One Year

Yesterday I met a new friend at the park.  We immediately felt a connection as she met Samantha and told me about her son, Brigham.  I was touched by her love, immediate friendship, and purity of spirit.  She was kind, gentle, and wise.  Wisdom comes through experience, and she has experienced so much.  I loved her instantly and hope to be able to stay in touch.

At age 3, Brigham was diagnosed with Hunter Syndrome.  Quoting from an article about him in the Deseret News:

Six-year-old Brigham Reneer is very much like the Tarzan character he idolizes.  He's tough, brave and he lives in a place fraught with peril — except Brigham Reneer's jungle is a maze of medical tests and painful procedures.  His friends are the make-believe wild animals hidden in the foliage. And his foes are leukemia and a rare disease that will kill him in a few years.  The strong little boy, wearing the leopard-skin robe, has Hunter syndrome, a severe form of a mucopolysaccharide disorder.  That means he's missing the enzyme that usually provides for the regeneration of connective tissues. Instead of regenerating, the mucopolysaccharides in his body remain stored in his cells, forcing his limbs to stiffen, facial features to broaden, brain to lose function and, eventually, his heart valves to shut.

This morning I spent some time reading about her son and stumbled across a video that some friends put together after one full year had gone by since Brigham passed away.  I've never liked the word "death" because it feels so final, and I don't believe that death, as painful as it is, is final.  Reading about him and watching the video helped me feel that again...that life goes on for those who are no longer with us....it reconfirmed my belief.  The video was gentle, tender, and too real for me to keep the tears from pouring over.  But what I felt was true, deep, compassionate love ~ something we could all use a little more of.

 

I Will Show You Love

Kendall Payne - I Will Show You Love

I will show you love like you've never loved before
I will go the distance and back for more if you just say the word

You will come alive again and call the trying times your friend
The pain that you have suffered through will never get the best of you
You will hope in something real that won't depend on how you feel
When you call my name then I will answer, answer

I am on your side though the wind and waves beat against your faith
You were on my mind when the world was made
Trust in me my child, Trust in me my child

Walk out on the water where you have no control
So scared to death of failure you sacrifice your soul, please let that go

You have climbed an uphill road, You have worn a heavy load
You have cried through endless nights and nearly given up the fight
Watched your dreams like falling stars the heartaches made you who you are
Now looking back you see that I have always been there

Where you gonna hide? Where you gonna hide from Me?
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go that I can't see?

I have heard you cry and it breaks my heart for I love you so
I would never lie, this is not the end there is still a hope

Love That Binds

Love Quilts is a great organization that creates quilts for critically ill children. All that is required is a page such as a blog or Caring Bridge that keeps the association or quilt maker updated on child's progress. Here is a little more about how it started.

Hi!

I am Cathy, I run the online group Love Quilts. If you have been a part of Love Quilts for a while I know what you are thinking, "Wow, I now have a face with all the emails!". I know how nice it is to finally see a picture of someone I have been corresponding with for a while, but they never look like I thought... I am sure it is the same with me! :-)

I am creating this page because so many have asked about me and how Love Quilts began. I thought this would be a good way for everyone to get to know me a little better.

First I will start with a bit about me. My name is Cathy, I am 41 and I have been married for 20 years to Jeff. We have two children, Curt is 19 and Kayte is 16. We live in Michigan and for 3 1/2 years we lived in the house my husband grew up in, we bought the house in October 1999. We moved into our brand

new home in June 2003 and we just love it! Both my husband and I are Christians and have been since we were children. We attend a wonderful church in our area and we just love it! I am a stay at home mom and the full time coordinator for Love Quilts. I enjoy cross stitch (obviously! LOL), crocheting, genealogy, history, lighthouses, my computer, cats, camping and more! We also enjoying having exchange students. In 2007 we had Marlene from Mexico and Jenny (Eun-A) from S. Korea. Marlene was with us for 10 months, Jenny for 5. In August 2007 we were joined by Pia from Norway, but she only stayed 2 months and moved back home. This year we had Tabea from Germany for 4 months and we had a welcome student, Sophie from Belgium. Sophie was with us for 2 weeks before she went to her permanent home. This past summer (2008) Marlene came back for a visit for 5 weeks and it was wonderful!! We miss her so much! The organization we used for our exchange students is PAX - http://www.pax.org/. We have enjoyed going through this organization.

