This Ain't Your Grandma's School

Your “Secret Subject” is: What is your opinion on changes happening in our schools? Transgender bathrooms? Changes in math curriculum? No cursive? It was submitted by: https://batteredhope.blogspot.com 

I was playing Pokemon with my husband downtown last week. We went into a little "odds-n-ends" type store to look around while we were waiting for other people to show up. The jewelry display by the door caught my eye and I found mood ring fidget rings! They have an outer piece that spins around AND changes color according to your mood! And they were only $1.99!!! I picked up two. Henry and Frances are both fidgeters. Henry likes to have something to keep his hands busy, but often gets in trouble because he gets too busy with stuff. I thought it wold be good if he had something relatively small and inconspicuous that he could fiddle with.

I bought the rings and put them on my fingers to keep track of them. When we got outside I showed them off to our Pokemon friends. One of the guys made a comment about how "if teachers could keep kids more engaged, we wouldn't need things like that." It kind of irked me a little bit. I know there are problems in schools. There are things that I am not totally happy with too, but overall I think teachers are hard workers, doing the best that they can for their students.

I think teachers today are teaching in a very different world than they themselves were taught in. Heck, I was a teacher 13 years ago, and I don't recognize a lot of things. I am aware of the fact that there is a lot of politicking in education, but I also think that most of the changes that have been made are research driven.

Transgender bathrooms? I think that if we can give students a safe place to pee, we should. I feel ridiculous even typing that. A "transgender bathroom" is nothing more than a single stalled bathroom. It's private. I don't care what parts you have; when you gotta go, you gotta go. And lots of kids feel uncomfortable in group bathrooms. Haven't hit that growth spurt yet in middle school? Get made fun of. Puberty hit you earlier than your peers? Get made fun of. Hand-me-downs and thrift store specials? Get made fun of. Fart too loud or smelly? Get made fun of. You know where it's easy to make fun of kids? In the bathrooms, where teachers don't hang out! The younger you are, the more likely the teacher is to be standing just outside the door and checking on things, but she's got two bathrooms to keep track of, plus the group of kids waiting in the hallway. And once you hit middle and high school, those bathrooms can be a free-for-all! I don't care where you pee, just flush and wash your hands when you're done! If kids want a more private place to go to the bathroom, who does that hurt?

Changes in math? Hoo boy! I am re-learning how to factor polynomials and how to use the Pythagorean Theory. With one kid in advanced 6/7 math and one in Honors Geometry there are a lot of days when I feel lost trying to help with homework. Some of it I don't remember and some of it I remember a different way. That's okay. I don't know all the ins and outs of the "new math" people like to complain about, but the process makes sense to me. Instead of having kids memorize facts and formulae, teachers are helping kids to understand the why of math. It's harder and it often looks funny, but it sticks better. The US is pretty far behind in terms of math and science compared to the rest of the world and we've done lots of research to figure out why. This is the response.

Writing in cursive? My kids still had some lessons in it. Their cursive isn't all that pretty, but then whose is? There are some benefits to penmanship and fine motor skills. I get that. But I also understand that we don't write things by hand as often as we used to. Case in point, I'm typing this on a computer. And typing much better than I ever expected to be able to. Because I type all day. And my kids type way more than I ever did in school. Frances just got a Chrome Book, so she's typing a lot of her assignments and sharing them with her teachers in her Google Drive. It's faster, easier, and better for the environment! Kids won't be able to read the Constitution? Google it! I can't read the Bible in the original Hebrew of Greek, but that doesn't stop me from getting my hands on a translation.

There are lots of changes in education (and society). The ones we hear about are often misrepresented and posted by someone with an agenda. Then they get passed along by people who don't bother to look into it and all of a sudden we've got all of Facebook up in arms that no one says the Pledge anymore. Don't get me started on that one!! (My kids all say the Pledge every morning at school.)

I truly believe that teachers are some of the hardest working people out there. They work hard against a multitude of obstacles. They do research, they collaborate, they give up their personal time and money to help our kids. I am eternally thankful for the teachers my kids have had, the education professors I work with, and the pre-service teachers I get to interact with on a daily basis. Take a minute today to thank a teacher! I guarantee you'll make their day!

