Weekend Recap — Valentine’s Day!

Happy, happy Valentine’s Day! I hope that everyone is enjoying the weekend, staying warm, and enjoying what you love — chocolate? wine? your sweetheart? Whatever! 

Are you ready for a quick catch-up from the past week? Here we go with another Weekend Recap — straight from my iPhone!

Backing up to Super Bowl Sunday…we used this new-to-us sauce on our chicken, which Keith picked up at the grocery store. It was really good! Probably one of the best we’ve tried YET, so I just wanted to share for all of my fellow buffalo-loving friends out there!

Monday was an “off” day for me. I woke up with a migraine and was just in a nauseous DAZE all day! We dropped the older two boys off at their schools, and then Spence and I came home for a couple of hours. I did laundry and was otherwise pretty unproductive while Spence played quietly on the floor with his trains (thank goodness!). Moms aren’t usually allowed a “sick day,” so it was nice that the kids cooperated this time.

This brought a smile to my face, though, when Casey’s teacher sent me a picture of his Play-do creation.

After lunch we made a very quick stop at the grocery store for some deli meat (where I bribed the boys with Nilla Wafers!),

and took an afternoon walk when I started to feel better.

I also wanted to mention that I love the 10-minute yoga segment on this DVD! Definitely one of my favorites — the stretches feel good and it’s just relaxing without being too much ZEN, if you know what I mean. It’s a great place to start if you want to add some flexibility into your routine!

Tuesday morning was snowy/rainy and pretty gross weather-wise. I served pancakes for breakfast (Shrove Tuesday!!), we dropped Gibbs off at school, and then made a run to Walmart for some supplies for an upcoming blog post.

We also grabbed a giant box of new markers to replace our much-loved, much-dried-out existing stash.

The younger two boys played with dinosaurs, splashed in mud puddles, and had baths before post-lunch nap time.

And since it was Gibbs’s 101st day of school, the entire Kindergarten dressed as 101 dalmations and made “Puppy Chow” for snack. Have you ever tried it? Totally addicting, I’m warning you! The kids loved it, so I’m sure we’ll be recreating it soon. In case you’re curious, here’s the recipe that his teacher sent home!

And since Keith was out of town that evening, dinner was an easy kid-favorite: Pita Pizzas!

On Wednesday morning I helped out at the preschool for a little while, but didn’t get any photos — too busy trying to keep a two-year-old under control (unsuccessfully, I might add)!

Then we went out for a quick walk in town before heading home.

It was COLD but sunny, so we poked around Main Street,

watched a train go by on the tracks (highlight of Spencer’s day!),

and stopped by my friend Hanna’s store to check out her latest goodies!❤️

We picked up Casey and his friend Aidan at lunch time for an afternoon play date.

Boys, boys, boys…

And since it was the first day of Lent, it seems like an appropriate time to announce that I have decided to give up DESSERTS for Lent! Yikes. Anyone who knows me knows that this is seriously tough. In fact, when I told Keith, he just laughed! My mom has always given up sweets for Lent (my entire life!), and I’ve tried to do the same on one or two other occasions — but never successfully. ? We’ll see how this year goes. And for the record: Hot Chocolate is definitely NOT a dessert, right?! Right?! You can just go ahead and assume there will be a lot of this consumed over the next six weeks. ?

{Like the Molly photobomb? She wants hot chocolate, too!}

We didn’t have much on our agenda for Thursday, so we took the opportunity to get some errands done…starting with a CAR WASH! The best money I’ve spent in a looooong time.

And since it was freezing outside, we headed to the mall for some fuel, running around, and birthday present shopping for my nephew.

While Spence napped that afternoon, I used Randa’s downloadable meal planner/grocery list to plot our menu for the coming week (you can download it for yourself HERE, if you’re interested). It’s one of those weeks when I’m trying to use up a bunch of food that I have stashed away in the freezer. Time to start cleaning it out a bit!

Speaking of freezer meals, dinner on Thursday evening was a batch of Stovetop Chuckwagon Mac that I had saved on a previous day. Love that! My boys devoured this dinner, as usual. You should try it if you haven’t already!

Friday was FRIGID again, so I pulled on my warmest boots and my down coat,

cancelled our walk with Mollie, and headed to the grocery store after I dropped off the older boys at their schools.

Aunt Barbara met us back at the house mid-morning, where she entertained Spence with an epic train track while I got some work done.

An hour later we scooted back out the door to get Casey and then grab lunch in Orange.

Dinner that night was seafood (Friday during Lent!), so we had 4-Ingredient Baked Salmon, shrimp, rice, and broccoli before crashing in bed!

Saturday morning started with a blissful 30 minutes of uninterrupted Real Simple reading on the elliptical, plus some stretching at the gym.

I spent the rest of the morning changing bed sheets, doing laundry, and taking some photos of a couple of new recipes, which included cookie baking (and eating).

After lunch we all got haircuts,

and then I took Casey to a birthday party for one of his friend’s from school while Spence napped.

We got home shortly before dinner, so I was glad that I had prepared a Chicken & Rice Cordon Bleu Casserole in the morning, which I could pop in the oven to bake when we needed it (recipe coming soon…and SO GOOD).

After dinner the boys had baths, watched Peter Pan, and went to bed. I read the new Us Weekly while watching tv, and then quickly fell asleep. Rockin’ Saturday night!

This morning I’m currently sipping on my Valentine coffee, writing this post, and then scurrying off to make heart-shaped cinnamon toast and Cupid’s Vanilla Berry Smoothies for breakfast.

We have a busy day planned, including a trip to the store to let the boys spend their Valentine’s Day money on a fun new toy (Legos, no doubt), some cornbread, a big pot of chili, and a dinner visit from my in-laws. Have a sweet week!!