Daybook

FOR TODAY

Looking out my window… it feels good to have these cooler temps and to see the mountains and blue skies without the haze of smoke anymore. Even though it is still quite warm (70s), yesterday’s wind had that fall is coming smell to it.

I am thankful… that Thomas is doing well with potty training. He’s got the idea for the most part and seems to have gotten past the ‘that was fun, but I’m done playing this game’ stage and is getting used to the new normal.

One of my favorite things… I love being able to have the windows open and the fresh air flowing in.

I am creating… lesson plans. This last year has been a kind of transition year for us in more ways than one and I’m going to be doing things a bit differently this coming year.  For most of our homeschooling years I’ve done the typical everyone doing the same thing for most subjectsIt’s a bit more work on the front-end with planning, but I’m hoping that it will better fit our changing family dynamics.

I am hearing… 12:15 – the canner rattling, kids working on KP, the scanner running, little ones playing outside; 2:45 – Lydia doing her typing lesson, Ben cleaning all the weeds out of the front flower bed; a plane flying overhead.

In the schoolroom… the kids survived our first public speaking class today. Using the Key Word Outlines method from IEW and having only their siblings as an audience seemed to make it less painful than they thought it would be. I’m planning a few more ‘speeches’ to finish out our language arts curriculum for this school year.

In the kitchen… a canner load of pinto beans is cooking away on the stove, with more beans awaiting canning in the roaster oven. Besides the convenience of having them already cooked, we’re trying to trim the budget to put more toward getting debt paid off. I’ve found a few more bean recipes that I think the kids may like well enough to add to our regular lineup. If you have any suggestions for super cheap recipes I’m open to suggestions.

My first attempt at freezing basil from the garden (in tsp size portions).

In the garden… the squash loved the hot temps we had this summer and I’m excited to be harvesting zucchini.

A moment of our time…

Cousins!

Happy up so high!