Great Advise for Valentine's Day

I enjoy reading a blog called, "Regarding Annie," written by a local woman who writes about being a mom, a wife, and life in general. She is usually very funny and very honest. She wrote a great post with advise for Valentine's day that I love and just wanted to share it. Click here to read it!

Another website, "The Mother Huddle," posted a list of ways to show your child love. Great for ideas for your kids any day!

And finally, last year I joined another blogger, "Simply Modern Mom" and her many followers in "Project 52." We tried to have date night at least once a week for 52 weeks. She has now created a simple list of all their at-home date ideas, many of which would be super fun for Valentines Day.

Another Infamous Milestone: Good-bye Crib

Davis has hit another infamous milestone - climbing out of his crib. I had naively thought he might not be able to do that with this crib (I don't know why I thought this crib was climb-out-proof). But to really tell how horrible this new feat was, I must describe his sleeping pattern for the previous day.

I had gone up to Pineview Dam with the YM/YW and my mom had come down to tend Davis for the day. Apparently, he woke up at 9:30 am crying and when she asked if he wanted to go back to sleep he said "yes." And he did. Until noon. Noon! So he got up, had some lunch, played a bit, and then about 2:30 he seemed tired again so she asked if he wanted to take a nap. And he said "yes." And he did. Until I woke him up at 5:30 pm. 5:30! Now, I know I could have prevented the inevitable terrible evening ahead by waking him up sooner, but it was so nice to get to do some things that needed to be done (homemade salsa, frozen juice for creamsicle smoothies, dinner prep).

So, we headed into the evening expecting bedtime to be a little later than usual. But Davis seemed tired by 8:30 pm and so we made the first attempt at putting him to bed (and by bed, I mean his climb-out-proof crib). It was quiet for a little bit, then we heard a knock on the door. His bedroom door. First, I was a little freaked out. Who could be in his bedroom? Was he safe? Then, reality slowly dawned. It was just Davis in there and he was no longer in his crib, but knocking at his door, calling, "Mama." (I don't know why he was knocking at the door - he can open it himself.) I went up, opened the door, and he said quite proudly, "Mama, I'm awake!"

Attempt #2 came around 10 pm when we all headed to bed. I put Davis in his crib, turned all the house lights off, and Darren and I climbed into bed. Soft thump, then knocking on Davis's closet door. Apparently, it was too dark and he couldn't find his bedroom door. So, up we went for awhile. I kind of knew it might be a late night, what with all the sleeping the day before.

Attempt #3. 11:30 pm. This ended in failure for both me and Davis. Of course he tired to climb out again, but this ended in a crash and a sore leg. So after some loving, we told some stories and I laid down on the floor in his room until he went to sleep. Finally, I crawled into bed and dozed off. 5:30 am brought "Mama. Mama! Mama out!" Then panicked crying. I ran in and he had again tried to climb out, but had gotten his foot twisted and stuck in between the bars and he was stuck straddling the top of the railing because he couldn't go back or forward. So that brought the end of a very long night and the beginning of a very long day.

So, I took the crib railing off and put on the toddler bed guards in protest of this new skill. But, as anyone who has children probably already knows, this brings its own issues. Bedtime brought the get-in-bed-get-out-of-bed game. So he slept in his pack and play. Which he must not realize would actually be easier to climb out of than his crib and much less painful. Luckily, we both got a full night's sleep.

On a different note, I haven't been posting about our date nights because they aren't very creative, but last night we had a great, simple date. (This was at the end of the very long day.) Darren had wanted to go hiking, but I was in no shape to do that and it was getting close to dark. So after Davis cried himself to sleep in the pack and play, we went to Baskin Robbins, got delicious ice cream and drove to a place where we could see much of the Ogden valley. There were lightning storms across the entire western horizon (not where we were) and it was so wonderful to sit, eat ice cream, watch one of nature's wonders, and enjoy being together. Thanks, Darren!

