15 Fun Little Ways to Tell Your Family “I Love You” Today

February 14th, 2012 · 1 Comment

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Valentine’s Day has been hijacked! Moms, remember when Valentine’s Day was a ROMANTIC holiday? You know, before you had kids? You’d get flowers, you’d dress up to look super hot (in my case maybe semi-hot), and enjoy a candlelit dinner. Now that we have kids, Valentine’s Day has become a Family Holiday. It’s more about which character to choose for the tiny little Valentine’s for everyone in the kids’ class, throwing love notes in my daughter’s school lunch box, watching the cats eat the flowers, and begging my son to leave some chocolate for the rest of us.

But, you know what? That’s fine with me. After all, our kids are the result of our hot romance and proof of our love. So instead of getting a babysitter and going out to dinner, we like to celebrate Valentine’s Day as a family and we have fun doing little things for each other all week that say “I Love You.” I hope these ideas inspire you to do the same today and throughout the rest of the year. Why should all the fun be just on Valentine’s Day, right?

1. Have a heart. You can have so much fun with a heart-shaped cookie cutter. I surprised my daughter by cutting out heart into her peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich for her school lunch. I cut a small heart shape into one slice of the bread so you could see the red jelly. You can also make French Toast and cut the bread into heart shapes and throw some cut strawberries on top for color. Or, spread a thick layer of whipped cream out on a cookie sheet, freeze it and then cut heart shapes out while frozen. Drop that creamy heart in a mug of hot chocolate for some fun! Here are some other things you can do with a heart-shaped cookie cutter.

2. Turn dinner upside down. Let the kids eat dessert first on Valentine’s Day. Anything that breaks routine is big fun for kids.

3. The Power of a Flower. My daughter gets 1 rose from her Dad, which puts the biggest smile on her face. Read my post about the Power of a Flower for your little girl.

Family dinner restaurant

4. A Night Out, at Home. Can’t find a babysitter for Valentine’s Day this year? No problem. Read about how you can still have a special night at home with the kids by cooking together dinner and having the kids serve you as waiters with a romantic, candle lit feast. Read how to make it happen.

5. A Sweet Treat. We like to try out a new dessert recipe every Valentine’s Day since my family seems to be obsessed with sweets. This year we made Valentine’s Day Brownies, Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Strawberry Pound Cake Hearts.
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Easy Valentine’s Day Decorations to Make with Kids

February 13th, 2012 · No Comments

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In general, we don’t decorate the house a lot for Valentine’s Day. We usually focus our energy on baking treats instead. But this year, I wanted to put something up as another small way to say “I Love You” to the family. So, the kids and I made hanging Valentine’s Day hearts. It was super easy! We hung the Valentine’s from clothes pins in our family room to add some V-Day flair to the house for the past two weeks. But the best part is, on the back of each heart, we wrote a little love note to Grandma and Grandpa and we’re sending them out as Valentines today.

Here’s what you need:

Foam Hearts (we bought these at Target but you can buy foam sheets in Valentine’s Day colors and cut out your own.)
Heart Shaped Doilies – I think ours were from Wilton and we got them at Michael’s
Ribbon – we used 1/2 inch wide ribbon in sheer pink, red, and purple as well as a solid bright green for contrast
Glue Stick
Decorations – We used small red and pink roses that we found in the bridal section at Michael’s. You can use foam shapes, glitter, or sequins to dress up your hearts
Photos

Assembly is easy. Use your gluestick to glue the doily down onto the foam heart. Then glue the photo of the kids or the whole family on top of the doily. Now add the decorations.

To finish it and add more color, we cut three pieces of different colored ribbon and tied them through one of the holes on the outside of the heart. By putting the three together you get a nice color burst. I like cutting the ribbon to different lengths for more interest, so I cut them anywhere from 8″ to 12″ long. Then we threaded a single ribbon through the top two holes on the heart to make the hanger.

If you want to turn it into a Valentine’s Day card or gift, just write a love note on the back with a sharpie or even a ball point pen. Have fun crafting with the kids!

Here’s a round-up of our top Valentine’s Day posts for more fun ideas.

