Thoughts

I am watching Hell's Kitchen right now....yikes! And I thought it was loud here when it was time to cook dinner! :) I could never do what those contestants do; I'd be in tears every time.

Tonight, I made Tagliarini for dinner. I found the recipe in yet another book I read in the past week. Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America's Cheapest Family is the title; Steve and Annette Economides are the authors. Very interesting book with a decent amount of great-sounding recipes. Not too many that I can't narrow down ones I like! Dinner turned out well, and I made enough for lunch tomorrow. I only needed one pound of ground beef, but I had frozen 2 pounds together, so I browned the other pound that we can use tomorrow night for dinner....and that cuts down my cooking time for tomorrow's dinner! Yay! I think I'm finally finding ways to be efficient in the kitchen! :) Whatever I can do to make it less like Hell's Kitchen over here! Haha.
______________________________________________________________________

New thought:
My cousin's daughter, that has AML, was able to be discharged from the hospital yesterday! So amazing! She had a rough couple of weeks following chemo, but she has recovered enough to be able to go home for a while. My understanding is that she is home for a little while then goes back for her next round of chemo. I've been looking at the updated photos and her color is so much better and she looks so much healthier. What a little fighter, for being just 6 months old now. God does amazing things. I don't know what her future holds or what the next round of chemo and treatment is all about, but praise God for what He's shown through this so far! He has never let things out of His control and I really hope that someone has seen this little girl and really discovered just how great God is!

There is a benefit for her on November 14. If anyone is interested, it's in NW Indiana and costs $10 a person. They are selling tickets now; food is included and there will also be an auction of donated goods. My wonderful friend Amy, who makes candles (Amy's Accents), has helped me out with getting some candles together to give to the benefit. I hear there are going to be a TON of donated goods to raise money for Miranda. The money is going to help pay her medical bills. If you're interested in donating money, please go to Miracle for Miranda on Facebook and check out where to send donations!
____________________________________________________________________

Speaking of giving, if you haven't heard of or seen the blog/website/facebook page for Awaka Children's Foundation, you need to! My inspiring friend Kathryn is a part of this incredible foundation that is working to help children and adults in Uganda get the basic necessities - clothing, food, shelter. She has an adopted son, Deken, from Uganda and is working to bring home a little girl, Faith, in the next few months! She and her family are an amazing testimony of patience and faith and trust in God, with their adoptions as well as their pursuit to help all of the Ugandans. It is just indescribable how motivated she is to see that these people get the simplest of things. My family has decided to include Awaka in our montly giving. We aren't able to give as much as we'd like to, but to think that I can sit here in my house with my warm clothes and a full stomach really makes me consider how blessed I am. Of course, my human nature wishes I had more space in my house so my girls didn't all have to share a room or a bigger kitchen or whatever. But, I don't NEED any of those things. Some of these Ugandan people struggle to find shelter when it rains or clothes or shoes or food to just function each day. So, go HERE and read all about this foundation and ways you can help. If you aren't able to help financially, maybe you could commit to praying for them? Or maybe you know someone who is looking for a great charity to give to? This would be the perfect one. :) Of course, I'm slightly bias.
____________________________________________________________________

My middle child turned 3 yesterday. How the time flies! So crazy to think it was already 3 years ago that my husband had the flu and I was starting to get sick, too......and then I went into labor. :) What a crazy night! What a wonderful outcome! She is such a beautiful girl, and she (I think) looks the most like me....so, of course, I think that's awesome! Haha. She started preschool earlier this month, and she has really just exploded with talking. She, like her big sister, likes to sing to herself and LOVES to do imaginary play. She could sit and "mix" and "bake" with my bowls and spatulas and pans for hours! Almost every day, she asks me, "Can I have a bowl and a spoon to mix?" But, if I give her one then I have to give the other 2 girls a bowl and spoon as well....and then I'm running out of mixing bowls and spatulas for the actual baking I need to do! Oh well. If she's asking for that and not cartoons, then I guess we're doing ok. I've been limiting their TV time much more now, too. Towards the end of July, I got pretty lax with turning off the TV when I should have and would just let them watch so I could get things done. But, since school started and we're back in our routine, they go with about 2 hours of TV each day (which includes movies, too)! I don't know what's recommended or normal for preschoolers, but for us that's great! It's only on now when I want to make dinner and occasionally just before school, when I need to get in the shower. And they haven't asked for their cartoons much recently during the other times of the day, so I'm ecstatic!

In conclusion, God is good. There's no way around that. He really is. I'm ending with that. God is good.