Sophie, Will You Accept This Rose?

Heaven help me if I ever hear these words uttered on a prime time reality TV show, but thankfully it was just on a Daddy/Daughter date night. Sophie's school held their first annual Daddy Daughter Dance last night, and I can assure you that there has never been a more excited little girl than Sophie. She wasn't the only one. It was a smashing success for the PTO, with twice as many little girls and their Daddy's showing up than expected. I volunteered at the rose wrapping station and worked furiously for an hour and half for a line of Dad's wanting to buy their daughter a rose for the big night. It was super cute to see how seriously the girls took it. They were decked out in their semi-formals and some even had little corsages.

We have had a count down to this event ever since Sophie got wind of it a couple weeks ago. It was a bigger deal than Christmas even, because fancy always trumps gifts in her world. I was excited when I found some fancy high heels just her size at Last Chance. She wanted to wear them to bed when I first showed them to her, but she agreed to just set them out with the rest of her fabulous outfit so everything would be ready.

After asking dozens of times how many days, hours, and minutes till the dance, the big night finally arrived. She insisted on picking out Wes' clothes as well. (She's even taking to requesting that I wear certain shoes when I pick her up from school lately. Apparently her parents' attire is working against her image at school.) Anyway, Wes was able to wear something that was sufficiently "prince-like" for her standards and we were off the fanciest restaurant in Queen Creek - Chick-Fil-A. With all the money saved on not going to Morton's, we were able to afford the rose AND ice cream sundae at the dance. The event did not disappoint, and Sophie danced the night away with her super cool Dad. She's old enough to be fashion conscious, but still young enough not to realize that her Dad is a terrible dancer. She socialized with her friends and wore herself out. We had to cut out at 8:30 because she was nodding off. Like a true gentleman, Wes gave up his coat to keep her warm on the chilly ride home. I can only hope that she finds a prince someday that treats her as well as her daddy.

Loving It.

Valentine's Day is barely celebrated around here. I always get a good laugh when I hear the annual news bit on the average amount that Americans spend on Valentine's Day. I think it was $86 this year. We collectively probably are at 10 percent of that number and only because the schools force the holiday on me. If I was a cool mom, I would be on Pinterest and would have made clever personalized valentines for each of my kids 90 classmates. But I never claimed be cool and am anything but crafty, so it's store bought for my kids. You have to do it for the Kindergartener so I knew I was on the hook for Sophie, but was relieved when the boys assured me that they were too old to have a party. I believed them and was further convinced because this year Arizona's 100th birthday falls on the same day and thought optimistically that maybe that would trump all the cards and candies. Sophie's class celebrated early - on Friday so I checked the holiday off my list for 2012 and was on to the next. Until I found a crumpled up half piece of pink paper in Jake's backpack with all his classmate's names listed at 8:30 last night. You know what that means..that my kid will be the only one with nothing to pass out and I'll be that mom. I went to the Fry's to find this scene...

There were some giant candy bars, but I found a bag of Jolly Ranchers and that was going to have to do. Sure enough, all the other kids brought valentines.

I've had a couple other things to worry about so I'll cut myself some slack on it. I'm taking online real estate license renewal classes racing against the clock to get it done by March. I'm attempting to get our taxes in some semblence of order, which can best be described as a giant heaping mess. I am still subbing periodically, and finally got to sub for Sophie's kindergarten class. (It takes a very special person to teach Kindergarten and I'm just not that special as it turns out, although it was fun to teach her for a day.) I'm doing some side PR/marketing work a bit and I'm dealing with a medical issue that will likely require surgery in the next couple weeks. Life is busy and full of twists and turns, but not a day goes by that I don't feel extremely blessed for such a supportive, amazing, and generous family. You all are such a blessing to me and us. Happy Valentine's Day to all!