Country Girl in the City: Happy Homemaker Monday 1/15/24

Since today is MLK day our kids had the day off from school and no work for Matt. One of the art museums in the city was also having a free day for state residents so we headed into the city. The line was 3 sides around the Museum when we got there! We decided to walk about 1/2 mile over to a place I knew about for lunch; it's basically an upscale food court with many options. We had lunch and then headed back to see how the line was doing. It was still quite long but by God's grace we were able to get in and spent about 2 hours wandering around. I love art museums and there are pieces at this one I'm always excited to see. I definitely could have stayed longer but the younger girls were getting restless and since they have school tomorrow we decided to head home. It's been a fun, busy day but I have a quiet moment so I thought I'd take a minute to join in this week's Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom. I hope you all are having a great week and start to this new year.

The Weather:

It's still cold. We went into the city today and walked around. It was cold but sunny so not too bad all in all as long as you kept moving.

Outside my Window:

Well, it's dark now but all the snow is gone from our yard; although I think we're supposed to get more tomorrow. We also now have tree branches and cut up tree trunk in our front yard that will have to be moved to near the fire pit for burning.

Right Now I am:

Taking a minute to sit and blog while I have a few minutes before putting the younger girls to bed.

Thinking and Pondering:

Honestly, it's been a tough week in a few ways. I'm so thankful for how God works and am praying and striving to keep my focus on Him and his faithfulness. Speaking of faithfulness; I chose my word for 2024; you can read all about it in the post titled Word of the Year - 2024. I hope you'll read it and if you have a word share it there.

Podcasts I'm listening to this week:

I listened to one by Tony Evans and part of one by American History Tellers.

On my T.V this week:

Hoping to finally watch the Oppenheimer movie

On the Dinner Plate:

We had leftovers

On the Menu this week:

We're still working through the menu I wrote last week so some of the meals that we will have this week are:

Taco Soup

Sweet Potato Bacon Chowder

20 Minute Moo Shu Chicken with pitas

Pesto Parmesan Spaghetti Squash Chicken Bake

What I'm Reading:

Bible

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah (I'm about 1/2 way through and not that into it but I'll probably push through and finish it)

On my To-Do list today:

Spend day with Matt & Kids

Plans for this week:

Make Bread

Make a meal for a friend

Gathering Table (monthly women's group at church)

Finish shawlette

What I'm Creating:.

I'm still working on the Philomena Crochet Shawlette It is working up quickly and coming out nice so far; I'm hoping to finish it this week.

From the Camera:

I didn't take many pictures this week.

Highlight from Last week:

Last week I was able to take a long walk with our oldest. He heads back to school on Friday so the extra time to just walk and talk was a real blessing. Another blessing was when our oldest girl called me the other night; she was super excited about some things and was excited to call me and chat about it. I'm so thankful for the closeness we have with our kiddos. I know that life stages will come and life will get busy but I'm treasuring these moments. It was also fun to spend the extra time today with our younger kids.

Bible Verse/Devotional Quote:

I always enjoy Warren Weirsbe's "BE" series. I recently purchased his study on Hebrews called "BE Confident: Live by Faith not by Sight". I'm looking forward to digging deep into this book.