Top 5 pics okay?

Seriously! Today, I could have had 5-10 pictures for the day! It was a really great day, and I got lots of great photos. I will just have to save the rest for scrapbooking!

I was nervous for today. Hubby travels a lot and I have known this week would be a long one. Not that I didn't enjoy the 2 weeks he took off around the holidays, but I think that made it even harder to face returning to our schedule! Six kids is always a lot of work, but it's especially tough when I'm by myself! Sam can make up for 3 kids, on any given day! The one thing about today I had to look forward to, though was Sam going back to school. I hope I don't sound like a bad mom when I say that I live for those 4 hours, 4 days a week. It's not just because our life is calm and quiet while he's gone, but also because he comes home happier. The past two weeks have gotten harder and harder. He is a child that thrives on structure and routine. I try to have that at home, but first of all, there is nothing in my nature that is organized or structured! I'm as spontaneous as they come! And second, it's tough to have 5 other children's needs to work around and try to have everything catered to one. So, I was quite the happy clam when the bus turned the corner today and I sent him off with a kiss! Olivia, Noah and I snuggled for about an hour and a half, watching a little t.v. and just enjoying the quiet! It was bliss! I got some cleaning done and actually tried to be more prepared. By the time he came home, I had all the house clean, dinner made and most of the kitchen clean. That way, I could just focus on him and not trying to do 100 things at once!

Then Chipper (my oldest) came home and offered to play football in the snow with the two little ones, so that was quite the bonus! He's a great kid, and I appreciate it when he offers to help! After dinner, I bathed Noah, Abby (my 8 year old) helped Olivia take a bath and Chipper helped Sam. It was so nice to not have to bathe all three by myself and I think Sam enjoyed the extra attention from his big brother! This was all done with the promise that they could stay up and watch the season premiere of Biggest Loser. Who knew that a show about fat people could seriously be our families favorite show! I'm always inspired by the stories there, and it's fun to see my kids enjoy it as well!

Anyway, the entire afternoon and evening went so smooth and the three youngest were asleep and the 3 oldest were all in their rooms and ready for bed by a little after 8 pm (we'll have to finish the second half of BL tomorrow night).

I chose the picture above as my picture for today because of the great conversation Mitchell (age 10) and I had about food today. He's the one I homeschool and I love it! We have a great time together! He is celiac as well and he really doesn't like all the dietary changes he's had to make and the new ones I'm imposing. I know it will be for his own good and benefit down the road, but really, can a 10 year old see past the fact that I've stolen pizza away from him? It hasn't been easy, even though he does try hard! So, anyway, I asked him if he wanted to make cookies today. He wasn't real sure what I meant, since cookies didn't sound like the item that would still be included in our new lifestyle! So, I told him the recipe.

It's a great recipe! 3 ingredients and no flour! 1 c. peanut butter, 1 c. sugar and 1 egg. That's it. You mix, roll into balls, roll in a little sugar, smash with a fork and bake for 10 minutes! They taste just like the real thing! Well, we've thrown out all refined sugar and one of the things I had in the cupboard was pure raw cane sugar. It's a weird brown color, smells funny and doesn't look like sugar. He turned up his nose immediately. So, I explained how this was the real thing. I told him how the sugar he is used to is processed so much that their is almost nothing of the real stuff left! Well, it left quite the impression and he was very excited about the cookies after that! This picture is just before we put them in the oven! He even educated the rest of his siblings at the dinner table about "real" food. So, it's a start, and hopefully things will continue to go well. Granted, he thought the seaweed covered rice and veggies I served for lunch was "disgusting" so at this point, I'll just take what I can get!