Well, lots of people want to know how and why Love Quilts began. LQ began in February 1999 and was started because of some things that had happened in my family. In April of 1998 my first cousin's daughter, Kelsey, was diagnosed with a massive brain tumor. She was a very sick little girl and they didn't know if she would live through the operation. The sad thing is her mom had been taking her to her family doctor since she was about 3 (she was 5 by then) with complaints of headaches that made her throw up. The doctor said she had allergies at first and then said she was faking it! Finally her mom had had enough and took her to another doctor and was immediately diagnosed with a massive brain tumor that was wrapped around her optic nerve. They did the surgery in the middle of April (1998) and she had another surgery in July of the same year to remove the remaining tumor missed in the first surgery. These surgery's left her with a number of problems including the fact she has lost all of the hormone part of her brain. Your hormones control so much, including your sleep, the hormones tell you to go to sleep and when to wake up and she couldn't do that. There was the risk that she would go to sleep and never wake up because her brain wouldn't tell her too. She is now 16 years old and she is doing ok, but the effects of the tumor will last her a lifetime.

In May/June of 1998, 2 months after Kelsey's diagnosis, my nephew Justin (my oldest sisters second child) was diagnosed with bone cancer in his left leg at the age of 16. He had been doing cross country racing in high school and during a race his calf area of his left leg began to hurt. It hurt for a couple of weeks and they finally took him in to a walk in clinic and they did x-rays. The determined that he had broken the small non weight bearing bone in his leg. Because there wasn't any major trauma and he was young and healthy they looked into it more. The cancer in the bone had weakened the bone causing it to break and allowing the cancer to spread out. He started chemo right away but the leg grew bigger and bigger and he could no longer walk on it. Chemo was hard on Justin and he suffered a lot because of it. Just 2 months after he turned 17, on September 30, 1998, they removed his left leg above the knee. They tried to continue chemo, he was scheduled for about 2 years more, but his bone marrow was failing and they felt the chemo was killing him. He is continually checked and scanned for cancer, but so far is doing great and he married his long time girlfriend Becky on March 4, 2005!

When Kelsey was first diagnosed I started a prayer page for her to keep everyone updated on her progress. An online cross stitch group got in contact with me and they wanted to make a quilt for her. She received her quilt in July of 1998, see this link to view her beautiful quilt - Kelsey's Quilt - isn't it great?! When this group found out about Justin as well they decided to make a quilt for him too (our grandfather/greatgrandfather also had cancer at the time, sadly my grandfather passed away on April 30, 2003). Click here to see his wonderful quilt - Justin's Quilt - I know you will love his as well! My aunt Sharon was diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 2004 and sadly, she passed away on September 10, 2005. This is the daughter of my grandfather that passed in 2003. She was the youngest sister of my father Harlin, Justin's grandfather, and of my uncle Don who is Kelsey's grandfather.

After Justin received his quilt I decided I wanted to give back to another child what these wonderful stitchers had given to the children in my family. I decided to coordinate a quilt for a child from the Make A Child Smile page, Kelsey had been featured on this site and I knew how thoroughly Alex (the founder of MACS) checks to make sure the child is legit and really sick. That is so sad, but these days you can never be too sure. I picked Katy, a child she had featured the month I began, February 1999. It was the only time I went to the Cross Stitch Pals for help, I posted all over their message board that I was looking for stitchers, it was the only way I knew to get stitchers. Well, stitchers I did get, more than I needed. So, I decided to do a second quilt with the extra stitchers, Emily's quilt and they kept coming and coming. By the end of 1999 we had made 8 quilts for the MACS kids! I was stunned and happy it was going so well, but a bit overwhelmed too.

