Date Night

Well, I took my camera with us, but still forgot to take pictures of me and Hankie on our date night!

My WONDERFUL friend Mandy, volunteered to babysit our kids for us last night so that Hank and I could go on a much needed date. Well, actually all of our kids ended up spending the night with her!! Can you believe it!! Even Sophie-girl!

I digress... so Hankie and I headed out after the Alabama game (ROLL TIDE!!), and went looking for something to eat. We saw smoke coming out of the chimney at the new Jim 'n Nicks and thought we would see if it was open for business yet. We got there and saw people going in, so we asked if they were open. The lady at the front tells us that they are training and it's friends and family night... so if we wanted to sit at the bar, we could eat there... FOR FREE!! We got an appetizer, we each got an entree, and then we got a piece of pie to go. We were so full when we left there!! And I tried a new sandwich that I'd never had before, but want to get again! I got the J&N Club Sandwich... it was so, so, so, so good! A hot sandwich with chunky smoked turkey and ham with bacon and 2 kinds of cheese! Hank liked mine more than his.

After our FREE meal, we drove over to Kohl's, since they stayed open late, and did some Christmas shopping and then went to Wal-Mart for more of the same. I found some clearance Halloween stuff that would work as stocking stuffers... a Hanah Montana bracelet for $.32 for Sophie girl... she loves jewelry.

Then we came home, I did some laundry, and Hank and I got a full nights rest with no little warm, wiggly bodies sneaking in our bed at night!

We got up and just got ourselves ready for church... oh the luxery of time! I got to shave my legs, curl my hair... even, wait for it... eat breakfast!

I don't think I could say Thank You to Chad and Mandy loud enough or often enough for them to know how much that meant to us!

A 'Hank' erin'

Last night, Hank and I got to spend some much needed and rare time WITHOUT our children! Gasp! I know. It's horrible to admit that we might need time away from our kids, but we do. It keeps us sane and it helps keep our marriage strong. It was so nice to not have the baby girl needing me, or a son pulling at our legs!

We went and ate at Wings. We tend to do that just about any time we go on a date night. When we were dating, we went to Wings a good bit, because it was close to my apartment at the time, and Hankie loves Wings. In fact, we frequented it so much, that we had our rehearsal dinner there!

We walked around the mall for a very short time, then we decided to just head on home and watch a movie or shows we had recorded on the tivo. Something we don't take for granted is quiet time at home. Quiet at our house is usually a precurser to something wrong. Smile!

We got up this morning, and I asked Hank if he wanted to grab some breakfast and go with me to CVS. He agreed, but I don't think he knew what he was getting into! He was a little antsy, but I think he may appreciate how much effort I'm putting into saving our family money. Because after 6 transactions, this is what we had:This is $114.48 worth of merchandise. I spent a total of $3.87 out of pocket. I went in armed with coupons and $10 in ECB's. I left armed with 10 ECB's. If I do it right, I walk out with the same amount of more in ECB's as I walk in with. All for less than the price of the one gallon of milk. If anyone wants a break-down, I will happily e-mail it to you! It would take too long to detail it here and bore the rest of you to pieces! ;)

After that, Hank and I went to a local warehouse called The Loading Dock South. We found new countertops for both bathrooms... the perfect length and everything... and spent only $25. We plan to keep going in to look for other things too. If you are doing a home improvement project I would suggest looking into The Loading Dock!

Now we are at home, and gonna get the kids to rest. The boys and I have plans later to get Hank's Father's Day surprises ready while he and Sophie run a few errands.

It's been a good day so far!

A Cheap Date

Now, where did all of your minds just go?? Shame one you!

Hank and I got to go on a date this past Sunday. He had to work an afternoon shift, but got off at 7, so we checked the times at the local dollar theatre, and found out that 'National Treasure II' started at 7. I got there to pick him up a little early, and thankfully, his replacement got there about 10 minutes early, so we made it right on time!

We snuck in a bag of M&M's (purchased with ECB's at CVS for more ECB's), and two drinks in my purse... I know, we're criminal. So we spent a whopping $4 for our entire date, if you don't count gas... which you just about have to these days!

It was fun to flirt with my husband and hold his hand and just be a couple for a few hours. We sat on the back row, but I couldn't talk him into making out with me! Darn! We took this picture of us out in the car before we went in to the movie.

The movie was good. A bit predictable, but good. And they set it up for a third one. I'm sure we'll see that one too.