Woo Your Man: Your Ideas and a Date Night Twist

Regardless of what you are doing tonite for Valentine's Day, most likely you will be sharing a meal with your man and if you are, whether it's in your own home or at a restaurant, I have another idea for you that will only take about two minutes to prep. Go to this link at zachterry.wordpress.com and copy and paste these 50 amazing questions to ask your spouse. My hubbie and I did this about a month ago for date night and it was one of our most amazing and intimate dates simply because we reconnected with each other and learned more about each other.

The questions start out fairly simply with basics like "What are your 5 favorite sources of reading, with the most favorite first?" but as you go through them, they get deeper and more intense like "What can I do that provides the greatest comfort and encouragement for you when you are hurt, fearful, anxious or worried?" Trust me, they are perfect! The way I did it was to print them out and show them to my husband and we passed them back and forth and asked a question of the other person. Sometimes we asked the same questions, sometimes not. We didn't ask every question and honestly, there were some that were a little too deep and we didn't want to go into them or we already knew the answers of one person and not the other.

Here are some other ideas that some of YOU are doing today for your men! And how creative you are too!

Bonne Nagle Homemade pizza. Red box movie (free rental!) and a picnic on the living floor with our heart shaped picnic basket (corny, I know.) We even get dressed up for it and use the fancy glasses with heart shaped plates to match...

Heather Skelton My honey works 2nd shift so I am going to pack him a special dinner. I am going to tie bows on his snacks & include little hearts with lines from "our" song (from our wedding!) We enjoy movies & popcorn when he gets home, so I an going to make special valentine popcorn (with red & pink m&ms) & light candles. I am making him that heart game you mentioned too!

Mary from The Encouraging Home is having fun preparing special food with her family today that she explains in this special post!

Hidden Treasures We're going to do our annual Valentine Tradition!! Stay home, throw the kids in bed, eat pizza by candle light, watch a romantic movie!! This year I've bought some avocado oil to give him a massage with!! It's a great one for massages!! ;) Might throw in some peppermint oil too!

What great ideas ladies!! You may be wondering what I'm doing for my hubbie for Valentine's Day. Well - nothing. He is in another state at a conference and I was hoping he would have internet so I could send him a sweet and sappy love letter but alas he does not. So I'll have to settle with a nice long phone conversation with him tonite. We're going to celebrate Valentine's Day on Friday night when he gets back with a special meal and goodies for the kids! Can't wait to see my man! I miss him SOOOO much but you know what they say "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" and we will be truly fond of each other on Friday!

Regardless as to what you are doing today to celebrate your love, may it be a blessed time for you and your man and I hope that Wooing your man is not something that only happens on Valentine's Day but make it a priority throughout the rest of your lives!!

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Woo Your Man: Workplace Love

Does your hubbie work in an office or does he have a desk where he works? If so this idea will work perfectly for you! Everyone loves to receive something from a loved one at their work simply because it let's everyone know who works there that there is someone at home who loves them. For a woman, this is easy! Just send flowers! And maybe your man would like flowers or balloons sent to him at work but for my man, he would think it was a little silly. So I had to get creative!

First, I took pictures of our children and put them in a small frame for his desk. Then I got all prettied up and took pictures of myself for another picture for his desk.

The pic I chose of myself :0) 

Sidenote here: If you take a whole bunch of pictures of your self and your hubbie sees the pictures on your computer before he receives his gift, he may be slightly confused as to why you are taking pictures of yourself like that and get concerned. My hubbie did and he had to wait a week to find out that the pictures were not for the internet but for him! It was entirely laughable at the time but I think it did cause my hubbie concern as to who these pictures were for. Men can think that way I suppose! :0) 

I also got a candy jar with a lid and filled it up with his favorite kind of candy to put on his desk. A homemade pencil holder made by your kids would be a nice touch as well. Put all of these things in a basket then continue to fill it up with snack packs of trail mix, jerky, chex mix, soda, or any other things that he may enjoy on his lunch breaks that he can store in a drawer of his desk. If you would like to add a little more eye-catching appeal, tie some helium balloons to the basket so they make an appealing entrance.

You can deliver the basket yourself during his lunch break or ask a co-worker of his to help you deliver it. You can also have a delivery service but that would cost additional money. I chose to surprise my man at work and deliver it myself then kidnap him for a long lunch break that I had gotten approved with his boss the day before.

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Woo Your Man: Kiss the Ground He Walks On

A very simple and easy idea that I did one year for Valentine's Day involved flower petals and Hershey Kisses. I used like four bags of Hershey Kisses and planted Kisses ALL over the floor - we had a rather small apartment at the time so that helped. Our living room and kitchen and hallway were covered in Hershey Kisses - but only on the floor! 

Then in our shower I used that blue sticky stuff (now I would probably use glue dots!) and stuck flower petals ALL over the inside of our shower. Then I included a sign that said: "Now that I've Kissed the Ground You Walk on and Showered You With Flowers, Would You Please Be My Valentine?" and I signed my name. 

