Well, VERY early in the morning, Eva and I woke up to go to the feis.  Did she want waffles? NO! She wanted oatmeal (like she has EVERY morning!)  Fortunately, it only takes 2 minutes in the microwave and another 2 minutes in the freezer to cool off. Last night, I had packed a backpack with things for Eva to do - 2 Level 3 books, a search a word, her artist pad with colored pencils, her cd player and a few snacks in her school lunch bag- a bottle of water, a baggie of pretzels, a yogurt, a banana, and a fruit roll-up. In a baggie, I put her medicine and my medicine in it and put it in my purse. I layed out what she was going to wear and what I was going to wear. I made sure her shoes were at the door (even though I have a shoe cubbie by the door, somehow her shoes never make it in there!). I made sure her jacket was on it's hook (which it wasn't, it was hanging on a chair in the dining room, grr).  Since I prepared the night before, all I had to do this morning, besides the unplanned oatmeal, was to grab her backpack and my purse and put them in the car. I had made coffee the night before for myself, so I was all set. I had already printed off a map of how to get there and had put it in my purse (and now you know why I have a big purse, lol). And we were off!
      We returned at lunch time and I already had an idea what I was going to make for lunch for the kids.
Hot dogs, carrot sticks, and canned peaches.  Eva wanted mac n cheese instead, so I had an instant mac n cheese that I did up and added a cut up hot dog to it.
     For Gerald & I, I went to the freezer and reheated the minestrone soup that I had made last week.  Here's the recipe that I used as an inspiration:

OLIVE GARDEN'S MINESTRONE SOUP
INGREDIENTS
1 cup finely minced celery
1 cup finely minced onion
1 cup finely minced carrot

1/2 cup garbanzo beans
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/4 cup butter beans
1/2 cup whole dried peas
1/2 cup white pea beans

3/4 cup sliced carrots
3/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
3/4 cup sliced celery
3/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup rice or barley

2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
 Pepper to taste

1 cup shell macaroni
Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS
Slowly sauté onion, celery and carrot in butter until very brown.  Add peas and beans and about 3 quarts of water. Cook slowly until beans are almost done (check garbanzos — they will take the longest) about 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Add the remaining vegetables, rice and spices and more water if necessary and cook another hour. About 20 minutes before serving time, add the macaroni and more water if needed. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve with crusty garlic bread.

The olive garden soup recipe is ready to serve. Amazingly nice....enjoy it !
(http://olivegarden-soup-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/01/olive-gardens-minestrone-so... )

**What I did differently:  I had a 6 bean soup mix that I had gotten in my box from S.H.A.R.E. several months back.  I then took that mix and put it in the soup pot and cooked it according to the package directions for using right away.  I then drained the beans and thoroughly rinsed them off.  Then I cooked the trio as directed. Then I added the beans, the vegetables and the water. (for the vegtables, I also used a mixed vegetable frozen bag.)  After 3 hours, I added a large can of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.  I let it cook 20 minutes, then I added the macaroni. 

We ate some that day, and the rest I put into ziploc 8oz bowls and froze them.

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For dinner, I let Gerald cook. We had frozen pizzas.  I took an idea that I read from Family Fun magazine and I served dessert first while the pizza cooled.  After lunch, I made chocolate pudding. So the kids ate their pudding and when they were done, the pizza was cool enough to eat without them whining about how hot it was!! Whooo, hooo! LOVE that idea!