Thoughts for Thursday (Kat)

What am I cooking?

Lots of baked goods! Cupcakes galore for our school’s annual carnival on Saturday, triple chocolate brownies for our family and neighbors :), and these pretzel monsters as a fun after-school activity with the kids. I’m also making something with chicken in the slow-cooker so that we can eat some real food tonight – any suggestions? I have lots of slow-cooker recipes using beef, but not many with chicken…

What am I reading?

Lots of cookbooks and the Everyday Food magazine, looking for some new inspiration for my Fall cooking. Any favorite Autumn recipes, ladies? Some of our current favorites are carrot soup, apple cake/pie/crisp, pumpkin bread, and of course, chili with cornbread. I used to love love love cream of broccoli soup as a child, so I’m going to look for a good recipe and make it sometime soon!

What are my weekend plans?

My son’s elementary school Carnival, where I’m in charge of the Roulette Wheel booth – should be lots of fun 🙂 Oh, and we’re also squeezing in a soccer game, and hopefully a visit with some new friends…The weather is cooling off just enough here in Texas to start enjoying outdoor activities again, like soccer games, carnivals, and backyard BBQ’s.

What are my prayer intentions for the day?

Lots of prayers of thanksgiving, for: My sister and her new fiancee (they just got engaged last week!); A great improvement in my mom’s health, thanks to some good medical advice; Some great family time and a general sense of joy this past weekend. Praise God!

What can my children do instead of watching TV?

Collect lizards and frogs in our backyard, and then make a home for them! And yes, I do allow them in the house, as long as they can’t escape 🙂

What is one product that is making my life a little easier?

This neat Chicco 4-in-1 rider – Caroline has been loving it recently! We got it when Maria turned 1, but we’ve been using it since Caroline was 7 months old, as soon as she could reliably sit up on her own. It’s great when the big kids are playing on the driveway, because there’s not much else that she can do outdoors right now! The crawling stage can be tough for outside activities.

What am I grateful for?

My husband, who nursed me back to health when I was out of commission last week. This was the first time that I had to ask Ed to stay home from work in our 7 years of marriage, even with all of the pregnancies/new babies/illnesses that we’ve experienced, which should give you an idea of how bad it was. My only symptom was that I felt like I had been hit by a truck, aside from a bit of slight nausea. I slept all day and all night, and woke up the next morning feeling all better – strange, right? In any case, praise God for a great husband who can take charge for the day!

What have I done for my marriage this week?

We’ve both taken the time just to chat about our days, even though we’re busy with different activities and worn out by the end of the day.

What’s challenging me lately?

A baby that’s in-between crawling and walking, and is into everything 🙂 Caroline is only 7.5 months old, and this morning I watched her pull herself up on a child’s chair and then use it as a walker! She’s very curious, but her little legs aren’t quite strong enough to support her yet, so she’s taken lots of backwards spills. We’re going to need to do some baby-proofing, and also move some items to higher shelves! Outside time is the hardest, because there’s not much that Caroline can do right now. At the playground she’s happy in the swings for a little while, but I’m hesitant to put her down on the woodchips or the sand…Maybe I just need to get over it and assume that some ingested sand/dirt/wood will be okay??

Something that made me think?

As I was doing some cleaning around the house a few days ago, I thought about all of the women who clean houses for a living and then have to go home and clean their own homes. As I did the cooking, I thought about the women who work in my son’s school cafeteria and serve hundreds of children their breakfast and lunch, and then go home to cook for their own children. As I played with my kids, I thought about the women who work in our church’s nursery all day, only to go home and care for their children and grandchildren. What a privileged life I lead, dear Lord, to be able to spend most of my time caring for and enjoying my own family.