Another Ordinary Day, Transformed

I feel like I got major mommy points last night. What started out as any other kind of day filled with laundry, cooking, cleaning up after the cooking, whining children, and sneaking in a teensy nap, I decided to forgo the normal dinner/nighttime/bedtime routine with the kids and switch it up a bit while I still could.

It all started with a Groupon that was expiring.

I bought a Groupon months ago to a fabulous cafe and bakery in town. Of course I forgot about it until last Friday. It was only valid Mon-Thurs, so I thought to use it for my good friend's birthday, which was also yesterday. When I contacted Valerie about wanting to have some birthday fun that day, she told me her husband had beat me to the plan-making. Back to square one.

I didn't want to spend the whole value ($14) on "just food", especially $10 worth of kids' meals. Their food is great, but my sweet tooth has been working overtime. So lunch was out, especially since I have fabulous leftover options in my fridge at all times. Ted couldn't join me until his work was over, but I knew if I took the kids to get pastries and cookies, they wouldn't touch any dinner.

What started out as a problem turned into making a fabulous pot of Lentil Sausage Soup and slicing and buttering some homemade Dilly Bread (mom's recipe), picking up Daddy and going to the park for a nighttime picnic. The cold weather hit hard yesterday, so I packed ski jackets and hats and our fuzzy waterproof picnic blanket to make sure we were comfy. We found a well-lit pavilion with grassy spots all around, and there we sat, bundled up for winter weather holding warm bowls of steamy, savory soup and sopping up the broth with homemade herb bread. I had a moment of pure content. Then we packed it all up and went to Gourmandise to try to choose from the wide variety of gorgeous, tasty treats. Our waitress was a joy, kids were gleeful, and I got a dense chocolate raspberry brownie that I will try to duplicate soon. The best part? Our whole Groupon was spent on SUGAR!!

And just in time. It snowed while we were sleeping. I can do a 40-degree picnic, but not a 30-degree one. :)