Star Wars Movie Night I Guess...

So with the cut off date for overseas mail arriving within the next few weeks, I'm pressed for time to get these last 6 boxes out.  The way it's looking, I've got 6 boxes to send in a little over 2 weeks...yeah, that's crazy.  I'm probably going to press my luck and send them past the cut off date...it's no biggie, I'm not sending anything valuable anyhow.  With that in mind I was in a panic Monday night. Basically, if I wanted to get 2 out this week, I needed to get at least the first one out by Tuesday. Unfortunately, I was a bit unprepared this week...I didn't seem to have enough items for 1 box. I had half a Movie Night box filled and half of a Star Wars box filled.  So I figured, what the hey, I'll combine them...It's a Star Wars Movie night now I guess.  It cuts out one box and saved me from running to the store at 2 AM.  I didn't make cute cookies because I was up til 4 AM working on this box as it was.  However, I did make some yummy homemade snickerdoodles.  I'm fairly certain the guys prefer taste over cuteness anyhow.

 

This box contained 6 gift bags each filled with snicker-doodle cookies, a star wars pez dispenser,  a bag of popcorn, and star wars gummies.  I also tossed in some light sticks and a few other candies.  I sealed the popcorn goodie bags with star wars stickers.  Sadly, I didn't have a star wars movie to throw in so they could have a star wars movie night, but I'm sure they'll come up with something.

Picking at my brain

I love love love this box :)  You can read all about the details leading up to the box in the 2 posts that follow below this one.

Box Contents: The Zombie Survival Guide book, The Zombie Survival Guide playing cards, Rob Zombie t-shirt, Rob Zombie CD, a rubber brain and 5 goodie bags for disbursement. 

Goodie Bag Contents: Rubber fingers, candy eyeballs, mini candy bars, zombie fingers, and chocolate chip peanut butter cookies.  Each bag was sealed with a zombie button.

I don't know whom my husband passes these goodie bags out to but he says they all get a kick out of them. I sure hope so. Adding the goodie bags makes for a lot of extra effort.  But if I know they are going to appreciative soldiers, it's all worth it.

It's me...Mario!

My son is on a Mario kick.  We've redecorated his room with a Mario and Luigi theme.  I bought him Mario and Luigi action figures a few weeks ago and he just loves using them to help Batman and Spider-Man fight off the bad guys, as well as taking them on other various adventures with random superheroes throughout the realms of our living-room.  His imagination amazes and amuses me to no end.  Watching Mario fight off The Joker is one of those moments my husband shouldn't miss out on.  Unfortunately, my husband's chain of command didn't think Mario's missions were as important as my husband's, so they are not sending him home early.  Go figure.  Well, since my husband couldn't come home to Mario, Jagger and I decided to send Mario to daddy. My husband also requested that for now on I send mini bags of cookies with each box, since he gives a lot of cookies away anyhow.  I decided to take it a step further for this box and I sent 10 goodie bags.   Each bag contained a Mario fruit snack bag, a mini candy bar, and a Mario Mushroom Cookie.  The cookies were really unique.  Since it was very late (around 2 AM) and I had to leave for a week long photo session the following morning in VA around 8 AM, I was in no mood to mix up the icing and get out all the tips and icing bags and ugh...no thanks.  So instead I divided the cookie mix in two bowls.  In one bowl I mixed red icing coloring to turn the dough red, the other bowl I left alone.  I shaped the Mushrooms by hand and baked them to perfection!  Shaping the cookies probably took as long as icing them would have, but clean up was pretty simple and by 3 AM, I was in no mood to be cleaning up the kitchen.  Anyhow, here's the Mario box and cookies for this week...

A camping trip in a box

Well, if the s'more & owl cookies weren't hint enough, here's the answer to the big riddle this week...my husband's 1st box for this week is a Camping Trip in a box.  I try to incorporate things my husband loves into the themes of each package, and we love to camp.  It's not something we've had the opportunity to do much because in the 5 years we've been married, my husband has been deployed 3 of them and also because we have a toddler.  However, this year we are devoted to the idea of taking camping trips more often.  Our son is old enough now and my husband SHOULD be home for a while after this deployment (fingers crossed).  The weather is perfect for camping right now, I'm super sad he can't be here to go camping right now.  So since we can't go on a camping trip, I decided to take the camping trip to him.  I sent him a mini-coleman lantern and a ton of s'more items (s'more snacks, homemade s'more cookies, s'more icing for s'more cookies, all the items to make his own s'mores...though i doubt that'll be possible, and of course s'more poptarts-because he's requested poptarts in every box now).  I also sent him some trail mix and trail mix bars.  I was going to send a scary movie too, but this box was filled to the tip top.  All well, I sure hope he enjoys this one.

