Rainy Day Fun

It's a gray and wet day here in this part of Virginia! At the moment, the rain is a cause for celebration. My garden is quite happy after so many weeks without it. In the meantime, it also helps for creativity around the house.

 After breakfast (oatmeal for me, pancakes for H3), we took a nice walk through our neighborhood. Our street has a nice sidewalk, and the houses along it are historical. Most are in beautiful condition and have lovely gardens. H3 loves to stop and spent all the flowers and look at the "ant houses." The search for ants does slow our walking progress down quite a bit, and though I do try to hurry her along a bit, I can't entirely squelch her joy. This morning, the end of our walk was in the drizzle. We had to jog home so we didn't get drenched.

 When we got home, I decided it was time to do some baking. H1 had been wanting a strawberry-rhubarb pie, and seeing as we had both strawberries and rhubarb, it was time to make a pie! H3 kept trying to steal my pie crust while I was rolling it out. She loves it. I let her have a little, and then baked some leftovers with a little sugar on it to go with her lunch. Anyways, here's the end result!

After the pie came out, I decided it was time for some banana bread.

Rainy days require different activities around here. H3 loves to spend a lot of time outside. I can't wait until we have a fenced-in yard, but for now I spend a lot of time out there with her. On days like today, I try to line up a few different activities to keep her occupied. We spent some time working on a puzzle, then up in her room, reading stories. While she was still playing up there, I came downstairs and laid out stamps and markers with paper and let her have some fun!

Thus far it's been a good, fun day. I've got dough rising now to make some rolls to go with dinner tonight. The plan for dinner is an Italian Sausage Bean Soup, with those rolls on the side. H1 and I will also split an artichoke. And then we have the pie for dessert. I'm not asking for H3 to eat most of the menu tonight. She usually eats whatever H1 and I are eating, but there are some exceptions: anything to do with salad or beef (neither of those go well with her stomach), and some of the odder vegetables. I can't picture her successfully navigating an artichoke, though I will still offer it to her. She is slowly expanding her eating habits, for which I'm grateful. Sandwiches are finally on the menu now, for the first time ever!

 When it comes to my family, I've learned to frequently praise God for the little things, like having the chance to be home and make meals for my family, and spending time with my little girl. I have to confess though that these last couple weeks have been rough. H3's potty regression (after having been potty trained for 8 months) has really started to wear on me. Still, we're taking one day at a time!

~H2