In this Post: Several date night ideas and a link to the best site for date tips (these are for the married), a simple but sweet Valentine’s, and easy recipes for a romantic Filet Mignon meal.
Hello dear ones and I pray you’ve had a wonderful weekend. The hubby hasn’t been feeling well so keep him in your prayers. My family and I have been trying to get back to our old routine of date nights, between me & the hubby and also each parent having one with our lil man, Michael. So we decided that every other week would be a Mommy & Daddy date night and that we would alternate planning it. We have an old popcorn bucket that I put date ideas in. Some of them I came up with but most came from the absolutely best dating site for married people:
The Dating Divas
http://www.thedatingdivas.com/date-night/at-home/
I especially like the list found at the link above. They have tons of movie themed date ideas. For my first special date night I planned to do my own movie theme & to incorporate some of their other ideas like the date in the bag (Love on the Run). I filled a gift bag with the goodies we needed for the night: food & games :).
I chose the movie “The Lake House” because it’s sweet and rated PG. You are welcome to use my sweet & simple idea. Here’s a synopsis: two people from two different times fall in love via letters sent thru a special mailbox. The girl, in the future, is able to help the guy with the future & the guy, in the past, is able to change her past. There’s a sneaky twist near the end. Will they ever meet in the present?
Sounds cheesy but it was romantic. My idea was to have us each write a note to our teen selves before we became a couple and give reasons why we should choose each other. My maiden name is “Way” so you can see the envelope is addressed to Amber Way from “my future husband”. Chris begged me to choose him again and told of our life together and our wonderful little boy. He even tried to convince me to vote a certain way in the future. My letter gave Chris hints to who I was (nerd with baggy Christian t-shirts, girl who had staring contests with him etc…). I told him of how he would grow to love me and made promises of the happy future he’d have with me. The rest is personal but it was a beautiful idea and I’m glad we did it.
Chris saw the date bag that morning with the “His” gift tag on it. Later that night I took out the snacks and set up. We played the Sudoku race idea (from Dating Divas) half way between our movie. It was a nice pause. I’m sure we could use other games for the race….like crossword puzzles and word searches.
I set the mood with candlelight and romantic music. I made a simple meal of Chicken Alfredo and pumpernickel bread. We used flute glasses from our bridal shower. There’s more to this date but that’s personal. I don’t think our date nights will ever be the same since we found Dating Divas. Goodbye typical night!
Valentine’s was on the way. Here’s a pic of Tessa snuggling with her stuffed puppy.
I planned Valentine’s since it was an in between week and Chris had already taken Michael to a movie for their father-son time. We took a trip to the Dollar Tree days before and I told the guys to go find gifts. Of course the guys both got chocolate :). I wanted to be a bit different so I got Michael a game and Chris a coffee cup. I took a red Sharpie and wrote the reasons why I love and respect him on it.
I also found a cheap pink shirt and ironed on “I (heart) my husband”. I wore this on Valentine’s.
After our Valentine bash with the homeschool group, Michael and I headed to Chris’ office. We brought a monkey balloon, goodies, and a gift bag. On the way I stopped by Waffle House to get Chris’ favorite coffee and poured it into the special cup. Thankfully Chris wasn’t embarrassed by my shirt and his co-workers were happy to sample the goodies. I’ve ruined his poor boss’ diet 😦 oops.
Michael took a pic of the momentous occasion. I can tell Chris is thinking “Here we go again…this woman and her blog!”
So the house was cleaned just in time despite it’s appearances. You have no idea….. Hey, don’t judge me. They say a messy house means happy kids. Obviously that’s not always true but it works for me! lol ;P
Candlelight covers a multitude of sins dirt. Look at that ambiance. I covered our paint splattered breakfast tables with a plastic table cloth. I found the lovely mini colored bottles at Michael’s craft store. They were on sale :). I put Carnations inside them and lit some candles. The plastic heart glasses came from the Dollar Tree. Michael joined us for part of the time. We watched “A Charlie Brown Valentine’s” then Michael was sent to his room while the hubby and I watched a romantic comedy.
I decided to make a restaurant worthy meal. I had never made these before but it turned out yummy:
Easy Yet Romantic Filet Mignon– http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-yet-romantic-filet-mignon/
Asparagus Parmesan– http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asparagus-parmesan/detail.aspx
Stuffed Artichoke Hearts (actually bottoms)– http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stuffed-Artichoke-Hearts/Detail.aspx
and garlic bread.
Now, you may be wondering what the pan of gook is. Please read carefully…the title was wrong. The recipe calls for artichoke bottoms. Hearts can not be stuffed! Now calm down… since the title misled me, all I had was hearts. I ended up mixing everything together to form a casserole of sorts. We put it on top of our garlic bread.
I used Dating Divas Couple’s Menu. The idea is to charge hugs and kisses for the food and to write a bill.
My first dealing with asparagus….sorry Junior!
It was really dark in there but this pic was taken with flash.
Michael is drinking cream soda I promise! lol
Voila! Parmesan asparagus!
Non-stuffed artichoke “dip” on top of garlic bread.
Praise God the meal was a success!
Do you have any date night ideas? Please leave me some comment love. I hope you are able to use these ideas and recipes. Please check out Dating Divas. Marriage doesn’t just fall together. It takes work…especially when you’ve been married awhile. Sometimes you have to plan the magic.
Check out my pinterest for more date ideas:
Remember email subscribers to come to my blog to see the links.
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
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