Chocolate Strawberry Pound cake Heart Treats

Chocolate Mousse for Valentine’s Day Dinner

Valentine’s Day Brownies

5 Super Cute DIY Valentine’s Day Cards for Boys

Cool Valentine’s Day Kids Crafts

No Babysitter for Valentine’s Day? No Problem!

[Read more →]

Tags: Valentine's Day Family Fun Ideas

Chocolate Strawberry Pound Cake Hearts

February 13th, 2012 · 4 Comments

The kids and I were experimenting in the kitchen again and came up with an easy Valentine’s Day dessert idea. Believe it or not, the inspiration for this dessert came from my son’s science project. We needed to puree Strawberries for an experiment he is doing to see how fast mold grows. Yum! We had leftover Strawberry puree that looked and smelled too good to throw out so we ad libbed, using what we already had in the house, and came up with a fun Valentine’s Day dessert.

You’ll need:

1/2 pint of strawberries
Pre-made pound cake (your choice)
1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heart cookie cutters
Sprinkles!

1. Put strawberries in food processor and puree until smooth. No chunks, please.

2. Cover the bottom of a dessert plate with the strawberry puree.

3. Cut a 1/2 inch slice of pound cake and use the cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes. I used a large and small cookie cutter to put both on the plate. You may need to cut the pound cake lengthwise to have enough surface area for your cookie cutter depending on the size of the cutter.

4. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, according to the directions on the package. Once melted, frost the top of the pound cake with the chocolate.

5. Add sprinkles, sprinkles, and more sprinkles, then serve. You can also add whipped cream or sprinkle powdered sugar over the top to make it look even more finished.

It was quite yummy and super easy.

Cooking with the Kids – Valentine’s Day Chocolate Mousse

February 10th, 2012 · 3 Comments

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Last week I was excited to get in to see Gale Gand, host of Food Network’s “Sweet Dreams” and author of several dessert cookbooks, at our local library. Her presentation was fun and she demonstrated how to make Chocolate Mousse. With samples. Yummy! It looked easy enough that my daughter and I decided to make it for Daddy and to jazz it up with some Valentine’s Day accents. (Don’t get your hopes up too high with the “jazz it up” part.)

Gale gave the audience members the recipe, from her Chocolate & Vanilla cookbook. Here’s a link to download her Chocolate Mousse recipe.

There are only 4 ingredients in the recipe (nice!) and you get to use the electric stand mixer a lot, which my daughter thinks is the coolest part of cooking. This is a great recipe to teach your kids how to separate egg whites or egg yolks. I generally crack the egg and pass the yolk back and forth between the two shells to separate out the egg whites. Gale showed us her preferred method which was to drop the egg into your hand with your fingers slightly separated and let the egg whites drip down into a bowl between your fingers. It worked great, just wash your hands when you’re done. (As if you weren’t going to figure that part out, but I felt the need to throw in a safety tip.)
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Valentine’s Day Brownies

February 1st, 2012 · 8 Comments

My daughter and I got a little creative this past weekend making Valentine’s Day brownies. Chocolate is a huge hit in my house, as you can imagine, so ooey-gooey brownies were on the top of our baking list.

You’ll Need:

Brownie Mix – We used King Arthur’s Gluten Free Brownie Mix for the first time and I have to say they were so tasty! I highly recommend it.
Frosting – Chocolate and Vanilla
Pink food coloring paste
Large and small heart cookie cutters
Candies – Heart-shaped York Peppermint Patty, Valentine’s Day M&M’s
Gum paste
Sprinkles, sprinkles and more sprinkles

1. We baked the brownies in a large baking dish (9 x 12) since I wanted them to be flatter so we could make a sandwich. I cut down the baking time by about 5 minutes since these brownies were thinner than indicated on the package. Let them cool.

2. Use the large Heart cookie cutter to cut your brownie shapes. Cut some small hearts out of the remaining brownie pan left-overs or cut a small heart out of the center of one of your larger heart brownies.

3. Add pink food coloring to the vanilla frosting. We wanted hot pink so we added quite a bit of pink food coloring paste to get the intensity we wanted.