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week 8 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Baking In A Tornado
The Bergham Chronicles
The Blogging 911
Cognitive Script
Never Ever Give Up Hope
Climaxed 
Part-Time Working Hockey Mom

Simplify your School Year

We have a week to go before the kids go back to school. In some ways I'll be spending this week trying to hold on to the last remnants of summer. In other ways I am craving a return to our routine. I've been running the kids around all over the place this summer. Part of the reason is to give them a fun and enriching summer, but honestly it's mostly to keep them occupied because Ken and I both work full-time.

This school year will be an interesting one for sure! We are going to have a kid in elementary school, one starting at a new middle school, and the oldest starting high school. I've already had a taste of the juggle that will be involved with the registration appointments we had last week. It's a fairly small school system, so you'd think they could coordinate things a little better, but NOPE!

I know it's going to be a lot to keep track of, so I'm setting myself up for success by trying to be really organized before we even get started. And when I saw our August theme for Blog With Friends was "Simplify Your Life," I knew exactly what to do.

In years past I've created some other ways to stay organized during the school year: a pencil can for Frances, a binder with all the important information in it, and a cubby system to keep all the stuff organized. This year, however, what we really need is a way to keep all the important dates organized in an easy to see place.

I've used an online calendar app called Cozi for a while now. It's great because Ken and I can both see it on our phones or computers and it syncs automatically. We have now reached the point where the kids need to see what's going on, but don't have ready access to smart phones to check on things.

While we were at Staples doing some school supply shopping, my eyes were drawn to a big dry erase calendar. I chose one that had space next to the calendar to write in, as well as a cork board underneath. I picked up a few other supplies and an idea was born.

I put the calendar in the foyer so it's easy to see as we leave the house. I wrote out the dates for August by checking the Cozi calendar as well as all those stray papers that have been getting sent home lately. Each kid picked out a color scheme and I labeled their events with magnets in that color. I also found some "cubicle clips" that have pins in the back to stick to the cork board and a clip in the front to hold papers. The cubicle clips and the magnets come in the same colors, so each kid can tell at a glance which things pertain to them.

The day after I put this up on the wall and showed it to the kids, Frances came home from her camp and clipped something to my clip underneath the calendar. "What's that?" I asked her. "It's a paper you need to sign for tomorrow," she replied. SUCCESS!!

Need some other ideas for how to simplify your life? Check these out!

Karen of Baking In A Tornado has Skillet Cordon Bleu Dinner. Start with a packaged rice mix, add leftover chicken, ham and vegetables for a quick and simple dinner in no time.

Dawn from Spatulas On Parade presents Parmesan Ranch Chicken. Simple easy recipe that doesn’t complicate our busy lives

Tamara from Part-time working Hockey Mom shows us her KEEP - DONATE - TOSS Buckets. Declutter areas of your house by using the tried and tested method that she calls keep, donate or toss.

Lydia from Cluttered Genius has a Simple (On-a-budget) Laundry Room Update. The house is from the turn of the 20th century, but the decor doesn’t have to be. An easy and on-a-budget update that even *I* could manage!

Jules of The Bergham Chronicles listsEasy Ways to Keep Your Family Organized and on Track. A list of ways to keep your family running like a well oiled machine, especially during busy times.

Snowman Trio

Sometimes life works out the way you expect it will. Most of the time, though, I think it surprises us. It surprises me at least. God likes to laugh at my plans. But ultimately, His plans work out in the end.

Our theme this month for the Blog With Friends challenge is "Celebrate." I'll admit that when I came up with a project idea, I was going to do it whether or not it fit the theme. I figured I'd just retrofit my project to the theme after I was done.

I wanted to make three snowman. I do things in threes because it's aesthetically pleasing. Also, because I have three kids and that way no one whines about being left out.

I bought my materials and set them on the kitchen/cacth-all table and then proceeded to have an incredibly busy weekend where I couldn't get any spare time. That was God laughing at my plans!

It got to Sunday night and I realized that if I was going to have a picture of my project by Monday morning, that I was going to have to just get it done. The boys were busy doing other things, so I asked Frances if she wanted to help. She's inherited my love of crafting so she was very eager to get started.

