Date Night "V"

To be perfectly honest, I'm starting to feel like our ABC date nights are never going to end.  We are both stalling with these last few letters and they seem harder than ever. Nevertheless, we soilder on.  It's hubby's turn and he chooses to go out for pizza. Veggie Pizza. 
Hubby is a meat lover, so his concession to veggie pizza for the sake of the letter "V" is no small thing  Gotta give credit where credit is due!

While waiting for our pizza to come, hubby pulls out a notebook and gives us each a piece of paper.  He instructed me to make a list of the top five accomplishments I value most.  Now, for some people this may seem easy, but I was stumped.  Hubby is quickly compiling his list and I am sitting there feeling kind of lost.  Eventually, I did come up with a few.  One being that we raised some pretty terrific kids.  It's kind of hard to think of that as an accomplishment, BUT, I guess it counts....right?  I sure hope so since that's what I spent over twenty five years of my life doing!  It's hard to believe how fast that time went and even crazier, that we are now grandparents!  So, we spent some time talking about our lists.....It's surprising the things we learn about each other when we do these sorts of things.  Amazing, in fact, the conversations that we have when we're away from home and the distractions there, especially the TV!

Because Hubby's date nights usually always include food there was only one natural conclusion to this date: Vanilla Ice Cream!

We spent the rest of our time talking about dream vacation destinations.  Hubby wanted to plan a vacation for this year but since we are already going on a family vacation this summer with all the kiddos, we decided we would delay our next trip until 2013.  One of the downfalls of being self employed is there isn't any paid vacation time.....but it gets balanced out with the perk of getting to be the employee of the month EVERY month!  In any event, we have some great ideas and lots of time to think and dream about Vacation 2013!  Vegas?  Virgin Islands?  Venice?  The possibilities are endless!

Date Night "U"

Well, well, well.  I finally figured out something fun to do for our "U" date.  After much pondering, along with an unquestionably out-of-character spring day we headed to the city of Utica for an afternoon of hiking.  Hubby is addicted enjoys a drive to anywhere.  I think he must be a castoff of yesteryear when families went for Sunday drives.  My practical self can hardly abide this pastime of his--especially with gas nearing the $4.00 a gallon mark. Beyond that, my aforementioned practical self does not understand this pastime AT ALL.  I find being stuck in the car on a beautiful day depressing.  I want to be OUTSIDE.  So, you have to understand how difficult this was for me--but, since I decided to go with this idea, I had to at least act like I was going to enjoy it!  (Hubby is sensitive like that.  Somehow he's on to me when I sit in the passenger seat, stone faced, only breaking the silence with, "Are we there yet"?)  I know, I know.  My behavior is that of a six year old pouting on 12 hour trip to nowhere.  I'm not proud of it and I don't quite understand it myself.  So, date martyr that I am, I got myself geared up mentally and spiritually (attitude-wise).  Once Hubby knew what we were doing, he looked at me like I'd lost my mind.  Which led to this conversation:
Hubby:  "Are you sure you want to do this?  I don't want to go if you're going to hate it."
Ouch
Me:  "I was trying to do something unusual ~ so I thought I would try to be more understanding of your love for day trips".  (A martyr needs her due recognition.)
Hubby: "Wow, that is truly unbelievable".
So funny, that guy is.
Anyway.
Utica is the home of Starved Rock State Park and we've hiked there before so we knew we'd enjoy the waterfalls and the first signs of spring.  (Hiking I enjoy, it's the preceding drive.....)  Since spring came SO early this year, we actually saw wildflowers!!  This is no small thing--their website has a Spring Wildflower walk as an activity to do the first week of May and we were there the second week in March!

 I'm not sure what it is about a waterfall, but they are awesome!


We finished up the afternoon with going to into town to have lunch and driving to a few nearby antique stores.  What's a day trip without antiquing? (Something Hubby would say--not me)

 Hubby also loves to take pictures of old barns and we stopped all along the way home to indulge in that pastime.







