January Weekends

I was sick, so it was pretty much a bare-minimum type of weekend.

Adventure-type things:

• A short hike at a near-by park with husband and our youngest child. (it was slightly below freezing, so no mud on the trails!)
• Driving on icy roads to pick up our oldest from an all-day orchestra retreat. (The roads were bad. This is not an adventure I care to repeat).

Good things:

• A tiny bit of snow. (I wish we had more snow... but even a little bit of snow was exciting).
• I rested and felt better by Sunday.
• I made "vinegret" salad (spelling phonetically here, not sure what it would be called in English. It's sort of like a potato salad, except it also includes beets).
• I made a chicken matzo ball soup (yes, we are not even close to Pesach, but we like our matzo balls year round).
• E made popcorn from kernels on stovetop. We enjoyed it while watching TV shows (Teen Wolf, plus just started Heros) together.
• C made chia seed pudding. Delicious!
• We  had a delicious dinner on Saturday (so easy to make that I managed even though not feeling well at all): baked salmon and baked sweet potato. (I love meals that are pretty much like - stick it into the oven and set the timer. Done!)
• I felt so much better on Sunday! I decided to try a new recipe from C's stir-fry book. Turned out pretty well (will make again because it was easy and because I think adjusting a few things will make it even better).
• C worked on her new Lego set.
• H is designing and making a new doll house using cardboard boxes and a bunch of things from her old DIY sets.

Not-good but not-bad things:

• Husband is away in San Francisco until Wednesday evening.
• We did not play any board games (but I wasn't feeling the greatest for most of the weekend, so not surprising)
• Looking back, I think we over-indulged in watching shows (but  it felt so good to cuddle with kids on the sofa, under the fuzzy blanket) (but next weekend, I'd rather cut back) (H, who is 13, told me yesterday - "Remember, when we were little, we only got to watch one movie on the weekend? It was so nice!" (These days, kids get screen time Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It can be a movie, or 2-3 episodes of a show, or computer games). (I think as long as we all get plenty of outside time, and everyone does their chores/homework/music practice, and we get to hang out and play board games, it's fine.) (Some weekends are busier than others and then there is less time for movies.) Still, that's a lot of screen time.