Valentines Day 2012

 For almost every holiday my mom gets the grandkids cute holiday shirts. They LOVE them. I have to make them pajama shirts after the holiday is passed otherwise Cohen would choose to wear one of his holiday shirts everyday. My mom requested pictures of the boys in their valentine shirts so we did a small photo shoot.

For Valentines day we did a yummy dinner with our neighbors. We got a heart shaped Papa Murphy's pizza for the kiddos and the adults did Raclette. Raclette is a Bunnell tradition. I think it is Swedish? Anyways, you cook/warm veggies on top then warm havarti cheese or any other yummy cheeses on bottom then pour the cheese over your veggies. Kind of like fondu, but different. Lots of social, slow eating. We love it. We found the Raclette grill at a specialty store at Crown Center. It was marked 30% off and we hesitated to buy it. The manager said he hadn't been able to sell them because no one knew what they were. He offered us 50% off and we were sold.  

After Yummy dinner at our house, we made the long trek next door for chocolate fondue at the Horrocks household. So yummy...and a little messy too, but totally worth it.

Valentines Day morning I woke up to a note card on my nightstand. It read:

Your Mission:

Good morning and happy Valentines Day. I hope you slept well because you are going to need it. You are in for a challenge this morning, but first some ground rules:

1: No cheating

2: Do them in Order

3: If you need help, ask me

4: Have fun

Good Luck!

Under that card was my first clue, it read:

1-First things first, hunger is only cured one way. Let the sweet aroma of bacon start your Valentines day. BA

I headed down to the kitchen thinking breakfast would be in the oven or on the table. Nothing. So I looked in the fridge and found a BLT and a Naked Vitamin C drink (my favorite breakfast). Next to the plate sat clue #2.

2- Hopefully you are pleasantly surprised. Before you dig in, make sure Cohen has his favorite "Cars" cereal so you can enjoy your BLT. AM

Cohen calls frosted mini wheats "cars cereal" because McQueen was on one of the boxes we purchased. Attached to the box was clue #3.

3-I hope breakfast was great. Don't you think it would be easier to do this if you let the kids watch a movie? Whether or not he'll watch it, I think a movie featuring a frying pan as a weapon is a good suggestion. AR

I knew right away on this one. So after breakfast I put on Tangled for Cohen and found the next clue inside.

4- Let's make things more difficult. I can fly, but have no wings. I have hands but no arms and a face but no head. One through 12, but never 13, the next clue is behind me. YO

I am awful at riddles. Do you know where it would be hidden based on this clue? Clue #5 was hidden behind the clock in the upstairs bathroom. I had to call TJ for a little help on that one.

5-Riddle me this, riddle me that. Forget the words, let's try something flat. You'll find the next clue where games are found too... G?

I quickly ran to the armoire in the living room where we keep the games and found clue #6.

6- Your next clue will be a challenge but think of a place where "Valentine's" comes after "Easter"...BE

I had no clue on this one and had to make my 2nd phone a friend call to TJ. It was the dictionary on our bookshelf in the living room where I found clue #7.

7- Well done on finding this clue, but the next will be right on cue. What is black when you get it, red when you use it, and white when you are all through with it? Where would you use this product? U?

Seriously hard right???? So I call TJ back for the 3rd time after looking in stupid places. Charcoal! He taped clue #8 to the sliding door behind the curtain though so I didn't have to go outside. 

8- Lets try something a little easier. We'll try a memory test. Do you remember what shirt I wore yesterday to school? AZ

Now this is more up my alley. When TJ wears the same shirt in a week I am on his case. I quickly found clue #9 hanging on the hanger of the shirt he wore the previous day. Disclaimer: Yes my husband washes his shirts, just not every time he wears them.

9- My life can be measured in hours. I serve by being devoured. Thin, I am quick, fat I am slow. Wind is my foe. And I can also light a room. E?

Clue #10 was found on a candle in the bathroom.

10- Well done on your challenge today. Your last task is to decode the letters at the top right of each clue card. (blanks are spaces, or ? in the case of how I've written it on the blog). Open the powerpoint on the computer and input the message you decoded as the password.

So my letters were:  B A A M A R Y O G ? B E U ? A Z E ? I N

I'm awful at decoding, but I actually got it quite quickly: You are amazing babe!

Also along with some of the clue cards were included coupons for things like foot messages, body messages, and a day of no changing diapers (the best one)!

I opened the powerpoint on the computer and entered the password. TJ had put together 100 reasons why he loves me! SERIOUSLY! BEST GIFT EVER!!! How did I get so lucky. He has since told me not to expect it ever being topped, and I cannot blame him when I've never even come close to doing anything that cool for him. I need ideas though of something different but sweet I could do for him for Valentines day this year...so please if you have an idea leave me a comment. I'm pretty sure I can never top his though. Yep, I'm a pretty lucky girl!