I wish I could express how much this is all NOT me (with the exception of hiking) but it was fun to see him enjoy doing all the things he loves. And that, in turn gave me joy.
(Well, that, and the fact that I was rewarded with my car being washed inside and out, and vacuumed!  There was even carryover into the next day--My kitchen was sparkling clean when I woke up!)  Seems to me that someone (ahem...me) should have paid better attention when I read Gary Chapman's book, "The Five Love Languages".  Clearly the guy is on to something!
If only I could remember this valuable lesson for the next Sunday drive/antiquing/and take pictures of barns day trip~~which in all likelihood will be sooner than I think!

                                         “Love is a choice you make everyday.” 

                                                                            ― Gary Chapman

         

Date Night "T"

Well, we are quietly winding down our Alphabet Dating.  It's hard to believe we started this nearly a year ago and yes, we've taken a few breaks but we are determined to finish strong!  How that will happen is yet to be discovered as some of the most difficult letters are ahead of us!  Hubby decided to sprinkle pelter the night with an abundance of "T"s.  It was a Thursday when he texted me to tell me "Date Night is On!"  I asked him if we were going out or staying in and when he wrote back "staying in and I'm cooking" my response was....."fine with me" and I snuggled deeper into the couch with my book.  About an hour later he sauntered in with dinner:

             

                                               Tossed Salad
                                               Tortellini
                                               Texas Toast
                                               Turtle Pie

I had to laugh because he actually bought ciabatta rolls to go with dinner, and later said, "I didn't care what kind of bread I bought--I was calling it Texas Toast!  I also love it that for Hubby "cooking" was purchasing the above items and heating them up or taking them out of packages! However, I am always grateful for a night off from cooking and was happy to sit down to a delightful dinner not prepared by me!
Dinner wasn't all that started with "T".  Rounding out the evening was two tulips, a game of Ten Things I like about you, and a movie, The Tourist!  When Hubby gets a hold of a letter he takes it seriously!!

I know I've said it before but even though we both search and sometimes exhaust ourselves for ideas it honestly doesn't matter what we end up doing.  It's fun to be the person who plans and it's fun to the person who get planned for.  Either way it's a win-win!  Now that we're nearing the finish line, I find myself wondering what other theme we could come up with for the next round of Date Nights.  But first, we have to make it through U, V, W, X, Y and Z.  -------Aaaargh!

Date Night "S"

Well, I must admit this continues to get harder instead of easier!  "S" seemed like a pretty easy letter. After all, it's one of the most chosen letters in Wheel of Fortune, it's greatly coveted in Scrabble and Words With Friends and yet I was struggling. The obvious word and idea is not conducive to a blog post so I forged on.  (You can thank me later.)
Our little friend was celebrating her 10th birthday and she wanted to go roller-skating so I decided that Part One of our date would be that we go roller skating with her, rather than sit on the sidelines to watch.  Now keep in mind that the last time I skated was probably grade school and I was pretty awful then.  I didn't hold out much hope that the years had graced me with improvement, but honestly, I always wanted to try again.  It seems a little unfair that Hubby is a natural at all things athletic.  And that should give you a heads up of what the afternoon was going to look like!

This is what I envisioned in my "Well, I AM older but surely I'm more coordinated now" version. 

No surprise to anyone but myself--THIS was much closer to reality.  

Meanwhile back at the ranch rink Hubby was skating with all the finesse of an Olympic contender.

My secret thrill was seeing all the little kids hang onto Hubby for dear life. Before long they were all tangled up in a sea of legs which resulted in a pretty funny trip and sprawl effect.  I would have taken a picture of it, but it was considered such a risk for me to skate with our camera that I didn't get a chance to snap that one.  So here's the two of us.  I'm smiling because I'm not falling and Hubby is, well, probably just delighted that I didn't take him down one more time.

