Love | Beauty and The Boys

I love him even more

June 1, 2015 - Leave a Comment

When my husband and I were dating, it didn’t take long for my seventeen year old self to fall head over heels in love with him. It was that young, wild, passionate, love that makes every nerve in you come alive. That love that makes home go from being a place to a person. The kind of young love that you know deep down in your bones, is going to last a lifetime. I had never been in love before, but I knew the moment I loved him, that I was going to love him forever. That one day I was going to be wearing white and saying “I do.” That one day he was going to be the father of my children. Most people probably rolled their eyes when I told them I wanted him forever and I’m sure people reading this, don’t believe I could have known that at seventeen years old. Those that fell in love young, know the feeling I’m talking about though. As I type this a smile plays around my lips because I’m happy that I was right. When I fell in love with him then, I never possibly dreamed I could love him more than I did in that moment.

I was nineteen when we had our first born. I remember the moment Jay came into the world and the moment Hubby got to hold his son for the first time, the look in Hubby’s eyes had me falling even more in love with him. I knew that look, I knew it because it was a reflection of what I imagine my eyes held and it held everything I felt about holding our son for the first time. We had become a trio just like that. Our relationship went from me and him, to the three of us. It’s amazing how much love the heart can hold because, not only had my heart made room for the love of our baby, it made room for the love that grew for my husband. In that moment, I never dreamed I could love him more than I did. I was sure this was it, this was how much I was going to love him, and it was brilliant and bright and beautiful.

Fast forward to three more kids, too many surgeries, the ups and downs of life, the good times and the bad. Fast forward through our first apartment, our first home, our first SUV, and our first family vacation. Fast forward through many birthday’s and holidays celebrated. Fast forward through anniversaries where we always take a walk down memory lane. Fast forward through endless laughter and countless tears, so many memories and a few fears. Here I am at twenty six years old. The book of our lives started in October 2005 and there have been so many beautiful chapters and there have been sad ones. We’ve been pushed and tested and yet, here we stand. If you were to read our book from then until now, you might be amazed at how many times I found myself falling in love with my husband all over again. It’s not because I ever fell out of love with him, it’s because each time I fell, I fell a little deeper.

At seventeen when I fell in love with that nineteen year old boy, no I never believed I could love him more. At twenty six, I love him more than I ever imagined I ever would and unlike when I was seventeen, I know as the years continue to go on and more chapters of our lives our wrote; I will love him more than I do now. That’s hard for me to imagine, but I know with a love like ours, that love just gets deeper and grows stronger.

I know that every time I fall, the wings of his love will always catch me, and our love will continue to soar.

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Our perfect at home date night

December 31, 2014 - 4 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #YoursandMine #CollectiveBias

My husband and I used to be so great about “dating” each other. Whether we were going out for date night or staying in, we made sure it happened at least twice a month. I believe it’s so important to date your spouse and keep your romance alive. As much as I love my kids, those times with my husband are beyond needed. Those times where we have real adult conversation, can linger quietly over a meal, steal kisses, and just simply enjoy each other. Yeah, those times absolutely recharged me and I was more than ready to take on the week and I could always tell when it had been too long since we had a date night; I don’t know how to really explain it besides, I just felt irritated and off. Like, I just needed one on one time with my husband. I needed to get out of the house with him or stay in with him, either way, I just needed time with him. Before we found out I was pregnant, our date nights had started going down to once a month and sometimes, we would even completely skip a month due to my husband’s work schedule, but we were doing our best to still make date nights work. One of my favorite date night’s while I was pregnant happened while we were in south padre and I’ll never forget that memory. Once I got put on bed rest, you can imagine our date nights became non existent because Hubby was trying to balance it all while I wasn’t allowed to do anything.

Being put on bed rest gave me a lot of time to think though. I knew the twins could arrive anytime and I knew we were going to have two babies + our two older boys to care for. I knew that my days were going to go from sun up until sun down with how busy I was going to be. I knew that my time would be even more stretched and I began to wonder if there was anything I just wasn’t willing to comprise on. When you become a momma, even for the first time, you sacrifice a lot of your time for your child{ren} and that’s exactly how it should be. Putting my kids needs before my own was a natural instinct for me and most days, I have zero problems with doing that. Like I said though, realizing how much more of my time would be stretched, I knew there was going to be a couple of things I wouldn’t budge on because I just need these times. I’ll get into the others later, but for now, one thing I wasn’t giving up was date night with my husband. It is so easy to get caught up in being a momma, running the kids here and there, errands, keeping up with the house, laundry, and so much more. Add in for the past seven weeks I had been going to the hospital every single day to visit my babies..

