Brain Splat

School has started in our household. This is the beginning of week 2; some days go perfectly and learning is fun and other days are a struggle to get through each lesson. Such is life when you are teaching three different age groups and trying to keep all busy and happy. Has school started in your area yet?

Yesterday marked week two of being home together as a family. How I missed daily life all together. Life as a stay at home mom can be so mundane but it's funny to realize how much you miss it when it's taken away. When dishes and laundry and big and small messes are your biggest worry of the day you are truly blessed.

Just watching one of the children play in the driveway and realizing how very much you missed this after being away 39 days makes your heart skip a beat.
It's the little things in life, the littlest things, the everyday things. If one good thing came out of this horrible journey it's that I truly know what is important in life now. It's easy to say it, but when it hits you it really hits you like a ton of bricks. Life is so much simpler than we make it out to be.

Now that Jacob's NG-tube is out and he is eating a normal amount he is asking for some of his favorite things. Roasted chicken, tacos, brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes. Today the cupboards were close to bare and I didn't want to venture to the store yet with all three kids (germs are still a big thing to be avoided in our family). As I was hanging up the wash I noticed some red, ripe tomatoes in the garden and knew just what I would make!
My husband and children love tomato sandwiches. When we were newly married my husband asked me to make him one so I spread mayo on a slice on bread, added sliced tomatoes, and put a piece of bread on top, after all, that's how my mom always made her tomato sandwiches (none of us kids ever ate tomato sandwiches, we couldn't stand tomatoes!). He asked, "What's this?" when I gave it to him. Apparently, that's not how he ate tomato sandwiches growing up.

I learned the right way to make them and continue to do it this way for my kids. Toast a piece of bread, add butter, pile on the tomato slices, and sprinkle like salt. They are left as an open faced sandwich. The kids love these and have been known to scarf down 4 or more. The plate above shows just Jacob's plate of food, which he managed to eat in a couple minutes. Add a glass of milk and some fruit and call it a complete meal!