The date must not have been a total loss because on the way to our car hubby whispered this sweet nothing in my ear: "Next time we should try ice skating."
Thank the Good Lord that we've already covered the letter "I"!!
Later that night for Part Two, we went to a mall where we each had to spend $10.00 in seventeen minutes buying something for each other that started with the letter "S".  I went for the obvious--St. Louis Cardinals memorabilia and Hubby went much more literal. He was quite proud of the fact that he scored two items with two "s"'s in them.  Sea Salt and Strawberry Sweetheart truffles.  Afterwards, we shared a shake at Whiteys. Actually, I cannot tell a lie.  We wanted to share a shake because it starts with "S" but the truth is we each got our own thing, didn't share it and it didn't start with "S" but hey, there's some things you just can't mess with.  Like ice cream.

One last thing--Happy 10th Birthday to our sweet ZamZam.  Thanks for giving us the opportunity to try something new!  

Date Night "R"

I admit it.  We'd fallen off the ABC Date Night wagon. Well, technically Hubby fell off first and then I let him off the hook way too easily.  It was early November when our "R" Date Night should have taken place and yet when the time came, Hubby said nothing and did nothing.  My feelings were a little hurt and I thought I'd wait it out and see if he'd say anything first. (gotta love those mind games)  Before I knew it, Thanksgiving was only a few days away.
But, I waited.  And waited.
Eventually, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to just ask him if he had forgotten?  I did feel a bit sad to think he'd just brushed it aside and the truth is he didn't really have a great answer.  He just kind of mumbled something unintelligible, and for good measure, he threw in a sheepish smile.  Hmmm. At this point, my mind immediately shifts to ridiculous perfectly normal questions. Doesn't he like Date Night?  Is he tired of it?  Why doesn't he like Date Night?  Why doesn't he care?  Maybe, he just doesn't want to spend time with me?  Fair questions in my book but in the world of men, it seems that you can just forget, or not have a great idea, then procrastinate and hope for the best.
I'd love to blame it all on him but honestly, I should have spoken up sooner.
One of the things I love best about this idea is that we take turns planning the dates for each other. Several women have told me that their husbands would never want to do the planning (? what's up with that ?) so--- I've been very thankful that hubby has been a great sport from the beginning.
We've each had to put aside all expectations and just go with whatever the other had planned.
We've each come up with some great ideas and yes, some semi-clinkers but at least we tried....we made the time.....and we were always blessed for the effort.
But being forgotten didn't feel so wonderful.
And if I hadn't waited so long to speak up, maybe Hubby wouldn't have thought it must not have really mattered to me.
So, in a way, "R" is for 'reality'---Someone had to make the first move.
And, even though it technically wasn't my turn--
(Ahem....this is where I get some kind of gold star, right?)
I decided that since I had an idea and we were only a few days into the New Year, it was the perfect time to start anew and change things for the better.  In order to get the proverbial ball rolling again, I swallowed my pride and suggested we could use Date Night "R" to talk about "Resolutions."
In our marriage, I'm for sure the planner and the list maker and hubby is more the spontaneous, let's "just do it" kind of guy, so he probably thought it more like I was out for REVENGE when I suggested the idea.
But, as usual, he surprised me and gave it his all.  We spent the evening talking about all kinds of things that we'd like to improve on in the year to come.  We set some individual goals as well as a few that we can do together.  I'm excited about all the plans we've made for 2012 beginning with:  Resume ABC Date Nights!

Date Night "Q"

                                                               

I was super excited for "Q" night.

#1.  I actually HAD an idea for "Q"!
 #2.  I actually managed to surprise hubby!!!!  (There are not enough exclamation marks in this world to describe how I feel about this incredible feat.  Somehow, he always figures out every birthday gift, every Christmas gift, and every everything I have ever tried to keep a secret.) 
We went to Chicago for this event--I bought tickets for a matinee show so we headed up early.  When we stopped for lunch I asked him if he knew yet where we were going he said,  "I have no idea!"  So, GPS in hand, we set out for the city.  I didn't tell him what we doing until we arrived at our destination and he could read the marquee.  