As you can see, making time for my husband, making time to be his wife, and solely focus on us, can get lost and lost rather quickly. One thing I told myself I was going to do in the new year, is to make sure our date nights stay alive. I know we won’t have as many as we once had, at least for awhile, but I told myself we can manage once a month. Even if we don’t get out of the house for our date night, we could easily have different types of date nights at home. What I love about having date night’s at home is they are alot cheaper, we don’t have to find a sitter because we can wait until after all the little ones are asleep, and we can have any type of night we want at home. For our first date night, I decided on a romantic night.

Live.Laugh.L0ve. // Our perfect at home date night #YoursandMine #Ad

I ran to walmart to grab everything I needed. For this super simple, yet romantic date night you will need:
- Something for dinner. I chose to make spaghetti so I gathered all the ingredients I would need for that.
- Wine or a drink of choice.
- Wine glasses.
- K-Y® YOURS+MINE and/or K-Y® DATE NIGHT
{There is an awesome deal coming soon for K-Y® DATE NIGHT: $50 value, you get 1 free meal for two people from PEACHDISH.com delivered to your door! How perfect for that at home date! You also get $5 VUDU movie credit for you to stream right at home!}

As you can see, I didn’t spend an arm and a leg for this because after I finish making dinner, I can switch the mood to romance without having to spend big bucks to make it romantic. A delicious meal with the lights down low, quiet conversation, kisses that taste as good as the wine your drinking; is all you need for a romantic date night. In an atmosphere like that, you might just love what happens next, but I’ll leave that for your imagination for you and your spouse. Ladies, don’t be scared to ask your man to try out the K-Y® YOURS+MINE either. I was pretty nervous about asking him and let’s just say, I had no reason to be. I can’t wait to plan out our next date night! I’m thinking game night for our next one, you’ll just have to wait and see what that consists of!

I just know my husband’s going to love walking through the door and seeing the setup I have for us. Do you and your spouse have date nights? If so, how often do y’all try to go on a date?

For more awesome ways to improve the passion in your relationship in the New Year, visit K-Y.com. Also, be sure to check out the Date Night pack at Walmart.com for discreet purchasing!

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Two days I’ll never forget

September 22, 2014 - 1 Comment

Our first family vacation wasn’t just our first family vacation, it was also the first vacation Hubby and I have ever taken together. Yeah, eight and a half years and we had never been on vacation. I was beyond excited to be able to go on vacation with him. We didn’t have a lot of time to ourselves and we were totally fine with that, but we made sure to make a little time for ourselves and to enjoy the moments we did have alone. One morning, I had woke up to find Hubby already awake. I got up to pee and take my back medicine and instead of going back to bed, Hubby crawled out of bed too and we headed out onto the balcony. It was about 5:30 in the morning and we curled up on this beach/porch chair that reclined. There were moments where we were just laying there, listening to the waves wash up on the shore since we couldn’t see them yet, we would quietly talk, and kiss at random times. His arms stayed tight around me and as the sun started to make it’s rise over the ocean, we were both in awe. The smell of the ocean washed up to us, the sound of the waves were gentle and calming, the ocean changed from black to different shades of blue, and the sky turned into a masterpiece as the sun rose. It that moment, I believe I fell even more in love with my husband than I already was. Just getting to experience something so beautiful with him, something like that that touches the soul and warms the heart, it was consumed me. In those early morning hours, it was like we were the only two people on earth and we were wrapped in each other and in the beauty coming alive around us.

Another time I’ll forever remember was our last night in South Padre. Hubby’s brother watched the boys for us so we could enjoy a date. We headed to a burger joint we had went to earlier in the week that we enjoyed earlier in the week. We enjoyed our food without rushing and talked about our favorite parts from the trip. Well, we still had about an hour before we had to head back to the boys so we decided to walk along the beach. We walked the little trail down to the beach, slipped our shoes off, and when we looked up, we saw a double rainbow over the ocean. There had been a storm over the ocean and it was moving onto the land. The waves were rolling in and we walked hand in hand as the waves washed over our feet. The double rainbow stayed the entire time and it was an absolutely stunning sight. As we turned around and started walking back the way we came, a warm rain started falling, Hubby and I just stood there, hand in hand, facing the ocean with the waves washing over our feet, our toes sinking in the sand, and the warm rain washing over us. It was a moment I hadn’t anticipated, a moment that was absolutely and utterly perfect.