We went downstairs and raided my craft boxes. This stuff will likely be the last stuff to get unpacked because a) there's so much and b) I have no idea where to put it! We grabbed fabric, ribbon, buttons, string, Scrabble tiles, and anything else that caught our fancy. We loaded it all upstairs on to the dining room table and started planning.

LOL! Just kidding. We didn't plan anything, we just jumped right in and started cutting and gluing. We had no end result in mind, and that's where the celebration comes in: Frances and I just spent two hours together chatting, trying out things, and bouncing ideas off one another.

If you have a teenager, I don't think I have to tell you that unscripted one-on-one time is always a cause for celebration! It seems like it's been such a long time since she and I were just able to hang out together. There was no pressure to discuss homework or cleaning her room. There weren't rules I was trying to enforce, or even life lessons I was trying to impart. It was just simple crafting time together with my favorite daughter. And the snowmen came out pretty cute too!

If you'd like to recreate this project, here's a few more specifics for you. You'll need:

• Styrofoam balls in various sizes. I was aiming for one big and two small. You could also do three of the same size, or small, medium, large.
• Hot glue
• Various notions (fabric scraps, yarns or string, buttons, etc.)
• Toothpicks
• A pool noodle cut in half for the base

 We used toothpicks to stick our snowmen together and then we dug through all our notions until we were inspired. Frances enjoyed sorting through my button collection, so we used buttons to make the facial features. Orange toothpicks became the noses. I used the sleeve of an old turtleneck to make the penguin hat and tied it with a yellow ribbon. I used another scrap of red fabric and some pillow stuffing to create the other hat. The snowman in the middle has raffia braids and a scarf made from some scrap knitting I had done at some point.

We cut a pool noodle in half and covered it with red fabric to have something for the snowmen to sit on. Then we took some old Scrabble times and spelled out "Let it Snow" to display in front.

Our snowman trio now sits on the mantle in the living room to dress up to room a bit. And every time I see it, I hope it reminds me to plan some more craft afternoons with my best gal.

Want some other ideas to help you celebrate? Check these out:

 Karen of Baking in a Tornado has these Brunch Scramble Rolls

Tamara of Part-time Working Hockey Mom has some great Elf on the Shelf Ideas

Jules of Bergham Chronicles has 5 Fun Ways to Celebrate a Birthday

Kia of Think in English has What to Honor in an ESL/EFL Classroom and How to Do It

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade has a Bottle on a Shelf project for your mantel

Lydia of Cluttered Genius has Christmas Painted Bricks

Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments has some cute ways to Celebrate Relationships

What are you celebrating today?

Birthday Party Planning

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week 12 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Baking In A Tornado                            

Southern Belle Charm                       

Not That Sarah Michelle                                     

Spatulas on Parade                     

The Bergham Chronicles            

The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver   

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy                                     

My Brain on Kids                           

The Angrivated Mom                       

Confessions of a part time working mom  

Climaxed                                                                                      

                                                  

My subject is "At work, they've asked you to plan a party for a big client.  You have 2 weeks and a small budget ($1.000.00).  You pull it off and it's amazing.  How did you do it?"   It was submitted by Southern Belle Charm.  Here goes: 

Sometimes I get an idea or a prompt and all kinds of ideas flood into my brain. Sometimes I draw a complete blank, but then ideas slowly creep their way into my conscience. Then there are those times when I am at  complete loss as to what to write. Those are the times that I bend the rules. Because it's my blog and YOU can't stop me! LOL

Henry's birthday party is this weekend. The poor kid's birthday is right at the end of the school year. In fact, it's usually after the end, but because of the calendar this year, he'll actually be in school for his birthday. He's excited about that! He keeps asking if I'm going to bring him cupcakes and have lunch with him. It makes me a little sad that he keeps seeing his brother and sister get those things, but he misses out. But this year, I'm going to make sure he gets a fun school experience!

I've still got work to do with his home party. He asked for a science theme. This is turning out to be harder than the spy theme he wanted a few years ago. He always seems to pick difficult themes for me. Or maybe I'm just brain-fried at this point in the year.

I'd like to take a moment to point out that we really only do family parties. We've had a few friend ones over the year, but the vast majority of our birthday parties are a nice excuse to gather family together. So I'm trying to create a party that will excite the birthday kid without going over the top and confusing the adults!

