Happy Heart Day!

31 Favors

Okay, we didn't make quite that many but almost! I made about four before the whole process started to get more streamlined. Here's the skinny...

The one for boys contained:
1 mini pinball puzzle, 1 Matchbox car, 2 lollipops, 1 roll of sweet tarts.

The one for girls contained:
1 heart shaped pad of paper, 1 tiny marker, 1 mini bottle of bubbles, 2 heart stickers, 2 plastic rings, 2 lollipops, and 1 roll of sweet tarts.

Yes, the girls get more but those Matchbox cars took up a lot of room! Would boys even appreciate heart shaped paper? Exactly.

I thought I would surprise my girl by making a favor for her too. She automatically assumed she was getting one and proceeded to pick out the trinkets she liked best to fill her own pail. I had planned on giving her the pink "I LOVE YOU" pail, but she chose this red one instead. She opted for a smiley face ring over the one with pink lips, the turquoise bottle of bubbles in place of the red, but stopped just short of requesting only pink sweet tarts. This whole experience will be great on my resume if I ever decide to get a job as a personal assistant in Hollywood.

When I showed my husband these pink polka dot creations he said, "What are we doing for the boys?" Geeze, talk about a buzzkill.

Funfetti

This is a peek at how my dining room table looks at present. Lots of stuff scattered about...little to no work space available. That could describe other areas in my home, but I am focusing on the table for now. Okay? We are deep in the throes of Valentine making, and finding goodies to fill these little heart pails has been fun. I'll show you the final result in my next post. But for now, it's back to the assembly line for me. My three year old shift supervisor is tapping her watch and wants me to cut my break short.

I'm thinking that if she doesn't allow me my full fifteen minutes, I may just have to stand on the table with a sign that says "UNION." I guess that would be a moot point, seeing as how there is no room on the table.

Dr. Feelgood

My living room has officially been a sick ward ever since my three year old received this for Christmas.

I think it must be one of her favorite gifts, seeing as how she is still playing with it. But then again who wouldn't like all of this great stuff? The x-ray machine kinda blows my red plastic nurse's kit of old out of the water.

Her medical center was able to provide emergency care for Barbie and Snow White after their recent rollover accident. (They swerved to avoid hitting a Little Pet Shop kitty.)

All I can say is, thank goodness those girls had their seat belts on and that we are a preferred provider in their HMO.

What's black and white and red all over?

The hutch in my kitchen! This is what I've been working on for the past couple of days. I went a little "whackadoo" with the grosgrain ribbon, but that's who I am. I've already come clean about my glass jar fetish and my thing for gingham, so I might as well put my lust for ribbon out to air with the rest of the dirty laundry. Scandalous isn't it?

Here are some close ups. I put some of my favorites cards in acrylic frames. It's so much better than having them stuck away in a drawer.
These Hershey's kisses probably won't last long, but at least I have a picture for posterity.
The doggies had to come out to play. Ahhh puppy love!
A bicycle built for two.
A glass jar... but of course!

Sprinkles, now that would be a cute name for a dog.

Ooh it's 10 til 10, almost time for a Dr. Pepper!

Love the little saying on this plate.

Okay, that was the ten cent hutch tour. Hope you enjoyed!

p.s. I was really bummed when I had to take off my Christmas music Playlist, that was until I thought of making a Valentine music Playlist! Woohoo! I tried to create a diverse mix of songs rather than making you listen to all of my favorite 80's power ballads. For the record, while "Dance the Night Away" is by Van Halen, it is technically not a power ballad. Remember, you always have volume control. :0)

Dial "V" for Victory

I'm happy to report that all of the Christmas decor is officially stowed away for another year.
You can call off the intervention.
Frosty didn't even put up too much of a fuss, seeing as how the temperature has been in the 70's this week.
As expected, after the last lid was shut on Christmas, the Valentines started clamoring for some shelf time of their own and I had to oblige.

Here are a few of the goodies that are putting in an appearance for the big day.

When I get all the shelves loaded to capacity, I'll give you a pulled back shot of the hutch in all of its glittered heart glory.

I know you probably had no idea that glass jars would be part of my decorating scheme until you scrolled down, right?

Confessions...

The good thing about using an artificial Christmas tree is that you can leave it up longer.
The bad thing about using an artificial Christmas tree is that you can leave it up longer.
Exhibit A...
Yes folks, this tree is still up in my dining room. I have taken most of the ornaments off, but it is still not "down."
There, I said it.
My goal is to have it all put away this weekend. I then can join the ranks of all you sane and upright citizens who have already commenced cleaning, purging, and organizing. Or maybe I'll skip all of that and just shift into Valentine mode without feeling so guilty.

Now if I'm going to be really honest, I should admit that there are other Christmas items still lingering around in addition to the tree. But Frosty's on notice, it's thumpety thump thump over the hills to the storage bin for him, ASAP!

Chatterbox

From the time my three year old wakes, until it's time for her to go to sleep again, she is either talking or singing. Non-stop. From sun up til sundown. Without ceasing. All day. Constantly.

I bought this journal from Rebecca Sower over a year ago, but I have never used it. Truth be told it was misplaced amid my stacks of magazines, catalogs and books and I could not find it until now. When I rediscovered it, I immediately thought it would be the perfect place to record the ramblings of my girl. And what better time to start my little endeavor than at the beginning of the year. Here are a few of the quotes I have so far...

"Mama, I'm going to tell you a question."

"When I get bigger I can have gum."

"We need to go to Walgreens to get an OveGlove to do cooking."

Who knew OveGlove's target market was three year olds?

By the way, thanks so much for your love and concern over my "sports" injury. The shoulder is feeling much better. So I'm wondering...What kind of pitfalls do you see to playing RockBand?

Injured Reserve

I have been on the sofa nursing my first athletic injury. I know it's hard to believe that a person in her late thirties hasn't sustained a sports related injury before this, but it's true. Maybe if I had ever been genuinely athletic prior to now it would have happened sooner. However, spraining my ankle while doing cartwheels in the house at the age of nine was as close as I ever came. No worries, I'm going to be alright. I am icing my achy shoulder and following a strict caffeine and painkiller regimen. I am going to have to refrain from playing this for awhile though...

It was the tennis match to end all tennis matches that brought me to my current supine spot. What started out as an innocent best of five match spiraled out of control into a three hour sports fest which added bowling and baseball along the way. While I naturally had enough carbs in my system for this impromptu marathon, I definitely should have been more hydrated. Ooh, and STRETCHING would have been a first rate idea too. If I had stretched then maybe I would not be soooo sore. But alas, I did not.

And this little piggy cried, "Wii, Wii, Wii!" all the way home.

Wishing you...

Hope 2009 is a beautiful year for you

filled with health and happiness!