Grateful for tomatoes, among other things.

It has been a hard week with Alex. He is really starting to talk back and argue a lot... and for me, that is just about the worst thing he could do. Everything is either a debate, or an argument, or a sassy word play because I pronounced something differently than dad did last night, or said it differently enough that he has the room to argue. Yeah... pretty much drives me crazy. But, very honestly, no more than he did when I only saw him 1/4 of his day. So I consider this a good sign that we will adjust to him being home the rest of the way, and have good weeks eventually.

So today, I am forcefully grateful for my beautiful pre-teen son. He is wonderful as a student when he isn't being my argumentative son. He does what he is asked, he enjoys getting things right and because I am able to give him a lot of my time, he is moving through his curriculum (esp English and Math) about three times as fast as a normal 7th grader. Which is just great!

I am grateful.

I am also grateful for this one. She isn't being as tough as she was a few weeks ago. Which probably means she isn't bored anymore... but wow. If you saw a 'day in the life of Val' right now, you would be amazed at what we get done in a day. lol... I know I am.

Just for example, I will write about my day today. I woke up at 5:45am. I had sniffles, and so in blowing my nose, I woke the littlest, who wanted to nurse. Don came home while we were snuggling after nursing at 6:25am. He needed to go to sleep right away because he needed to be back to work at noon, so I got up out of bed with Little and made the kids oatmeal, who came to the smell of food like flies to honey. The picture above was taken as I sent her back to bed because, as much as I love to see her loving that blanket I made her, she needs to have clothes on to eat oatmeal. Strange. ;)

Then we got started on chores. It is now about 7:45am.

Eggs collected, chickens and rabbits fed, teeth brushed, breakfast eaten, and clean clothes donned, we get our school day going about 8:45am. They get their daily work done while I blanch 5lbs of sugar snap peas for stir fries sometime this winter. I get 6 quarts of them done and run to my local Starbucks after reading Katie's favorite fall things (Pumpkin Spice Latte... it was calling to me!).

When I get home and regather my children (I didn't even wear shoes to go get coffee... I just dashed there and back through the drive through with the Little) we got started on Math-U-See for Cyan. She finished a whole lesson today in about 20 minutes... that is 4 pages of work and a video clip that is 9 minutes. My kids are really good at math. Esp when it is taught well (love Math-U-See).

After Math is English. This took a while because I had to send Alex to his room for attitude, but he finished quickly working on his own while I gave Cyan her first Spelling Test and we were all done by 11 and ready for a break.

Then came lunch. Black beans seasoned with tomatoes, cilantro, and onions that I made the other day for burritos (recipe post coming soon). Homemade pico de gallo, cheese, and chips on cafeteria trays. (See the peas ready to freeze behind them?)

Then we started in on Biology. We had a couple of black beans sprout when I was soaking them the other day, so I put them in a jar with some water and they are sprouting even more with little roots sticking out now. We have been drawing them for biology, and talking about the different parts as they come out.

After that, I put little Logan down for his nap. Art class is no place for the baby. As much as he would like it. We studied Van Gogh today in art. His techniques with texture specifically. Both kids were completely intrigued.

Right now I have a set of tomatoes in the oven with this gentle guide in mind to make some sauce for this winter. I dumped a bunch of pressed Carpathian Garlic in there... Alex said they were way too spicy. I hope they calm down after being baked for an hour and a half.

When Logan wakes from nap we are going to pick pears from my Aunts tree, and then I will be coming home and get them ready to can tomorrow. Then I have to make dinner, and bed will be soon after. It has been a long day.

But what a blessing to be able to do all of these things. I am grateful for my stamina. I am grateful for the help my children give me. I am grateful for my healthy body in which to put all of these wonderful foods that others could be allergic to. I am grateful for the sun that has been shinning, although coldly for the last three weeks after such a bleakly gray summer. I am grateful for my life. It is busy... crazy busy... but there is a lot of beauty there.

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