Family Date Nights!

 

Shawn suggested one evening  in mid-October that we take the kids to McDonald's for family date night. I LOVE when he comes up with an idea for dinner and fun! We had a game piece to use for a free sandwich, and one of his credit cards was offering 40% cash back on purchases to McDonald's that week. So, it was a relatively inexpensive meal, and the boys enjoy the indoor playground. They had a blast! There were two other little boys their ages there, and they all played and played. Shawn even went to the basketball net with our two guys while I stayed with our little Ryan. It was a fun family night! 

I've been trying to plan our meals in advance so we don't come to dinner time and say "what's for dinner?" and everything still needs defrosted so we eat yet another sandwich. It's been going well for the most part, and the boys are trying more and more of my cooking, especially Joshua. I can tell he's at an age where he understands that we don't expect him to clear his plate, but we do want him to try new things to see if he likes them. He has found a new love for pork! He asks for it often, and he typically loves the veggies we put on his plate. Both he & Caleb could eat a loaf of bread and butter in one sitting if we'd allow it!

Last Friday (10/28), we hired our babysitter to watch the older two boys while we used our gift card to Ruby Tuesday's from Shawn's parents (thank you!). Ryan slept in his car seat our entire meal, and it felt almost as if we were out by ourselves. We love the salad bar there! We swung by Marshall's and bought a cheap quilt for our king size bed as well. It was a nice evening to be together, and the kiddos also had fun. We saw Miranda's parents as we were trick-or-treating (with her little sister) and told her how much we appreciate their daughter. :) :) :)

This past Friday night, I had dinner all planned out. But, Shawn said "save it for tomorrow night, I'm taking you out!" I love surprises! He had a coupon for a free meal at Red Robin, and that same credit card was offering the same 40% off the entire final bill. So, once again to feed a family of five, it wasn't as expensive as it normally would have been. We had a great time! The boys ate their meals nicely, behaved well, and we got to enjoy our dinner. The service was fast and the food was great. Our server even invited his other server friends to sing "happy birthday" to Shawn (making a mistake about it being his birthday, which we quickly corrected). We laughed and laughed! I love any time I don't have to cook, but I especially love when Shawn makes plans and tells me "get in the car." So fun! It had been a long week, teaching two of the nights and preparing for each, etc. So, this relaxing evening was just what I needed. I love my family - the boys are great, and their Daddy is top-notch!