Small victories

Winter back to school week always seems a bit harder than all the other back to school days.

In September there is the excitement and anxiety and often sunshine.....at least the mornings are bright.

After Spring Break the end of the year is in sight and the days are lightening up and there is a certain freshness in the air.

January is dark and cold and wet and it's a bit of a bump back to reality after the holidays.

I also return to teaching one night a week and somehow that amps up the perception of busyness - of course its the same night the kids have youth group and Allan has his guys group. Thanks to helpful friends we have it all sorted.

It is such a high priority for us to eat together as often as possible and to to eat good food.  We need the connection and catch-up with one another as well as the nutrition. 

I try to keep the house stocked with healthy breakfast options and lots of variety but I am at work by 7:15am most days when sleepy heads are just emerging.  And though Allan and David take lunch to school most days I am not certain David eats much of it and Lindsay only snacks through the day (on mostly healthy snacks but not always) so dinner is the meal we get to give them good, healthy, fresh, nourishing food as often as we can.

And in this regard I am hardly ever a) prepared and b) inspired....... ( am a huge sticker for fresh veg and fresh bread - and that often requires a stop at the store on the way home which I detest!)

Thankfully Allan is a creative genius in the kitchen and can whip up a meal in no time - especially if I or we do the thinking work about the main protein in the morning.  That is the hardest part - making the decision.  We try and think through the week ahead each weekend, noting which days we have to be out at soccer or youth or work.....and planning easier meals for those nights.

Thanks to THIS epic day of cooking we have a good supply of homemade frozen meals we are still using and we plan to do a major cook off like this again soon.

Last night, in an uncharacteristic burst of creativity, I had a very enjoyable time cooking dinner for my family.  I appreciated the opportunity to make a somewhat plain, good, wholesome meal with fresh ingredients and then enjoy the meal at the dining room table together.

I was left feeling blessed to be able to feed my family good food, to have the time to spend in the kitchen, to have a warm home, to have a family........ Very, very blessed.