Last two date nights

So, I have gotten a little lazy in sharing our date nights because they haven't been terribly original, but they have been tons of fun! We are so lucky to have Matthew staying with us so we can go out for date night.

Two weeks ago, Darren chose to go to Iggy's for dinner. But it wasn't just dinner, it was the first game of the NBA Finals, and it was so much fun to be there with other basketball fans. We sat together in our own booth and had the sense of being all by ourselves, but there were also other people cheering, so it was also fun to be part of a larger group. Not my favorite food (anyone have a suggestion there, because we hope to go again if it makes it to Game 7), but super fun!

Last week was Girl's Camp, so we just had a quick little date a few days later. We went to Village Inn for pie (and french fries . . . something about sweet and salty just goes together) and because it was way past dinnertime, it was nice and quiet. It was a great chance to share about Girl's Camp and hear how his week went as a bachelor (I was a little worried he might starve to death.)

Project 52: Iron Man 2

This week has been a wonderful transition in our house. Darren was offered a training position at his work and started on Monday. So, instead of working the swing shift, or going to the graveyard shift (which is what he would have started this coming week), Darren now works Mon - Fri during the day! It is so wonderful to have him home in the evenings and look forward to Saturdays where we can spend all day together and not have to be quiet in the mornings.

Because of this change, we were able to change our date night and spend time together in the evening. We went to see Iron Man 2 (pretty good movie, not as great as the first one) and then to Olive Garden for dessert (delicious Lemon Cake). My brother, Matt, is staying with us for the summer and earning his keep by babysitting, so we will be able to get out of the house together more often. It was not a very creative date, but we did things we both loved (Iron Man for Darren and dessert for me) and we were able to spend time together and get out of the house. I call that a successful date!

Project 52: Spouse vs. Spouse

Last night Davis decided he wanted to wake up and join our date, after having been asleep for only 30 min or so. I went up to get him from his bed after letting him cry for a bit and he proudly said, "Big snooze." He felt he had slept long enough and was ready to play some more. So, being a better wife than mother, I put a movie on to keep him entertained and we went ahead with our date.

We played "The Celestial Companions Game," a game kind of like the Newlyweds show, where one spouse is asked a question, writes down their answer, and the other spouse answers the question out loud, hoping for the same answer. Our game is supposed to be played with other couples, but we adjusted the scoring system so we could play spouse vs. spouse.

It was fun to try to remember past events (What did your wife wear on your first date? - neither of us could remember!) or try to figure out favorites (What is your husbands favorite vegetable? - asparagus). Even though we kept score (Darren won), it was so much fun when we both said the same answer and realized that we are getting to know each other better and better.

Project 52: Cookies and Games

We started our date night by making cookies, something I have been wanting to do with Darren for awhile (several of those who link up to Project 52 have mentioned doing it and it sounded so fun!). We made yummy oatmeal choc. chip cookies and I was reminded how much I enjoy cooking in the kitchen with Darren. It is nice to be working closely together and completing a project.

While the batches were cooking we watched The Big Bang Theory (I know, it seems to creep into our date nights often, but we both love it so we might as well watch it together). Darren has hooked the tv up to his computer, so we can play computer games using the big tv screen, so we decided to try our hand at a few games. Darren said he knew how to play Spider Solitaire, but after started the game, it became quite apparent that he really didn't remember. So we had a great time using trial and error to figure out the rules. And of course, once we figured it out we had to keep playing to try and win. After our date had run much longer than planned we finally gave up and called it quits. All in all, it was a fun time spent working together on the cookies and the game.

Project 52: Cache Valley Getaway

For our date we had the chance to spend the night at Crystal Inn in Logan and left Davis with my parents. Cache Valley has a great little deal called the Getaway Package, which includes dinner and a night's stay at your choice of several local places, so that is what we used. We ate dinner at Hamilton's (the best creme brule ever!) with no one throwing food or sippy cups and then rented a movie in our hotel room and watched it without pausing to tell anyone to stop touching the tv or having to put the subtitles on so as not to wake any little bodies already in bed (sorry to any rooms around us). We stayed up late and slept in and just relaxed. It was wonderful! Darren has planned the dates in April and he has pulled off some really fun ones. Thanks, Darren!

