Friday feast

Late this afternoon I went by myself to the grocery store 7 miles away. Last time we shopped there we all went and Lamb 2 dropped a bottle of laundry detergent as we were leaving. The clerk was real kind and sent for a new bottle and sent for someone to clean it up. But after that, I preferred to shop by myself this week. Plus it is very cold here and I didn't want to take all the Lambs out.
Ram was nice enough to watch all 3 Lambs when none were taking a nap. I got to drive our new car for the first time. We have had it for a week and it already has over 450 miles on it. I've never driven a car with only 450 miles on it. Ram had never driven a car with only 6 miles on it before last week. On the way there it was just enough time to figure out some of the features on the car that are different than our minivan like the cruise control. I'm still not used to driving so low after driving the minivan. I like it and I'll have to be sure to use the cruise control or I'll have a heavy foot and get myself in trouble.
When I got home Ram had cooked a steak dinner while I was gone. We obviously aren't fasting meat during Lent! We had received the t-bones as a Christmas gift from church members and decided to use them tonight. We had potatoes free from the grocery store. We also had broccoli and asparagus to use from the freezer. The two oldest Lambs ate really well. We ended up discussing treats during supper with the Lambs. They were surprised Ram said steak was a treat. They thought treats were sweets. So we talked about fruits and vegetables out of season are treats. Even meat is a treat because we don't have meat at every meal. It was a good discussion and gave them something to think about.

What a difference a day makes

I was noticing yesterday that we finally had a few areas in the yard where all the snow had melted. It wasn't green grass yet, nor the whole yard, but there were a few spots. And the sidewalk was very icy from all the melted snow that refroze.

Last night it snowed and it was very windy today. Someone from our town estimated we got about 10 inches but it's hard to tell with the drifts. Here's a photo from this afternoon when it had died down a little. This photo is taken out our back door looking at our back yard. You can just barely see the sidewalk that is not shoveled. The wind chills are bitterly cold too. We stayed home today and probably will stay home tomorrow too.

The Lambs have extreme cabin fever. I feel like all I have accomplished this week is settling petty arguments between them. The two oldest lambs used a whole can of parmesan cheese on their food and laughed about it; Lamb 2 colored the living room carpet with red crayon; Lamb 3 broke the latch to the china cupboard; Lamb 3 continually finds stickers the other Lambs left out and eats them and we have to get them out before he chokes; and Lamb 3 continually stands in his high chair (no matter how tight he is buckled in he can get loose) and he grabbed a kiwi out of the fruit bowl and took a bite out of it skin and all. Just imagine, all this happened while I was watching them, not when they were unattended! Most of this would be solved if they could run around outside and get rid of some energy. I'm anxious for spring to come and in the meantime I continue to watch the Lambs like a Mama hawk!

Blog question

How can I write a post early and then get it to publish later? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Tell Your Congressman

Thanks to Cheryl for pointing out this video.

More on Ash Wednesday

This afternoon (Ash Wednesday), Lamb 1 asked, "Mama are you excited about tonight?" I had to answer yes, because we were having church and communion. But he wondered if I was excited to receive ashes because we only do that once a year.

A little later Lamb 1 came up with this on his own..."Mama, do you know we are getting ashes tonight just like 'Ring Around the Rosy...Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down'."

After all that, Lamb 1 refused to get ashes when the time came. Lamb 2 wanted them and received them. I told Lamb 1 he could still get them tonight from Ram if he changed his mind, but not tomorrow. When he got into bed he said, "I didn't get ashes this year, but I'll get them next year."

Ash Wednesday

O Lord, throughout these forty days
You prayed and kept the fast;
Inspire repentance for our sin,
And free us from our past.

Be with us through this season, Lord,
And all our earthly days,
That when the final Easter dawns,
We join in heaven's praise.
TLH 418:1 and 4

We start a Lenten series on Jonah tonight. The pastors are going to rotate churches in our circuit, but write a new sermon each week so it goes in order for the members. I will go to our tri-parish churches some weeks and go with Ram other weeks. Tonight Ram is at our church next door.

I rejoice that there is communion tonight so we can with the angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven (including Aunt Alice and my Grandmas), laud and magnify His glorious name.

Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

Ram was gone visiting people all day yesterday. We didn't have enough leftovers so I had to cook. He suggested pea soup but I didn't feel like making that. I didn't feel like making pancakes even though I should have for Fat Tuesday.

I decided to try IN Jane's recipe for sweet potato lentil soup. We had some homemade yogurt so we topped it with that. I didn't use sausage or fresh ginger or lime wedges. Lamb 1 refused to put yogurt on it, but the rest of us did. For dessert we (but not Lamb 1 or 3) had yogurt with flax and cinnamon and a little honey. After we ate that I realized we didn't have any yogurt left for topping the leftover soup today. I'm sure it will be delicious without yogurt too. Ram's mom gave me a Spice Boy to grind spices. It came in handy to grind some of the spices that I had but weren't ground. Today's too busy, but we'll have to go to the store to get milk to make more homemade yogurt soon. And yes, we were eating homemade yogurt with flax, cinnamon, and honey before I read it on this blog.