Limited on Valentine's Day this year.

**guest002** · 01-22-2009, 04:00 PM

We are mega tight for the 1st part of this year financially. I'm happy I have a stash of Valentine's Day cards for ds for his class. I usually put something else on the card like a pencil or something, but that's just not going to happen this year.

Dh usually get's me something nice, but this year I told him all I want is a box of chocolates.

I have a $5 gift certificate to Hallmark I can use to buy the kiddos and dh's cards with.

I'm trying to think of a tiny thing I can do for my kiddos. Dd is 2 and ds is 7. Any ideas?

**TigerGirl1226** · 01-22-2009, 04:08 PM

Just do something really simple like cookies for your kids. Heart shaped if you can. You probably already have the ingredients.

**madhen** · 01-22-2009, 04:16 PM

Maybe your DH could get you a box of candy that was appropriate to share with the kids? Then you could make a cute little heart basket for each child out of paper and put a couple of the candies in those.

I have a pattern for a VERY simple "woven" heart basket that requires just two differently-coloured sheets of paper and a bit of glue. You could embellish it with their names or glitter, or whatever you have on hand. Or just cut out two heart shapes and glue them together at the seams (except for the top, of course) to make an even quicker basket.

**Momto2Boyz** · 01-22-2009, 04:36 PM

Basically, for the kids, they usually enjoy the simple things, so do silly things. Make heart shaped pancakes and dye their milk red with a couple drops of food coloring in the morning!

DH and I agreed years ago, that while we enjoy valentine's day, we agreed never to spend a dime on it again! So, the first year we decided to do this, I spent no money and gave him what he calls the best present ever.

I spent a week cutting out hearts out of construction paper. Then I took old and new photos and put them on some of the hearts. They were pics of him and I having fun together, or him with the boys. All very "loving" photos. On the other half, I took a marker and wrote down all the things I loved about it. I had around a hundred hearts total. I put a sign on the front door, made out of construction paper that said "We love you because...", then taped each and everyone of those hearts to the front door.

He loved it. I think it was just becuase I spent the time to do something special for him! We also have the tradition of having spaghetti every single year on valentine's day. We did it the first year we lived together, becuase it was red, and it was the only red thing I knew how to cook! It's just become a tradition since then!

**nancycg56** · 01-22-2009, 05:07 PM

My kids used to bring their lunches to school and for Valentine's day I used to cut their sandwiches into heart shapes.

There are lots of easy candy recipes on the internet to make and you can even make brownies and cut them into hearts.

Now that they are adults, we don't do anything ~ neither do DH and I

**pollypurebred39** · 01-22-2009, 08:07 PM

Turn it into a real celebration, letting your family know they are all your Valentines!

Have a Valentines day dinner, get each kid a ballon from the dollar store ballon and tie it to their dinner chair. If you have anything pink, white or red set the table with it. Light candles and put them in the center of the table. Make it a red dinner, pasta with sauce, wine glasses filled with red kool-aid and for dessert how about pink cupcakes with pink icing. Maybe sprinkle with little candy hearts or sprinkles.

And after dinner read the story of valentines day.

St. Valentine's Story
Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.
Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

**sunshine** · 01-22-2009, 08:23 PM

Write "I love you" in lipstick on your dh's bathroom mirror. . . Then kiss the mirror with the lipstick on

For my kids -- I used to trace my hand, them make shortbread cookies . . .I'd put a candy heart in the palm, and tell the kids they held my heart in their hands.

If you have a digital camera -- take pictures of your kids holding handmade signs saying "I love you daddy" , etc. print and frame in dollar store frames.

**guest002** · 01-23-2009, 02:11 PM

Can you share your cookie recipes?

**57plymouth** · 01-23-2009, 02:37 PM

My wife and I have never once celebrated Hallmark's Day, er, Valentine's Day. Neither of us like it. We didn't do anything when we were dating, wo don't do anything now.

I can tell you, that guys do not like Valentine's Day. It's all a big waste of money to us. Do we really need one day to say that we love you? C'mon, the idea is rather silly.