In 1999 a really great stitcher, Vicki, approached me with help. She and I had been corresponding a lot and she knew I was very stressed with all that was going on, we were moving at the time too. She offered to help and continues to finish off many of the quilts for Love Quilts. She was receiving the finished tops (and in 2001 she even helped make every other quilt top too!) from me and she would put the batting and backing on, what a help that was! Love Quilts now has 10 finishers all over the US helping finish the quilts for our beautiful children!

The squares are first sent to Joan and she posts the scans on a site called Fotki. Joan then distributes the squares to where they need to go to be finished. Click on Fotki to see these squares!

Love Quilts has been published in two newspapers, one in Georgia and one in South Carolina and it was also listed in the Crafts 'N Things November 2001 issue and The Cross Stitcher February 2002 issue and in an article in the June 25, 2002 issue of Women's Day and in the cross stitch magazine Stoney Creek Collections in December 2005!

Love Quilts continues to grow. We have had stitchers from 33 different countries! (want to see the list? See the bottom of this page). We are now approaching 300 quilts made, amazing!! But I couldn't have done all of this without all of you out there and I will always be thankful for the wonderful stitchers who take their time to stitch for these children, you are all wonderful!

Well, on to other things about me, since this is an "about me" page :-) Thank you all for taking the time to read this long post about me and Love Quilts!

Cathy ~ Love Quilts Founder/Coordinator

Happy Love Day!

Light

Caleb's eye really responds to light so we have a light box we use to help him with vision.

It touched my heart to see Mitchell pull it out so he could teach Caleb.

It melts me to see Mitchell so eager to share the light with Caleb

While at the same time Caleb teaches him what true light really is.

I hope my boys will never forget the light and love they feel when they spend time with Caleb.

For the way he shares his light is divine indeed.

One of the Best Gifts: Time

This is a TV interview with April's mom, Janene Baadsgaard, where she shares 4 daily rituals that help her make time for the ones she loves.

Create Memorable Mealtimes
Families who commit to eating at least one meal together soon discover the benefits that come from creating a golden family hour each day. This hour is time set aside exclusively for the family. It helps to set aside a specific time every day and eliminate as many distractions as possible by turning off the television, computer and telephones. Community, school, career and church activities are numerous and will encroach on family time if not carefully selected.

A golden hour might include:
Preparing a meal together
Saying a prayer
Eating together
Reading a chapter from a good book/talking about the day's activities/singing a song
Doing the dishes together
Helping with homework/going for a walk/throwing a baseball/playing a board game.

Make Homecomings and Departures a "Touching" Event
Everyone likes to be noticed, appreciated and loved. It only takes a few seconds for parents to make every homecoming and departure a little more warm and fuzzy for their children. Don't hold back. Be warm and affectionate when your child leaves or come back home.

Parents can:
Kiss
Hug

Make a positive comment - "I believe in you!" "Make it a good day." "I'm so glad you're home!" "I missed you today."
Wave from the window
Blow kisses
Smile
Say "I love you."

Utilize Transport Time
Most parents and children spend part of their day in their car going and coming from a multitude of activities like school, lessons and activities. Parents can put this time to better use by recognizing car time as a great time for positive personal parent/child interaction.

Parents can:Turn off cell phones/radio/stereo
Be truly present
Talk
Listen - Sometimes children open up best when they aren't looking straight at you
Create fun car games and a family goodbye honk
Invite one child at a time to accompany you on routine errands

Establish Pleasurable Bed Time Routines
Bedtime routines can be painful and stressful if rushed or forced. It only takes a few extra minutes to have positive personal time with each child each night.

Parents can:
Stager bedtimes for each child so they have individual time and avoid interruptions
Read books
Tell original adventure tales starring the child
Take a few minutes to carefully tuck the child in bed
Ask: "What was one good thing that happened today?"
"What was one thing that was not so good?"
Sing a lullaby
Pray
Stroke the child's forehead
Say I love you
Rub noses/kiss/hug

Children who have been loved know how to love. Daily loving rituals don't take more time or money; they only require that parents re-order their lives so that they have unhurried time for the people who matter most.

