Valentine's Victory

Valentine's Day is my ALL TIME FAVORITE holiday..

I'm sure it's because at heart I am just "in love" with LOVE.

I have always, and will always believe in FAIRYTALES..

Yes.. there have been times where my fairytale involved

a wicked witch or two, a couple of dragons,

and even a stint in a tall tower...

BUT.. I will never give up the idea that

each day....We Have the Opportunity to

Build Our Own Fairytale!

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Ever since my "big" kids were little

Mr. Cupid has been coming to our house each Feb. 14th.

He brings presents just like Santa but...

more importantly... he leaves a house full of LOVE dust

and a trail of hearts to Last You A WHOLE Year.
So when I got home from Church yesterday...

I got all the presents out on the bed,

and our adventure was underway!

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I remember so well when Brent was in the 5th grade,

his teacher asked me if I could please explain to him

that I was really Mr. Cupid because he was telling his entire class

all about him, and they were all in an uproar wondering why

he never came to their houses. One little girl even cried

and asked to go to the office and call her Mother.

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To tell you the truth..

I don't even remember what I said to him..

But I do know this.. last year he called me from College

to see if Mr. Cupid still comes,

or if it's only until you get out of High school..

Mr. Cupid is such a tradition now that I couldn't wait

for Brady to have his 1st real experience..

He and Brook went upstairs to wait for Mr. Cupid to fly by.

"He is so quick that you don't even realize he's been there,

until after he leaves."
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As soon as they hear the door shut, then they know he's gone.

They came down the stairs and the adventure was on.

Mr. Cupid always leaves a TREASURE HUNT with clues

where to find the gifts he's brought for them.
Brook had to read the clues (since Brady is only 2)
and try to figure out where to find the LOVE..
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Brady wasn't quite sure what Brook was doing,

but he was quick on her heels so he didn't miss out

on anything GOOD..
He did however, get sidetracked several times picking up

the hearts (LOVE dust) on the floor

and Brook would have get him back in the game.

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At each new LOVE gift there is a new clue to follow

so they'll know where to look for the next prize..
Brady continued to forget about the NEXT piece of LOVE.

He was so excited about playing with the LOVE he had. haha

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Brook however, is a 16 year Veteran at this game,

and she kept "Baby Dot" on the Hunt for Cupid Dust.

Each year I would try to do something special with the clues.

One year when Brent was in Spanish I wrote some of the

key clue words in Spanish to make the game more interesting.

This year I made the clues really hard since I knew

my MISS Clever was the only one who could read.

Some of their LOVE was even hiding in the refrigerator..

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She even gave me "that face" a few times

as she tried to figure out where to LOOK !
She is my "logical" child... and I knew she'd get even the hard ones

when she thought about the clues for a second..

I must say she has always been the best "seeker" of them all..
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Part of their adventures even took them into

"the garage"... That my friends is scary in its self.

One may get sucked into that place and never be seen again.
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Our day's adventure ended with SMILING faces

and hearts filled with laughter and LOVE..

And in my book... Not much else matters after that.
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We all had a wonderful Valentine's Day together.

Hand colored cards, perfectly fixed coffee, a new sewing machine, a date to the movies, and a Family full of LOVE.. What more could a girl ask for in a FAIRYTALE.

May we never stop believing in Fairytales.

Because they just might come true!