Thoughts for Wednesday

Since it’s been awhile since we have had a “Thoughts for Thursday” post, I thought that I would do a “Thoughts for Wednesday” post today – enjoy!

Just for fun, here is a picture of me and Texas Mommy from this past weekend – she was kind enough to meet me at the last minute while I was in town visiting my parents, and we had so much fun chatting and catching up!

What am I cooking?

Spaghetti and meatballs…Yum!

What are my weekend plans?

Basketball and Cub Scouts commitments for my son; Preparing our home to host the entree portion of a Progressive Dinner for our parish Mom’s group. I’m so thankful for this awesome group, and that both my husband and I have formed so many strong friendships through it (he with the husbands, of course!). We have 20 couples signed up to come to the Dinner, and we’re hosting 4 of them – everyone is together at the appetizer house, we split up for the entree portion, and we all come back together again at the dessert home. It’s always a fun event!

What are my prayer intentions for the day? 

For my aunt, who is undergoing chemotherapy, and for our dear friends who will soon be bringing home their son from the NICU. We are so excited for their them!

What can my children do instead of  watching TV? 

We’ve had two “snow days” in the past week, which have really been “ice days,” so we have had to get creative around the house. We’ve been doing puzzles, playing with our new marble run, and having lots of fun with a dominoes game called “Mexican Train.” If you have kids ages 5 and over, check it out! It’s fun for people of all ages, from young to old, and could easily be played in teams for the younger children to participate.

What have I done for my marriage this week? 

My husband has been tired in the evenings after a weekend camping trip, so I have been staying up to take our 6 year-old to the bathroom at 10 p.m. We’re hoping that we’ll be out of that phase soon, but for now, it gets her through the night so it’s worth it! And yes, we are often ready to go to bed before 10 p.m.!

What am I reading? 

1984 by George Orwell, for a book club. Very interesting!

What is one product that made my life easier? 

The Magic Eraser! Within a couple of days of getting our new minivan (yay!), one of my children had inadvertently marked one of the leather seats with black pen. After frantically trying soap and water and a couple of other home remedies, my mother suggested trying the Magic Eraser and it worked! Then, a day later, another child inadvertently dipped her sleeve in paint (we were re-painting a door frame) and then touched her elbow to our leather couch. Once again, the Magic Eraser came to the rescue!

What is challenging me lately?

Finding activities that are fun for all of my children: a 9 year-old boy and 6 and 3 year-old girls! We are at the point where my son doesn’t enjoy going to the park unless he has friends going along, so that has made our afternoons and weekends a bit more challenging. Our youngest is not able to keep up on bike rides yet, but also no longer wants to ride in the bike trailer, so that is another family activity that we have had to table for awhile. However, my children ARE having more fun just pretending and playing together around the house than they used to, so for short periods of time, we’re good. I would love to hear your suggestions for family activities with a range of ages!