Are you starting to struggle with figuring out what to pack? My weekly lunch plan really helps me out on days when I'm out of ideas. I stick to my usual formula of Monday leftovers, Tuesday tortilla, Wednesday breakfast, Thursday lunchable and Friday Sandwich. It really helps me keep it fresh and not repeat a lunch twice in one week, and I still feel like I have a lot of room for creativity within that framework. You should give it a try.

Last week was just four days of school - we had Tuesday off for Veteran's Day. The kids were all super excited leading up to it. They aren't quite old enough to really understand what the day means, but they were still very excited to wish their older brother, an Iraq and Afghanistan Vet, a happy Veteran's Day. The oldest of mine were just babies when he went on his first deployment, and they couldn't quite understand why there wasn't a cake to celebrate the day. I had to explain more than once that it wasn't a birthday, and in the years to come we will make sure that they learn and understand what his, and every veteran's, service means to us.

After 10 full weeks of packing lunches, it was nice to have one day off. We stuck with our mean and still had quesadillas for lunch on Tuesday, we just had them at home.

But I was super happy with the lunches I did make this week. They honestly weren't anything that special, but they all looked so pretty and colorful. It doesn't really take any extra effort to do that, it's just arranging ordinary things in a visually attractive way. Wrapping a red napkin around some cookies to make it a bit of a surprise, putting a bright red tomato in the middle of some nicely arranged cheese or cucumbers, or sticking a simple little fun toothpick in something. They looked like lunches that I think anybody would want to eat.

I also wanted to point out that some of the accessories I use in the lunches aren't just to make it look pretty. The fact that they look nice is sometimes just a bonus - the real purpose is to keep things together and tidy in the lunchbox, and keep the food where I put it. Skewers are great for keeping foods together, silicon muffin cups help create extra sections and keep things from moving around, little lidded containers are great for sauce and dips and yogurts.

Here are the lunches. And if you're looking for any of the items I use in my lunches - don't forget to check out my Amazon store - you can click on the links at the end of this post, or I've added a "shop" link in the main navigation at the top of the page.