The Coolest Care Package Ever

Yeah that title is a pun, but you can take it literally too...because Penguins are awesome! You would already know that if you had read my previous post.  Anyhow, as I've already noted, my husband loves penguins, so I HAD to send him a penguin themed box this month.  To date, this one is my favorite :D  Honestly, I think the boxes just get better and better.  I've got about 9 stacked up in my office, every other day I'm adding a couple items to each box until they are filled.  I have a box that is just about filled to the top, so I just need to make some cookies this weekend and I'll have it in the mail Monday.  I can't discuss the details of the box yet though, it's Top Secret.  Well, really it's because I think my husband has been checking my blog lately, spoiling his themed box surprises.  So you'll have to wait until he sees it before I can discuss it.  But to hold you over, here's this week's box.

Along Came a Spider...

As mentioned in my previous post...this week's care package theme is Spider-Man.  Obviously, this choice was made by our 3-year-old.  He loves Spider-Man, but he's not biased, he pretty much loves all superheroes equally.  But back to the point.  Spider-Man was a fairly easy choice for the box considering there's a lot of Spider-Man items out there to be found.  As noted in the previous post, I began with Spider-Man Cookies, then I added some Spider-Man candy, Spider-Man gummy snacks, a Spider-Man toy and tossed in a Spider-Man movie to finish it off.  I think the hubs will really enjoy this box.  In the future I think I'll do a Hulk box and a Wolverine box as well.

Operation Camo Care Package

Based upon yesterday's posting about the camo cookies, you should already know that today's box theme is all about the Army.  HOOAH! I packed this box with camo cookies, some camo cake jars (later posting), a military movie (Born on the 4th of July-also appropriate for the month), The Art of War (a common military book he's been requesting for a while now), and a couple other odds and ends. I recently found some camo paper that I had apparently bought 5 years ago this week.  I had bought it for our wedding for some reason but never used it.  Anyways, I finally put it to use.  I wrapped his jars of cookies and cakes in the paper (and also in bubble wrap for extra measures) and then covered the box in the paper. I topped the box off with the team of soldiers I hired to protect his cookies in transit.

It's the little things...

Typically, I send my husband a care package every 2 or 3 weeks.  I'd send them more often, but getting to the post office hasn't been easy this winter (I hate you too, Fort Drum).  Now that the snow seems to have melted for good (fingers crossed), I plan to make up for the shortage of care packages my hubby has been receiving these past several months.  Recently, my husband sent me on a mission to clothing and sales with a mighty large shopping list.  Apparently, getting your standard issue isn't so easy in the sandbox.  I wonder what men without families back home do about getting these things??  Okay, back on point...So I went to the clothing and sales, purchased everything he requested (which I might add was not cheap...why do we buy the uniforms anyway?...okay another blog...) and then took my son over to the PX and tried something a little different.  I told him to pick out whatever he wanted to get daddy.  I guess he's done this enough with me now, because he did REALLY good.  He picked up cheese-its, gummy worms, instant mac n cheese, oreos, oatmeal, beef jerky...you get the idea.  I think he might have done better than me.  When we returned home, I took some photos of Jagger packing the box and I threw in a DVD slideshow I made of us.  All in all, it was an awesome care package.

I also found time today to make a countdown chalkboard frame that I discussed in a previous post.  I promised if I ever made one, I'd post a photo.   Here's my completed masterpiece. It's not great, but I'm proud of it.

Sending Cupid Abroad

As if the normal day to day life with your spouse deployed isn't hard enough, now comes Valentines Day. Civilians know this holiday to be filled with romance, cards, flowers, candy, chocolates, and dinners for 2. However, for those of us wearing the 'silent rank', this holiday is better known as the stay at home alone and wallow in self pity holiday. We aren't single, but we are alone. Luckily, I have no intentions of making my reservations for 1 this year. My sis-in-law (married to my husband's best friend, whom is also deployed) is going to be my Valentines date this year. It's more fun to wallow in self pity with a friend :) But while we'll be having dinner our poor hubbies will be lucky to get a "lovely" meal at the DFAC and then it's back to work. In my best effort to ease the pain of the dreaded holiday, I've compiled a special (non traditional) Valentines day care package. I know my husband, and chocolates and a teddy bear just won't do...

For when he comes home :)

What's a Valentines package without Conversation Hearts?

Headphones for when we Skype

He's been begging for a Bulldog for when he comes home...I thought this might hold him over

New Running shoes...nothing special because he's just going to wear them out again.

He loves these, but told me not to get him any junk food...too bad :)

And the grand finale...yet a 3rd pair of Oakleys. Hopefully, these won't get stolen or broken or lost...