The Apollo Theatre is located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood and since we were a little early, we pulled right into the parking lot next to the theater.  (A big plus since parking can be such a pain in Chicago!)  We had heard about this show from friends in our small group a couple of years ago and I've always kept in the back of my mind, knowing it was something we would both enjoy.  If you don't know the story you can read about it here.  The theater itself is described as "intimate" and only seats 440 people--so every seat is pretty amazing and we just smiled, laughed and tapped our feet throughout the entire production.  We both love the music from this era and I didn't think we would be disappointed but you just never know. I am delighted to say we 100% loved every minute. We even learned a few things that we never knew before.  For example, did you know that Carl Perkins originally wrote and recorded the song, "Blue Suede Shoes"--Not Elvis Presley?  I had never even heard of Carl Perkins until I saw this show.  The cast members were so talented and we were completely mesmerized for the entire afternoon by the incredibly talented performers of this show. Because I want you to enjoy it as much as we did, I implore you to watch this clip from the David Letterman show.
Since Beautiful Daughter #2 and Son-in-Law #2 live close by, we topped our evening off by meeting them for dinner.  We went to On the Border where we each claimed we were going to order quesadillas in honor of "Q" night, but alas, that didn't happen because were all too tempted by the multitude of other options on the menu!  Wonderful afternoon and evening!  

*Date Night Disclaimer:  I am embarrassed to admit that this date night took place the end of October and we haven't been on a date since!  The holidays and a new placement from Lydia Home have kept us pretty busy.  Now that it's a new year, we plan to get our date nights back on track.....beginning with "R"----for Resolutions.  

Date Night "P"

Another gorgeous fall day awaited us as we made plans to head to a nearby Pumpkin Patch.  Beautiful Daughter #1, Son-in-Law #1, and SGE (sweetest grandson ever) had also made plans to go on the same day and never one to resist an outing with SGE we decided to make it another family date.  Even oh-so-charming son and his girlfriend joined us for awhile.
The "date" quickly turned into a photo shoot of SGE which is always fun, even though on this particular date SGE was pretty distracted by all the people, pumpkins and WIND.

We moved along pretty quickly, (due to the excessive wind) chose our pumpkins, gourds, apples, kettle korn.....You name it, we bought it.  We bought the apples to make pie later on that afternoon.  (continuation of hubby's  "P" ideas)  All in all, the day was.....ok. Don't get me wrong.  We love being with our kids and we are absolutely in love with our grandson.....I mean, really, who can resist this sweet little face?  Certainly not us.

But "family dates" aren't really dates.  Much like when our kids were little and hogging all the attention, there's not much time for each other.  So, lesson learned.  We still had a great time and, (small wonder!!) someone even managed to snap a picture of us!  Have I mentioned how windy it was?

........and later that afternoon, we baked an apple pie together.  Every fall, I make apple pie but this was the first time ever that hubby helped!  And it was even his idea.  Perfect!
And delicious!

                                                                                 

Date Night "O"

There are times when I question the wisdom of our great idea of Date Nights based on the alphabet.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's harder than I thought!
For "O" all I could up with was "Outdoors."
That was okay I guess.
We had  been working outdoors all weekend~~doing yard work, cleaning out the garage....Not exactly Date Night material (although my love language is acts of service)
But, since it was my turn to plan it wasn't about me.  Rats.
Lawn mowed, weeds pulled, junk cleared out of the garage and still all I had was "outdoors." I kept hoping for divine intervention in the form of an idea of something outrageously wonderful to do.  Nothing.
But-as they say, sometimes the simplest things are the best.
We ended up just going for a walk in the park.
Sat on a park bench for awhile.
You know what?  It was pretty wonderful.
Autumn was just beginning to show her colors, the sun was bright and the sky was that shade of blue that you only see in the fall.  We sat there on that bench together for a long time, satisfied with our weekend tasks completed and enjoyed the beauty of God's creation.
Just sat there and soaked it up.
Hmmm.
Outrageously Wonderful indeed.

