Valentine's Day, the crafty post

I allot myself one crafty day per year, and it's almost always Valentines.  In my next life I will keep little antique bell jars filled with adorable craft supplies, ready to create something beautiful at a moments notice.  My next life also includes an unlimited supply of time and energy.

Thankfully, this life does include Pinterest, which assures that I don't have to have a single, original creative thought.  It's awesome.  For example, check out these adorable iphone valentines:

And this evil deliciousness:

(Why, yes, I do consider jelly beans a staple.)

Unfortunately for my arteries, I don't need a recipe for oreo truffle:

Throw in some almond bark,

some sprinkles, 

and two strange little children

and I'd say you have yourself a crafty holiday.

What 10:00 PM looks like:

How anyone can fall asleep in a room with three lights on is beyond me.

And this sweet girl is reading a book about snails.  

I don't know which is more surprising, that they made an entire book about them or that my child is reading it.  

But according to Mia "snails are fascinating creatures."
I'll take her word for it.

Valentine's Day, Part Moi

That's french for "me."  I'm cultured like that.

It's always a welcome surprise to see a cut-out of your husband's head on your computer:

 My own personal scavenger hunt took me to back to the OC campus where we met, dated, and blah, blah, blah.  It was so fun to go back to all the places we made out studied together.

 Thank goodness he understands that behind every great woman there are great amounts of caffeine.

Per his request, I am sparing you the notes with all the little inside jokes and dating memories, but you get the gist - after all these years he still thinks I'm a "great catch."  

How blessed am I?

Valentine's Day, Part Bode

Because Spiderman is soooo six months ago, Bode has been begging for a new lunch box.  A Star Wars lunch box.  So, guess what was inside his spiderman lunch box when he opened it up at Sonshine School?  Well, this, of course:

(Please ignore the smeared peanut butter)

And under his carseat in Andy's car:

Bode is the easiest person on the planet to please.  He keeps a running list of things he wants in order of importance in his head at all times.  Thankfully, it just got a little bit shorter.

Valentine's Day, Part Mia

This year I am breaking the Valentine's Day post into three.  Naturally, Andy felt the pressure to up the ante a bit so he gave each of us our very own, unique scavenger hunts.

Mia's hunt started when she opened her lunch box at school.  Inside she found a huge chocolate apple with this note:

Lo and behold, the man had actually snuck out to Mia's school in the middle of the night to bury her a treasure.  How cool is that?

(The note got a little "mulchy" after being buried all night)

And under her seat in Grammy's car she found these:

It wouldn't be Valentine's Day without a video clue:

And finally, her very first ITunes gift cards.  Her world is about to change for the better.

This man will do just about anything to hear his daughter squeal with sheer delight. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it.

Next up:  The Bodester's special day...

Our Valentine festivities have been interrupted by more puking.

Early Tuesday morning I was awoken to the sounds I know all too well.  

It was Andy.  For the second time in two weeks.

 When I knocked on the bathroom door to ask what was going on he tried to tell me he wasn't sick and he was just hanging out in the bathroom for a while.

Apparently, he thinks I'm a moron.

 He wanted so much to feel good so we could all have a great Valentine's Day.

Instead he spent the rest of the day on a pretty intimate date with the toilet.

And then I tried to get some pictures of my kids in their cute Valentine's outfits and they came out looking like this:

After which Mia started bawling, vowed to never eat another piece of Valentine candy for the rest of her life and begged to go home and lay on the couch.

That is the sure sign that disaster is upon us.

I'm off to sanitize myself.

I think we will do Valentines tomorrow.

Remember when dinner with friends actually included grown-up food and grown-up conversation?

Yah, neither do I.

The leaving is the hardest part {for Andy}.

So long, Florida.  

See you next year (if not sooner).

My sister can't stand the pitiful pictures of Bode with the gas mask on so she's insisting I post something else.

Which really leaves me no choice but to add more pictures of our Disney Trip - I can feel your eyes rolling all the way from here.

The day we found out Mia was going to be in Annie I started praying the same prayer over and over again.  A simple prayer, really.  Basically it was, "Keep sickness out of our home during this busy time."

And he did just that.  Not so much as a sniffle from September to Christmas, which is nothing short of a miracle in a home with two small children. Mia didn't miss a single rehearsal or performance.  It was truly a huge blessing during the busiest months of our lives.

But as soon as the curtain closed we were hit like a tsunami.  Stomach viruses, colds, strep, you name it.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not complaining.  Yes, I'm tired of the constant passing of viruses and bugs and the constant washing and rewashing of every washable thing in my house.  It gets old, as all mothers know.

 (Why yes, we are the whitest family in Florida.)

But I have learned an important lesson about the power of prayer, and this is it:  It works, so never stop doing it.

That seems so obvious, yet I need to be reminded of it constantly (I'm kind of slow like that).  If something works, go with it.

And you get that free of charge today from the {Slow-to-learn} Undomestic Goddess.

This is a public service announcement.

Just say no to gummy snacks.  

 Just say yes to flossing.

Bode had to have three cavities filled today.  That's right, folks, three.  One for every year he has had teeth.  And we have no one to blame but ourselves.

It wasn't so bad if you enjoy holding your son down with all your strength for a solid hour while he screams bloody-murder.

At one point I leaned over to Andy (who was also practically laying on top of Bode) and said, "This is our own fault, you know."

To which he responded, "We've never claimed to be good parents, and no one has ever accused us of it."

Touche.

But seriously, who hasn't bribed their kid with a pack or two of gummy snacks to buy themselves five more glorious, uninterrupted minutes on pinterest?  I buy the ones with the 100% daily recommended dose of vitamin C, so I actually consider them vitamins.

And trying to floss Bode is like trying to wrestle a pig.  In your head it seems doable but in actuality it is disgusting and impossible.

Welp, not anymore my friends.  My laziness and general apathy will no longer come at my own child's expense.  There will be flossing songs and flossing cheers and flossing dances in this house.  And from now on, our vitamin C will come from an orange.

Parenting fail #234,345.