A year of dates

Caleb, to me:  "I wish I married you."

Me:  "You're too late."

Caleb:  "Awwwwww!"

Last post I mentioned my Christmas present to Jason.

Thank you, internet, for the gift idea for the hard-impossible-to-buy-for man in your life.

A year of dates, pre-planned; no romantic brainstorms required.

Process is as follows:  think up 24 (or however many) date ideas.  Decide which months work best for each idea (skiing doesn't go well in July).  Decorate 24 envelopes with your kids' markers, stickers, etc.  Create a typed description for each date [see "Paint Nite," above] and stuff in the appropriate envelopes.  Seal envelopes and tie the whole shebang with a ribbon.


Some dates require some advance notice to make reservations or acquire tickets, as for March, below.  In these cases I marked the outside of the envelope with the advance time needed--then he opens these envelopes early.

Since I did 24 dates, I marked each envelope with the month and either #1 or #2 for that month.

Some dates are weather dependent, in which cases I also marked that on the envelope.  

The neat thing for me is that I've already forgotten what's in each envelope, so I get a surprise every two weeks too!

And we have a charming reminder of upcoming fun on our mantle!