Love is Christmas

Sing to Me Saturday on a Thursday? I'm such a rebel!

I don't care if the house is packed,
Or if the strings of light are broken.
I don't care if the presents are wrapped,
Or if there's nothing here to open.

Love is not a toy, and no paper will conceal it.
Love is simply joy that I'm home.

I don't care if the carpet is stained; we have food upon the table.
I don't care if it's gonna rain, our room is warm and stable.
Love is who we are, and no season can contain it.
Love would never fall for that.

Let love lead us, love is Christmas.



Why so scared that you'll mess it up? Imperfection keeps you haunted.
All you need is your best, my love. That's all anyone ever wanted.
Love is how we do, let no judgment overrule it.
Love, I look to you, and I sing.

Let love lead us, love is Christmas.
Let love lead us, love is Christmas.

Hold Me

Source: piccsy.com via Kathleen on Pinterest

A Dance For Hailey

Recently a good friend of Natalie’s opened a dance studio Impact Dance Co.

Meghan and Natalie have been best friends for years. Ever since Hailey was born Meghan wanted to choreograph a dance and dedicate it to Hailey.

In June, Meghan had applied for a residency program, unfortunately she was denied. I thought I would post her good intentions anyway. As a way of thanking Meghan for her efforts and hoping that someone who reads this may be able to support such a beautiful effort.

Thank you to Miss Chloe for the cutest ballet feet I've ever seen :)

IMPACT Dance company is a contemporary based dance company that strives for captivating audiences through emotion. The sole purpose of IMPACT is to initiate a change by bringing dance to the forefront and raising awareness. We want to raise awareness by magnifying what is not stereotypically accepted or touched upon as frequently as it should be. IMPACT Dance company wants to make a difference in our society by utilizing our art as a statement to educate and inspire.

What is your overall mission or dance philosophy?
Impact Dance company wants to truly make a difference by utilizing dance in every possible way we can. A few ideas the company has is to host motivational seminars and dance classes for elementary, middle and high school students, put on benefit performances, support local charities, and create pieces dedicated or inspired by certain topics, causes or diseases.

How would this program affect your company? What would this residency mean to you?
This program would give the company the opportunity to truly experience a life changing event personally, mentally and physically. This residency will give us the opportunity to fully commit and focus on the creation of a new piece. Personally this residency means I will finally have the freedom to create a piece that I have been wanting to create for the past five years. This piece is very personal and I did not want to commit to it unless I knew I could focus on it whole heartily and could train my dancers mentally and emotionally for the subject.

This piece has been a dream of mine since the birth of one of my closest friend’s daughter, Hailey. Due to complications at birth, Hailey was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. There are many emotions surrounding this topic from the outside point of view, but I want to travel deeper and showcase the story of Hailey, her family, and her parents. I want to live the emotional roller coaster their journey has brought them to, celebrate their triumphs, their failures, and their happiness all through what I know best, dance. Their story is truly inspirational and it needs to be told.

How long of a Residency would you need and why?
We would need four weeks to accomplish the tasks I am setting up with this piece. For the first couple of rehearsals I would invite Hailey and her family to come interact with the dancers. First, I would ask the parents to prepare what they would want to share about their journey. Explaining their day to day life, hospital visits, school trips and activities they do as a family. Secondly I would arrange an informative meeting where the dancers can ask in depth questions regarding emotions so they can find a way to connect while they begin movement with the piece. Lastly I want to have the opportunity to watch Hailey. By teaching her dance moves, and observing her and her mechanisms we would be using the way she crawls, sits, smiles, laughs, and plays to inspire movement we would incorporate into the piece.

How would you utilize the studio space?
The studio space sole purpose would be to create and establish the choreography inspired by Hailey. The first week will be dedicated to the process of meeting the family. The second week of rehearsal we will incorporate movement from Hailey, finding a medium between what our bodies can accomplish while showcasing what we learned or were inspired by. The last two weeks would be used to finalize choreography and finish the piece.

