Today has been Dr. Seuss’ birthday! We’re big fans. I always have been, always will be and I hope to raise two little boys who have an appreciation for him as well. We’re on track with that as I can’t count the number of times I have read The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, The Lorax (our most recent addition) or the other numerous books on our Shelf O’Seuss. I thought we’d do something a little special today since it was his birthday.

BigBrother was my inspiration for today’s plans since he brought home a very cute craft from preschool yesterday.

That’s right. I made Green Eggs and Ham. Not the kind featured in the book but scrambled eggs with bits of ham, which the Seussville website told me how to do in case I couldn’t figure out how to add green food coloring to liquid egg and cook it up. I also took it a step further and added some green food coloring when I was cooking up the ham.

When I first added the egg, it looked…. interesting.

But soon it started to scramble up and look kind of like eggs with ham. Somewhat.

When I put it on the table, the boys looked at it a bit skeptically. I mean, I can’t blame them all that much. It just looks… weird.

But LittleBrother eventually said, “I’ll pretend it’s broccoli!” He likes broccoli so that’s a good thing.

And despite his texture issues, scrambled eggs are an acceptable food with BigBrother, no matter their color, and he ate it just as slowly as he eats any meal that I make.

FireDad chose to wait until after I started the process to tell me a horror story from his youth. Apparently his sister and a friend made green pancakes one morning. FireDad ate said pancakes and, later that day due to an unrelated illness, he got sick and threw up. He forever blamed the green pancakes. I would like to report, however, that he has not yet hurled.

I take that as a sign of success.

Tasted fine to me!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

We went out to breakfast with the boys this morning. Later today we’ll go to BigBrother’s soccer game. I might make a big meal. I might not. We’ll most certainly play Mario Kart after the boys open the books that we got them. We’ll give kisses. We’ll tuck in the boys. We’ll say goodnight. Just like any other day.

I may not be much into Valentine’s Day. FireDad may feel similarly. But this card? From my parents? Is perfect.

And so, whether or not you have someone to celebrate and/or ignore the day with this year, the FireFamily sends you some virtual cookies, glitter and love. In fact, if you don’t have anyone to celebrate and/or ignore the day with, consider asking someone to be your PALentine.

Now back to my regularly scheduled snarking of the day.

I made three dozen heart-shaped cookies the other day. I still have enough dough to make another four dozen. That seems a bit like cookie overkill since absolutely none of the cookies are exiting our house as school is cancelled, yet again. It also seems a little strange, coming from me, the woman who doesn’t participate in Valentine’s Day type stuff. It’s just never been my thing.

While baking those initial three dozen cookies, I had a few errors. One particular cookie was burnt to a crisp. Some had burnt edges. At one point, I put a tray of cookies in the oven and forgot to turn on the kitchen timer. I had to guess when the cookies were done. Surprisingly, that tray yielded the best results. I felt kind of good about myself at that point. For a second.

Then these two little cookies came out of the oven.

They’re not so perfect. They’re cracked. They’re burnt. They’re kind of ugly. And I think they’re kind of awesome, really, for all of those reasons and more.

I’m not the perfect mom. I don’t like Valentine’s Day. I bought books. I’ll make heart shaped pancakes. I’ll send my husband an inappropriate e-card. But I don’t like the day. And I don’t like things like indoor play places or playgroups or even the library story time anymore. And sometimes I yell. And, really, can’t they just go back to school already? It’s not even snowing! But then I look at these cookies, made with love even though I think the day is silly. I look at these cookies and I’m reminded that love doesn’t have to be perfect to taste good.

I love these boys, even on Valentine’s Day, in my very own imperfect way.

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[Disclosure: Links are through Amazon Associates.]

I love flowers. I do. All kinds of flowers. Flowers make me smile even when the situation at hand doesn’t call for smiling. I love to photograph flowers. I love when my kids bring me flowers they have picked in the yard even though they’re just “weeds” to the rest of the world. I love flowers.

But sometimes Valentine’s Day rubs me the wrong way.

It’s probably because my eighth grade boyfriend (I use the word loosely as we never even kissed) broke up with me on Valentine’s Day. Classy! I had a boyfriend in college who tried to make a big deal out of the day but it still felt weird. FireDad and I usually find a book for the boys and might even send each other an e-card. But we’re kind of low key.

But who doesn’t like flowers?

As such, we’re trying to make Valentine’s Day special for you or someone in your life. We’ve partnered with FabulousSavings.com to give away a $100 gift card to 1-800Flowers. (A company which I got to learn more about at the Cheryl&Co blogger event and, honestly, I’m in love with the company as a whole now!) That’s right. $100 gift card. For you. Send them for Valentine’s Day to your sweetheart. Or to yourself so everyone in your office thinks you’re hot stuff. Or save them for your mom’s birthday. Or your own birthday. Or your grandparent’s anniversary. Or your anniversary. Maybe you could send them to your local Fire Department as a token of thanks for all the hard work they do to keep your community safe! In short: do what you want with it!

The hope is that whatever you do with it, maybe, just maybe, it will make your heart a little softer toward Valentine’s Day. The process of gifting someone else something as fun as flowers via this giveaway has softened my heart. A little. I might even buy FireDad a real card. Shocking! (And we’ll likely spend our Valentine’s Day like this.)

Want to enter? Read the rules below.

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FabulousSavings.com, a top source for online coupons, is giving away one $100 gift card for 1-800-Flowers.com in time for Valentine’s Day! This contest runs from January 4, 2010 to February 4, 2010 at 1:30pm EST.

How to enter:

1. Visit FabulousSavings.com and leave a comment below (on this post here), telling us what you like best about the website and providing a working e-mail address and your Twitter username.
2. Follow @FabulousSavings & tweet: “Enter to win a $100 1800Flowers gift card courtesy of @FabulousSavings (via @FireMom) http://tinyurl.com/vdaycontest .”

To gain one additional entry, you may write a blog post about the contest and FabulousSavings.com. Simply leave another comment below (on http://tinyurl.com/vdaycontest ) with your blog post URL to submit your additional entry.

Limit of two entries per person.

Winner will be determined using Random.org and contacted via e-mail on February 4, 2010. Winner has exactly 24 hours to respond via e-mail. If winner fails to respond, another winner will be selected.

Best of luck, everyone – in this contest and in love!

Official Rules:

To be proclaimed a winner in this contest, you must be:

• At least 18 years of age
• A US resident

Spam accounts and tweets will not be accepted. No purchase necessary.

FabulousSavings.com reserves the right to cancel this contest at its discretion. FabulousSavings.com shall not be responsible for any possible technical difficulties or delays which might otherwise affect eligibility.

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If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!