Weekend Report

It’s been chilly here. The kind of weather that’s perfect for sitting in front of the fireplace, reading books and playing board games. Also perfect for walks. Not so much for biking, though.

On Saturday, after picking up the yard a bit (it’s been windy, so lots of branches strewn about), I went for a walk around the neighbourhood and C joined me on her bike. She’s always been very cold-resistant and not one to complain about minor discomforts, but there she was, grumbling loudly that her face was freezing and that she couldn’t feel her fingers, while I helped her up the numerous hills (I was sweating). Yes, we were able to zip up her jacket so that it covered at least part of her face and yes, she was indeed wearing gloves. I told her I could feel her pain – I don’t like biking in frigid weather, either.

Husband and son have been working on the shed throughout the weekend. Older daughter helped some, too. The roof is finished and they just need to do a bit of work on the sidings. In the meantime, C, the youngest, spent hours playing with Legos and dolls.

On Sunday, we went on a family hike and explored a new trail. One of the kids (H) complained and sulked, but considering that she was in a really good mood the rest of the day, I think it was all good and worth it. The weather was perfect – cold enough so that the mud was solid (although things started thawing out towards the end of our walk) but sunny and not too windy. There was some ice on streams and puddles. We saw a red-tail hawk, a few dogs, a couple of people, and a few neat houses (one that was octagonal-shaped!). It wasn’t a super-challenging hike, but there were a few hills, lots of interesting scenery along the creek, footprints and pawprints to decipher in the frozen mud, and a few farm fields.

Kids had a movie night on Saturday – we watched Penelope. On Sunday evening, because we had a productive and nearly whining-free day, we watched “Woolfblood” for an hour.

E. started reading “Maze Runner” and he seems to love it. C read a few stories from a kid magazine aloud to me (she is getting so confident!). Everyone practiced their musical instruments. I finished Maise Dobbs (I didn’t love it… most of the characters were just so annoyingly GOOD) and started reading The Luminaries – not sure yet if I’ll stick with it.

Cooking:

·         I made amazing (if I may say so myself) split pea soup – we have some saved for today’s lunch

·         Husband and I made stir-fry that’s going to last for a couple of dinners

·         I made pan-fried barramundi fish for Sunday dinner + roasted vegetables

·         Tuna salad that’s going to be good for a couple of lunches early this week

·         Kids made pasta with vegetable sauce for lunch

·         H baked ginger snap cookies

·         I baked Swedish Dill Bread

·         There were also some buttermilk pancakes

Cleaning: um… nothing… just laundry.