Hello, One and All!

It is the first real day of school today. Both of my children are now in Middle School (unbelieveable!). My son, Robert, was very nervous this morning to attend the 7th Grade for the first time, especially because he missed orientation day last Friday due to his pneumonia.

So, how do I feel about having the children gone from home again?...I am excited for them that they are beginning a new school year. I miss them. I am excited to use the extra time on my hands to do a better job at homemaking and to get back into my interests, including blogging.
I love the whole feel of back-to-school, excitement over new backpacks, school clothes shopping (thank you, family!) and buying school supplies. I was keeping myself busy yesterday by getting my son's backpack ready and one of the things I did was to sharpen all of his new pencils. I know he could do this himself - duh - I just wanted to do it. Oh, how I love new pencils, unopened packages of college-ruled paper, new spiral-bound notebooks in which nothing yet has been written. Everything is fresh, clean and full of promise. I pray for that promise to be realized in the school lives of my beautiful children.

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I have embarked on a few new things, myself. First, I have begun a new diet, which is high on protein and low (nil) on carbs. I have only been on it for about 5 days and have already lost 3 pounds, plus I feel better. I think that carbs weigh me down and make me tired. Anyway, I'm not hungry and I am energized by all the fruit, veggies and protein I have been eating.

I am also excited to begin Fall cleaning...Do you do Fall cleaning and, if so, when do you start it and what all do you do?

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Finally, I have no menu plan this week, just food in the fridge and ideas in my head. However, here is a recipe my daughter made up yesterday that turned out wonderful...

Creamy, Vegetable Soup

6 cups of water
2 1/2 tablespoons of Beef Bouillon (wet or 2 cubes of dry)
One head of romaine lettuce, shredded (or you could use spinach)
8-10 baby carrots, cut in 1/4's
1/3 package of spaghetti
3 tablespoons of diced onions
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
3 tablespoons of sour cream
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste (we use lots of pepper!)

This would be great with meat, too. Give it a try, The base is delectable!

Have a great one!
Elizabeth