Thinking About Lent

As I made my first coffee this morning I thought, "Fat Tyesday must be coming up soon and that means Lent as well, what should I give up?"  I also thought, "I can't wait to eat pancakes for dinner on Fat Tuesday."

As the Keurig finished brewing my coffee, God spoke to me, "Heather, you should give up caffeine."  

The internal dialogue continued, "But God, coffee makes me a better mother, more ambitious and excited."  God replied, "Heather, if you are relying on coffee to get you through the day, it would be good for you to take a break from it."  I left the coffee maker thinking, "Ok God, I will think about it." 

I went on with my day and proceeded to drink two more coffees.  While having lunch with friends, I overreacted to something someone said and left the lunch feeling embarrassed.  I blame my overreaction on my caffeine high and as I got in my car I thought, "Ok God, you are right, this coffee thing is getting out of hand and I need a break." 

So, I plan on giving up my beloved coffee for lent beginning on Wednesday Feb 18, a week from today.  Wish me luck friends.  I am sure God has a plan for this journey and there will definitely be some extra praying going on around here.

Do you have any plans for Fat Tuesday and Lent?  I would love to hear them here, on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 

Cabbage Soup

Soup is my cure for cold dark February days.  Here is the recipe for the cabbage soup I whipped up this afternoon.  I love to serve soup with bread and butter for dipping.

Ingredients 
1/2 litre of table cream
1carton of chicken stock
1 head of cabbage
1 small kielbasa log
1 carton of cherry tomatoes
4 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp thyme

Method 
Rinse and chop cabbage.
Rinse and chop tomatoes in half.
Chop kielbasa into bite size chunks.
Add butter, cabbage, tomatoes, kielbasa, garlic powder, onion powder and thyme to the pot and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add chicken stock, cream and bay leaves to the pot and simmer covered for 45 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Makes 8 - 6 servings

Stay warm my friends!

Luke - 5 Months

Parenthood gets more enjoyable as the days go on.  Yesterday Luke turned 5 months old and the newborn that use to sleep all day, still sleeps really great but is much more active when he is awake. 

Luke, some of your current hobbies are: 

Blowing bubbles with your tongue sticking out.  You do this so often I fear this is how you think we humans communicate.

Flapping your arms like a bird. 

Chewing on anything you can bring to your mouth, including your hands. 

Drooling, you still don't have any teeth but you definitely have the drool. 

Rolling over, you did this for the first time on Feb 3, one day before your 5 month birthday.  It was pretty awesome to watch you hit this milestone.  Now your a rolling machine. 

I think we are lucky to have cousin Blaine two months ahead of you to show us what is coming up next.  From what I can tell, things are going to keep getting busier and busier but that just means more fun!

Your dad and I love you to the moon and back!

Gratitude Monday

Weekends are the best!  Last week on Thursday night, I told Ty, "we need some family time just the three of us".  The past few weekends Tyler and I have been having fun with our individual activities but we have totally been tag teaming with Luke.  I am so glad we both have our own interests but it doesn't give us that focused family time that is also very important.  Saturday was all about our little family.

We went grocery shopping together which I love because Tyler stops me from buying the same things and he always puts more treats in the cart than I do.   

After shopping we went to lunch at Bains BBQ and it was so delicious.  We will definitely be going back, our meals were great and as other customers food came out, I thought "I want to try that and that and that too", so we have to go back. 

For dinner we had breakfast, pancakes and sausage, breakfast for dinner is so fun, it makes me feel like a kid.  After Luke was down for the night, me and Ty had a skate date in the back yard.

On Sunday Marley, my mom and I went to church.  Marley has been coming with me because she really likes Sunday school and then I have been bringing her back to my house for the afternoon.  I love having her at my house and so does Luke.  We ended the day at our friends Super Bowl party but Luke didn't make it to the game, he wasn't really into the party and was asleep by 6pm (he goes to bed early and wakes early but I love his routine).  I am not really into sports but I love the food at a Super bowl party (big surprise) and I like the half time show.  I thought Katy Perry's show was great, what did you think?

Today I am grateful for family time, puppet shows, Super Bowl parties and delicious food!  What are you grateful for?