I was so lucky to have those moments with him. So freaking blessed to have him by my side.

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I was reminded how lucky I am to have my husband

August 25, 2014 - 2 Comments

This weekend was pure bliss. Hubby has been working a lot lately so, I’ve been doing this “solo parenting” thing for a few weeks. Well, he had the whole weekend off and it was wonderful. My back has really been bothering me as my stomach continues to get bigger, which is expected, but it doesn’t make it easier. Saturday night, Hubby told me he was going to make dinner, anything I wanted. I told him I wanted Meatloaf so that’s what he made, along with baked potatoes, green beans, and rolls. While dinner was in the oven he also cleaned the kitchen and did dishes. The whole time he was doing that and the boys were playing, I got to sit on the couch and read. It was nice to just relax.

Then Sunday morning, I woke up to the smell of something delicious. I stumbled my way out of bed and into the kitchen to see what it was and there Hubby was, making breakfast for us. To say I was shocked was a complete understatement. After breakfast he helped me out with the boys so much and continued to clean up the house. I had a smile on my face as I asked him, “What did I do to deserve this?” He looked at me, gave me a kiss, and said, “What did you do? Well, you put up with me working a lot, you take care of our kids, and your run our household. That’s why you deserve this.” With my pregnancy hormones I was fighting back tears.

He also made dinner again Sunday night. It was seriously such a relaxing weekend and I felt completely spoiled with all the help. The boys were pretty darn good all weekend and by Sunday night, we were rested, and ready for school to start today. This weekend I was reminded of how truly blessed I am to have the husband I do. He blew me away this weekend and I couldn’t stop thanking God for the wonderful man I married.

What has your Husband done lately that just made you stop and go, “Wow, I’m so lucky to have him.”?

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DIY Laugh Basket for your spouse

July 25, 2014 - 16 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #CollectiveBias

Today, I’m going to brag on my husband for a moment. He works so hard for our family to allow me to be a stay at home mom to our kids. He also helps me out whenever I need him to and sometimes when I don’t even ask and I appreciate that so, so, SO much! Since finding out that my back is messed up, he has been even more tentative and hands on than he normally is, especially now that I’m pregnant and he knows I’m in more pain now than when I wasn’t pregnant. He is always making sure I’m okay, doing extra things I ask him to do or that need to be done, rubbing my back, and he’s even given me a few massages without me asking him too! This past year has been hard, but it’s also made me realize how incredibly blessed I am to have such an amazing husband. Now, normally, when I want to show my appreciation for all he does for me and our family, I would get him some form of sweet card and a little something extra. I know he always appreciates every sappy/love card I get him, but truth be told, my husband is a man who likes to laugh.

He’s always making me laugh {it’s one of the things I love about him}, he has the best one liners, and always has hilarious comebacks. I’m always telling him that I wish I could just read his mind for a day because I think I would be spending the whole day in tears from laughter. This time to show my appreciation for all he has been doing, instead of going for my usual sweet stuff, I decided that I’m going to make him laugh this time. I ran to Walmart and grabbed some things to put together this laugh basket for him.

Here is what you’ll need for a laugh basket:

Hallmark BuzzWorthy Cards
Index Cards {at least 15}
Two cans of Silly String
1 can of Frosting
2 Funny shirts
Sharpie Paint Markers

I had a hard time finding exact things I wanted to put in the basket to make my husband laugh. I did find a couple things though while I was at Walmart. I found two shirts that I knew would make him laugh, they sure made me giggle. I picked up some silly string, frosting, and index cards for a few DIY games I put together.

Then, I went over to the card section and picked out two of the new BuzzWorthy Cards from Hallmark because I couldn’t just choose one. People probably thought I was crazy as I was reading the cards and laughing in the aisle. I picked out two that were sure to make Hubby laugh. I really am loving these new cards you should definitely run to Walmart and grab a few!

