April showers bring May flowers. I hope that’s what all this rain will do! After such a long winter it feels very strange to have rain and thunderstorms.

It’s hard to believe it’s mid-April already!! I feel like I missed half of it because we were on vacation for a week. It’s good to be back home now.

Now that vacation is over it’s time to get to work. I’ve already been working on lots of cleaning over the weekend. I need to keep at it. There is so much more to do. We also have quite a few events this week. We’re back to our usual activities like Kindermusik and dance. My husband has worship team rehearsal and is playing for our Maundy Thursday service. I have a steering team meeting.

There are two big events this week. First I have my ultrasound!!!! In case you were wondering…no, we are not finding out the gender. We also don’t share names before the baby is born. We like surprises. The second exciting thing is that my little girl is turning 6!! I can’t believe my baby is going to be that old.

That being said, I have a lot to do in the kitchen this week. We are not having a birthday party. But that doesn’t mean we won’t celebrate. I will be working on the birthday cake all week (I really need to get started with the planning/details!). In addition to the cake, my daughter wants me to make soft serve ice cream. My daughter has also requested decorated cookies to bring for a school snack. That plus our usual meals, etc. should keep me plenty busy.

I’m starting to feel more and more like myself again. Today is 21 weeks. Aside from airplane-induced nausea I think that symptom is gone. I am still battling the cold we all picked up on our trip. But I’m trying to keep going since I have so much to get done.

The most exciting thing for me over the last week has been feeling a lot more baby kicks. Even better is that my husband has been able to feel them. But the best of all is that my daughter got to feel a big kick! She’s been waiting so long to feel the baby move. It’s so exciting to get to share this with her.

Here is our menu for the week. Hopefully I can keep up with the cooking and the baking and the activities. What are you eating this week? Eet smakelijk!

**********MENU**********

S (church, make gummies?, make ice cream?, chop fruits and vegetables)
L – cp beef roast with vegetables
D – TBD w/ leftover honey herb chicken breasts

M (bake cake)
D – butternut squash quinoa risotto, roasted asparagus, home-canned peaches

T (AKM, RKM, soak flour)
D – (prep ahead) – cp pork chops w/ fruit, potatoes, salad

W (Dr. E.!!!, make/decorate cookies, WT)
D – soaked cheeseburger cups, roasted squash, home-canned peaches

Th (make cake decoration, dance, church, Rebecca’s birthday)
D – (early) – goulash, corn, garlic toast

F (MBST, make frosting, decorate cake, make soft serve ice cream)
D – grilled steak, grilled asparagus, baked or roasted potatoes (Rebecca’s requested birthday dinner – we’re celebrating a day later since we won’t all be together on Thursday evening)

S (clean)
D – TBD pot pie (gluten/dairy free), roasted cualiflower, applesauce