Date Night In

I wanted to share something that Mike and I have been doing for the past couple years to spend time together. Since having kids we haven't been very good at having "date night". When they were younger (and much smaller and generally confined to a car seat or high chair) we just took the kids along with us. Now that they are older they want to sit next to Daddy (so it's a rare treat when Mike and I get to sit next to each other) and usually talk the whole time. So Mike and I have had to find other ways to spend some quality time together. We do have some wonderful baby-sitters, but we are those types of parents that really don't like to go out and leave the kids behind. So we have come up with Date Nights at Home.

We occasionally change it up. Sometimes we go all romantic (this is rare, think Valentine's Day or Anniversary) and have candles and make steak and potatoes and really spoil ourselves. This is especially nice on those holidays like Valentine's Day when the restaurants are all crowded anyhow and you get stuck at the smallest table ever right next to the freezing window. Every now and then we order carry-out after the kids go to bed so we don't have to make anything.

Sometimes we keep it very simple and I just make chips and dip and we watch a movie or catch up on our favorite shows on tivo. Sometimes we play games. Usually it's Trivial Pursuit but lately we have been enjoying our new Wii.

Last night was a big celebration: The first episode of the last season of Lost. Oh how we love having our minds messed with while watching this show. Although I do have to say this is a really hard show to watch while eating. You will definitely miss something while taking a bite!

So, just to make our evening special (can you tell we'll sometimes look for almost any reason to have a date night? ;) ) I made dip in a bread bowl, stuffed mushrooms, cheesecake, and I found a yummy fruity fizzy drink mix. We were stuffed! But the house was quiet and we got our time together. And if we missed the kids, all we had to do was run upstairs during a commercial break and peak in on them. I don't know if the simple things in life get much better than that and I am so thankful to have a husband willing to sit on the couch with me and enjoy it all together.