When I got home, I started putting the basket together and I have to say I love it! Here are some up close pictures of the different things in the basket.

For the DIY games, I just came up with a few sexy/fun things to do with the frosting and silly string! These are very much adult only index cards. You can create your own games or use the ones I have below!

There you have it! My DIY Laugh Basket for my husband! What would you put in a laugh basket for your spouse?!

Make sure you check out Connections from Hallmark to sign up for the Hallmark Rewards, and to see great content from other bloggers! Also, Make sure you check out #TrendyCards on Twitter!

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Why I would be perfectly happy with another boy

June 3, 2014 - 13 Comments

When we found out we were pregnant with our third child, we couldn’t wait to share the news with our friends and family. They have been beyond excited for us and even my fellow bloggers and blog readers have been offering a huge amount of congratulations! We feel the love! One thing that seems to keep coming up though since everyone found out is… people either assuming we want a little girl or “Are you hoping it’s a girl?” At first, I didn’t say anything except to my husband that I would be more than happy if we have another boy. Once I came forward and told family and friends this, I’ve gotten… “Really?!!!” “You NEED a little girl.” “But girls are so much fun.” “You’re missing out.” or complete silence. People have acted like I’m crazy for saying I want another boy. {Let me go ahead and say, we would be thrilled if it is a girl, but no, we aren’t hoping and praying it’s a girl, we are hoping and praying for a happy, healthy baby}

To answer these questions & statements I have received:

“Really?!!” Yes, really. I love having boys. God blessed me with two amazing little boys and I have so much fun with them. The bond between a mother and son is incredible. They are my little princes and to them, I am their queen. I love everything about having boys from the messes they make to the sweet way they still curl up next to me anytime they can or wrap their arms around my neck and whisper “I love you mommy.” God knew what he was doing when he gave me boys and if this time he wants to give me a girl, then that is perfectly fine, but if he wants to give me another boy to make it a trio of boys, that’s perfectly fine too.

“You NEED a little girl.” Ummm, I’m glad you think so? Really, If I needed a little girl, God would have given me one and he still might, but the point is, God knows what I need and he knew I needed these two sweet boys.

“But girls are so much fun.” I KNOW they are. I have seven nieces. I know how adorable girls are and how fun they can be. I also grew up with two sisters. I’m not “girl deprived” as everyone seems to think that I am. What you should know though, boys are fun too. If not more fun than girls. Yes, I said it. My boys have an absolute blast and I have a blast with them. I may not be playing princess or letting her wear my shoes, but I’m making mud pies, building huge buildings & knocking them down, wrestling around on the floor at the most random times of the day, throwing the ball, playing video games, laughing until my sides hurt, locking up the “bad guys”, having water gun fights, getting dirty, and so much more. Boys are a whole different world of fun and I am so beyond thankful I have two boys to share that fun with.

“You are missing out.” This one irks me the most. What exactly am I missing out on? I’m not missing out on love, my boys fill me with so much love that I feel like I will overflow with it. I’m not missing out on a bond, I know that a bond between a mother and her daughter is wonderful {I have that bond with my own mother}, but the bond between a mother and her sons… nothing compares to that. I’m not missing out on laughter, my house is filled with it. I’m not missing out on shopping, I love picking out adorable clothes for my boys. I’m not missing out on sweetness, my boys constantly amaze me with how sweet they are. The random hugs & kisses, the random I love yous, and the way they care for others. I’m not missing out on dreaming dreams with a daughter because, I dream those dreams with my boys. I listen to the dreams of wanting to be a fire fighter and a police officer. I’m not missing out on teaching them to value themselves and respect themselves because, we teach them those things. Boys don’t just come magically equipped with confidence, they too have to learn how to have it. I’m not missing out on dress up, my boys love to dress up as ninjas, police officers, and firefighters. They also love putting on the most random pieces of clothing {santa boots, underwear, shirt, cowboy hat} and making me laugh hysterically. I could go on forever with this one, but I’ll stop there.

Last, but not least… Being met with complete silence. I get it, it may shock you for whatever reason that I would want to add another boy into our home, but instead of not saying anything you could say, “Oh, that’s great. I hope it’s a boy!” or “Either way, I hope it’s a happy, healthy baby.” Or “I don’t know how you handle boys, but if you can handle more, go for it!” Don’t just say nothing because your silence speaks volumes.

