Are you wondering what to do for Valentine's Day?

Today, Shalee over at Shalee's Diner is hosting a Fifty Cheap Dates party. She's asking all of Blogland for inexpensive date ideas that don't involve wandering around a bookstore for a few hours. (Rats! There went my first idea!) If you have any ideas for us her, post on your blog and then go back to Shalee's. She has a Mr. Linky all set up.

Here are my other ideas, since Shalee nixed my first thought right off the bat.

• We like to go to a dollar movie. Since there isn't a lot of talking to each other at a movie, we try to go out for dessert after the show for some "face-to-face" time. Knowing that we're eating something afterwards, usually keeps us from having to mortgage the house for popcorn and drinks at the movie.


• A great date can be grabbing one of the those books that we bought during our last bookstore date, going out to a coffee or snack shop, ordering a drink or a small dessert/snack and then reading to each other.


• This date costs nothing - we took along a worship book full of all sorts of songs, drove to a wonderful nearby park, found a picnic table in an empty corner and then spent the afternoon paging through and singing every song we could remember. It was a fantastic time, very encouraging. Don't worry if you're not a terrific singer. Remember Psalms 98:4, "Make a joyful NOISE unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud NOISE, and rejoice, and sing praise." (emphasis mine)


• Try going to the airport or the mall, find a comfortable place to sit and then people-watch. People are so interesting!


• Finally, if you don't have money for a sitter or you don't feel comfortable leaving your baby, wait until the kids are in bed and then have an at-home date. Just plan ahead, rent a movie and get a yummy dessert (put it someplace safe so it doesn't get eaten before your date), then once the kids are in bed, enjoy the rest of your evening together. You don't have to watch a movie either, you could read to each other or play cards or a game or just stare lovingly into each other's eyes. Sometimes while I put the kids in bed, Pastormac will drive down to Dairy Queen and bring back blizzrds for us to eat during our "at-home" date. MMmmmm.

There are tons of great cheap date ideas over at Shalee's Diner. Go over there to be inspired! I really liked Amberly's idea of getting a sitter to watch your kids at HER house so you can stay home and relax at home sans kids.

Don't forget Shannon's Works-for-Me Wednesday Valentine's Day Edition tomorrow. And on Friday, Overwhelmed is hosting her Favorite Ingredients Friday Valentine's Day Chocolate Edition. Yum! Don't miss that one!