Date Night "N"

Well.......who would've thought "N" would end up being such a difficult letter?  Hubby struggled.  And struggled.  Claims he even resorted to a google search. The funny thing about that is all he came up with there was "necking" and "nudist beach."  Now, we're not against either of those things but wouldn't you think that there would've been something a little more "G" rated?  Hubby jokingly threatened early in the week that we would be doing "nothing" as he continued to struggle.  (All I could think of was how relieved I am that I already have "Q" planned!)
In the end, befuddled and frustrated, he threw in the towel--and we headed out the door for dinner at Noodles.

Not exactly original but hey, it's a night out and who am I to complain?  At this time we still had our two little girls from Lydia Home and any break was fine by me.  The girls were pretty sweet most of the time but prone to sudden meltdowns amidst the occasional tantrum and foot stomping.  So, when hubby let me know he felt like he let me down by not coming up with something more exciting I assured him that anything would be wonderful and doggone it--I meant it. The girls were scheduled to have an overnight visit with their mom, so after dinner we decided at the last minute to go all out and make it a "Night at the movies."

  The movie was wonderful.....I love to get lost in a good story and I love love love going to a movie as opposed to say.....Redbox.  I'm no movie critic but this movie was soooooooo good and the better the movie is the more delighted I am that I got to see it in a theater instead of my living room.  Something about the experience of the big screen, no distractions and someone else popping the popcorn just makes me happy!

Having little ones in our home reminded me of how much I wished we would have had regular date nights when our children were young.  Kids really do have a way of hogging all the attention (I mean that in the nicest way) and it is SO true that after decades of that, plus not much attention on your spouse equals a ho-hum marriage.  At least in our case. So, hubby--you may have thought you fell short this date night but for me---It was nice--even nifty--and with nary a complaint from me!  

Date Night "M"

"M" brings us to halfway mark.  Thinking back, we started off slow but determined and along the way we've had some delays, a few clunkers, and some great memories.  It's hard not to stop and reflect here---in the center of the alphabet.   Where to begin? So many lessons learned already.

"M" was my night to plan and I went with "Memory Lane."  We started off our evening a little unsettled as we had two new little ones placed with us through Lydia Home just a few days prior to this date night.  We were given a two hour window for our date by our babysitter for the evening.  Two hours seems like enough in theory, but by the time you orchestrate drop off and pick-up complete with tantrums and tears, it's really more like an hour and a half, maybe less.  So, short and sweet is how we played it.  Still summer, air conditioning in full throttle, we set off to have dinner at the restaurant where we had our first date.  Ironically, it's the same building but now has a different name, appropriately starting with the letter "M"!

In my humble opinion, not nearly as wonderful as the restaurant that was there thirty-some years ago, especially on this night when their air conditioning was on the fritz, our salads were lukewarm and our waitress was full of sarcasm.  Being the date night troopers that we are, we rose above all of that and headed to a park up the hill for part two.  I had packed up our old photo albums and we carried them to a picnic table in the shade.

It was still HOT, but it also was a beautiful summer night and we enjoyed looking through our old pictures even if our most frequent comment was, "Look how skinny we were!" Although I had brought several photo albums, our attention pretty much zoomed in on our wedding pictures as we each shared memories of that day.
We both got lost in indescribable feelings and thoughts as we scrutinized those photos trying to recapture that special day and absorbing the undeniable fact that the years have flown, just absolutely flown by.

As for lessons learned at the halfway mark?  Well, for one, marriage takes work, sometimes really hard work.  I don't know why that continues to be a surprise to me. We still fight. We still laugh. And we still cry. But, surrendering our marriage to God is one of the best decisions we've ever made.  God has honored that decision over and over, in spite of the days when we are our worst enemies, when we slip and struggle, and especially in spite of our selfish selves.  Every day we're getting a little better at seeing this new thing He's doing in us and in our marriage--and that is truly something to behold!  (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Date Night "L"

