Valentines Day

I love Valentine's Day! I have always loved the holiday, pre Jerry days. I think it was the excitement and idea of finding "Movie" type love. Sophia and I were defiantly not forgotten or lonely on the holiday. In fact, with Sophia's sickness I almost missed the holiday until I found a package on Wednesday night from Anthropology on my back porch. Jerry had sent me a lovely purse he picked out from the web site. Thanks Hun!

Valentines day, was a whirlwind. I was praying and hoping Sophia was feeling better when she went to Jackson & Tricia's home. Thankfully, Tricia was up for the challenge and gave Sophia all the TLC she desired. I can't believe how good she is at balancing love for both Jackson and Sophia. Thanks Tricia!

Sophia received a lovely Teddy Bear & Tulip Bouquet from her #1 Valentine her dad. Above is photos of her with the bouquet. I received a Valentines bouquet from Jerry at work. The attached photos is from today, so they are looking a little rough. The paper flower box is from a very creative co-worker Kim Shellock.

In the evening, John, Laura and Maria Bova called for us to come over for a Spaghetti Dinner from Smiths. Yummy! Sophia took a turn for the better and played with Maria. John and Laura watched the two girls, while I got the opportunity to pack for the weekend in Iowa. Thanks Bova's for a great night and sharing the holiday with us.

When I returned back from my weekend in Iowa, I had a dozen red roses from my neighbors Barb & Larry Cassell. The attached card said Thank you Jerry, Sophia and Tiffanie for your sacrifice for our country. I was so touched! The goodness that has been so graciously blessed on us is undescriable. A thank you note, can never be enough.

P.S. I am trying to keep this note positive, but I do need to put a quick thank you out to neighbor Rosie who at the last moment watched Sophia on Wednesday night after I had run out of TLC for Sophia.

P.P.S. I have been waiting for this out of the world present for Jerry that has been delayed since early January. So poor Jerry only got a box full of his mail, tax documents and a Valentines Card. I promise, once we get this out of the world gift, it will be worth the wait.

Humble

All, I can say is last week was very humbling. With Sophia's unexplainable crying, lack of sleep, and shot nerves I have truly been pulled down from my Super Military Wife Single Mom Pedestal to reality.

After a good Valentines Dinner with the Bova's, I thought Sophia was on the mend. I was feeling confident that our flight home to Iowa was going to be easy peasie. I was quickly brought down to reality, when Sophia cried for 2 hours straight on the plane. I sat in the bathroom for over 1 hour, trying to calm her down. There was nothing I could do to make her happy. I could go on and on about the flight, but what for...

THANK GOD! Grandma and Grandpa Grove were at the airport to take Sophia. I had actually ran out of any reserve and rationed tank of TLC. I am not happy with myself on how I handled the stressful situations. I lost focus, was not able to think rationally. Again, I could beat myself up but do you really want to read about that???

The weekend quickly turned into a Fabulous Time. My older sister's family drove from Missouri to be with us for the day. Mom, Christie, Heidie and I went to the Heuer's home for Heidie's Wedding Shower. We later had a grand pizza party get together with Uncle & Aunt Bill & Lois Grove, Dave, Carrie, Peter, Maria and Dave's parents. Below are some photos from the weekend.

Sophia quickly grabbing on Granda Grove's earing. She is fast.
Heidie, Christie, Cousin Carrie and myself on Saturday night for the "Grove" pizza party.
Grandpa & Grandma Grove with grandchildren Sophia, Reece & Ryan.

Old friend Peggy Murray. We grew up together on Dupont Circle and have remained good family friends since age 3.

Chris and Suzie Heuer (Hosts of the Shower). Our families grew up together at Broadway Methodist Church.

Heidie, smiling and showing off the beautiful china plate that the delicious food was served on. I love this photo. She looks so happy!

Sister Christie, Mom, Heidie & Me. Can you believe the color combos we had on??? They match so close.

Christie and Marilyn Maddox. We also met Marilyn at Broadway Methodist Church. Marilyn and I share a B-day.

Myself with Linda Allen. We met the Allen's at the old neighborhood. Linda has a new grandaughter Kiera who was born in early January to Trisha & Jim Schlick. Tricia and I were BFF as kids.

Aunt Chrissie with Sophia and her daughter Ryan. (I was not allowed to hold Sophia all weekend long, to get a break). After her performance on the plane, I needed to build up some TLC fuel.

Grandpa Grove with Sophia and Shu/Heidie's Dog Taylor.

Serving Coffee at the shower. Don't I look like a lady from the 1950's who has 3 children, stays at home, cooks all the meals for the family, does the laundry, puts make up on daily, and loves every minute of it.

Mom with good friend Lee Cooper. The Grove Girl's are looking forward to getting to know Lee better.

The table at the Shower. I love this photo, with the sun peaking through and adorning the plates and utensils with bright rays. The beauty of the photo sums up the special day for Heidie.

I often wonder if people are reading the blog, but this weekend I kept talking with people who said... We love reading your blog. You crack me up, keep them coming and that makes me just giddy! So thank you for reading the blog, I hope I bring you laughs and very few tears.

I need to end this note with a couple random thank yous!! They will never reach the people, but I want to tell you about their kindness.

Lady on the plane to Omaha (outside the bathroom, we stayed in for an hour). Thanks for holding Sophia and wearing the gold African animal necklas that kept Sophia from crying for about 20 minutes.

Gentleman on the plane back to Columbus who kept myself and Sophia entertained with stories of his life and who carried our bags and attempted to help us run to our gate to catch our next flight. Too bad, we were too late.

***The best fact is Sophia is feeling great! Back to her old self. Hurah! My TLC tank is getting back to full.