Happy, and Cheap Valentine

chris and i had our cheapest, and greatest valentines weekend!

we had relatively cheap babysitting for our date on saturday night. the high school fundraiser would have allowed us to pay $10 for 4 hours of baby sitting for the two kids. fortunately for the high school kids, chris was in a generous mood so he gave more than that.

we proceeded to black angus for our 'romantic dinner'. of course, it was all-star weekend, so we actually sat next to each other in a booth, and watched steve nash win the skills competition (yeah steve!), channing frye make a strong attempt in the 3-pointer competition (paul pierce was a little too awesome though), and we left in time for the boring dunk competition (which used to be my favorite part of all-star weekend. i will not watch this event EVER AGAIN if nate robinson is in it. you're short, and you can dunk. great. let's move on!!!!!) dinner was only cheap cause 1.we had an awesome coupon 2.we had an even more awesome gift card 3.it wasn't actually valentines day!

when we left the restaurant it was already 9ish. we dropped the kids off at 6:45, and we had to get them by 10:30. it was too late to watch a movie, but it was WAY too early to go get the kids. so we went to target! i had already gotten the kids a card with a chocolate lip stuck to the front. $.99 each. but we ended up getting them some Dora & Diego chocolates too. (dora and diego are the kids bestest friends right now. look for them to show up on some birthday cupcakes next month!!!) we still spent a ton less money this year on the kids than we did last year, and last year they REALLY didn't have any idea what valentines day was.

even though chris hate shopping, he was a GREAT sport about walking around target. we ended up getting him a running 'belt' that holds water, his mp3 player (oh yeah, we also got him new ear phones that are more 'runner friendly'), and has a pocket for his 'Gu'. he is becoming a seriously hard core runner. it's gross and amazing all at the same time. i got a pair of clearance slippers for the house. and we bought some batteries. cause you can NEVER have too many/enough batteries when you have two toddlers.

we ended up picking the kids up at about 10, which was good cause they were still awake and running around! they love hanging out at church, which is great news for us, cause they are there a lot. we had a great date and were happy with our new purchases and low-key 'sexy-for-people-with-kids' date.

the next day, valentines day, i made blintzes- chris' favorite breakfast meal. topher stole every single berry off of my plate, and his dad's too. then we went to church. took naps when we got home. then went to barb's house to hang out with some of her friends who had come for a visit from oregon. when we got home we had some chocolate-dipped strawberries and relaxed after a weekend full of activity. we are all about having valentines day being a day that is super-family friendly, so that the kids don't ever feel sad or ostracized from this made-up holiday.

i have been 'alone' for about 24 out of my 29 valentines days (yeah, that guy i 'on and off' dated for 7 years managed to never spend a valentines day together!), and though being 'alone' never actually depressed me, valentines day just wasn't really something that i ever looked forward to. we want the kids to look forward to the day as another time to get showered with love, family-fun times, and some treats too!

one of the 'treats' that chris and i are constantly working on is having the healthiest marriage we can! we don't date as often as we would like, but valentines day does give us an extra excuse to carve out some time for one another and to get a cheap date in, either the day before or after the 14th. though never on! it doesn't matter if cards or presents are involved, it really is the thought and effort that goes into the whole thing. and chris' effort went into hanging out at target for over an hour, and having a great time all the while!