Valentine's Day Ideas
It’s February and time to think about Valentine’s Day! Here are a few activities to create some special family time, spur on some creativity and mark the day:
1. As a family, think about people in your neighborhood or community that might be especially lonely, then create ideas that you can do that might brighten their day. Maybe make Valentine’s cards and bake heart-shaped cookies and deliver these gifts to them.
2. If grandparents are in town, have each family member create cards or notes and deliver them along with a small gift like a colorful balloon or maybe some of those heart-shaped cookies they’ve baked. Grandparents live out-of-town? Mail them their cards ahead of the special day and on the 14th, give them a phone call and let everyone take their turn chatting with their far-away loved ones.
3. Consider making a keepsake book for grandparents. Have everyone create handwritten notes of appreciation or love, coupons for service (washing the car, cooking dinner, weeding the garden, etc), drawings, family photos and put them all in a pretty binder or blank book. They’ll love it!
4. Make special family time with a trip to the pizza parlor, a night at the bowling alley, or a hike at a local park and then end your evening with a home-made fudgey treat. Recipe below!
Seriously Simple Microwave Fudge
Microwave 12 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips and a 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk for 5 minutes. Stir vigorously. Add 1 ½ cups of chopped nuts or raisins (or a combination of both) and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir again to mix well. Spread this delicious mixture into an 8-inch square pan lined with buttered parchment paper. Refrigerate and when sufficiently cooled and hardened, cut into bite-sized squares. Enjoy!