A Rainy Day

Today began dark and dreary, with a steady rain accompanied by lightning and thunder. Indoors, our spirits weren't a whole lot brighter. Darren left again this morning for another three day business trip, and all three of the kids are sick with nasty colds. We were sad. We were restless. So we did what we do best during times like these...we baked. And baked. A batch of yummy chocolate chip cookies was our first priority, as Caitlyn has been asking so sweetly for the last few days if we could "please make some cookies". While they baked, we snuggled on the sofa and read some of our favorite fall and Halloween books. Meghan was fussy, and tired, but wouldn't sleep for very long unless I was holding her. After yet another unsuccessful attempt to help her settle down to sleep in her crib, I brought her into the kitchen with me, snuggling her and rubbing her back.

"Poor thing", I said. "Little Meggie isn't feeling very good".

"MOM", Dylan corrected me. "Meghan is not a THING! She's our baby!"

Ever the protective big brother, always concerned about his little sisters. Sometimes he makes me want to just cry.

The rain continued as the day progressed, but our dispositions were increasingly sunnier, especially after Caitlyn, coming into the kitchen from the living room, stopped dead in her tracks and shouted with an excited gasp, "Look outside, it's a rainbow!"

Oh, yes, it was...a beautiful, breathtaking rainbow, forming a complete, unbroken arch against the dark afternoon sky. I ran inside to get the camera, and even as I snapped a few pictures it began to fade. I'm so glad she noticed it when she did, or we would have missed it completely:

Later, when I realized I actually had all the necessary ingredients on hand, we tried a recipe for an apple cake that I've been wanting to try...just the thing, I figured, to finish off our day.

It didn't come out quite as pretty as the oh-so-lovely Rachel Ray's, but it tasted delicious. (And I'm thinking we'll even have some for breakfast in the morning!)