanos might not be the best role model for him, but hey he's in third grade. Of course I had to also throw in some of the other superheroes. What? You can't see Spider-Man, Black Panther, Dr. Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy? They are in the upper right corner! Well, what's left of them is.

If you want your kids to rule the lunch room, try out the Infinity Gauntlet lunch. The video tutorial and ingredients are below!