Be My Valentine

After a delayed start to the school day due to snow (and you know the obligatory Texas snow pics are coming your way soon, right?), my girl headed off to school for her Valentine's Day snack and card exchange. They already have their allotted number of parties planned for the year so they couldn't use the "P" word.

No, I am not kidding.

And, no, I could not make that up.

For years I've scouted a shoe box and spent untold amounts of time working with the girl to add the appropriate amount of bling to said shoe box in order to transform it into a Valentine masterpiece. But guess what?

This year, my child asked me if she could just pick out a box at Hobby Lobby and then somehow add her name to it. She just wasn't up to be crafty as she planned to use all of her creative prowess to make homemade cards for her family. She also specifically pointed out that she would not be doing the same for her classmates.

"They're not family. They can handle a regular card from Wal-Mart. They only want the candy anyway."

Out of the mouths of babes, my friends. Out of the mouths of babes.

So we headed to ol' Hobby Lobby, where all of the V-Day stuff was 30% off and the girl picked out a box. It was $11.99 before the discount but do you think I cared? Nope.

She had no idea that price really didn't matter. What did matter is that, at least this once, I didn't have to figure out how to put a slit in the top of a shoe box with a knife while also praying that I wouldn't slice my finger off.

After a little glue and glitter to add her name, this was the finished product.
She plans to take the top off and lean it against the base. She even practiced a number of times at home to make sure she gets it "just so."

Assuming that all of the other parents were talked into purchasing bags of giant Smarties (or some other type of Valentine's Day sugar), this box will probably be bursting at the seams when I pick her up. 

As it should be.

Love is in the Air

Why, yes, we do decorate for each holiday. Both minor and major. We also celebrate these holidays with some sort of feast, which generally includes something sweet. Did you expect any less?

What does that mean? Why, it means our home is currently decorated for Valentine's Day and that we'll have to do a quick turnaround between Sunday and Tuesday because Fat Tuesday is looming.

You remember I'm a Louisiana girl, right? 

Of course we're still walking on sunshine after Sunday night's Super Bowl victory. I cannot tell you how long we've been waiting for the Saints to be champions. Well, personally, I've been waiting 31 years.

But I digress. 
Love is in the air at the Bowers' house and I certainly hope it's surrounding you and yours as well.

A couple of years ago it became apparent that we needed to ramp up our Valentine decorations.
But I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on said decorations.
So I hit up the local Goodwill and Salvation Army stores...
And I bought pretty much everything they had on their shelves that related to Valentine's Day.
I may be frugal but I'm not necessarily known for moderation.
It's all or nothing for me. Whether it's cooking, decorating, working out or teasing my hair...
...I go hard or go home.
But I'm sure you already realized that due to the copious number of pics here...
Happy early Valentine's Day!!!

Ye Olde Art Faire

Over the weekend it became apparent that we (and by 'we' I mean 'me') had procrastinated making something for the upcoming Art & Science Fair long enough. I'm not exactly sure when the entries were due but since the actual fair is on Thursday it seemed like Monday was a safe bet.

So we headed out to Hobby Lobby - me, the man and the girl. Tay originally wanted to make "snowmen in a winter scene." Now that may not have seemed as daunting had I not been sick for the past three weeks straight (and, quite frankly, still counting but I'm positive you're tired of hearing me whine by now).

Thank God the man was there because, seriously, he saved the day when he suggested that Tay paint a pre-made birdhouse. You see, this fair awards everyone a ribbon. The same ribbon. I learned this only after killing myself on a science fair project last year. So I'm not exactly willing to recreate the Mona Lisa here. 

And painting is artistic. Particularly when you add stenciling to the mix. And you know the best part? Dave supervised all of the painting while I had a bit of a rest. It was blissful. Until he put me in charge of the stencils. 

Turns out, though, that my 10-year-old is more adept at this task than me. So what you see below, my friends, is all Taylor. I have a sneaky suspicion she will win a ribbon. But don't tell her. Let's make it a surprise.

Always Happens in Threes

It's all fun and games in the morning until you wake up to a freezing cold house and a non-functioning heater. When you pick up your cell phone (after dropping off the hormonal 'tween) to call the landlord about said heater just before you cross the school zone line, life becomes even more interesting.

Why?