4. Now decorate. You can frost the brownies and decorate with sprinkles, make shapes with candies, or put two brownies together to make a sandwich or whoopie pie effect. My daughter created the white bear and white heart out of gum paste. While she had fun making shapes with the gum paste, no one really liked it enough to eat it.

My favorite was the mouse. Which do you like best?

No matter how you decide to decorate your brownies, they’ll all taste great.

5 Super Cute DIY Valentine’s Day Cards for Boys

January 31st, 2012 · 3 Comments

I was having a hard time coming up with a homemade Valetine’s Day card or even craft to make with my boy. I craft a lot with my daughter but I wanted to put a little macho spin on our Valentine’s Day crafts. After a little searching online, I found some super creative ways to make your little man smile this Valentine’s Day. Click on over to the blog site links below get the free downloads or instructions. These are some creative ladies!

May the Force Be With You
If you have a Star Wars or Clone Wars fan at home, he is going to love these cards from Cute as a Fox Creations. Download the cards for free and assemble them with your son to hand out to the whole class.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Pardner
My Crazy Life as a Farmer’s Wife created this cute Stick ‘Em Up Valentine’s Day card template.

Robot Valentine's Day Cards
Who Says Robots Can’t Love?
These little Robot Valentine’s Day Cards from Sally over at Shim & Sons are so cute.

Photo Valentine's Day card
This Treat’s for You!
Jen over at the Smile Report had a cute way of incorporating a photo of your little boy into the Valentine’s Day card. Add a lollipop, pencil or glow stick to make it 3D and extra cool.

Valentine's Day Treat Bomb
Finally, Andi over at Crazy Daze Designs had a great idea to make a Valentine’s Day Treat Bomb.

Which one are you going to make? I can’t decide yet. If you have an idea for a Valentine’s Day card or craft for boys, please shoot me a link in the comments box and I’ll add it to the post.

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Tags: Valentine's Day Family Fun Ideas

Gnomeo & Juliet Movie – A Valentine’s Day Treat

February 14th, 2011 · 2 Comments

Looking for something special to do with the kids to celebrate Valentine’s Day today? How about going to see a Classic Love Story movie tonight? On a school night!?! I know! That’s why they will think it is so cool, a break from the norm. Of course, it’s a Classic Love Story with a twist … that doesn’t have a sad ending … and is quite funny.

We went to see Gnomeo & Juliet Friday night to kick off our Valentine’s Day weekend and it was a very cute movie. The kids loved it! Here’s why I recommend taking the family to see it:

1. It’s rated G. So many kids movies are PG these days which usually offers a cringe-moment, so it’s nice to get a movie that is truly suitable for little kids.(Toy Story 3 was rated G but even it had some intense moments and sexual innuendo).

2. A movie about Garden Gnomes is totally creative. Who doesn’t love Garden Gnomes? Then, to have these Garden Gnomes be star-crossed lovers? Now, you’ve got a cute story. The whole Garden theme and poking fun at “Garden Art” is very clever. The animation is super-cute and it’s a nice break from the “DreamWorks” and “Disney” look.

3. Shakespeare allusions. Pay attention adults! See if you can find all of the fun and sly allusions to Shakespeare in the play. Like the Stratford-on-Avon tour bus or the Rosencrantz and Gildenstern moving van.

4. Rocking Music. Elton John produced the movie so it features all Elton John songs. Nothing wrong with that! You can sing along in your head because you know the words.

5. Gnome in a Thong. While my kids loved Featherstone the Garden Flamingo as the best character, I loved the Gnome who would prance by every now and then in a “Borat”-style Euro-thong bathing suit. Fun!

For even more fun, the kids can play games at the official Gnomeo & Juliet movie site.

My kids were totally bummed when we explained that Romeo & Juliet die in the original story. They couldn’t understand why anyone would like a story like that. Come to think of it, why would they? Go see the “Feel-Good” version and have fun with your kids at the movies.

Did you see the movie? What did you think?