Project 52: Home Depot, Here We Come

A little background: I mow our yard 75% of the time. We have been using a very used, very old mower we got from Darren's parents and the self-propelled mechanism broke long ago. We have a decent sized backyard and it is terraced so there is alot of up-and-down that has to be done with the mower. Last fall, I finally told Darren I was done with the old mower and wanted a new one, so we put some money aside and decided to wait until spring to look around. Spring came. Not much looking going on and alot of grass-growing. I talked Darren into giving the old mower to my sister for her birthday (she may soon realize we got the good end of the bargain by getting rid of an old mower). I told her she could pick it up this last weekend, conveniently leaving is with no mower and a jungle in the front and back. Needless to say, looking for a new mower became a top priority, leading us to Home Depot for date night.

Going into the store, we were only planning on getting a few things and looking at mowers, then checking out a few other stores - you know, price-matching and comparing and all that. Well, without a little boy to distract us, we can apparently spend money with the best of them ("them" being those who spend alot of money). Darren pushed out the cart with a new mower (hey, the guy was a great salesman!), a rake, some light switches, glue, oil, and a gas can. I followed with two 18-gallon plastic bins that were on a super sale. We pulled up short as we stared at our not-so-big car, with a big car seat in the back. We didn't quite think through the whole getting-stuff-home process. Luckily it all fit - with no room to spare. A very productive date!

Project 52: A to Z

Last night we were going to get our taxes done for date night, but I decided I wanted something a little more fun, so we got them done in the afternoon, leaving Darren without much time to plan a different date. He left after dinner to fix his parent's computer and my job was to get Davis to bed. He used to go to bed at 7 pm, but for the last two months or so, because of evening events, Daylight Savings, and being sick, his bedtime crept backwards to 9 or even 10 pm. So yesterday we made him skip his nap (oh, the afternoon of crankiness) and, without getting my hopes up, I put him to bed at 6:40 pm. There was much fussing and boo-hooing for about 15 min. Then silence. I stayed almost motionless on the couch for a good 30 minutes so as not to break the spell. And sure enough, he slept through the night! (Just for the record, "through the night" meant he didn't wake up until 8:30 am!)

Anyway, that left us with a full evening together. When Darren got home, he pulled out a game he had borrowed from his parents called A to Z Electronic. They sent it with a warning that it was slightly addictive. Each player has a "board" of the ABC's and on each turn you try to get rid of as many letters as you can by naming things in a category that start with the letters you haven't used yet. And true to the warning, it was super fun and quite addictive. I think we might have to shop around for our own game so we can play it whenever we want. For such a simple date, it was one of my favorites!

Project 52: Family History

This month is Darren's turn to plan the dates and for this date night he chose to check out the new FamilySearch website, where you can look up ancestors and work on family history. It was a little slow going at first, but after finding ourselves on the site, we were able to see back many generations. It was interesting to look at the dates and places people were born and died; with such little information it was interesting to see how much you could tell about a person. Both of us had ancestors mostly from England, but Darren had a few from Scotland also. It was fun to learn a little about Darren's side of the family and have him tell me stories about a few of his ancestors.

Project 52: Lazy puzzle night

We borrowed Tiffany's idea this week and put together a puzzle. We didn't own a puzzle, so I went looking for one and found that most puzzles were $5-$10! I didn't want to spend that much, so I headed to the trusty dollar store and sure enough, a plethera of puzzles awaited me. But I soon learned that you can't be that picky when choosing a puzzle at the dollar store. There were plenty of cute ones with 25 pieces for little kids, but I thought my husband and I should be able to handle something with a few more pieces. There were several scenic puzzles with 504 (what a weird number) of pieces, but Tiffany had mentioned that it took them 3 hours to put together a 500 piece puzzle and I wasn't sure if we would be up to such a commitment. The other puzzles offered choices including High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and Disney characters. I wasn't sure what Darren would be willing to stare at for long enough to put it together, so I bought a scenic one, a High School Musical one, and one with Disney characters.

