You Don't See That Every Day

A friend and I were talking about a spouse's birthday and the conversation slowly evolved into talking about date nights. There are a gazillion ideas on where to spend your date night. (Just google those two words and you'll get some amazing ideas.) But actually putting them into practice isn't so easy. Two Christmas's ago I was trying to come up with a creative gift idea for my husband. I didn't want to just buy him another shirt, or box of chocolate covered cherries. A lady in a study group suggested an idea, which I think she used one year herself.  So I took 12 pieces of paper and on each one I wrote a day from each month. For example, I looked at my January calendar, and knowing there would be swim meets and basketball games, I found a day that was open and so I wrote that on slip of paper: Jan 12. Then I did that for the rest of the months, checking my calendar, mentally reviewing what goes on in each month, or certain birthdays/holidays/school events, and th...

Dear Friend overseas, I haven't been too good at keeping in touch, and I apologize for that. But you know how summer gets around here! Let me catch you up on the month of August at least. I have to do that before I can post back-to-school pictures. The Cousins came to town. We're naming this summer the Summer of the Cousins. In July as I posted earlier, my kids got to hang out with all their paternal cousins - which hasn't happened ...ever. In August we had cousins come to stay at our place. Which involved the necessary trip to the Oregon coast, since it was in the triple digits at home! What a beautiful day it was too! No wind, warm and just about perfect. It also included the traditional damming-of-a-river. Some of them worked hard at it. We had the traditional fare at Mo's restaurant and ended the day with ice cream. We also spent one of the hot afternoons at a local aquatic center. I got up the courage to go down the big twisty slide, but no way ...

Owning a home allows a person to have a great dating life. As long as those dates are to stores like Home Depot. The Mr. has been working on the upstairs remodel as time and money allow. And we are nearly done with it! The bedrooms are 99% complete and the bathroom is getting there. The countertop and sink and that tile is in. One light is up, but not attached. The shower has taken the longest time. He had to cut the concrete board and get it fitted for the shower. The sheetrock in the bath is nearly all up, and the mudding process will begin soon (I think). Then it will be tile, floor, toilet, and turn everything on! But then the front deck rotted out, and we've been working on that. Since the plate below the door also is gone, we have to replace the front door; which means we actually have to go down together and pick out a door to order. Which means we have to find time to do this together. Looks like another date night to Home Depot. Along with all this fun we found ano...

It has been 17 years and a day since we said our vows. And what a ride we've had so far. We didn't have a chance to go out and celebrate yesterday, so we found time today to spend together. First we went on a run together. I am in the tapering mode now for the marathon, so while I only ran 8 miles, the Mr. kept going for another 4. After a nice, needed nap, I took the girls to the park and he stayed home to recover some more, with the boy, a movie, and food. We were blessed by our neighbors last night with meatballs, which became supper for the kids tonight, while the Mr and I went out for dinner at Applebees. Oh my, that burger was good!! We used a gift card we had, so dinner was free; then we went for dessert at Jamba Juice - mmmmmm. And again, using a gift card, we got free drinks. The entire date cost us 79 cents! Woohoo - I think Dave Ramsey would say that's a win. One other nice thing about our date - we actually did not go to Home Depot, or talk about Home Depot;...

We got to go out on a date the other night! Thanks to the school my son attends - our name was drawn in a raffle - we had a night at Red Robin! Yum! That bacon guacamole burger is so good, And it was nice to just talk and hang out with my best friend. We didn't even end the evening at Home Depot like we usually do! Today - Saturday - was a work day. After the young girl's basketball game (7 down, 1 to go) we got things done around the house. I finally got out to take down the Christmas lights off the gutters. We are in the process of transitioning the littlest into a bed. All of the others were in beds by 18 months or so. She is almost 2 and it is time! We start with naps in the big bed and then eventually move to nighttime also. And the men of the house went to work upstairs! It's mudding time! Which means it will eventually be time to paint. And then order the carpet and flooring. And then move the kids in! They started in the boy's room: ...