A night alone or a lonely night?

So there is this super amazing gal in our ward that offered to take our kids over night so Don and I could have some date time. She actually wanted to take them for 2 nights. She is very creative and fun. I was afraid that the kids might not want to come home if they stayed with them. We dropped them off at about 5:30 and then took off to Winchester for dinner at the Olive Garden. It was good but not nearly as good as when we went to Caraba's. We had a few places in mind we wanted to go and I had been searching diligently to find a fun place to go. We were thinking about staying in a cabin or going to West Virginia. We even wanted to go snow tubing. Everything looked so fun so it made it really hard to choose. Our decision was made when Don's car started having problems and we had to fork out $600 for the repairs. We decided we would just stay home and sleep in our own beds. There is no other place more comfortable. We went shopping after dinner and bought some paint and supplies at Lowes. Next day we spent ALL DAY painting the kitchen and the family room. Pretty romantic date huh? I had attempted to do the family room while Don was gone but had some problems with two different colors blending together so we had to do that room entirely over. We tried to match it best we could but it is darker than I thought. Oh well. I like it. When we were walking around Lowe's I saw this kitchen and I just loved the color of the paint. We asked someone to help us try to match it and the lady that helped us is supposed to be one of the best with colors so she told us the name. We found the paint and headed home. After getting the paint on the kitchen walls my eyes got bigger and bigger the more we painted. Don just kept saying "you don't like it do you?". I had to keep looking at it and looking at it and I finally think it has grown on me. It is green. It is a bit darker than I thought too but it is nice. After we get a few more accessories in there it will look even better. It was fun. We turned up the music and painted away. It was very nice to have time to just talk and spend time together. It helps us to have a little break from the kids so that we can strengthen our own relationship. I also think it is good for the kids to get away from mom and dad once in awhile. And it is important for the kids to see Don and I spending time together and working on our friendship too.

The kids had a great time. They ate a picnic lunch in the tree house. They went to the park. They had a great time and just as I had expected............they wanted to stay another night. But once we got home and got the kids to bed Caleb said he was so glad to be back in his bed.

I am so very grateful for people that serve. It was exactly what Don and I needed. I know it wasn't easy for this family to do this. She has five kids herself but her youngest is 12. It was funny to hear her talk about how you totally have to change your mind set and how you forget what it was like when your kids are young. She had a couple of funny stories to tell. OK, one was funny and one wasn't so funny. But she was actually impressed with how they did. She said they were angels. I don't know if I would go that far!!!!!!!!! Just kidding.

I do have to admit I did cry that night as I really missed the kids. It was actually the first time they have stayed the night away from us other than with family. And that is even rare.

If you look up at the right hand corner where the two walls meet you will see a difference in paint color. Don't ask. Long story.


This was FUNNY. I was so nervous about the dark paint here. I kept questioning it and Don started getting annoyed with me. So in order to get a picture of him I had to act like I was going to complain about the paint and I said, YOU KNOW WHAT? He turned around and was about ready to say something and I snapped it. So cute. Check out the bottom of his pants. He had to roll them up so he could really get into the painting.


This picture and the next are of the finished family room. There are some spotting from the light and camera.


Another of the finished product. A bit darker than the first time around but we LOVE it now.


And here is the finished kitchen. I do LOVE this color in the picture but it is a bit darker in person. Still love it though. It has already grown on me. Besides, sometimes you just got to be brave and live a little. I really enjoy color in a home too. So this is super fun. I am going to paint one of the bathrooms a plum color. YEAH.