Give flowers to people in a nursing home (fake or real and notes). So many elderly people are lonely and LOVE seeing little kids at any time of year, but especially during holidays this can be the perfect thing to cheer them up. I plan on dressing in our Sunday best and buying several bouquets of roses to hand out to the residents at a retirement home during their meal time. I know it’s going to mean so much to many of them.Valentines Day kits to refugees. Many refugees coming to America don’t know about American holidays and it can feel very isolating - especially for kids to go to a public school. There are refugee organizations that will take Valentine’s Day kits (no candy) and hand them out to kids so that they can celebrate Valentine’s Day along with their classmates. You can check out the Utah location @serverefugees. They are only taking donations this year on Feb.3 & 5.Personalize sugar cookies with peoples name on them and give them to special people in your life. Sugar cookies are nice, but it means that much more when someone goes out of their way to put a little extra thought and write your name on something. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s the thought that is important.Make Ronald McDonald house mom kits. There are many moms who are far away and who are spending this time of year worried and stressed out about their child who is sick or terminally ill in a hospital. I saw this great idea @whitneystotesadorbs where she made kits that included a few little hard candies, a target gift card and little charm in a cute makeup bag. I’m sure the recipients would be so touched to receive it.Love Restaurant family mystery dinner. My kids loved doing this last year so it’s something we are going to continue. Basically, you create a nice “restaurant” in your living room and you’re the server. When it’s time to eat, you give them each a menu that has words on it - but not the actual food name. They write down what they would like and for every word they write, there is a corresponding food or drink associated with it. So one menu item may be “Lucky to Have You” which is really pizza. Another menu item might say “Together” which is really hot fudge. They also get to pick a color for every course (red, pink or white) corresponds with a different utensil. It’s so fun to see how into it all of the kids get. You can grab the menus, food list, and instructions for FREE here https://mailchi.mp/5bc23a357e4d/valentinepackKeep your valentines day hearts you write for your kids on their door and string them and use as garland. I know many people do this, but how fun if you kept them from year to year to reminisce and double them as decor.Write love notes to kids and spouse. I love doing this and if you don’t do it, it’s the perfect time of year to start. It’s important to not only write love notes to your kids and spouse for them to read later or in case of something happening to you, but to read them now. Don’t you love getting love notes from others? Me too!Call or leave little gifts to your extended family to let them know you’re thinking about them. You may think that this one is really simple, but when was the last time you did it? Every year on Valentine’s Day I get a phone call (usually a voice mail) telling me how much he loves me and is thinking of me. He has a wife and is focused on her as well, but has made sure that we know how much he loves us.Play the “I love you because…” game with your kids the week of Valentine’s Day. This is a game that I made up for my kids to do this year and I can’t wait. In this game, you write down someone’s name in your family that you love and why and roll up the paper and hide it. Explain the game to your kids and that whoever finds the rolled up paper gets to read what was written, write down someone else’s name in the family they love, and hide it. There is little to no work for you, but your kids will be so excited to find the special paper and write ...
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