Even if I had unlimited budget for a party, I'd still drive myself crazy pulling it together. I don't buy my kids birthday presents. They get their birthday shirts, a party, and a cake from me. That's enough in my opinion! However, if I did have a little bit extra budgeted for the party, there are a few things I would do:

• Book a local park with cover in case of bad weather and comfortable seating for all involved. We have these options available, but I'm never organized enough to book early, and I'm always worried about the weather for an outdoor party. If the budget allowed, I could even rent some stuff to make our yard more appealing for an outdoor party. That would give us lots more space and save me a lot of cleaning! ;)
• Stop fretting over the shipping charges. Again, I'm always feeling late when it comes time to gather materials for a party. I always seem to put off looking for supplies until the free shipping window has passed. I hate paying for shipping, but I will when I have to.
• Buy the pre-cut fruit and veggies. I almost always buy my own fruits and veggies to prepare and arrange myself. I'm frugal like that. But if you forced me to spend extra money on a party, I'd buy the trays and call it done!
• Pre- and Post-cleaning services. My house really isn't that bad this time around, but I've still got some things that need to be done. And there's always stuff to clean up after a party. I'd love to go ahead and out-source that.

I'm not sure this was the direction I was supposed to take with my prompt, but it is what it is. The jury is still out as to whether my client (Henry) will be pleased with his party. I'll let you know next week!

I: Imagination Grows Here: How to Build a Fairy Garden #AtoZChallenge

I am going to start this post off with a confession: I have a brown thumb. I kill almost every plant I am put in charge of. I don't set out to do it, but somehow I forget about them and don't water them, or I don't keep track and water them too much. I try not to add new plants to my house for this very reason, but in this case, I couldn't stop myself! I've wanted to make a fairy garden for such a long time!!

Five or six years ago I told the kids about a fairy circle in our front yard. It was a ring of darker grass off to one side of the yard.  The kids had fun playing in the circle and bringing gifts to the fairies that lived there. Over time the ring has gotten larger and somewhat faded. The kids still talk about it, but it's harder to see.  I wanted them to have a fairy garden that would be more permanent.

This fairy garden is confined to a planter. I bought the planter and fairy supplies at our local Big Lots. The plants I picked up at Lowe's. I made sure to find something labelled "hardy" and something that doesn't mind low temperatures. Hopefully I can keep this one alive!

We spent the Saturday before Easter shopping and running errands. The kids were very excited when I told them about the project and couldn't wait to get home and get started. After we unloaded the van, we flipped the planter upside down and drilled a few drainage holes. Then we placed a liner in it that will prevent things from falling out, but still allow water out.

We filled the bottom two-thirds with some old dirt we had. I figured it was just a space holder really. We added a bag of good potting soil on top of that. Next, I let the kids add their fairy ornaments. Benjamin had picked out a fence that fit around the outer edge of the pot. Frances had a table and chair set, while Henry contributed the stone path. I had splurged and bought the bridge and house because I couldn't decide between the two!

After we had an idea of where the ornaments would go, I flipped the tray of succulents upside down and cut through the bottom layer. This allowed me to pull apart pieces of my desired shape and place them in the pot. The kids helped decide what shape each piece needed to be and how large to cut it. We placed the plants in the planter around the fairy ornaments and made sure everything fit in nicely. I even had enough plants left to fill up some other pots we had in the front yard.

I placed our new fairy garden, as well as our newly filled pots, on either side of the steps to the front porch. Then I added two solar lights and some other yard decorations we already had. My front porch area now has a nice, new Springtime look. If only the weather would get the memo!

Ready for some other Springtime projects? Check these out!

Karen of Baking in a tornado has fruited chicken lettuce wraps. These light and refreshing wraps use fresh fruits and veggies of the spring season.

 Lydia of Cluttered Genius has these tips for getting healthy this spring.

 Melissa of Home on Deranged has a great PSA about organ donation. You could save a life!

 And Dawn of Spatulas on Parade has Spring Green Mojitos, a light, refreshing, green drink sure to put a spring in your step!

