I’m finally getting around to announcing the winner of the Gridiron Belles book giveaway. And wow! What a big weekend in the SEC, huh? I wish our Gamecocks had come out victorious, but you win some and you lose some. I can’t believe we only have about a month left of football!
I used Random Integer Generator to pick a winner and it chose #54!
A big congratulations to my friend, Megan, from Perfectly Imperfect! Just email me to redeem your autographed book!
I mentioned yesterday the idea of at-home date nights. I decided that if I’m going to give this a try at my house, I should come up with a good list of different at-home date night ideas. This helps us simplify, but also helps us get creative and be a little more thoughtful when it comes to planning our dates. This helps us save money by not having to hire a babysitter. I love our babysitter, but it does get expensive. And it’s kind of stressful for someone else to put your kids to bed.
These 20 ideas only work if both people are on board. No checking your phone, no glancing at the TV to catch the score (unless it’s part of the “date”) and no grumbling. Enjoy your time together.
If you have kids, put your kids to bed and make sure they are sound asleep. The whole idea is to do this without having to hire a babysitter and without having to send the kids to the grandparents’ house.
Do you have any ideas for date nights at home? What do you like to do?
*I actually don’t even like The Princess Bride, but I couldn’t resist.
I am really enjoying the Mom to Mom Bible study that I’ve been participating in at church on Tuesday mornings. This week we talked about the “monsters” that plague our marriages and I could relate to so many of them.
Despite our obvious flaws, I think that TC and I have a great marriage. We’re not perfect and we definitely have our share of spats and arguments. I am, actually, usually the instigator. For those that know me in real life, I’m sure this does not surprise you. Our marriage has its share of difficulties. But we share some very critical, common beliefs. When we first starting dating, we knew where the other one stood in their relationship with Christ. And being married to TC has only strengthened my relationship with Christ.
We also happen to be very good friends. I just love him. He makes me laugh, he makes me roll my eyes, he makes me angry and he impresses me on a daily basis.
I am so glad to know that making an effort to work on your marriage is normal. Because I have to work at being thoughtful. I have to make a conscious effort to be thoughtful. I know what he likes and I know what makes him happy. But there are some days when I feel like I don’t have anything else to give. So reminding myself to greet him with a smile instead of unloading my day on him is something I do every day.
I know that petty annoyances don’t bother him a bit, so I don’t need to waste my time going on and on about something that drove me nuts.
I am tired. And I spend my entire day chasing little people and responding to cries, whines, requests and tantrums. After my children go to bed, I’m ready to lie down on the couch and not think. But I know that having good, quality conversation (not heavy conversation, but taking the time to listen) is something that I need to make time for every single day.
During our Bible study yesterday, we were talking about the importance of spending alone time together. We need to be going away on weekend trips together or just going out alone for frozen yogurt. But when kids are involved, it’s hard to do those things because you have to also get a babysitter– and sometimes the hassle of that and the expense make you question whether or not it’s worth it. And if you don’t have kids, spending the money to go out at all doesn’t always seem worth it.
A sweet girl in our Bible study mentioned that she and her husband have date nights at home once a week and I loved this idea! Tomorrow I’m going to post a list of ideas for at-home date nights.
In Mom to Mom, we learned that it’s probably a good idea to make a list of why we married our husbands. What do you love about him? Why did you say “yes” to him? Writing those things down is great because you’re focusing on the positive and it’s just a great resource to go back and look at if you’ve had an argument or you’re having a hard day.
I need to always remember to treat TC the way I want him to treat me. I need to remember what his Love Language is and do things based on that. What makes him happy and what makes him feel loved?
In our hectic and busy lives, it’s often hard to remember that marriages take work and effort. And sometimes we just don’t have anymore work and effort to give. But isn’t this the most important place where we need to put our work and our effort?
Every week in our study, our Children’s Minister gives us a “Challenge Card” for the week. This is what ours said this week.
“Love your husband deeply from the heart.” 1 Peter 1:22
Dear God,
Help me to enrich my husband’s life this week. Help me not to hinder my husband this week, but to help him.
Recently, I had a moment where I decided that I needed to put aside my attitude about some things in my life. It took a while for me to lose the attitude, so I decided to be obedient with my actions and just do what I needed to do because it was the right thing to do. And sure enough, my attitude followed my actions.
And you know what?
TC noticed.
I got a beautiful flower delivery on Tuesday morning. For no particular reason at all. But he noticed the change in me and it made him happy. Knowing that I did something to make him happy (just by changing my outlook and attitude about something) meant much more to me than some flowers. But I appreciated his gesture and gift of thanks just as I know he appreciated my change.
I love the “Challenge Cards” and love the opportunity that I’m getting each week to learn how to rest, listen and become a better wife and mom. Because I know I need all the help I can get.
On Friday mornings, Hudson and I go to The Little Gym. Our wonderful babysitter comes over to keep Hayes, so I can take Hudson to his class and focus on him during that whole time. Because I had our babysitter at the house already, I decided to take advantage of having only one child in tow and head to Target and Publix to run my errands for our Halloween party.
I had a huge list of things I needed to pick up and because I was afraid of forgetting something, I went down every single aisle in the store, checking things off my list and filling my buggy. Hudson was having a great time and was actually being very patient. I got to the check out line and put everything on the belt. I went to get my credit card out of my wallet and … oh crap. My wallet wasn’t there. I couldn’t find it anywhere. And I knew exactly where it was.
My wallet was at my house, in my camera bag. I had driven all over town that morning without my wallet. Without my license.
The Target employee was very kind and understanding and after I apologized and my face turned beat red, she told me I could leave my buggy off to the side and come back to pay for everything. I don’t live far from Target so I knew it wouldn’t take that long to get back. But I was so upset. I got in the car and sent Nina a Hey Tell message and vented. Then I called TC and told him I was about to cry over this.
Why was I so upset?
Because I felt like I had no control. I had tried so hard to make it easy on myself by going to Target while our babysitter was keeping one child. I made sure I didn’t forget a single thing on my list. How often do I get to have a casual stroll through Target? It was all working out so great… and then I opened my purse and saw that I was missing the only thing I really needed in that moment.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. I got pulled over when Hudson was about a year old. I wasn’t speeding. But my plates were expired. How could I forget to put the new sticker on my license plate?
Or we leave the house for the whole day and I’ve gotten everything, but I forgot to put more diapers in the diaper bag and there’s not a store or a “spare diaper” anywhere in sight.
It’s “mommy brain” at its finest. For the first time in my life, I have missed doctor’s appointments by accident and find out the next day when the doctor’s office calls to ask if I would like to reschedule. (In my defense, our ENT has stopped calling to remind us.) I forget to write things down (can’t blame this on my Life Planner!) and just go on with my day not even realizing that I’ve missed an appointment. Forget about the fact that it will take me six months to get in for a rescheduled appointment.
I know it’s not worth getting worked up over. The most frustrating thing about mishaps, disorganization and feeling frazzled is that, usually, in my case, it leads to lost time. Wasted time. And at this point in my life, time is so very precious.
I only have so much time while my kids are this age. I only have so much time between Hayes’s feedings and naps to get things done. I only have so many minutes of time to myself where I can blog, respond to emails or read. I can’t get time back once its gone and I want to be so diligent and disciplined with the way I spend it.
I don’t want to be taking my sweet time browsing the aisles at Target and get to the front of the check out line only to find out that I have no way to pay.
Do you ever feel this way? Do you have a story?