The Ultimate Valentine’s Day Gift for Your Child

February 11th, 2011 · No Comments

This Valentine’s Day why not tell your child you love them … over and over again? I love this adorable Valentine’s Day gift, the Mimicking Monkey Sleep Soother by Cloud b which helps your child fall asleep by playing soft music. But to put the “Ultimate” in Ultimate Kids Valentine’s Day Gift, you can record a voice message as well. So go ahead and sing or whisper “I Love You” and the monkey will repeat as many times as your child likes. Your child or grandchild will love listening to Mom’s, Dad’s, Grandma’s or Grandpa’s voice.

Plus, the Mimicking Monkey is so FLUFFY and cute, I want one! The minute I saw this product, we had to sell it.

This is also a perfect gift to give your child to stay connected when you have to travel for work. Record a message saying “Good Night” or “I Love You” and your child will still fall asleep to the sound of your voice. It’s also a great way to stay connected to your grandchild if you live in another city or state. Need I say more?

This weekend only to help spread the love, save 20% OFF of the Mimicking Monkey Sleep Soother at www.ChocolateCakeClub.com. No coupon needed but hurry and order before midnight, Sunday, Feb. 13th!

A Small Way to Make a Valentine’s Day

February 10th, 2011 · No Comments

Don’t underestimate the power of surprising your children with a little token of love for Valentine’s Day (actually, any day would do). Last year, my husband created a heart out of flower petals on the counter so my daughter saw it when she came down for breakfast before school. She was beyond elated.

My son was thrilled when he came down and saw his Star Wars guys guarding a special birthday Chocolate Donut for him, but you could do the same for Valentine’s Day. (That boy loves his donuts!)

It doesn’t take much to help them walk on air and best of all, you get to walk up there with them.

The other Blogaholics over at the PTPA Blog have more great ideas for Valentine’s Day Family Traditions and Moms shared some GREAT ideas on how to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with the Kids over at the Palatine.Patch.com.

What do you do to make your kids feel special on Valentine’s Day or any day?

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Read all of our Valentine’s Day Family Fun posts.

Cool Valentine’s Day Kids Crafts

February 7th, 2011 · 3 Comments

There are so many wonderful craft ideas out there on various parenting sites and Mom blogs to help celebrate Valentine’s Day with your kids. It’s hard to choose which to tackle but I put together a list of the ones I thought were really unique, easy, and fun to do with the kids.

Unusual Valentine’s

I just discovered this new site, SillyEaglebooks.com that had some of the most unique Valentine’s Day crafts. The bloggess, Vanessa, loves children’s books just as much as I do and she uses these books as inspiration for kids crafts and activities. Check out her whole site for ideas, but these were my favorites:

Snow Valentine
Create a Nature Inspired Valentine in the Snow

SillyEagleBooks.com Paint Chip Valentines
Paint Chip Valentine’s Day Cards

Valentine’s Card Holders

Calli over at MakeItDo.com made some super cute Valentine’s Day Card Holders out of a box or an oatmeal container. Here’s another blog I am adding to my weekly read list.

Valentine’s Day Countdown

I love countdown calendars! Special occasions are always more fun when there is a lot of anticipation built up before hand. So this very easy Valentine’s Day Garland from Jessica at HowAboutOrange.com appealed to me greatly. Have your kids add a heart every day before Valentine’s Day and depending on how many days ahead you start, this could be fun garland for a Valentine’s Day party or turn it into a mobile.

Valentine’s Day T-Shirt ArtfulParent.com Heart Doily T-shirt
Jean over at the ArtfulParent blog made the most beautiful Valentine’s Day inspired Tees for her kids. Her site is gorgeous to look at so check out all of the wonderful craft ideas.

Valentine’s for Boys
Shim+Son's Robot Valentines

Robot Love
Most of these Valentine’s Day ideas are kind of girlie so I loved these totally boyish Robot Valentine’s. Who says Robots can’t feel love?

Jen Parker Photography Photo Valentine's Day Card
This Photo Valentine’s Day Card idea from Jen at the SmileReport.com is so clever and perfect for us photo-nuts!

Have any Valentine’s Day craft ideas you would like to share? Send me your idea or photos at sue (at) chocolatecakeclub.com and I’ll post them on the site this week.