Back into the swing of things.....sorta.  After a month with twins in our home, it took us a few weeks to get Date Night going again.  Trust me when I say the recuperation time was necessary! At long last.  If we don't pick up the pace we're never going to finish the alphabet and after all, I've got letters like "Q" and "Z" to look forward to planning! figure out what on earth I'm doing.  We've struggled with easy letters so gee, I can hardly wait!  (insert sarcasm here)
It's always nice when it's hubby's turn to plan and all I have to do is show up.  One thing I can count on is that when it's his turn we'll for sure be going out for dinner.  Since I cook almost every night, this works for me!  He's pretty sweet about choosing a restaurant he thinks I'll like or one that we've never been to before.  This night, in honor of the letter "L" he chose Lunardi's, an Italian restaurant near us.  My dinner was DEE-licious--I had pasta marsala---our waitress recommended it and it was pretty yummy!  Hubby stuck with the "L" theme and ordered lasagna.....gotta love a rule follower!

That has to be an optical illusion.           >>>>
No way is my plate that much bigger than his!

Afterwards, we headed to Lindsay Park and had  fun just hanging out and watching the world go by. Hubby brought along some conversation starters.....you would think after nearly thirty-one years of marriage we wouldn't need them.....but sometimes it surprises me when we just take the time to talk....or should I say Listen?

Proof that a great date night doesn't have to cost much or take an enormous amount of planning.  On the way home, we impulsively decided to stop for lemon meringue pie which was a double bonus for me.  I can't eat lemon meringue pie without remembering my mom (it's a dessert we both loved) and I'm pretty sure calories don't count on when the treat lines up with the letter for the night!

Date Night "K"

"K" is for Krazy.  Yep.  That's what we are.  Even our house was nicknamed "Krazytown."
I know that fostering twins is not a date, but since everything in our life including Date Nights came to a screeching halt while we had those sweet little baby girls, we decided our "K" Date Night was really "K" Krazy Kid Month.  For sure it met one of the requirements of Date Night as in we constantly strived to put the other first (even when we were exhausted.)  I say when we were exhausted, not if, because from the moment those babies entered our home it seemed they never stopped moving, and therefore, neither did we!
Everyone loves babies, and everyone loves twins.  Yes, they are adorable.  But, may I state the obvious?  There are TWO of them!  Two that needed to be fed breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks... Two that needed to be held, kissed, and sometimes rocked before each nap and bedtime. Two that needed reassurance during the night.  Two whose feet and hands moved constantly. Two to bathe and in this case twice the screams when we washed their hair! Twice the diaper changes.  And my personal favorite--Two to wrestle into and out of car seats.  I know they are necessary but seriously, what is WITH all those buckles and straps?  And could someone pleeaaaaasssssseeee invent a car seat that can be faced forward so that when babies and toddlers need to be attended to it does not require the skill of an Olympic gymnast?

Having said that, we honestly enjoyed our time with the girls.  It was truly a blessing to be a part of their lives and to see the outpouring of support from our family and friends was amazing.  Within two days of bringing the twins home, Beautiful Daughter #1 and friends had located and delivered to us:
2 pack-n-plays, 2 high chairs, 2 baby gates, 1 double stroller, toys, clothing, blankets, bibs....all accompanied by genuine interest, concern, and prayers!

It took us awhile to get settled but eventually things calmed down (a little) and we did have respite care on three of the four weekends they were with us.  We took advantage of that time by doing a quick clean sweep of the house, running to the grocery store to reload, and yes, napping!  And best of all....relishing in knowing we would be getting an uninterrupted night's sleep.  The month sped by in a blur. Typically we awoke to soaking wet diapers, moved quickly on to breakfast, playtime, looking at books, lunch, nap, walks, looking at books, swim outings, trips to the park, looking at books, dinner, bottles, baths, and....bedtime!  When hubby came home from work, he spent hours playing with the girls and reading to them.