Do you have access to discounted rehearsal space elsewhere?
Currently we do have access to discounted rehearsal space. However the only setback is that the space is very small. I would be willing to utilize the space to save money, but I know myself and my dancers would love to be able to use a bigger space for the last week of the residency.

How do you plan to participate in the Community event? How does this connect with your company mission or experience?
For the community event Impact would like to host a movement workshop for children with Cerebral Palsy and other forms of debilitating sicknesses followed by a performance of the piece created with the residency. The community event would convey Impact Dance company’s mission statement perfectly. This would give us an opportunity to reach out and connect to the Cerebral Palsy community, raise awareness about Cerebral Palsy and perform with the intent to inspire and show support to the families of not just Cerebral Palsy children but also the families that have children with other debilitating sicknesses such as Multiple Sclerosis and cancer.
Meghan thank you from the bottom of my heart for being passionate about Hailey’s Dance. Good luck with your dance company and to all of your future endeavers.

A Better Person

A Better Person

If you close your eyes you'll never see,
just how much she means to me.

All I ask from this day on, is to stand beside her and cheer her on.

She'll bring you places that you've never been,
and show you love from deep within.

She'll melt your heart a little more each day,
until it seems her disability has faded away.

But it's still there, i'll tell no lies.
It sometimes appears, to be in disguise.

You no longer see through rose colored glasses.
As this vision you once had, slowly passes.

The child you once thought of as frail and weak,
instead has made you implore defeat.

Her health sometimes may seem uncertain.
Yet through it all, she has made you a better person.


© Copyright 2011 by Janet Harrold

Imperfections

Source

Source

Source

What Are Words?

Anywhere you are, I am near
Anywhere you go, I'll be there
Anytime you whisper my name, you'll see
How every single promise I keep
Cuz what kind of guy would I be
If I was to leave when you need me most

What are words
If you really don't mean them
When you say them
What are words
If they're only for good times
Then their done
When it's love
Yeah, you say them out loud, those words
They never go away
They live on, even when we're gone

And I know an angel was sent
Just from me and now know I'm meant
To be where I am and I'm gonna be
Standing right beside her tonight And I'm gonna be by your side
[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/chris-medina-lyrics/what-are-words-lyrics.html ]
I would never leave when she needs me most

What are words
If you really don't mean them
When you say them
What are words
If they're only for good times
Then their done
When it's love
Yeah, you say them out loud, those words
They never go away
They live on, even when we're gone

Anywhere you are, I am near
Anywhere you go, I'll be there
And I'm gonna be here forever more
Every single promise I keep
Cuz what kind of guy would I be
If I was to leave when you need me most

I'm forever keeping my angel close

This touched my heart.

Love Them

"Before becoming a mother I had a hundred theories on how to bring up children. Now I have just one child, and just one theory: love them. Love them, especially when they are at their most unlovable."

-- Kate Samperi

Nothing So Divine

Love All

Love all that has been created by God, both the whole and every grain of sand. Love every leaf and every ray of light. Love the beasts and the birds, love the plants, love every separate fragment. If you love each separate fragment, you will understand the mystery of the whole resting in God.

-Fyodor Dostoevsky

The House That Love Built

“The House that Love Built”

The Ronald McDonald House of Western Michigan
Their mission is to provide a “home away from home” for families of children and youth
seeking medical treatment.

As I write this post I am sitting on the front porch of The Ronald McDonald House. It’s a beautiful warm summer night in Michigan, I am feeling extremely relaxed and blessed that I am able to spend the last week of Hailey’s Conductive Education session with her. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this trip a reality. We are very proud of Hailey for all of the hard work that she is doing, and the progress she is making.

This is the house where families meet
to continue their lives, to eat and sleep.
to find their strengths and dry their tears,
to look forward with hope to better years.

