The Beauty of the Mundane Weekend

We didn't do much this weekend and it was wonderful. We were up late Thursday after trick or treating at a friends house in a nearby state. It really isn't far but Lucy loves to cross the border because we go over a big bridge and on the way home she said "Goodbye Illinois, I'll miss you. Hello Missouri, It's good to be back!" and it made all the drama she caused over being a cowgirl princess butterfly cow fade away.

So Friday, we slept in - past 8:00am! It was amazing. But we all felt a little sluggish and sickly. Nothing major but runny noses abounded so I canceled the few little things I had planned and we did nothing pretty much all weekend. Well, not nothing, we:

• Snuggled on the couch watching Mary Poppins. At one point Lucy came over to hug me and thank me for showing her "this wonderful movie that makes me laugh and laugh and get so excited over the silliness" and I think Jonah has now decided he wants to be a dancing chimney sweep. And he's got dancing talent and adorable appeal so if anyone could pull it off, it's him.

• Rendered lard. It's backbreaking work with all the pouring the lard into the crockpot and then turning it on and then pouring it out a couple hours later. But I did it so I could feel I accomplished something this weekend. Actually, that's a lie. I did it for the donuts.

• Made donuts. These to be precise. I normally prefer a yeast doughnut to a cake doughnut but these were good. I didn't use any glaze or coating because I felt bad enough feeding my semi-sick children donuts but it was good healthy fat, right? (Question - why does my spell check accept donuts as a real word but not donut? This makes no sense to me.)

• Taught Jonah not to fear the kleenex. Such a small victory but now he keeps his head still and lets you wipe his nose up instead of running away, shaking his head which never ends well. 

• Super long naps. Lucy's have been slowly shortening but she took 3+ hour naps on both Friday and Saturday. I enjoyed the peace.

• A shopping trip with only Jonah. I love having Lucy as shopping helper but I forget how very quiet it is to shop with just Jonah. He enjoys people watching and finding things to point at or sign about. The drive home among the fall foliage was so peaceful but it was almost too quiet. Almost. 

• More couch/bed snuggles, some with books, some with more Mary Poppins, some with the bed magically becoming a large swan's nest where mommy and daddy swans can read the paper and baby swans are allowed to bounce, at least until someone ends up with a bonked noggin. I think they are starting to feel better.

Fevers appear to have broken and the snotty kisses have dwindled and I think we'll be back to our usual routine in another day or two but every once in a while, it's nice to take some time to just breathe. Even if you don't get any amazing pictures out of it.