Blogging A to Z in April

I started this blog back in December of 2007. That seems like such a long time ago to me! Since then, I've blogged in different ways and for different reasons. Most of the time blogging has made me happy, but there are times that it has upset me or stressed me out. There have been stretches where I've blogged every day during the week and some stretches where I only blogged once a month.

Lately, I've gotten out of the habit of blogging and being active within the blogging community. I miss it. I want to get back into better habits, but I didn't really know how. Then I read something about the April challenge of Blogging from A to Z and my mind started working.

I've seen friends participate in the challenge before and I've always felt like it wouldn't work for me. I had too many other obligations dictating my content and I didn't want to add in another. Well, since I've been in a writing slump lately, I thought maybe it would be a good time to check it out. I messaged a friend who had done it before and she filled me in with what she knew. It sounded even more appealing when I learned that there isn't really a right way to do this challenge. There aren't any hard and fast rules!

In a very positive use of peer pressure, I told Lydia that I'd do it if she would and we both agreed! Now I've got someone to help keep me accountable, and a partial list of blog topics to go with for the month of April. You didn't really expect me to have it all planned out before I jumped in feet first, did you? If so, you obviously don't know me very well!

My theme for the month will be "back to basics." I want to go back to the reasons I started blogging in the first place. I want to remind myself of all the ways it brings me joy. And I want to push myself to write without worrying about who reads it. It feels good to set a challenge for myself. I hope you'll enjoy it as well.

Saying I Love You

When I was in high school I was part of a youth ministry group that met once a month in different parts of the state. I usually didn't do the driving. In fact most of the time the driving was done by the man who would later become my husband. As my mom would drop me off at the pickup point, her last words would always be, "Drive safely! Call me when you get there!!"

We'd set off on our adventures, listening to music, cracking jokes, and buying out gas stations of all their junk food. When we'd arrive at our destination it was all hugs and laughter as we got reacquainted with friends we hadn't seen in a month. As we'd sit down to get ready for business, one of the adults would ask, "Did you all call your parents?" and we'd all roll our eyes and get up to go do so.

It wasn't until much later that I realized that "Drive safely. Call me when you get there." was my mom's way of saying "I love you."

Have you seen "The Princess Bride?" (If you haven't, I'm not sure we can be friends any more.) Westley is frequently seen telling Buttercup "As you wish." There's a scene near the beginning when the narrator explains that "as you wish" really means "I love you."



There are lots of ways to say I love you to someone. Obviously those specific words will get the point across rather nicely, but often we use other ways to express our love to others and sometimes those ways don't always translate well.

Maybe it's because you don't know your love language or the love language of those you love. Not only do we all express love in different ways, we interpret love in different ways. It's important that those with whom we are most intimate hear and understand our expressions of love in order for our relationships to be wholly fulfilling.

Often when I'm out shopping, I'll see something that reminds me of Ken. I used to buy him little trinkets when I was out, to deliver to him later. Sometimes if I didn't have the money, I'd just snap a picture and text it to him. I was always so excited to see his reaction when he would receive my little tokens (or pictures of them). And usually, his response was underwhelming. He didn't seem anywhere near as full of joy as I had felt when finding these items. I was telling him I loved him, and he wasn't hearing me.

On the other hand, my first teaching job coincided very closely with me becoming a mother. I spent more than eight years in different classrooms and had three kids of my own in that time. I spent my days surrounded by children, only to bring a few of them home with me to continue caring for. I would be standing in the kitchen making dinner and Ken would get home from work. He would wrap his arms around me from behind and kiss my neck. And I would cringe. I hated it. I hated cringing. And I hated hurting Ken. To me, it was just another set of hands on me after a full day of little hands touching me. But to him, it was an expression of love.

Then I had an inspiration that helped us both to work out these issues (that we really didn't even recognize as issues). I read something about love languages and took an online test. I discovered something about myself that I already intrinsically knew, but had never verbalized. Then I had Ken take the test and he had a similar realization. Putting our "aha" moments together we realized that we were not speaking the same languages when it came to love.

According to Gary Chapman, there are five basic ways that we express love emotionally. Each person has one specific way in which they naturally express love, AND in which they prefer to receive love. It's important to know how you naturally express and receive love so that you can recognize it. It is equally important to understand how your partner gives and receives love so that you can reciprocate. It turns out that Ken and I were not both set on annoying each other, we just needed some translation to help us get our messages across.