Bricks and mortar seldom reflect the true nature of a house. For that transforms a house and makes it a true home, it is not the structure itself, but the love and resilience of the family who finds comfort within. The staff and volunteers here are some of the kindest people I have ever met. Their compassion is genuine and they are happy to help in any way they can. Donated goods, services and volunteer assistance help keep expenses down. The house is extremely organized. It sits on 5 beautiful acres with a walking path, picnic tables, children’s playhouses. It has 17 bedrooms, a kitchen that has four kitchenettes, it has a recreation room, laundry room, dining room indoor play room and great room. I’m sure I have missed a few things. While we were there the house had many different donations of food. The Olive Garden brought food in one night, Starbucks contributes regularly as well as random outside contributions. They offer a shuttle service that can take you to Drs. appointments, to the Conductive Learning Center etc. One of my favorite things is when they bring in therapy dogs!

Occasionally we have thought about a therapy dog for Hailey, but only time will tell if she will benefit from one. In the mean time we can still appreciate and enjoy them. When you stay at the RMDH you get free passes to some of the local Museums, fitness centers and even a zoo.

The suggested contribution is $25 dollars a night , but no one in need is ever turned away because of an inability to pay. If you are considering sending your child to the Conductive Learning Center or if you have to travel a long distance to take care of your child’s illness, I would highly recommend staying at a Ronald McDonald House, currently there are 297 houses in 30 Countries and Regions.

All of Me

"All of Me"

All of Me lyrics by Matt Hammitt
(song available for download here)

Afraid to love
Something that could break
Could I move on
If you were torn away?
I'm so close to what I can't control
I can't give you half my heart
And pray it makes you whole.

You're gonna have all of me
You're gonna have all of me
Cause you're worth every fallen tear
You're worth faith in any fear
You're gonna know all my love
Even if it's not enough
Enough to mend our broken hearts
Giving you all of me is where I'll start



I won't let sadness steal you from my arms
I won't let pain keep you from my heart
I'll trade the fear of all that I could lose
For every moment I'll share with you

You're gonna have all of me
You're gonna have all of me
Cause you're worth every fallen tear
You're worth faith in any fear
You're gonna know all my love
Even if it's not enough
Enough to mend our broken hearts
Giving you all of me is where I'll start

Heaven brought you to this moment
It's too wonderful to steal
You're worth all of me
You're worth all of me
Let me recklessly love you
Even if I bleed
You're worth all of me
You're worth all of me

You're gonna have all of me
You're gonna have all of me
Cause you're worth every fallen tear
You're worth faith in any fear
You're gonna know all my love
Even if it's not enough
Enough to mend our broken hearts
Giving you all of me
Is where I'll start

For the full story and to hear the full song, read this post on Bowen's Heart blog.

Our Gift of Love

by Herman Ross Fillingane



We first look for reasons
On where to place the blame
Though their health may be different
Their heart is still the same
We're sent a child
with so much love to give
With a fight inside
And a reason to live
To be touched by a love
That few will ever see
Our child can show the world
The way love should be.

"I never knew"

I never expected to feel this way. I mean, of course I knew that I would love my grandchildren when the day came. After all, I am a very loving, nurturing person. I knew when the day came for me to have a grandchild that I would be blessed and that I would feel elated. But I never expected to feel a love as deep and as strong as I do for Hailey.

After awhile, and one heck of a roller coaster ride, reality and acceptance sets in and love and admiration grows even deeper than you ever thought possible. Hailey is an amazing little girl that has taught our whole family how to live a brand new life, a life that we never new existed. She brings us to new places and gives us a new perspective on what is most important, she has shown us how to be better people and more accepting and aware of others. Things that we never thought we had the time to do. Well, suddenly I have time, because for me the world seems to have come to a standstill and all of the things that we thought were so important are now insignificant. I have learned that we take things for granted everyday. I never realized that we are the fortunate ones just by being able to do everyday simple tasks like being able to walk, or talk, or by being able to feed ourselves. Well Hailey has opened my eyes to the fact that those things that we take for granted everyday are not simple tasks, they are not simple at all for many people. Who knew? I’ve heard about people having disabilities, but really I closed my eyes to it all. I had no idea how large of a community it really is. Now, that is not to say that people who cannot do these tasks cannot grow up to be great people, who can teach us so much about life, real life. On the contrary, people with disabilities are by far the strongest and most determined people that I know. Kind of funny yet contradictory that we perceive them as people who are weak. They will endure more in their lifetime than many of us will even begin to endure. (And we think we have it tough. See, it’s that perspective thing kicking in again) I challenge everyone reading this, to start the New Year off with a new perspective, a new outlook on life and new found respect for people who have a disability. I never knew that such a world existed, and I never knew that I could love someone so deeply as I love my granddaughter Hailey, but it is true, I do...who knew?