One last thing, if you know someone who already has x amount of one gender, it’s okay to ask them what they are hoping for, but don’t give them the “are you crazy look” or a pity look or anything else. Be supportive of them and wish them a happy, healthy baby no matter what the gender is.

Believe it or not, there are quite a few mothers who have all boys or all girls and they are perfectly content with having all of one gender and you should be perfectly content for them too.

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Happy 6th birthday Jay

April 13, 2014 - 7 Comments

Dear Jay,

You turn six years old today. How do I even begin to describe what you have done to my life these past six years? How do I even begin to describe the absolute joy you bring to my life? You made me a momma. I remember being so scared, I remember thinking that motherhood was going to be impossible. Sometimes it still is, but you make it all the more worth it. I thank God over and over that he blessed me with you. You are such an amazing little boy. You are growing up right before my very eyes and as I write this, I’m fighting back tears. It’s crazy how times flies. I feel like just yesterday I was holding you in my arms for the first time and all of a sudden I blinked and your six.

I want you to know I’m so proud of you, daddy and I both are. You are one of the best students in your class. Your teacher seriously brags about you all the time and it makes my heart swell. You have the sweetest soul I’ve ever seen. You believe in being nice and standing up to those who pick on you and others. You believe in peace above all else. Your love of God amazes me on a daily bases.

Your headstrong too. You and I but heads quite a bit, it’s not surprising and I kinda like it. It shows me that you know what you want and you will stand up for what you think is right or what you believe. You are a little storyteller. I love listening to you tell me whatever story has popped into your head. You have the funniest expressions and your eyes hold all of your emotions. Those beautiful blue/green eyes that holds depths of love. You are a wonderful big brother. You and Kage fight a bit, but at the end of the day, he’s your best friend and you would give anything for him and that is so amazing to see at six years old.

I could say so much more. Like how your laugh fills the room or how when you dance around the living room, energy radiates off of you like the sun. You bring joy wherever you go and it’s beautiful. I want you to always keep the important parts of you. Your selfless at six baffles me and I hope you hold onto it. Your sweetness, your honesty, your faith… hold onto it all. More than anything, hold onto the fact that you are beyond loved because love, it fills a person up and Jay, it flows out of you in waves. We love you so much and we are so proud of the wonderful boy you are.

We had your birthday party over the weekend and you had an absolute blast. We had a Disney planes theme birthday party. You were surrounded by friends and family that love you so much and I can’t wait to celebrate your birthday some more today!

I love you Jay, always and forever.

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Romantic Valentines Day Date Night Basket #ad

February 3, 2014 - 10 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. All opinions are 100% my own.

Since I have been in a Valentines/love mood, I’m going to go ahead and continue that today! You can read about A time for love where we had a wonderful date night, Valentine Date night outfits and the Valentine banner I made. Today, I am going to share something super fun and super romantic that your husband is sure to love. Before I go into the details, let me just say, my husband is not the overly romantic type. I don’t randomly get surprised with flowers. He doesn’t light candles all over the place before.. well you know. I, however, am extremely romantic down to the bones. I adore flowers, candles, soft music, dim lights, etc. If it’s romantic than I probably like it. Every Valentine’s Day I wind up getting him something mushy gushy and even though he likes it, I know it’s not really him. So, this year I wanted to do something different. I still wanted to have that romance that I crave, but I wanted it to be fun for him too. Hubby is all about fun and funny and I wanted to incorporate that this year for our Valentine’s at home Date Night. Today, I am going to show you how I created a fun Valentine’s themed date night basket, as well as set the mood for a little romance!

I’ll show you up close details in a second, but I want you to just look at the above picture for a minute. This is a date night right at home after the kids are asleep. You don’t have to find a baby sitter and then be bummed when you don’t find one. You get to lay out a blanket, create a yummy dessert to eat together and enjoy the contents of your basket from the comfort of your own home and yet, it still screams utterly romantic and yet fun!

To do this fun & romantic at home date night you will need:
A basket
Some sort of red or pink cloth to lay in the basket
Wine or Champagne
Chocolates
Roses {fake or real}
A delicious dessert
A little lingerie
A funny card
K-Y Yours+Mine

Bonus: I’m going to tell you where you can get all this stuff and for cheap! This is not an expensive date night, but it is so worth it!

