Plan A Family Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day typically involves chocolates, roses, and romance. Where are the kids? They get sent to a babysitter or a grandparent while the parents set out for an intimate evening. Though the romantic time may be well-deserved, what if you want to share Valentine's Day with the kids?

A family twist on a couple's date.

Showing love by sharing a favorite meal, a bouqet of fresh flowers, a soothing ambience, and surprise gifts. With a twist for kid-friendly treats, use these to create a family Valentine's Day.

Breakfast jump-starts a happy day.

While time can be an issue on a school day, cook something new or someone's favorite this morning. Baking molds can transform an ordinary breakfast into a delightful heart-shaped chocolate chip muffin or three-cheese omelet. Add fresh fruit, like strawberries, or a drizzle of chocolate chips to jazz up the plate. Design toast with heart-shaped cookie cutters. Kids can bake their favorite muffins ahead of time.

Choose a family dining experience.

Treat the family at a restaurant with kid fun like crayons and puzzle pages. From local mom-and-pops to big franchises, many restaurants cater to families. For bigger restaurants, call ahead for reservations, which would make the evening go smoother.

Create a fun dinner at home.

Make dinner fun by adding kid favorites like veggies and dip, fun-shaped chicken nuggets, and dessert like a heart-shaped cake. Kids enjoy candlelight too, so light your red tapers for a grown-up treat. Decorate the house with red and pink balloons, crepe paper, Valentine's window clings, and confetti hearts for the table.

What about presents?

Use your imagination. Create homemade coupons for free hugs, extra phone time, extra text messages, or a hang-out night at home with their friends. Little ones enjoy stuffed bears, Hot Wheels cars, or carnations. Create a candy kiss path all the way to a wrapped toy for added suspense.

Remember the cards and decorations.

Give them a variety of paper, foam sheets, glitter, glue, crayons, markers, and stickers so they can create Valentine's Day cards for you, siblings, or grandparents. If your kids are not artsy, then involve them in decisions like choosing the meals or hanging balloons.

Involve everyone.

From the planning to the sharing, a family Valentine's Day can create loving memories and strengthen your family. And what a great way to spend Valentine's Day?

On a homemade card! I loved it! Here's how to make this creative - and easy - card for your mom or dad.

Materials:
one 12" X 20" paper (any color you choose - my son used white)
one piece of 11" X 8" construction paper (again, the color is your choice)
Variety of crayons, markers, colored pencils
Scissors
Glue (white glue or stick glue)

Directions:
The project involves cutting one big Valentine heart, and then cutting out smaller hearts from the middle piece.

Put the construction paper vertically - with short end facing you. Fold the paper in half so the short sides are on the top and bottom (top, left-hand side will join the top, right-hand side).

Draw half a heart on paper. Freehand the design to take up most of the paper. Start the heart about 1/4 of the way on the folded side. Draw and curve toward the top and bring the heart's point to almost the bottom of folded side.

Keep paper folded, and cut out heart. Discard outer pieces. You will start with this one, big heart.

Fold heart in half as you did to begin project. Draw smaller heart about an inch inside the main heart. Cut out second heart. Set the main heart aside.

Using smaller second heart, fold in half. Draw a smaller heart inside this heart. Cut out the third heart.

You will make 3 outline hearts - which look like solid outlines with open middles. The last, and fourth, heart will consist of a solid heart cut from the inside part of previous heart.

Arrange all four hearts on construction paper and overlap tops and bottoms. You can design it as you wish, but overlapping gives your project a unique touch. Glue your hearts on the large construction paper.

Decorate:

Once the glue is dry, use markers, crayons, or colored pencils to make patterns within the hearts' openings. My son used blue background and red squiggles, a yellow background with green stripes, a pink background with purple plaid, and a purple background with blue balloons.

Let your imagination go wild! Use hearts, colors and shapes in all the heart backgrounds.

The heart project will bring a smile to your sweetheart's face.

PS: Write 'Happy Valentine's Day' and sign your name. Mom will love it!

Our family is 'new' in that I remarried four years ago, and we are building traditions for our family. For our family Valentine's Day, we want to be together and have fun. That's all we need (and maybe some chocolate) to make our day!

On past Valentine's Day mornings, I made yummy (a tad unhealthy, but plenty delicious) waffles lightly sprinkled with chocolate chips and topped with whipped cream. Glasses of milk and sliced fresh fruit (yummy and pumps the healthy part of the breakfast) rounded out the day's start.

On Valentine's afternoon, I texted my husband a short love note with an animated kiss. He loved the message, a special surprise since I rarely text him.

My son's school sold Valentine's carnations as a fundraiser. I secretly bought a carnation, delivered later in his classroom. A lime green carnation from his mom. After school, my son brought carnations he secretly bought for us.

My husband gave me a beautiful and unique bouquet of roses, carnations and lillies. We created a bigger arrangement, adding my son's carnations, in a colorful vase.

Cards? The best - homemade and Hallmark. My son made us a heart card. (I highlighted the directions above.) He also created a poem card with loving sentiments like "My mom is an angel on earth."

My husband handed us a card addressed, "To Both of You on Valentine's Day". The white embossed card with an outline of blue birds and peonies shared the importance of telling loved ones how special they are ... every day of the year. A perfect card. (It was a Hallmark after all. It's my childhood family tradition to check the back for the signature brand.)

My husband loved his new bottle of cologne, my son eyed the Sponge Bob chocolates and candy, and we headed outside for a family picture. We snapped decent pictures before dining at a local family restaurant. The best part? Being together.

What will you do for Valentine's Day?

I Love
... this idea! I recently made a photo book for my husband including photos and stories from other family members. This software is so easy to use - my son and I chose our favorite digital photos and added family stories. It's a lot of fun to create a photo memory book whether you need templates or you're an experienced scrapbooker.

I thought our book looked great online, and we loved the choices of templates, fonts, layouts, and valentine & family gift ideas. Our photo book arrived yesterday, and it's even better in person. Our photo family book looks professional. It's absolutely beautiful!

Your photo book will bring happy family memories for years to come! Check out Picaboo and create your own Family Valentine's Day photo book.

Use the coupon for greater savings!

My Family Valentine's Day Lens made Lens of the Day! What a great Valentine's Day gift!! Share your family's Valentine's Day traditions in my guest book.

Ooh, and before you leave, please rate this lens by pointing your cursor over lots of stars (if you feel it's star-worthy too). I'm always adding new content, so remember to save this lens as a favorite and join as a fan!



Enjoy your family Valentine's Day!