different kind of day

Normally we spend all weekend, every weekend running around, eating out, and just trying to do fun things with the kids. Daddy works long hard hours during the week and sometimes goes several days without seeing the kids. It always seems like the best way to give dad back to them is to take them somewhere and do some fun family activity with them.

Recently we have been thinking about our finances and how we could better spend...or save...our money. The only logical thing we could think of was to stop doing so much stuff on the weekend. Or, for us, just do everything in one evening so we don't have to leave the house on Friday and then again on Saturday or Sunday after church.

This is the first Saturday in I-don't-even-know-how-long that we did not leave the house all day. I have to say it didn't go all that bad. The kids still got enjoy their dad and we didn't have to spend any money!

Last night daddy, Ryan and I (Hannah wanted to stay with Brad's g-ma, who happens to live right next door to us) went on the hunt for a new bike for Hannah. A few months ago her poor bike was run over by her uncle and her daddy all in the same week! So she had been without a bike for awhile. Earlier this week she learned how to ride one of Ryan's bikes that doesn't have training wheels. So we wanted to get her a new bike without training wheels.

Anyway, I told you that last paragraph just to tell you that the first thing Hannah wanted to do this morning was ride her bike. It was still pretty chilly out so we didn't let her go out right away. After several hours of constant pleading and lunch we let them go out. Daddy got out his bike and rode around with them.

Staying home also gave us time to play our first family game of pictionary. I wrote a bunch of objects (chair, sun, dog, etc) on pieces of paper and folded them up and put them in a bowl. We took turns drawing. It was girls against boys. Right now teams are even. =) I think it ending up being a tie. I thought it was really fun. Hannah said it was boring but she played and seemed to be enjoying herself.

Then we all headed back outside for awhile (my "for awhile" is shorter than their "for awhile") and daddy made cheeseburgers on the grill. After the kids took showers we put down their sleeping bags in the livingroom so we could watch a movie and eat ice cream. They were then in bed before 8!

Great day! I foresee many more weekends spent together at home.....until it is warm enough to spend them camping! We get to bring home our new camper tomorrow after church. It is not much bigger than the one we had but our old one was proving to be a money pit of it's own so we traded it in for a new one.