I saw this card in Row House 14’s shop and I just knew I had to get it for my husband. Not only would it go perfectly with the intimate things I had in the basket, I knew he would find it hilarious and that he would love it.

The K-Y Yours+Mine is from Walmart! It is only $14. Just read the back, you will see why you need it!

I was going to go with wine glasses, but I saw these adorable Valentine’s day cups and I thought they would be perfect and like I said, Hubby isn’t super romantic so wine glasses aren’t really his thing, but I knew we would both use these cups! The cups and the chocolate candy hearts inside of them are from The Dollar Tree.

I have never had this sparkling wine before, but when I was at Walmart getting the other items I needed, I spotted this down the Valentines isle and figured I would give it a try! I’ll let you know how it tastes because it sounds really good!

Okay let’s see. The lingerie is also from Walmart, it was too cute to pass up and I knew it was perfect to put in the basket! The dessert I made is this delicious Oreo Banana Pudding I found on pinterest! The white rose, the big chocolate heart, the basket and the red dish towel I used to put in the basket, are all from the Dollar Tree! See, I told you most of it is cheap which I love!

I think I put together the perfect basket for my husband and planned out a romantic and yet fun night for us for our at home date night!

*The K-Y Yours+Mine is in the special Date Night box pictured above!* It takes the not so anticipated at home date night to another level! Before you enjoy the intimacy with the K-Y Yours+Mine be sure to look on the side of the box as well as inside because there is coupons! One is for a free movie from VUDU to enjoy and the other is for a meal delivery service from Plated! Not only do you get to have an intimate date night at home, you can enjoy a free dinner and a movie during your at home date night as well! #CollectiveBias #KYdatenight

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Love Day banner + a free printable

January 30, 2014 - 2 Comments

Valentine’s day is one of my favorite holidays. I know there are people who absolutely hate Valentine’s day, they are single, they think it’s stupid for there to be one day where you show each other love or to buy expensive gifts because of said day. To me though, I am the type of person who seriously loves, love and having a whole day that is focused solely on Love is just fun to me. There are so many days filled with hate, worrying, life being hard, etc. and while it would be nice for everyday to be filled with mounds and mounds of love, sometimes that’s just not possible. So, having a day where we put all that aside and focus on that one emotion makes this girl extremely happy. Now that you know that, it should come as no surprise that I’m decorating for Love Day. {that’s what I like to call it} I slowly started getting our mantel all decked out in love including a print I made, candles, nick knacks I have that are perfect for a Love Day mantel and more. I also wanted a banner. {Full mantel coming soon}

Except I don’t like to follow the crowd and make regular banners. You know the kind you string together and wa-la it’s so beautiful and all that. Okay.. and maybe I can’t make those types of banners, trust me I’ve tried. Let’s just go with I don’t like to follow the crowd though, it sounds better. Once I had my mind set on the banner I wanted to make I got to work. I made the hearts I wanted to use and printed them out on glossy photo paper and got to it. Today, I’m going to show you how to make it!

You will need:

After you print out your Love Day hearts, cut them out and then cut them again to make perfect little hearts that are going to turn into a fun banner.

Cut the streamer into the length you want them to hang. You will need 10 of them. Once you have 10 of the same length strips of banner, cut those strips into half long ways that way you have 20.

Flip the hearts over, place a piece of tape on the end of the pieces of streamer and place it onto the back of the hearts.

Then hang your banner up however and where ever you want! I decided to put ours on our mantel and I hung it in a slightly curved way because I didn’t just want it ramrod straight and yes I used to tape to hang each piece. Yes, I know you can see it in the pictures, but I promise unless you are super up close to the banner like my camera was, you can’t see the pieces of tape.

There you have it. A super easy and cute Love Day banner that you can make in roughly thirty minutes! Have fun!

To download the free printable – Click here for part 1 and here for part 2.

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A time for love

January 22, 2014 - 17 Comments

When I woke up on Sunday, I had a text from my mom letting me know my nephew was staying the night at her house and that she would like BOTH of the boys to come stay the night as well. It was my husband’s only day off, he was still asleep and I knew he would be asleep for awhile. Before I responded to her, I thought it over. I knew he was going to want to spend time with the boys today, we even talked about getting out of the house and going to the park, but we hadn’t had an entire day and night to ourselves in sometime. The last time we tried, Hubby was sick so we didn’t get to spend any time together. I relished in the idea of getting him all to myself, in the idea of getting to clean my house without my boys coming behind me to destroy it again, I loved the idea of date night. I decided, that I was going to say yes without talking to my husband first. He may get irritated when he wakes up, but surely that would pass I told myself. I told the boys what was happening and they became extremely giddy. I started packing their bag and getting them ready, wondering if I should have waited until Hubby got up, but I pushed the thought aside and drove them over to my moms.