Because you get pulled over by someone named Corporal Painter, who is apparently a member of the local SWAT team and wears a cool stocking cap to keep warm in the winter. You see, it is now illegal to use your cell in a school zone.

Which I already knew!

But I was frustrated and trying to jam one more thing in my scheduled because Dave's at work today. Of course he is.

Luckily, Corporal Painter had pity on me and didn't give me a ticket. He did, however, explain very patiently that you only have 30 days to get your address on your driver's license changed after you move. That would be significantly less time than the TWO YEARS we've lived in Woodway.

Of course the computers were really slow this morning so it took forever to get the "all clear" on my license. He, at one point, just told me to go ahead and go to work because "if you're wanted, I'll just hunt you down."

Awesome.

Right after he said that, I was cleared.

Whew!

And while I thought all the fun had been had for the morning, I was wrong.

Someone hacked into my iTunes account. Can I just tell you what a fun experience it is to try to clear that up?

Trust me, you don't want me to.

And now I'm off to find some Calgon.

Mammoth Fun

A Blessed Day Indeed

So yesterday was the big appointment for the man and the girl. And it was awesome. Truly. The doc (who I probably singlehandedly kept in business for about 7 years straight) and his awesome trainer, Ron, both chatted with me and Tay while Davey was in x-ray. In fact, we'd already pretty much settled the entire issue of his knee before he ever got back but that's a different story.

Anyway, the short story is that Dave's knee will FINALLY be fixed on March 5. Yep - four weeks from today and he'll have a new knee. We're not sure if it's miniscus, ACL, patella damage or a combination of the three but there's definitely a big issue that will be taken care of next month.

To say we are extremely thankful this is finally being addressed would be a gross understatement. And while most couples probably wouldn't be so excited about major surgery, six weeks off of work and lots of rehab, it's gotten to the point that Dave really just can't enjoy life at all. So we're off to the races for him.

We also asked him to take a look at Tay's arm and he was incredibly helpful on that front as well. He thinks the reason she continues to have these two areas of scabbing is because the subcutaneous sutures dissolved before the skin had healed completely. It will continue to scab and slough off but, with time, will eventually heal. No infection. He thought it looked pretty good.

He was really impressed with her extension and flexion, which was a huge relief. The look on his face when I told him NO ONE would give her a PT consult was rather amusing - disbelief, really - but it looks like all of the hours we've put into figuring out how to get the motion back have paid off. Thank you, Lord!

She does have a large amount of scar tissue but he doesn't really think we'd gain much by removing it as it will, in all likelihood, simply reform. This, too, should improve with time and continued movement of the limb.

The final question is whether we should have the plate removed or not. Because of her age, he is leaning more toward taking it out; however, he's going to share her x-rays with two of the trauma surgeons to get their opinion before we make a final decision. If another surgery is needed, we will be transferring her care to him. If not, we'll attend our final appointment with the original doc (who couldn't do another surgery anyway because he only covers call on the weekends) in March and let it heal for about a year before revising the scar.

So that was our afternoon. It all went down so much more quickly, smoothly and easily than I could have ever imagined. Although a lot of anxiety has been present leading up to this day, there wasn't really any present yesterday. Just peace. For that, and so very much more, I am incredibly thankful. And we are immeasurably blessed.

Thank you for your prayers. They mean more than you can imagine.

We will be taking it easy this weekend as we're all still nursing colds. That's also the reason you haven't gotten any pics this week because we all look pretty rough. I'm sure all of our moods will improve drastically should the Saints win the Super Bowl on Sunday, though.

Who dat, y'all!

And have a wonderful weekend!

The Big Day

Today is the big ortho appointment. Dave is super stoked. Taylor is super hesitant. And me? I'm just super hopped on cold medicine still. Unfortunately, I was reminded last evening (and into the morning) that these meds make for insomnia. 

Knew I should have picked up some NyQuil. But then you end up on the DayQuil/NyQuil carousel and just sort of feel like you're floating...then again...

I digress.

Anyway, I'm currently praying for wisdom (for Dr. Hamilton), patience (for my dear husband), peace (for my anxious child) and for sanity (I'll let you guess who that's for). No matter what, we'll be farther along this orthopedic highway after reestablishing care with Wild Bill.

And for that I'm very thankful.

Now please excuse me while I continue contemplating how one participates in a bowling league when they feel like they're flying...