Did I mention how much these girls loved books?  Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to read.  Ever since I was a child one of my favorite places to go was to the library!  Take me to a bookstore and I'm in heaven....but I admit that I actually found myself stuffing books under our couch just to get a short reprieve!
It's been a long time since we've parented small children and wowser, did our bodies ever remind us of that!  Imagine coming downstairs with one baby, sprinting upstairs to get the other, only to find the first has climbed halfway back up and then multiply that fun little exercise x oh, 20-100 per day.  This particular exercise lessened considerably after acquiring the aforementioned baby gates.  Here's another fun one:  "Oh, I'll just carry them both at once."  Twenty one pounds perched on each hip?  That's forty-two pounds of extra weight to balance.  Ummm...that's a lot. Needless to say, that idea was used only in times of desperation.
And yes. I know. We're old.
But in my defense, in less than two hours they wore out our little 9 year old friend who came to help for a day.  In addition, my 11 and 14 year old nieces were in town visiting and they also wilted after one afternoon. I will forever be in awe of any parent of multiples.

Evidently we are Krazy, because, yes, we'd do it again.  Even willingly give up another Date Night.  Why?

We were so blessed.  Twice the smiles.  Twice the hugs.  Twice the snuggles.  On the topic of blessings it is not lost on me that for a long time my heart ached with the truth that my own children were all grown up, and because of Date Nights, especially Date Night "I," God made a way for both of us to once again enjoy the marvelous experience of loving and being loved by babies.  These girls will always have a place in our heart.
    Totally worth it.

Date Night "J"

On Procrastination:  "Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday." ~Author Unknown  


So..........we went on our "J" date way back in June, but shortly after that we accepted our first request from Lydia Home to care for fourteen month old twins! Looking back, I see it may have been wiser for me to have been caught up on blogging but how was I to know my life was about to be turned upside down?  I can procrastinate fine all by myself but aided by caring for the constant needs of two toddlers things went downhill in that area quickly!   I have only recently regained control of bills, laundry, cleaning etc....  There.  Explanation given. Procrastination over.  And now that I'm two weeks post-twins, I'm actually starting to get a little bored!


This Date Night was a little unconventional.  It was more of a "family" date and it wasn't at "night" but when Beautiful Daughter #2 invited us to meet up with her, Beautiful Daughter #1, sons-in-law and the Sweetest Grandson Ever on Father's day, we quickly agreed it would be fun to go on a little jaunt. ( It didn't hurt that it also bailed out hubby who couldn't come up with a "J" idea to save his soul.)  And anyway, who could resist a day with hubby, daughters, sons-in-law, and the SGE? Hence, Date Night "J" turned into Date Day "Jaunt."  


About two hours from us is a place called Sandwich, Illinois where they have an enormous flea market.  We had been there before--years ago--and it was truly a sight to behold.  

Tons of quality exhibitors and food vendors were spread out all over the Sandwich Fairgrounds and we easily spent the whole day there. There was so much to see it was almost overwhelming.  When we arrived this June, the Market was considerably smaller and not much was offered in the way of food. We were told that the economy had drastically effected the participation of vendors. Between this and the lack of food vendors we were a bit underwhelmed but we still enjoyed our time there. But, really, what's an outdoor flea market without some yummy treat like onion rings? funnel cake?  I know it's not the State Fair but I can get a pretzel or nachos at my local community pool!  Well, since it was HOT-and by hot I mean sweltering--even in the shade, it ended up being just dandy that we were only there for a little while.  When we ran out of things to look at there, we headed into town and found a couple of air-conditioned antique malls to meander around in. 


Seeing as it was a combination Date Night with Family, a Father's Day celebration and son-in-law #1's birthday, we ended our day having dinner together. We opened some presents and shared some desert in honor of the day.  All in all, it was a great date made all the more special because we got to spend it with these wonderful people!
A little jaunt = a LOT of joy!