Once I got back home, the utter quietness of the house startled me at first. My boys are eighteen months apart, quiet isn’t exactly something I’m used to. After a few minutes though I realized how nice that quiet was. I could hear myself think for crying out loud. Now, most people when their kids are gone for the day and night, they probably enjoy relaxing, doing their hobby’s, running errands without the kids, possibly even taking a nap. All those thoughts crossed through my mind, but as I was considering a trip to the grocery store or snuggling up next to my husband in bed and dozing off for a few more hours, I took one look around my house and decided on the spot I was going to clean the hell out of it. Clean, is exactly what I did. I turned Pandora on on my phone {Danity Kane radio} and got to work. I was just about finished with the boys room when Hubby woke up.

“Hi.” I said as I walked out of the boys room carrying dishes I hadn’t known were in there.
“Hey.” Was his groggy response. After a minute I think he realized how quite it was, “Where are the boys?”
“At my moms.” I said as I began picking up toys out of the living room.
“Why?”
“They are staying the night over there.” I said cautiously.
Irritation flickered across his face, “It’s my day off. I wanted to spend time with them.”
“I know.” I paused to gather more toys, “But we never have time like this to ourselves. I thought it would be nice.” I flashed him a smile hoping to win him over.

He didn’t say much after that and I went back to cleaning. He made a trip to the gas station and when he got back, he was in a much better mood. I assumed he realized how rare this occasion was and we took full advantage of it. It turned out to be a very refreshing day. I continued cleaning the entire house in between stealing kisses from my football watching husband. Every once in awhile we would catch each others eyes and smile, that smile that said yeah this is nice. If I was in another room cleaning, he would randomly come in there, wrap his arms around me and kiss me. After I was done cleaning we got ready and went to one of our favorite restaurants, Chili’s.

We ordered adult drinks and had adult conversation. We lingered over our meal, in no hurry to leave. There was no reason to hurry. Normally when we go out to eat, we are slightly rushing because the kids are only good for so long. So, we set a slow pace. We enjoyed our drinks, our conversation and our meal.

“I love the boys more than life itself, but this is so refreshing. It’s so nice just focusing on being a wife.” I couldn’t help but smile up at him, even when a little part of me felt guilty for even saying that. Because I knew that day, even though the boys crossed my mind, even though I missed them, I wasn’t focusing on them. I was focusing on my husband.

We finished dinner and held hands walking out to the car. We were early for our movie so we decided to get some tokens, act silly and play the arcade games. We even took pictures in the photo booth. We went and saw Ride Along, which was down right hilarious. I love Kevin Hart and Ice Cube is a great actor so seeing them in a movie together was perfection. As we exited the theatre, our hands were linked once again and our pace was slow. We didn’t have to rush, we weren’t on a time frame.

The rest of our evening was filled with laughter, jokes and cussing at eachother and the video game we were playing together. I don’t remember the last time I had felt that carefree, the last time I had laughed and joked with him over a video game. As the moon rose high in the sky and the stars had been out for sometime, we fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms. When I woke up Monday morning, I felt beyond refreshed. I was ready to go get my kids. I was ready to dive back into motherhood.

Sunday reminded me of why I created one of my husband’s Christmas presents. A gift of time. I didn’t blog about it, but I will soon. It is perfect and it’s important. As mommas we focus so much on our children and of course that’s how it should be, but we tend to not focus as much on our husband and vise versa. Life gets busy and date nights get pushed aside and time alone is catching up on your favorite TV shows together before bed. {which is totally fine} But being intentional about doing something fun together, about putting that focus on your husband and him putting his focus on you is so important. I knew I was going to remember Sunday forever. It was the first time in way too long that we took the time to actually focus on each other. It was the first time in way too long that we remembered what it was like to have fun and be silly and do things we enjoy together.

Sunday was a time for love and it was perfection.

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