**pollypurebred39** · 01-23-2009, 04:58 PM

We LOVE all holidays and are delighted for any excuse to have a party! We are even celebrating Chinese New Year this Monday. My kids are stockpiling great memories of their childhood in this way. We may not be one of those families that has these great vacation memories because finances have never permitted that very often, but my kids get a bounce in their step (as does my husband) when a celebration is near. It gives us something to look forward to. Some fun time together. Every birthday we have their birthday story, about how they were born from the first labor pang. You'd think they tire of hearing it every year but they ask for the story each and every time. Theyrecount past parties, even down to the food I served/or they helped make. Everyone here gets into the spirit of things and big money is never spent.

I'm glad my husband is a total romantic and loves this holiday as much as I do, and no, we don't need a holiday to say I love you. My husband tells me that every day before he leaves this house and every night before we retire. He tells me he loves me and the kids when he busts his butt by working at a crappy job 7 days a week, 5 of those days double shifts and not a word of complaint. He tells us he loves us by not having guys night out, or by not spending his evenings in the bar room.He tells me he loves me when I'm awakened to feel his hand slip into to mine as we sleep. He tells me he loves me by knocking it out of the park everytime we make love. Do we need this holiday to say I love you? Of course not. But, we enjoy celebrating a day dedicated just to love and don't find it silly at all.

Why wreck the fun of this thread by letting everyone know how much your not into this holiday and are sure that neither are other men. The original poster just wanted some advice about how to make the holiday special for her family, so clearly they like the holiday. Why don't you start your own I don't like Valentines Day thread. I promise I won't crash it.

**shortstack** · 01-23-2009, 05:49 PM

I adore Valentine's Day. It is such a cheerful holiday and I feel it ushers in springs arrival, which I always look forward to.
My husband ,however, would agree with you and calls it a "chick holiday".
Andrea

Originally Posted by 57plymouth

My wife and I have never once celebrated Hallmark's Day, er, Valentine's Day. Neither of us like it. We didn't do anything when we were dating, wo don't do anything now.

I can tell you, that guys do not like Valentine's Day. It's all a big waste of money to us. Do we really need one day to say that we love you? C'mon, the idea is rather silly.

**joyofsix** · 01-23-2009, 07:40 PM

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http://zakkalife.blogspot.com/2009/0...-pom-poms.html
I'm making them each one of these on a piece of elastic on their cup for dinner with heart pizza and heart cookies.

**sunshine** · 01-23-2009, 08:04 PM

Shortbread cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Mix together the flour and salt in a bowl and set aside. Cream together the butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt mixture a small amount at a time, kneading into creamed mixture with your hands until you have a stiff dough which can be rolled. Do not overwork the dough.

Turn dough onto floured surface and pat or roll out to 1/4" thickness. Cut into squares [or any shape you want] and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325° for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and store in airtight containers. Makes about 3 dozen.

**pollypurebred39** · 01-24-2009, 02:06 AM

Originally Posted by sunshine

Write "I love you" in lipstick on your dh's bathroom mirror. . . Then kiss the mirror with the lipstick on

For my kids -- I used to trace my hand, them make shortbread cookies . . .I'd put a candy heart in the palm, and tell the kids they held my heart in their hands.

I love these ideas. I've written many a note on the bathroom mirror but never sealed it with a kiss, FANTASTIC! And the hand cookies What a darling idea~

Mom2two boys, I just LOVE the I love Daddy door! My husband would still get a kick out of it and our boys are 19 and 14. It's good to let others know how much they mean to you and why. This is such a neat idea, I'm sure every Valentines Day that rolls around your husband is reminded of that very special Valentines Day and how much his family loves him. Thanks for sharing.

Joyofsix,

I've made pom poms before but never ones in the shape of hearts. These are too cute for words. Makes me want to hunt down my stash of yarn which is...is....somewhere???, drat my disorganization!

nancycg56, loving that sandwich in the shape of a heart. I saw heart shaped cookie cutters at the dollar store today. One was just for cutting sandwiches!