When we took the test, we learned that our love language preferences are exact inverses of each other. That means that my most natural way of expressing love is ranked lowest for him and vice versa for me. We were both expressing love to one another, but we weren't hearing it in the way it was intended.

The Five Love Languages

Receiving gifts-

I'm not a gold digger by any stretch of the imagination, but I am a very sentimental person. Little trinkets always bring back huge memories for me and I have a hard time parting with those types of things. It is for that reason that I would often buy little trinkets for Ken while I was out and about. Those trinkets triggered specific memories for me and I hoped they would do the same for him. It was also my way of letting him know that he was on my mind when we were apart.

 

Act of service-

It's hard for a lot of people to ask for help, and I'm no different there. However, if someone does something for me, it means a lot. Again, these don't need to be big, sweeping actions; just small things that free up space or time for me. When Henry learned that setting the table with dishes from the dishwasher saved him time, I was excited because it also meant less work for me. When my students at work get the mail or deliver papers from the printer without being asked, I appreciate it doubly.

Words of affirmation-

This falls in the middle for both Ken and me. It's not something we tend to do or need very often. Words of affirmation are very important to some people though, and it's important to know which of the important people in your life need a few extra "you go girl"s on a regular basis. Do you know someone who really glows when you compliment their outfit, or quote them back to themselves? Those people thrive on words of affirmation and really appreciate it when you notice and comment on something they've done well.

Quality time-

Sometimes in the evening, Ken wants to just snuggle on the couch. I'll be honest, I get a little antsy just sitting there doing nothing, but that's what he needs. Just to spend time together in silence, or talking about nothing in particular. It's important to make eye contact and not try to multi-task when you spend time with someone who especially values quality time.

Physical touch-

This was the hardest thing for me to realize when Ken and I took our test. All those times I was irritated with him for coming up behind me? I finally recognized them as his way of reconnecting after a day apart. He wasn't trying to annoy me, he was trying to tell me he loves me.

Coming to terms with the fact that our love languages were so opposite of one another's was both difficult and empowering. Ken now recognizes my trinkets as thoughts of love. He may not "get" the whole reason I bought it, but now he understands the love behind the gift. He's also started picking up little things for me when he's out. For example, when he makes a late night run to the grocery store for milk, he often comes back with Reece's peanut butter cups for me. It's not a big thing, but I know he was thinking of me while he was out.

I now make an extra effort to put down all my devices and really connect with Ken in the evenings after dinner. I go out of my way to hold my hugs a little longer and a little tighter because that's how he hears "I love you" from me. And I've learned to anticipate and enjoy the sneaky hugs I get while making dinner.

I imagine there are some couples who find this easy because their love languages are so similar. I have this type of reciprocity with a few friends who naturally give and receive love in the same ways that I do. It may make the relationship seem easier in some ways, but it doesn't mean that opposite love languages are a bad thing. It just means you have to put in a little extra effort to get your message across.

If you've never heard of love languages before, take a minute to go take this test (it'll open in a new tab for you). If your spouse or significant other is around, have him/her take the test too. Incidentally, I mostly had romantic love in mind when I wrote this post, but there's a quiz for kids too. If you want to make sure that your kids "hear" you, you might want to have them take the quiz too.

If you want some more Romance themed posts, check these out:

Crusted Prime Rib:
http://www.bakinginatornado.com/2016/02/romantic-dinner-crusted-prime-rib.html

 
 


Sweets for my sweet: http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/2016/02/sweets-for-my-sweet-blogwithfriends.html

 Best love songs (ever): http://www.clutteredgenius.com/2016/02/08/best-love-songs-ever/

Romance on the cheap: http://www.homeonderanged.com/romance-on-the-cheap-simple-diy-projects-to-show-your-love/

 



 Anti-Romance in an Enlightened Age: http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com/2016/02/romance-anti-romantic-in-enlightened-age.html

 

 

Non-food gift ideas for Valentine's Day: http://mybrainonkids.net/2016/02/08/please-dont-pass-the-chocolate/