BD#2 and Son-in-Law #2

BD#1 and Son-in-Law #1 with Sweetest-Grandson-Ever

Hubby and Me/Father's Day 2011

ABC Date Nights "I"

So....I have mentioned that sometimes I cheat when thinking of ideas but when I think about it, it's not like we ever set a rule that stated our ideas must be completely our own.  So technically, I guess I don't really cheat.  Hitherto and henceforth, I'll call any idea(s) that I don't come up with all by myself "borrowed" or "adapted" instead of "cheating." In any event, the original idea for our "I" date night isn't mine!  
Sometimes, when I do have an idea, it just doesn't sound that fun at the time. For example, for the letter "I" I had considered going ice skating.  We actually have an indoor ice skating rink within minutes of us, but for some reason I just didn't wanna!  Which is weird, because I have always wanted to learn how to ice skate. Correction.  I've always wanted to learn how to ice skate without falling every 2.3 seconds.  I even own ice skates that were given to me for Christmas when I was a teenager!  My memories of that winter and trying to ice skate are pretty fuzzy but they pretty much all involve falling.  Over and over. Meanwhile, my siblings, who also received ice skates that Christmas, merrily skated all around me.  I have eleven siblings so that means at a minimum, at least four or five of them were already mastering a figure eight while I was still picking myself up from my one millionth fall.  To this day, I wonder why they all found it so easy and I was the token awkward one!?  In addition, hubby is a remarkably good teacher/coach in anything sports related so, in a way, it's odd to me that I didn't choose ice skating. Hmmm.  
Instead, I went looking to "borrow" an idea.  I frequently visit this website, The Romantic Vineyard, and came across a post for an I.Heart.List.  The basic idea of the I.Heart.List is to create a list of things we would love to do someday (much like a bucket list).  I was intrigued!  Ironically, the author of this post gives credit for the idea to another great date night website, Project 52: Date Nights. (guess I'm not the only one who borrows ideas!) Now that I have given proper acknowledgement to all, on with our "I" Date Night.   
I have always thought it would be fun to make homemade ice cream so it was at the top of my list for the night.  Beautiful Daughter #2 just happens to have a pretty fancy ice cream machine and I borrowed it from her.  Basically, you just mix the ingredients together and turn the machine on for twenty minutes!  After that, you freeze it for two hours and abracadabra--Ice Cream!  The actual process of making the ice cream was SO simple that I almost felt a little cheated out of the "homemade" part!  

While the ice cream was churning, we moved on to making Italian Four Cheese Margherita Pizza.  It was super easy and super delicious!  
After dinner, we went for a walk and when we returned, we started on our I.Heart.Lists. I found some prompts (by googling, of course) and we both proceeded to go through a list of questions.  We answered each question for ourselves and also what we thought the other person's answer would be.  For instance, one of the questions was "What have you always wanted to do but not done yet?"  For me, one of my answers was learn how to ice skate!  For hubby, it was oil painting....This was one of the easier questions.  Needless to say, some of the questions are pretty thought provoking and revealed some surprises about us!  I knew my hubby would enjoy antiquing across America but when one of the questions asked "what event would you want to witness in person?" I would have never guessed his answer!  Bear with me as I explain. We have welcomed into our family a single father and his daughter who have resettled here after years of living in a refugee camp in Kenya.  We enjoy spending time with them and helping them with a myriad of things that they wrestle with as they continue to adapt to life in America.  Eighteen years after our friend fled from his country, he discovered that his mother, brother and sister were okay and still living in Ethiopia.

I.Heart.List 2011

My unbelievably kind and caring hubby, in answer to the above question, wrote, "to see my friend reunite with his family."  Our lists revealed many things about each other but none were as revealing as the size of my hubby's heart! Granted some of the things we wrote were silly, and some were just big dreams but it really opened our eyes to so many possibilities and helped us to focus on how or if we were going to make any of those dreams come true! One of things that I included on my list was that I have always wanted was for us to consider becoming foster parents. A couple of months ago we had picked up an information packet at our church about becoming a Safe Family for Lydia Home.  After completing our I.Heart.Lists, we finally filled out our application form, and have now finished our home study and interview.  A few more steps and we will be approved! Another amazing blessing from God as we continue to look to Him for the next step in our marriage!

Oh, and I didn't forget the ice cream.  For a bonus we added some Reese's and Snickers to make it even better.  You can never go wrong with a little extra chocolate!  A great finish to a pretty wonderful night.