Handmade Valentine’s Cards…

I decided to make some handmade Valentine’s Day cards for Brian and Jack this year. The one for Jack turned out to be quite a bit more ambitious than I originally thought, but it was worth it! I’m thrilled how it turned out!

The front of the handmade card

It’s actually not so much a card as it is a book—it has 16 pages of poems that I wrote (along with illustrations from daddy) tucked inside and held together with some old-fashioned twine.

The inside of the "heart book"

Brian is such a great doodler, that I really wanted him to illustrate some of the poems. Here are a few of my favorite drawings:

Cuddle Bug doodle by Brian

Sumo dance!

Smart little geek

Brian’s drawings are so adorable that I think I’m going to make a real book out of it. I’m not convinced a Valentine’s Day card made out of construction paper will stand the test of time, and this is something that he’s going to want to keep forever.

Also, he gets such a kick out of me reading it to him that I’d like to put it on his bookshelf and let him read it (or bring it to me to read to him) whenever he wants. I’m going to check into a board book from www.customboardbooks.com.

The entire poem:

On this Valentine’s Day before you’re two
We wanted to tell you how much we love you!

There are soooooo many things we love about you, Jack
Such as the cute way your hair curls up in the back

I love how you lay your head on my shoulder whenever I hug you
And how your giggle is contagious and makes me giggle, too!

I love it that you hold your arms wide to give a bear hug
And how when you get sleepy you’re such a snuggle bug

I love it that you rock out to music at every possible chance
And how you stomp back and forth like a sumo when you dance

We love how you get right back up when you fall down
And how you kick and squeal when daddy spins you around

I love how you bob up and down when you’re really excited
And how your whole face lights up when you’re really delighted

I love how you run through the house with your arms out behind
And what a little gentleman you are—so considerate and kind!

I love how you gesture and make the noise to signify “All done!”
And that you’ve been doing that since before you were one

I love how you’ll hold MY hand but won’t let me hold yours
And how helpful you are when we’re doing the chores

I love the careful way you unload all the dishes
And how you lean in slowly when I ask for kisses

We get a kick out of all the cool sound effects that you like to make
And how you mix up invisible things in bowls when we’re trying to bake

How you want to brush your teeth after every single meal
And how you make the bankrupt sound when we’re watching Wheel

I love how you smile sheepishly whenever I touch your cheek
And how well you use the iPhone, such a smart little geek!

How do we love you? There are millions of ways!
If we tried to list them all, we’d be here for days!

Most of all we love it that you’re such a happy little boy!
Thank you so much for brining mommy & daddy so much JOY.

6 comments

Oh, hello terrible twos! I knew you were lurking about.

Jack’s new favorite thing is to push all the dining room chairs over to various points in the kitchen and get into EVERYTHING on that particular countertop. Drawers full of knives, the stove, the toaster, the coffee pot, the sink, etc. Despite locking things and unplugging things and moving them out of his reach, the kitchen has suddenly become unsafe again, so I have to watch him like a hawk every second we’re in there. And like most toddlers, he has a one-track mind, is very stubborn, and doesn’t like to be told no, so endless temper tantrums are the result each and every time I’m brave enough (or dumb enough) to venture into the kitchen. SIGH.

God help me if I have to go to the bathroom and leave him alone for a second. The kid managed to climb up and stick his hand on the still-hot coffee pot before I even sat down on the loo! He’s QUICK. (No serious burn, though he DID cry!) I feel like he’s an infant again and I have to watch him every.single.second, which is annoying because I’ve been enjoying his (and my) freedom for that for several months.

I have put up with this for about four days now, with the understanding that as soon as Brian gets home from Macworld in San Francisco, we are going out to buy something—anything—that will keep him from being able to move the damn chairs across the wood floor. I know of nothing other than some sort of heavy rubber feet. I’m going to have to look around and see what I can find. (I briefly thought about an area rug, but that wouldn’t stop him. The child is freakishly strong, just like his mother.)

But after the latest tantrum, I marched each and every one of those goddamn chairs into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. Now my dining room table is chairless, and I’m unable to eat there, but thank CHRIST for the silence!

Oh, if only that were all I had to deal with. There’s pet drama, too. So when he’s acting up AND the dog and the two cats? I don’t stand a chance.

