Yesterday was my husband’s birthday. It was not exciting at all… he got his gift early (last) week, which was a circular saw and the rest of his gifts won’t be here until tomorrow because I’m a crappy wife and ordered them late. He went to work, after work he rushed home to grab Sylas and Josie and then rushed to Nevaeh’s choir concert, while Liam and I went to my nephew’s high school graduation.
After the choir concert, Chris rushed back to our side of town to pick Peyton up from the school when he got back from his Macinack field trip. By the time we all got home, it was 9 pm and we hadn’t done anything fun all day. Sylas asked about 10 times when we were going to the park for daddy’s birthday because we always have Sylas’ parties at the park. LOL.
I knew ahead of time that Chris’ birthday wouldn’t be very “special”, so the littles and I took some time to make him a couple of homemade gifts.
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I helped the kids make him some handprint crafts. Josie made a birthday cupcake using her hand, and then the flames on her “candles” are made from her fingerprints.
Sylas and Liam made little monsters. Sylas used his hand (minus the middle finger) to make his monster, and then I added the eye and mouth myself. Liam made a monster using his foot, and then I added the smile and eyes. I helped Liam make polka dots on his monster, too.
Sylas and Josie also did some free art time and they both chose to make pictures for daddy. They’re so sweet and I’m trying to help them understand that they should try and make daddy feel special on his birthday like he does for them on theirs.
Josie’s artwork for daddy, it’s two different spaceships.
One of Sylas’
Sylas’ other one… this one is a tall tower, a dragon, and rain.
So then MY DIY project for Chris was a date night jar. We struggle with finding things to do when we are stuck at home and I always want to bond more than we do during a normal week.
We ALWAYS talk about having more date nights but with the kids, it’s really hard to find the time.
I decided to create a “Date Night” jar, full of things we can either do at home or (with a little planning ahead) find a babysitter for a couple of hours while we do something quick but fun.
I used a mason jar (I buy mine on Amazon) to hold the date night ideas. Then, I made a tag for a label, used a hole punch to make a hole in the tag, and slipped it onto twine before tying the twine around the neck of the bottle.
When we are wondering what we should do to have some fun, we just draw a date from the jar and go with the first one we pulled out. The ones that require a babysitter or a little planning ahead, I marked with a different color so that we know to avoid those ones when we know we are stuck at home.
No more sitting around wasting time on our phones or cleaning when we want to bond and spend time together… now we have plenty of ideas. 🙂
Are there any free/cheap date nights you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments. 🙂
Tyler and I like to grill dinner together and sit outside on the patio and eat our dinner together. It’s something small, but normally we eat on the couch watching tv. it’s a nice way to have a romantic evening and not even change it of PJs! I love your list though, I’m stealing some 😉
That sounds so relaxing and fun! I’m going to add that to our date night jar. Thanks for the idea!! 🙂 I bet your patio view is extra beautiful with that giant pool. 😉
OMG, I love the list of date night ideas!!! About a year ago, my husband and I decided we didn’t really do enough date nights, so we try to do something at least every Wednesday now. Last night we went out and played Pitch & Put which we’re both AWFUL at but had so much fun!! It’s not quite free but super cheap to play (€5 each). I like the idea of putting ideas in a jar and pulling one out at random 🙂 Will definitely try some of these over the next weeks!
It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day tasks and not remember to take time for each other. We struggle with it all the time. I’ve never heard of Pitch & Put! I had to google it LOL. It sounds like fun!! Thank you for your comment! 🙂
I love that you included meal prepping together on your list! My husband would balk at that; he hates having to help me make food, haha. Lately we’ve been enjoying reading together. I read aloud for both of us. We normally choose dark and twisty novels to keep us engaged, and glancing over at him every so often to catch his reactions is fun for me.
My husband is definitely not a fan of meal prepping together but I always want him to help so I threw it in there anyway! HAHA. I might have set him up a little bit. 😉
I really like the idea of reading together!! I would probably be the one reading aloud as well, but I think it would be fun. Good opportunity for cuddling, too, and I’m always looking for some cuddles. LOL.
Thanks for commenting!!
Those little monsters are too cute, and something I totally want to do now! I also love your list of date night ideas, being a college student means I’m always looking for cheap alternatives lol.
I think the monsters are cute, too!! My 4 year old really liked how they turned out. I like to make handprint and footprint crafts and put them in a scrapbook so that when my littles are big (can I cry now) I can look back and remember just how tiny they once were. I’m such a sap.
I’m not even a college student anymore and I’m always looking for cheap alternatives lol. I feel like in adulthood you just trade in one poor for the next. Totally kidding, kind of. haha.
Thank you for commenting!
I am definitely going to pass on this idea to my mum friends! or keep it for myself when I am babysitting 🙂
You would be the best babysitter ever if you did this!! The parents would be so excited. Just make sure you let the littles free paint a little, too, they love it. 😉
Thank you for commenting!
This was helpful I’ve always struggled with things to do for date night so maybe I could try making one of these.the children’s pictures are so amazing I love the dragon and rain 🙂
I hope you find something you like on the list! I’m glad you found it helpful.
I loveeee when my kids create art. I’m THAT mom that pretty much saves everything.
Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Thanks for the ideas!! We often end up sitting on our phones at lot – easy isn’t it, we did make sticks with date night ideas on but maybe I should try out some of the ones you suggested, thanks for sharing.
We do the same thing… we’ll sit on our phones and before I know it, it’s time for bed. Then I end up going to bed frustrated because we wasted our time on our phones LOL. Never fails. Thanks for the comment! 🙂