Small Ways to Say I Love My Family on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day Treats for the Kids

February 4th, 2011 · No Comments

There are some amazing recipes out there for Valentine’s Day treats for the kids. I went looking for the ones that would intrigue my kids (and me) the most. Make them ahead of time to surprise the kids when they come home from school on Valentine’s Day or you can prepare any of these recipes WITH the kids for even more fun on Valentine’s Day.

Sprinkle Bakes Flaming Cupcakes

Sprinklebakes.com is a very cool baking site and I just love these flaming Chocolate Cupcakes. While she is pushing them as romantic, I would push them as worthy of amazing the kids. I would definitely keep the liquor and the flame out of the kids’ hands, but having them gaze upon a cupcake that is on fire would heat up Mom’s coolness factor. (Note: Although you need to add liquor to make the flame, the heat burns away the alcohol so kids can still eat it. Or, light some on fire but keep some liquor free cupcakes on the side to serve the kids after the “show.”)

This Box of Chocolates Cake from AmazingMoms.com is pretty cool as well.

Barbara Beery's Chocolate Fondue Recipe

Barbara Beery always has some fun and easy recipes for cooking with the kids. Check out her Kid-Friendly Valentine’s Day Chocolate Fondue and Heart-shaped Chocolate Chip Peppermint Scones. Yum to both!

FamilyFun.com's Watermlon Heart treats
Finally, if you want something healthier and non-chocolate, these Watermelon Heart treats from FamilyFun.com looked super yummy and easy.

What are your favorite treats to make the kids for Valentine’s Day. “>Please share.

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No Babysitter for Valentine’s Day? No Problem!

Small Ways to Say I Love My Family on Valentine’s Day

Cooking with the Kids – Red Velvet Heart Cakes

Small Ways to Say I Love My Family on Valentine’s Day

February 11th, 2010 · No Comments

In our family, we keep Valentine’s Day low key. I used to get roses but after the cats knocked them over and ate them several times, I no longer receive floral tokens of love. (Rotten cats! Although, when I begin to wonder what value the cats add to our family, I look into their cute little blank eyes and remind myself that every family needs a daily shot of cuteness. However, I like to remind the cats that I can now get my cute cat fixes on the internet, so beware.)

OK, back to Valentine’s Day. We like to celebrate as a family instead of getting a babysitter and we have fun doing little things for each other that say I Love You. Hopefully they will inspire you to do the same.

1. My daughter gets 1 rose from her Dad, which puts the biggest smile on her face. Read our post about the Power of a Flower for your little girl.

2. Can’t find a babysitter for Valentine’s Day this year? No problem. Read about how you can still have some romance at home, with the kids by cooking together dinner and having the kids serve you as waiters with a romantic, candle lit feast. Read how to make it happen.

My husband and I like to cook so this year we are making Beef Tenderloin with Blue Cheese Crumbles and Red Wine Sauce, Cauliflower and Gruyere, and twice baked potatoes. Yummy! Unfortunately, the kids have discovered the joy that is beef tenderloin. I guess we’ll have to share. The days of distracting them with chicken nuggets are gone.

3. We like to try out a new dessert recipe since my family seems to be obsessed with sweets. (Personally I have a salty tooth.) This year we are going to make Red Velvet Heart Cakes.

4. Buy your kids a little gift to go with the mounds of chocolate. A cool necklace like the Itty Bitty Blocks or a new Garfield book seem to do the trick. For younger kids little toys are always a hit and for older kids gift cards for iTunes or the movie theater are always well received.

5. Let the kids eat dessert first on Valentine’s Day. It’s truly a treat that delights.

6. Leave love notes for your kids around the house. I like to tape a Hershey’s kiss or some other candy to a small index card and hide it around the house where the kids will find it. *Handy Tip: Write down where you hid them all so you don’t get ants in your family room a few weeks from now. Although, that might distract the cats from the flowers. Hmmm.

What small acts of love are you going to share with your family this Valentine’s Day?
Awesome free vector art from www.design-freebies.com.

Valentine’s Day Treat to Bake with the Kids

February 9th, 2010 · No Comments

I was looking up recipes for something special to make for the family for Valentine’s Day and came across this blog post at the Mother Huddle. In their post today, she made Red Velvet Heart Cakes and I thought it looked fabulous enough to share. It looks like a good, easy recipe to cook with the kids so we’re going to try it out this weekend.

