Hi and Happy Monday! It was a weekend of projects: both cooking and painting, plus a few quick outings in between. Oh and we bid farewell to the Winter Olympics, which I am part sad about and part relieved because, no joke, I have been falling asleep on the couch watching the primetime coverage EVERY SINGLE NIGHT😅 This mom is ready to go to bed early this week!

Joey had jury duty on Friday, so I did double drop off then worked from home. Mid-afternoon, I made some soup dumplings for dinner that night and though that was my quickest and smoothest time making them, they stuck to the parchment so bad and all the soup leaked out. What can you do?

I was shocked to life Saturday morning, when both kids barged into my room full of energy 😅 Afterward, I made us all some gingerbread waffles and we swapped out our Valentine’s decorations for our few St. Patrick’s Day ones. Then I took Lydia to her swim lesson and… no tears! HURRAY! Joey and Dempsey went to HD to buy paint and Dempsey got an astronaut projector for his room with his own money 🥹 The afternoon went something like lunch, grocery delivery, clean up from kids “helping” with said grocery delivery, a run for Joey and then at 3 PM, we finally started painting the kids’ room. Got as much done as we could before dinner and bedtime sprang up on us but I’ll take it.

Sunday started much more peacefully with a workout for me and then Joey came down to make whipped cream for the maritozzi (aka an Italian sweet bun) he made us all for breakfast. They turned out so good! Afterward, I went out to have my haircut and then (after a boat making craft), I sent Joey and the kids to the park so I could make salads and sit on the couch to watch the ice skating gala from the day before. Why can’t the competition skating be as fun and lively as the gala?? Anyway, we also got a bit more painting done, so we just have the trim on Dempsey’s side to finish. I made us all wings for dinner and told the kids they didn’t know how lucky they were to be eating homemade soup dumplings, waffles, pastries and wings! They just looked at me with a blank stare 😂

Hoping everyone has a nice week!

We had such a good and sweet Valentine’s weekend 🥰 Started with Black Forest overnight oats, Dempsey’s class party and dinner at home, then gifts, flowers and date night on Saturday. And a pretty laid back Sunday at home. I’m ready to show you!

I have a lot of pictures from Friday, but it didn’t feel as busy as it looks! The overnight oats were a big hit with both kids and it made me so happy 😍 I picked up Valentine’s balloons after I dropped Dempsey off as school, then worked and watched Scott Pilgrim. I’m sorry, but I find it so funny 😂 Joey and I met Demps at school for his class party and LOL at me telling him to say goodbye to everyone at the end and he walked up to all the parents instead of the kids in his class. Back at home, I made red chile chicken tacos for dinner and then the kids helped me make ice cream to bring to their grandma’s the next night.

After we got the kids to bed, we watched the primetime coverage of the Olympics. Joey told me he’d seen a major spoiler on ESPN so I kind of knew something was coming but I did not know it would be that painful to watch. I have PTSD from that look of pure anguish on Ilia Malinin’s face at the end of his free skate. Just absolutely brutal. I did love seeing the three skaters who medaled celebrate though 🥹

His plan to catch Santa 😂

Happy Valentine’s Day! We got the kids up and headed downstairs, where we gave them their balloons and a few gifts. I live for all of Lydia’s excited reactions and Dempsey has been playing “Dance Monkey” over and over on his Yoto since opening his Kidz Bop card 🥹😂 Joey took both kids to Lydia’s swim lesson and there were still tears but she did better than last week. I got to stay home and watch Jordan Stolz in the 500m then work out. Once they were back, a bath for Lydia and Dempsey had me try on the shirt he made me at school. He’s so impressive! My mom dropped by with Valentine’s gifts for the kids, including journals with a lock and key and headbands that they both ended up wearing 😂 After lunch, we all headed outside and spent a good chunk of time out there, it was so nice!

Around 4:30, we loaded up the kids and their overnight duffel bag and headed to Grandma Lori’s. After we dropped them off, we made our way to Fish n Beer for dinner. We hadn’t been there in so long but it remains a great place for dinner and vibes. I won’t post a picture of the oysters or whole fish we ate since I know both my mother and mother-in-law will read this but please look above for Dempsey’s recreation of the fish’s eyes 😂😂 After dinner, we headed to the Alamo. We couldn’t find anything else to see, so “Wuthering Heights” it was! It’s not a very good adaptation of the novel, which deals so much with class and race and is just a lot more complex (and miserable), but as just a movie, it wasn’t so bad. I did roll my eyes at a few parts because I just wish Emerald Fennell was a bit more subtle and both Joey and I agreed the whole thing was a bit too long, but I didn’t hate it.

I slept in on Sunday while Joey ran and then grabbed us both coffee down the street. Ate breakfast on the couch in front of the TV like our old kid-less selves 😂 Headed to pick the kids up just before 10 and it sounded like they had a fun night and the ice cream was a hit! Dashed home and jumped right in my own car to head out to my manicure. Meanwhile, Joey and the kids picked up paint samples for the kids’ room. Once I was home and we’d all eaten lunch, I took our crabby little girl up for a nap. She finally gave in and fell asleep 6 books in 😮‍💨 Post nap, we tried out our paint, but we’re thinking Dempsey’s blue in a bit too purple. Sold on one of Lydia’s pink colors though! I made salads then let Joey take over dinner duty. He made us some really good turkey burgers. Also, highly recommend letting your kids mix some spices into ketchup to inject some fun into a normal dinner at home.

After they went to bed, we watched the men’s dual moguls from earlier in the day and why was that the wildest and funniest thing I’ve seen at the Olympics (aside from the men’s cross country sprint final)?? Anyway, wishing you all a bright and happy Monday!