I know it's early, but we started back to school today. This schedule helps us to finish in very early May when all of us are really ready to be done. (I recently heard from another mom that she tries to finish by Easter because she has found that little to no learning gets done after Easter anyway.) But we just finished a 9-week break, and my children were excited to get back to school - although, to be honest, I think they're more excited about earning rewards for doing their school work than actually doing the work.

We always have attitude issues to deal with when we start back after a break of any length, so I tried hard to incorporate foods in the day that would help with energy levels. I especially wanted to get a lot of protein and minimal carbs into my son. So I took the time to make him eggs for breakfast (an "egg burrito" as we call it - I'll have to share that recipe/technique later). They both got ham sandwiches and yogurt smoothies with extra acidophilus stirred in for lunch, and I managed to keep my son away from all crackers at snack time. Now, that's an accomplishment! I wouldn't say we had a perfect day - they both had their moments (well, my daughter's "moment" lasted close to an hour) - but much of that was probably attributable to the fact that they didn't get quite enough sleep last night and then ran track this morning.

I hope I can keep up this kind of diet regularly. I have a recipe from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook for Peanut Butter-Banana muffins that sound like a good high fiber, protein-packed breakfast or snack option (especially if I substitute a little soy flour for some of the flour in the recipe). So if I get the time to make them this week, we'll give them a try.