The dog? Oh dear jesus, the goddamn dog. He chews EVERYTHING, despite having DOZENS of chew toys and bones scattered throughout the house. He destroys EVERYTHING. In sixty seconds, he can have a hole chewed in one of Jack’s favorite pair of pajamas, or a shoe, or one of Jack’s toys. He steals food out of Jack’s hands. He plays too rough with the cats (not that I really care about the stupid cats, but still…) He gets too rowdy and almost knocks Jack off the stairs at least once a day. He gets up in my face all day every day and annoys me.

There are periods of time when I think he’s calmed down and is doing a lot better, fitting in and finding his place in this family. Then he has a really bad week where I just want to throw him outside and lock the door before I kill him. This has been one of those weeks, unfortunately. (Don’t worry, I wouldn’t ever harm any animal. The most I ever do is yell.)

And the cats. Ohhhhh. I hate the cats. Nothing ever changes there. But Rowdy has decided he’s going to start jumping up on the counters. Previously, the cats would only do this when there was a bouquet of flowers on the table. Or maybe a plant. (I DO NOT LIKE THIS. I know most cats do this, but I am NOT okay with it. I don’t want cat hair or their nasty little litterbox feet all over my counters. DISGUSTING. I thought I’d broken them both of it years ago.) But now Rowdy is suddenly jumping up on the counters to eat morsels on dishes. Or to look for dog bones. Or whatever he hell he’s doing. I keep catching him at it, tell him “no, bad kitty!”, pick him up and lock him in his room. It’s not working. I may have to break all four of his legs to prevent him from jumping at all.

Little Casanova

So we went to a mall in the KC metro this afternoon and this adorable little girl seemed to be smitten with my Little Casanova. The way there were giggling at each other may have been the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time.

Valentine’s Day cards

Jack's Valentine's Day cards

So, my fabulously talented friend Terry over at Sassy Designs created the most awesome custom Valentine’s Day card for Jack, and here is the final proof. Isn’t it ADORABLE?

I’m thrilled with how they turned out. She did an excellent job, and the cards arrived last week! Wooo hoooo!

Also need to thank Kristen, because even though she lives in another state and didn’t take the photos, she did edit them for me and tried to make them look like they WERE taken by a pro photographer!

I didn’t order as many as I usually do for Christmas cards, so not many are getting one of these*.

I always save a couple for myself, and want Jack to have them someday, too. I don’t think he’s ever going to be able to say that momma document his childhood very well or take very many photos! Hahaha.

I have over 7,000 photos of the little guy in my iPhoto library. That’s about 14 GIGABYTES. Yep. It’s slightly crazy, I know.

Shrimp Étouffée

So I’ve been making shrimp several times a week in my effort to stop eating so much red meat. Some are low-fat, some aren’t, but they’re all soooo good. One of my favorites is Shrimp Etouffee. Here’s the recipe:

Shrimp Étouffée

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ready in: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. butter (use real butter, for the love of all things yummy! margarine sucks.)
• 1/4 c. chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 c. chopped green bell pepper
• 4 cloves minced garlic (use the ready-made kind in a jar if you’re lazy like I am)
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley (or 1/4. c. dried parsley)
• 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 10.75 ounce can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 pound medium shrimp (I use raw, cleaned and deveined shrimp as opposed to cooked, because it’s going to be in the pan for 10 minutes and cooking it twice makes it rubbery)
• salt to taste
• 1/4 t. hot pepper sauce (use more if you like it hot, hot, hot)
• 1/4 t. cajun seasoning (optional, but better with it than without it!)
• 1 c. long-grain white rice

1. Most long-grain white rice takes 20 minutes to cook in a saucepan, so get that started right away, follow instructions on the bag. 1 c. dry rice makes enough for this recipe.
2. In a saucepan, combine butter, bell peppers, and garlic. Heat on medium-high for 2 minutes.
3. Stir in parsley, tomato paste, soup, salt, hot pepper sauce, cajun seasoning and shrimp on high for 5 minutes.
4. Reduce heat, stir and cook for another 5 minutes  until mixture thickens. Serve over white rice.
5. Pretend you’re in Nawlins. It’s yummy!

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