It's Monday & I have a giveaway for you!

This week's most clicked from The Pinspiration Project was
Mandie & her DIY Fridge liners!

My favorite of the week was:
Tabi and her Valentine's backpack!

Congrats guys!! Check out Sarah and Melissa's blog to see their favorites too!

Anyway... Happy Monday guys!
This weekend has been a bit boring for us.
It's been LONG as well.
Thursday afternoon when I picked Fin up from school, I overheard a lady asking others if they were sending their kids to school tomorrow, I asked why they wouldn't....
Apparently some kid for the past week had been sending another kid mean/hateful notes. One included a drawing of the kid covered in blood and finally the last note said something like, "if you don't kill yourself by Friday, I'll do it for you".... so yeah.
I ran it by David.... he quickly said, "yeah. Don't send him. Better safe than sorry"
So after arguing with Fin about it, he stayed home. Poor thing was just so confused about staying home and missing school. I didn't want to tell him about the threat
But come 4 pm, David & I both got a phone call--an automated message saying something like, "I'm sure by now most of you have heard that there's been a threat to our school. I just wanted to let you know that the MP's have investigated and it's all been taken care of and blah blah blah". I don't even remember exactly. I was so shocked that it was an actual legit threat!
He goes to an elementary school! K-5th grade!! That's like 11 years old and younger!!
That just blows my mind. Scares me, makes me sad for the parents, for that kid, etc etc.
His school is barely a mile from here.
We live ON BASE! On a military base!
And what if I hadn't overheard that lady asking?! What if I'd sent him to school?! What if something actually did happen?! You guys, the "what if's" are endless!
And is it wrong that they didn't tell people about it? Is it wrong that this went on for a week before something was done? What if I didn't know and I'd just gotten that phone call? I'd have freaked out wondering what the hell was going on! I'm not a happy momma! I can't even imagine the parents of the kids involved!  Ugh. Such a mess. Such a nightmare. I just kind of want more details or something.
So anyway, I took them out for happy meals for lunch. We tried to go to the cool park but realized they were still in school so couldn't play on that playground. We met up with Daddy & came home. I did a bit of grocery shopping, bought some anti aging cream after a conversation with Sarah & Melissa about how none of us really look our ages. Haha.
We've spent all weekend curled up and lazy thanks to a nasty cold that managed to skip Fin & Maddie but hit me, David & baby O pretty hard. I've taken naps this weekend like it was nobody's business and I don't nap! I hate naps. I wake up like super grump after I nap.
None of us have eaten much of anything. We're finally to that nasty coughing it all up stage so thankfully we're almost done with it, but ugh. It's been a gross nasty weekend.

I'm linking up with Sami today.
You should too.

And before you go, I have my friend, Melissa to talk to you about how Valentine's Day is stupid! And she's giving away a Dream Sampler Box! Go enter! Give her some love!
Happy Monday, guys!



February is the month that most people associate with love. It’s all hearts, candy, flowers and romance. Or disappointment, heartache and tons of ice cream or other comfort food to drown your lack of love/romance in. Thanks Valentine’s Day.

I’m not going to go into how much I loathe Valentine’s Day and the commercialism of this “pretend” holiday. Or even how I’m bitter that Valentine’s Day overshadows and gets in the way of my birthday, which happens to be February 14.

Instead, I’m going to highlight 10 ways to celebrate a Valentine’s Birthday:
1.       Have pizza delivered to them for lunch along with flowers. Everyone loves pizza and pizza, for most people, was a childhood birthday food staple. As for the flowers, flowers just make people happy. But stay away from roses…too “Valentine”.
2.       If you take them out for dinner, try and go to a place that will have live music, like a piano player. Arrange to have the musician(s) play “Happy Birthday” when they enter the room.  Everyone in the room will know someone’s celebrating a birthday and that things besides Valentine’s Day happen on February 14.
3.       Get them a really cool gift that is in no way related to Valentine’s Day and/or love. I suggest the Beanie Buddy octopus named Inky. It’s an octopus named INKY! A friend gave me this in high school and I LOVE it. Especially the name.
4.       Throw them a surprise party. Who doesn’t love a surprise party? The birthday person will be beyond touched that so many people gave up celebrating Valentine’s Day to celebrate the day of their birth instead.
5.       Bake a cake. This is a thoughtful thing. One of my best birthdays involved my roommates making me a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and ‘Happy 19th Birthday Melissa’ spelled out in licorice. It doesn’t have to be perfect…it really is the thought that counts.
6.       Take them out. Blow off work/school/responsibilities to take them to a bar and do birthday shots with them mid-day (or right after work). Valentine’s Day hasn’t really kicked into full gear yet, so they’ll be able to enjoy their birthday without a ton of couples around celebrating Valentine’s Day. If things get a bit wild, that’s ok. And let’s be honest…shots really do make things better.
7.       Spa day. Nothing says birthday like being pampered. Even if you can’t afford a full spa day, send them for something…manicure, pedicure, facial even a massage. This really is the best way to spend your birthday.
8.       Dance party. Just make sure there are no ‘love’ songs on the playlist. Many of my birthdays have included impromptu dance parties and they are ALWAYS fun. Plus, this is so easy to do! Turn on some music and start dancing.
9.       Do something they love but not Valentine’s related. For example, if their favourite restaurant is having a Valentine’s special, skip it. They like to bowl and the local bowling alley is doing rock-and-bowl, this would be good.  I spent a lot of my birthdays at rinks watching hockey games.
10.   Remember their birthday. This really is just basic. Year round so many people remember my birthday because it’s on Valentine’s Day. But then, the actual day arrives and no one remembers/cares because they are so busy and focused on Valentine’s Day. Try and remember their birthday outside of Facebook- send them an e-mail, text message or a phone call is better than a Facebook message (which points out who’s celebrating a birthday that day).  And for goodness sakes, do not give a combined Valentine/birthday gift and/or card.  Separate the two events.

If you know someone who is born on Valentine’s Day, do something nice for them- forgo celebrating the fake “holiday” that is Valentine’s Day and instead celebrate the day of their birth. They really will appreciate it. Trust me.

Thanks Amber for letting me guest post today! You can find me at www.dreamsandcolour.blogspot.com

If you don't know what a Dream Sampler Box is, head here.

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