Very simple and not too elaborate but it was special and made the point that I love my man! This would be a good idea to combine with another idea or a gift since most men aren't exactly wowed by chocolate kisses! :0) 

In HIS Grip, 

               

Woo Your Man: Ballooning with Love

One of my hubbie's favorite Valentines involved this idea. I blew up TONS of balloons and put them in our bedroom.  You could also put them all over your bedroom, his car (just make sure he will have TIME to get them out before he has to be somewhere!), his office, man-cave, wherever! Inside each balloon, I put a rolled up piece of paper with a little message or a coupon for him to redeem later. I used loving messages or sayings - some of which I found on Pinterest. You can check out my Words of Wisdom board for some that I love! 

I handed him a pin and told him to pop them. He is not a fan of loud noises so it was funny watching him try to cover his ears with one hand and pop the balloons with the other. Just so you know, I was laughing WITH him!

The beauty of this project is you can fill the balloons without blowing them up and bring them anywhere and blow them up within a little while. So if you want to bring them to his office, or surprise him while he is in a store, or whatever, this is very portable. 

You can also do this with helium - just add the papers and fill with helium. Perfect for delivering them to his office or work place. He may not want to pop them at work but as they wilt, he could check the messages! 

Now I know this is for your man and all that but you could do this any time you have balloons! Birthdays, get well soon, hospital visit balloons, baby shower balloons, you could play a bridal shower game with them, whatever! You could put Bible verses inside, words of encouragement, praise or counsel. 

In HIS Grip, 

               

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Woo Your Man: Give The Gift You Never Want to Give

Is there a hobby or activity that your special someone does that you really don't care for? 

Is there something that you've been holding back from him because you REALLY REALLY don't want to do it? 

Consider giving him the ultimate gift - your participation or support in that activity even if you can't STAND it!

After all, you do LOVE him right?

If he loves model airplanes - give him tickets to an airshow, one for him and one for you!

Or if he loves football, give him a new football and let him teach you how to play and PLAY with him!

Or if he loves tent camping, give him that new sleeping bag he wants and include one for you too! Then GO with him!

Or if he loves a certain type of food, take him to his favorite restaurant and EAT IT!

If your hubbie loves those stupid humor movies, give him Nacho Libre and tell him you'll watch it with him. With no mocking. 

I am NOT endorsing this movie!! ;0)

That's what I did. And guess what? It really wasn't SOOO bad because I wasn't

 watching it for the joy of the movie (of which there is VERY little enjoyment!) I was watching it because I wanted to show my hubbie I loved him. It was for him, not me. What gift can you think of that your hubbie would be shocked to get from you because he knows how much you despise it? 

In HIS Grip, 
               

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Woo Your Man: Random Love Game

This idea I made a while ago and occasionally still pull out to make a random loving gesture to my husband. I used a plastic school folder and cut it into heart shapes. Then I divided the hearts into two sets. On one set of hearts using a permanent marker I wrote body parts such as hands, ears, feet, back, a question mark, etc. On the other set of hearts I wrote words such as massage, kiss, rub, stroke, hold, a question mark, etc. 

Then I used two small drawstring bags and put one set of hearts in each bag. When I want to show my hubbie a little attention, either he or I pull out one heart from each bag to see what I will do for my husband. Or take turns and he can do them to you too! So then I will get things like "rub feet," "kiss hands," etc. If you pull out a question mark for one of the hearts, that person gets to see what the other heart says and then fill in the blank for the appropriate heart. You can completely personalize these to what your husband likes and I'm sure it will make him smile! 

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"DAD!!! I REALLY want a boyfriend!!!!"

“Dad!!! I really want a boyfriend!” I sobbed, and I mean SOBBED on my dad’s shoulder. My sister was already planning on marrying her boyfriend and she was YOUNGER than I was by two years! In just three short months I would be graduating from college and then heading back to literally “no-man’s land” at least, no CHRISTIAN man I would ever dream of marrying no-man’s land. My hometown was a mere 500 people and our church was only about 30 people so it truly was a place where I would not meet a man of my dreams.

Therefore, I was devastated by this state of singleness I found myself. My dad then told me those horrible, dreadful words that every fiber of my BEING wanted to throw back at him and make him take back. "Maybe God doesn't WANT you to get married!" HA! That’s ridiculous! My life verse at the time was:

“Delight thyself in the Lord and

He will give you the desires of thine heart.”

Psalm 37:4

The desire of my heart is to be married.  Period. Dad just didn’t understand that! Oh, but he did and as he continued to talk to me I realized that maybe I wasn’t delighting myself in the Lord like I thought I was at all. I had made this demand for a husband and was at that moment throwing a little temper tantrum at my Lord because He wasn’t giving me what I wanted. . .

