Date Night

Last night we took the two youngest girls to my sister's house and Brittney kept the three boys at home so we could go out with some friends. I hadn't realized how seldom Steve and I are together anymore without kids. We went to Cubby's for an hour or two, then went bowling and eventually ended up back at our house. The intent of the evening was to introduce two of our single friends who didn't know each other. Our motive was purely selfish: we like hanging out with both of them and it would be really convenient for us if they started dating ;).
I have no idea if they had fun but Steve and I did! If/when Sophia is adopted, we're starting a monthly date night again. There was a year or so, not too long after we had adopted the boys, when we used respite funds to to hire babysitters so we could attend parenting meetings once a month in Sioux Falls through Children's Home Society.  Respite funds involve money provided by the state and paid directly to alternate caregivers, specifically for care of children with special needs when their adoptive parents need to temporarily utilize another caregiver. It did give us time to talk together on the drive and the meetings were beneficial but it's not the same as having fun together. I realized again last night that we still enjoy activities together! So date night will be starting up again as soon as we can utilize our "free" 13 year old babysitter! Maybe even before that if I can have one of our authorized people keep Sophia and I can keep bargining with Brittney for babysitting time!
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