Date night rolled around and it turned out we were feeling pretty lazy. So we picked the Disney puzzle with only 150 pieces and worked on it for a little while before taking it into the living room to finish while watching "The Big Bang Theory" (my husband laughs at the nerdiness). I agree with Tiffany who had mentioned that putting together a puzzle isn't so conducive to deep discussion, but there was a great sense of companionship as we worked toward a common goal.

Project 52: Dinner and a Musical

Our last date was a bit of a splurge, but worth every penny. We invited my parents to come with us and left Davis with Darren's parents. We ate dinner at Bistro 258 on 25th St (Ogden). It was so yummy. Fried calamari to start (I was the only one who had tried it before), fish and steak for dinner, then "Fuzzy Peaches" (fried peaches with ice cream) and Chocolate Souffle for dessert. We had a coupon that would take half off the bill if we got to a certain price, so we made the most of it! All very yummy!

Then we went to the Terrace Plaza Playhouse and saw "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." They did a great job and we all did a little toe tappin' to the music.

It was really fun to be "out and about" on the town and have a reason to dress up a bit.

Project 52: Forts and Stories

It has taken me way too long to get this posted and I always love to post our date nights because they elicit more comments than usual, thanks to the link-up with Simply Modern Mom. But, better late than never!

For our last date night, Darren and I built a fort. You know, sheets, blankets, couches. Well, Darren said he always used chairs. But we turned our sofa and love seat back to back and built quite a nice little fort. I don't remember it being that easy. Perhaps we didn't actually move furniture. I remember a lot of draping and using clothes pins and piles of books to hold up the ceiling.

We had a little cake (thanks, Mom) and ice cream in our fort, then read to each other from a book we started a little while back. We left the fort up so that Davis could play in it the next morning. Davis thought it was the coolest thing ever and so I had another mini-date with Davis and we had a snack and read books in the fort, too.

Project 52: Yoga for Two

Well, this week we borrowed an idea from Whitney's blog for our date night. Neither one of us has tried yoga, so we decided to give it a go together. I checked out a yoga DVD from the library, but because of a limited selection, I ended up with a more advanced workout and perhaps that contributed to our lack of success.

We got the breathing down (in and out through the nose, slowly), but that was about it, and even that was a little iffy while trying to hold poses our bodies were never meant to hold. I realized I have terrible balance and, not surprisingly, Darren's not so flexible. For many of the positions, we "held" them by laying on the floor laughing. It was really fun to try something new together! And to top the night off, we had milk and raspberry fritters -super yummy!

Project 52: High Stakes Yatzee

For our date this week, Darren chose to play Yatzee. With high stakes. I mean really high stakes. The winner of this one round of Yatzee would get a back rub, a head massage, ice cream served to him/her, a love note from the loser, and the choice of shows to watch at the end. See? High stakes. So of course I wanted to win, more than usual. I wasn't feeling really good (just a little bug) and I really didn't want to be the loser.

So the game started out and the lead kept switching from me to Darren and back. The roll that decided it all didn't come until close to the end. Darren rolled two sixes. Then another six. Then two more sixes. Nooooo! If your opponent gets a yatzee and you don't, the game is over. And at the end, I didn't even bother to add my score up; Darren won by a landslide. I almost started crying.

But then my wonderful, sweet husband did something so wonderful and sweet. He offered to give me the spoils of the win. I got a fantastic back rub, head massage (see the next paragraph about this marvelous invention we found), and ice cream served to me. I offered to write the love note because of all the love I was feeling and we deferred on the show because I was tired and needed to go to bed. All in all, a wonderful date night.

Now a little note about the head massage. At Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I found this weird looking thing called a head massager (under $5) and bought it for a funny Valentine's gift for Darren. When we took it out of the box and tried it, we found it was not funny. It was fantastic. On the top ten list of best things ever. If you see one, buy it.