To read the rest of my story. . .


please head on over to Beautiful Mommy Feet where I am participating in her series And I Knew He Was the One.

Be My Valentine Ideas: For Married Eyes Only Please!

If you are not MARRIED, please refrain from reading this post for the sake of keeping your heart and mind pure! I'm not explicit, I choose my words very carefully, but if you are not married, you can look at my OTHER Valentine Ideas that will help you out! Thank you!

Our very first Valentine's Day was one that was very special for me and my husband. For one thing, we hadn't been together on a Valentine's Day yet. My hubbie had to work and this was before kids so I was home alone and was able to set this up before he got home.

I took fabric rose petals left over from our wedding and made a path. You could also use Hershey Kisses. I then hid in the most obvious place - the bedroom. It started out with a note that said "Happy Valentine's Day Sweetheart! Please follow the path and ONLY the path! No cheating!"

At different intervals along the path there were little "things" that would be fun to use in the marriage bed. (I'll let you fill in the details of what you would like to use here!). You could also mix in little gifts, like a card for him, a box of candy, whatever.

My path led straight to the bathroom - he worked in a dirty job so he always had to shower before ANYTHING else! You could have a bubble bath waiting for him, or his favorite body wash.

While he was in the shower, I picked up the original path and made a new one leading away from the bathroom and bringing him to other places and finally to the bedroom where I was waiting in a room filled with candles and dressed in a "very nice thing that he would like."

He LOVED that Valentine's Day and I did too! Very special memories were made and so far, I don't think I've been able to come up with a better plan to woo my husband!

In HIS Grip, 
               





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Woo Your Man: DIY Lovopoly Game

I am re-posting this from last year's Valentine's Day. The original idea came from Love Actually. I found the actual product at Lovopoly.com but at $74.95 I just couldn't do that! Sooo I made my own! And because I made it myself I could personalize it so much more. 

One thing that you need to know is that my hubbie HATES Monopoly! And I know it, but the biggest reason is because it takes forever to play and it doesn't quite fit his attention span. :0) So I wanted to make a game that would be faster than the normal game. I had less properties - only 8 and gave out more money in the beginning. For some reason the game was still too long but I tried! 

I made my own Community Chest cards but called them Piggy Bank cards instead since we rarely have all that much money! The Chance cards I called "Get Lucky" cards (hee hee). Then I personalized the cards to things like "Gave a devotional at a church - Collect $100" and "Sold a Game on Amazon - Collect $20" or "Aimee had to go to the Emergency Room - Pay $200." I made the Jail into "The Doghouse." Now we don't have doghouse jokes in our marriage but for the sake of the game it worked. The Electric Company became "Have a baby - Collect $50 in gifts!" and Free Parking became "Tax Return Day!" Luxury Tax became "Property Taxes Due."  The Railroads became cruise lines since someday we'd like to go on a cruise together. The properties that you purchase were the best part of the game because I personalized it to locations that we really enjoy or have special memories surrounding them. I included Lake Red Rock where we went on dates a lot and where Sam proposed to me. Jordan Creek Mall was our first date and Hickory Park was our defining moment date. I also included a place simply called church because it's our goal to someday have a church to serve - it was the most expensive since we currently are seeking a church for Sam to pastor. 

It was fun to make but it took FOREVER! I used poster board and red cardstock for the board and scrapbooking paper for all of the spots. Measuring all of the pieces out took some time to make sure I didn't have any blank spots. All in all it probably took me about 5 hours to make it. I think it was worth it and Sam DID say that he DEFINITELY liked it more than the regular Monopoly. It will be something that we can remember different memories fondly every time we play. 

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Woo Your Man: 52 Things About Him

I have made this for my hubbie two times, once before we were married and a few years after we were married. We both enjoy playing different card games and every once in a while when we are playing cards together, we play with these and it's fun to read them and see how we have grown in our love for each other! 

Take a normal deck of playing cards - preferably one inside a box so you can use the box and decorate it and keep it away from the other playing cards. This idea is all over the web but I like to do mine in such a way that you can still play with the cards. One time, the youth group was over to our house to play games and they grabbed THAT deck of cards to play with!!! Not such a great idea! So make sure they are kept separate from your other cards. 

The first deck I made was "52 things that I love about my hubbie." I had different things like how he puts his hand on the small of my back and guides me, how he tells people that he has a "wonderful woman."  Things like that. It's truly not difficult to think of 52 things because for a woman, it's the little things that make a difference and this is a good way to thank your man for those little things! 

The second deck I made was "52 Things I want You to Know." In it I took a different perspective and said thank you for things that he does for me, things I see in him that I respect and am thankful for. 

Both are really good ways to show your man that you care and you see those good things in him and are thankful for him. 

Permanent markers are really the best thing to use. It really depends on the type of card you buy. The cheap cardstock cards you may be able to use pen but the good plastic feeling cards need the permanent markers. 

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