Adam's Dental Prize, Valentine for Daddy, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Adam's always been pretty good about brushing his teeth. But, last year he had to get 2 "baby" root canals and 2 fillings. It cost us about $500 (ouch!) and it hurt him, so I definitely never wanted to go that route again. We switched him to an adult toothpaste, started flossing his teeth daily, and tried to keep the hard candy, soda, and juice from him. And brush after every meal. He wasn't too thrilled about all that, but I didn't know what else to do. I was talking to a friend in our ward last October, however, and she told me that she PAYS her kids $50 if they don't have cavities, because it saves her so much money. I talked it over with Mike, and we decided to give Adam $20 if at his next appointment he was cavity-free.

The bribe motivational reward, totally motivated him. He brushed his teeth 5 or 6 times a day, and tried not to complain too much about the "minty" toothpaste. As his appointment got nearer, he got more excited, and I started feeling really bad. I mean, what if by some fluke, he had a cavity? He had worked SO hard, and I really didn't want him to be disappointed. So, I began praying really hard that his hard work would pay off.

His check-up was Monday, and.... it DID pay off! He was COMPLETELY cavity and plaque-free. In fact, the dentist gave him an A+ on his "dental report card" and let him pick out 3 prizes! AND we went straight to Target afterward. He already had some money saved up, so he was able to buy 3 Transformers (Megatron, Ramjet, and Optimus Prime... aren't I so cool for knowing all of those names? :) ). He's ecstatic over his new Transformers... he's done little else other than play with them. I have done little else other than helping him transform them and re-attach loose arms. :)

But we are all so proud of him. Yay, Adam!

Yesterday, the kids and I went to the library for a Valentine's day party (storytime and crafts). I seriously love our library and the librarians. They are just so fun! Then we came home and made Daddy a Valentine's day card. Adam and I have been talking about it for a few days now, and trying to decided what we wanted to do. He finally decided on making him a "candy bar card." After the library, we went and bought the ones we needed and made him this:

It says:

"Mr. Gooddad (Mr. Goodbar), We love you! We love when you make us Snicker(s). We love when you Take 5 minutes to play with us. We love to talk to you on your Fast Break(s). We love that you are so Kissable! We love you to the Milky Way and back! Happy Valentine's Day! Love, Adam and Grace"

It was a lot of fun to make, and we know that Mike will have fun eating it (and sharing it). Adam and I snuck down to the car last night and put it on Mike's seat. We also decided to clean out his car for him, because it was totally GROSS! As we were cleaning, Adam found a water bottle. He looked at it, and then said, "Mom, I didn't know that Dad drank water! When do you think he began doing that?" LOL! He's so funny!

This morning when the kids got up, Mike and I gave them a little Valentine's present: books and a little box of chocolates. I really, really, really wish that I had caught Grace's face on camera when she opened up her box of chocolates. Her mouth dropped open and she just looked around at all of us before squealing. It was hysterical. Adam just yelled and hugged his Berenstein Bears book (he's so obsessed with the Berentstein Bears).

Adam's not feeling too well today, so we are hanging around the house, doing Valentine's crafts and puzzles and reading books. We are having a special dinner tonight, though, so I will post that tomorrow.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!