Project 52: Together in the Kitchen for Valentine's Day

Instead of going out to eat for Valentines dinner several years ago, Darren suggested picking a recipe neither one of us has made and cooking it together. It was our first Valentine's together and I thought it sounded so creative and romantic. We made enchiladas and had a great time. Then we got married. And I cooked dinner every night (I might have rounded up with that estimate). And cooking my own Valentine's dinner didn't sound so fun. But Darren was so excited and so we picked Chicken Cordon Bleu, which sounded fancy to say, let alone create it in my own kitchen. It was soooo fun and we really had a great time and the food was excellent (if I do say so myself). Each year, I drag my feet with this tradition, but each year it turns out to be a great thing and I really love cooking with Darren.

So this year Darren chose to make Sinigang, a Philipino dish kind of like soup. He served an LDS mission there and really misses the food. It was nice to just work next to him and talk to him about normal, everyday things for awhile. I will admit that I was not a fan of the finished product, but Darren ate two bowls and said it tasted just like what he had eaten in the Philippines. Luckily, Davis slept through the whole thing and we got to eat in romantic peace.

Project 52: Romance Cards and Stories

It was Darren's turn to plan our date last night, and he found a really fun idea. After a few attempts at putting Davis to bed, we finally got to our date. We each wrote 10 words that reminded us of romance and 10 words that were opposite of romantic. Then we mixed up each set and took turns drawing one from each pile. We had to write a line in a love story or poem using each set of words, totaling 10 lines. (Does that all make sense?)

Because poetry is not my forte, I decided to create a story. Unfortunately, after several turns, I drew the card "horror movie" and my story kind of got away from me. But in the end, we lived happily, romantically, ever after.

Darren created a beautiful love poem in which he professed his love for me, even in the event of foot-long Amazon woman leg hair.

It was really simple, but a great way to interact and some of the words we wrote about romance (or not about romance) surprised the other person .

Go Jazz!

Darren and I had an awesome time at the Jazz game last night! I hate watching any sporting event where one team is way ahead of the other, so I was a little worried when the Jazz came out strong and took an early lead. Then the Suns must have decided to put a little effort into the game and they pulled way ahead. By the third and fourth quarters it was really close and and turned out to be a great game! We did our share of screaming and clapping and it was fun to just be there amidst all the excitement.

Before the game we went to Z-Tejas, at the Gateway. It was really good south-western food and you get hot cornbread instead of chips and salsa before your meal. Many of the entrees were $10-$20, but you get a 20% discount if you are going to the Jazz game, which we didn't know about until the waiter asked if that's where we were headed (thanks to my Jazz shirt from a few years ago) and viola! our check was not so big!

Project 52: Date Nights

I found this challenge on rookiemoms.com, who got it from simplymodernmom.com and because this was already a goal for us, I decided to join the fun. Basically, the challenge is to have one date night a week with your spouse. To make it official and accountable there are rules and even a pledge to sign (click on the "Project 52" button on the right to find these things). The basic idea is to be creative and take turns planning the dates, keep them cheap and simple (at home if possible), and no kids allowed. Because we decided to try and make date night a priority this year, here are the ones we have done so far:

1. Go out for ice cream-We don't have a Cold Stone, so it was Big Rock with eggnog ice cream and carmel and chocolate sauce.
2. Dinner and a movie - Roosters (amazing Cream of Spinach soup, which sounds gross, but as I already said - amazing!) and Avatar (we really enjoyed it, but didn't realize it was so long)
3. Watch a football game Darren really wanted to see (I don't even remember who was playing but we cheered together - well, sort of - I decided to cheer for the other team just to keep things interesting)
4. Tonight-the Jazz game - yep, actually going down to Salt Lake to experience the famous effect of the Jazz fans. We went to a game a few years ago and had a blast, so we asked for tickets for Christmas (thanks GG!) and are super excited!

Simply Modern Mom has invited all to join and link up or comment with their dates so we can share ideas. Every Tuesday there will be a new post there and the opportunity to share.