There is Hope

OK, I know you've all been waiting for this.

Waiting for months.

And I know it's eleven days late.

(Sorry about that, but I'm sure the poor little flower is doing it's best.)

But after all the waiting, it has finally come.

 So may I present,

in all it's glory....

The first crocus of Spring!

Wahoo!  Winter won't last forever!  Spring is really going to come!

There is HOPE!!!

Valentines Day

Ah, Valentines Day. Such a lovey, fun holiday. It's a little different than when I was a kid, but it's still fun.  The kids these days are supposed to decorate a box and bring it to school for people to put Valentines in.  Some of the boxes get really elaborate.  Most of them are very creative and cute.  But at our house....
Well, Emily did put some effort into her box.  She didn't have a lot to work with, and with her mother sick in bed she was pretty much on her own.  But I thought it turned out alright, and she was happy with it.  Good job, Emily!

Ben wasn't willing to put any effort whatsoever into his box.  Or into the holiday at all, for that matter.  I picked out some Valentines for him while he was at a friend's house and brought them home for him.  He seemed to like them, and he took them to school on VDay.  However, no one will know they were from him, because he didn't bother writing anything at all on them.  Nothing at all.  No To: or From: , just a paper valentine.  But at least he gave out candy with them, and that's all the kids really care about anyway, right?  As for his box, he decided a grocery bag would do.  I talked him into upgrading to an ice cream bucket, which he was very reluctant to do.  (We wouldn't want anyone to think he actually cared, now would we?)

 

Good thing he's going to be in Middle School next year, where they don't really do the whole valentine exchange thing.  I'm sure he'll miss the candy, but I don't see him losing any sleep over not getting any valentines.

Cannon, on the other hand, seemed pretty excited.  He didn't have to make a box (thank goodness), he just had to take his valentines.  He very carefully wrote his name on the From line of every one, and happily ran off to school Friday morning.  I was supposed to help with his party, but since I had a fever, I didn't show up.  I do have some idea of what they did, though.  And one of the things they were supposed to do was write a letter to their parents for Valentines Day.  Such a sweet idea.  And surely such a sweet boy as Cannon would have something nice to say to his favorite mom?  Well, here's his letter.  I hope you can read it.

Not that there were any leftovers, of course.  

Happy Valentines Day!  Here's to an even better one next year!

Sick, Sick, Sick

Ugh!  I am so sick.  I've got a fever and a cough, and all my bones ache.  And, of course, my head hurts.  Doesn't it always?  So my loving sister, Jamie, wrote me a poem to help me feel better.  Or at least I thought she did.  Turns out she just found it on the web somewhere.  But it was really so clever that it cheered me up, and I thought I'd share it. Yes, I imagine I'm committing some kind of plagiarism, but Jamie did it first!

You have the flu.
You're breathing glue.
And feeling kind of hot.
Your fever's high,
And though you try,
Your nose stays full of snot.

So drink some tea,
And think of me.
As far as I can tell,
You'll get no hug
Or see my mug
Until you're feeling well.

Murder Mystery Dinner

Well, I find myself with both the time and the inclination to blog tonight.  So now the question is, what to blog about?  And I guess that would be the murder mystery dinner that I put together last week.  So here we go.
My group of friends has talked about doing one of these for forever, but never have.  So I finally decided I was ready to take on the project and scheduled a night.  It turned out great!
We had Navajo Tacos for dinner, which didn't really go along with the theme of the night, but they sure were tasty! 
The party was supposed to be a bridal shower for one of the fictional characters.  This made it possible for us to have our party without any men.  (Not that we don't like men, of course.  It's that this was supposed to be a girls' night.)  This supposed bridal shower was taking place at Lady Godiva's Day Spa, which specializes in chocolate.  Chocolate body wraps, chocolate baths, chocolate facials....  the works.  Since chocolate body wraps and baths sounded like fun - but a lot of work - we stuck with chocolate facials. 

It really was an honest-to-goodness facial recipe.  And our skin did feel softer afterward.  And best of all - it made for some great pictures.

Three people died that night.  Pictured above is one of the bodies at the scene of the crime.  But never fear - we did figure out who the killer was, and brought her to justice.  Here she is.  Don't be taken in by her pathetic appearance.  She's really very dangerous.

 

Unfortunately, there were two murder weapons that were not found, and so still remain hidden somewhere in Kristen's house.  We had her husband hide them for us, and I'm afraid he had way too much fun with it.  

Good thing we had fun, too, or he would've been in big trouble.  Thanks for a great night, girls!