What are you going to make as a special treat for your family?

No babysitter for Valentines Day? No problem.

February 13th, 2009 · 3 Comments

No babysitter for Valentine’s Day this year? No problem! You can still have a fun and romantic evening, even with the kids. Last year, we couldn’t get a babysitter for Valentine’s Day. But we recovered, by putting the kids to work. That’s right. Putting the kids to work.

My husband and I love to cook, mostly because we love to eat great food. We rarely get the time to cook together so being forced to stay in and cook on Valentine’s Day was actually a treat. While we were cooking mushroom soup, beef tenderloin topped with blue cheese and panko bread crumbs, cauliflower au gratin, and roasted potatoes, the kids were busy. I asked my kids if they could help put together a romantic evening for Daddy and I. They took it on as a challenge and were quite creative.

First, after they ate one of their favorite dinners (Mac ‘n Cheese), they put on some nice romantic jazz music while we cooked. My daughter, the artist, spent some creating a menu for us complete with drawings of animals frolicking in the woods. You don’t get that at a fancy restaurant! She then proceeded to set the table beautifully with a tablecloth, candles, cloth napkins (ooh, Mommy, what are these?) and decorations like small glass marbles, sparkles, and flower petals. Did I mention that my daughter is an artist? And she’s 6? Her tablescape would have made Sandra Lee jealous. She learned the art of setting the table from my mother so I can take no credit. But I digress.

My son meanwhile designated himself as the waiter. He got his suit jacket out of the closet so he could look fancy. He then placed a towel over his arm and drew a snazzy, French mustache on his face to complete the transformation. When my husband and I finished cooking, he then served us using his best French accent. (Although my son is great at mimicking accents, unfortunately his only French role model is Steve Martin in the Pink Panther movie. He was disappointed that we weren‘t having Hamburgers.) He even handed me a rose from my Valentine’s Day bouquet as I sat down. Ooh la la!

While we ate, the kids quietly went and watched a movie in the family room so that we could have alone time. When we were done eating, it was time to put the kids to bed, and then we were free to do what we wanted alone.

So, how can you do something similar?

1. Decide whether you are going to cook or order in from one of your favorite restaurants. We enjoy cooking but if you don’t, treat yourself and get carry out.

2. Ask the kids to help by setting the table, dressing up as a waiter or waitress, creating a menu, and any other creative thing you can think of to create a romantic restaurant atmosphere. If your kids can play an instrument, have them serenade you. Your kids will feel special that you asked them to help create a romantic evening for Mommy and Daddy. You’ll be surprised with how much they get into it.

3. Put in a movie or turn on the Wii and let the kids amuse themselves in the other room while you enjoy a romantic dinner together.

4. Once they are in bed – watch a movie, slow dance in the family room, or um, whatever.

Optional: Share this fun with another couple by inviting them and their kids over. You’ll have a lot of little helpers and the kids will have even more fun together while you are eating.

Have any other ideas on how you can have a romantic dinner at home … with the kids? We’d love to hear them. Happy Valentine’s Day!

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5 Super Cute DIY Valentine’s Day Cards for Boys

Cool Valetine’s Day Kids Crafts

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The Power of a Flower

February 12th, 2009 · No Comments

Two years ago, my husband had to travel on Valentine’s Day. Since we usually don’t celebrate on the actual day, I wasn’t too upset that my Valentine was in another city. We usually wait until the weekend rolls around and then go out or do something special. For some reason though, my daughter was very upset that Daddy wasn’t home on Valentine’s Day. To cheer her up (and get her to stop moping), I bought her one red rose and gave it to her when I picked her up from daycare. I told her it was from Daddy and that he was sorry he couldn’t be with his little valentine that day. Shazam! She was lit from within! She was beyond elated. She was happy to infinity and beyond. Before we went home, she showed every teacher, every student and every toy that looked like it had ears that her Daddy had given her a rose.

Of course Daddy gets all the credit for this little act of love, but I got to see the reaction.

Don’t underestimate the power of surprising your children with a little token of love. It doesn’t take much to help them walk on air. Best of all, you get to walk up there with them.