Family Date Night

by Sheila Marcelo of Care.com

Just because the calendar says February 14th is over and done with, it doesn’t mean we have to stop celebrating the spirit of Valentine’s Day! It’s still a great time to be with the people you love and a friendly reminder that maybe—just maybe—you’re overdue for a family date night.

Around Valentine’s Day, there’s a huge pressure on parents and couples to go out together, exchange cards, buy flowers, and have a candlelit dinner. There’s nothing wrong with that (I’ve written before about the importance of date night). But sometimes I think we forget about having a family date night. Just like it’s important for the two of you to get away, it’s also vital to get together!

Valentine’s Day is a great reason to plan a night out with your special someone. Ron and I celebrate it, of course, but we’ve also tried to broaden the holiday’s meaning. Last year, for example, we used Valentine’s Day as an excuse to have a “family date night” and it was one of the most memorable evenings we’d had in a while. We were traveling out of town and instead of going out for a parents-only candlelit dinner, we took our boys and their cousins out with us and had a super-fun evening! (That’s them in the picture above).

How are you going to keep “spreading the love” to everyone you care about beyond Valentine’s Day? If you’re looking for some ideas of where to begin, here are a few (budget-friendly!) ones that come to mind.



Family Dinner
Christine Koh of Boston Mamas included this idea in her great guest post on creative ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day and I wholeheartedly agree with her.

However, I’ll be the first to admit that when things get busy in the Marcelo household, we have a bad habit of “making dinner” by figuring out which restaurant we want to order from. Changing up that routine and doing some old-fashioned home cooking is a great way to create a “family date night” from scratch.

Some of my favorite times come when the four of us carve out a couple hours on the weekend, get together in the kitchen, and make a homemade meal. It’s way better on the budget and it’s also much more memorable than take-out. You can have fun trying out a new recipe, teach your kids some cooking skills, and then sit down to enjoy it all together—all it takes is an hour or two and a few fresh ingredients.

Remembering Grandparents
Think outside of your immediate family and try to include other relatives, as well. If you’re lucky to live close enough to your parents (or even your grandparents), pay them a visit with your whole family.

One of the best activities you can do with grandparents is have your children interview them about what their lives were like growing up. Ask about their favorite Valentine’s Day memories, the first time they met, their first date, or any schoolyard crushes. Those are just some discussion starters you can use to help your kids get to know them better. They’ll love hearing their history! You can even record the interviews and save them for posterity.

Game Night
Game night is a little old-fashioned, but after sitting in front of a computer all day or pounding away on my BlackBerry, it’s nice to unplug with something that’s as simple as rolling dice or flipping over cards. We love the older games like Uno and Sorry! along with the “new classics” like Cranium. The best thing about board games is you can keep coming back to them over and over (so they’re super cost-effective).

Also, Adam loves American Idol so much that we actually bought a karaoke machine—it’s been a great investment for use in our living room and in some Care.com office parties, too.

Community Service
What better way to show the love than by giving back as a family to your local community? Soup kitchens are always looking for volunteers to serve meals or stock shelves. They often can use family members of all ages as volunteers.

You could even have your kids organize a classroom or neighborhood canned food drive, too. Food banks were hit especially hard by the recession and many need our help. February also tends to be a low season for volunteering, since the holiday rush has passed by, so it’s a great time to support a local charity.