Made with Love

Hello February! Welcome a feeling of turning that corner beyond winter boredom and seeing the end of frozen lock down in sight! Much like our friends Elsa and Anna, love melts the frozen heart; and with a few too many “let it goes” under my belt I’m ready to celebrate another fun holiday that teaches kindness, respect, creativity and love. With Valentine’s Day, nearing, I enjoy working on cute crafts and creating decorations, gifts and more with my kids. In the end it’s not about what we make but the fun we have making it. In the past we’ve used pom-poms to make “love bugs” using googley eyes, heart feet and wings; as well as sticking together foam valentine scene kits from our local Michaels craft store. It’s fun to remember the silly days we made them, as each craft is unpacked again. This year we tackled painting small wooden hearts and adding glitter glue (the only glitter in my house lol) to make magnets on the fridge. Added bonus they support the endless art gallery we have there too! We also added heart confetti to pink red and silver slime to create love monsters - yes googley eyes were involved too! We even tried out air dry clay by Crayola for the first time to make clay hearts and then decorated them for gifts! We couldn’t forget the sweetest part of the holiday by baking up some devils food cupcakes with pastel icing to brighten the days leading up to Feb 14th!

I always find looking forward to a celebration is half the fun. So to build the excitement in our home we count down to Valentine’s Day with a pocket calendar. I love making a heart for each of my kids with a reason we love them written on it. I use foam hearts to write details like “I love your vast animal knowledge!” or “I love your stylish dance moves!” Then tuck them in the calendar. The kids stick the hearts on their bedroom doors, as we get ready for the day. By February 14 they each have 14 hearts on their doors and a few reminders they are loved too! Both kids enjoy spreading joy. We always fix themed valentine goodie bags to hand out at school too! This year Super Mario and Fancy Nancy topped the list, but of course we had to get a few more kinds to play mail delivery at home too! And we try to take a cute photo in heart attire to send a custom valentine to close family and friends. But grandparents may also find a special homemade variety in their mailbox! The day of is no exception. I tend to turn our family room into a love celebration with balloons, banners and tons of custom sweets from local candy store Raffy’s and of course sprinkle donuts from Fleckensteins! We always surprise the kids with a few treats and if I’m lucky I’ll get flowers of my own! Making the most of every day with crafts, kindness and just a little love can help stretch the days to more than just getting through, in fact, you might just find a clay heart painted with every color in the rainbow is your most treasured gift ever! So be creative, be kind and be Brave this Valentines, after all, a little glitter glue can be heart warming if it make them laugh and smile! I’m Rebecca Barker… mom of two, wife and writer. I’ve lived in New Lenox most of my life and excited to share some of the adventures that go along with being a mom. Skip the nap, grab a snack, get creative and Be Brave Mom. For more follow me @bebravemom2 on Facebook; @Be_Brave_Mom on Twitter and https://bebravemom.blogspot.com Appeared in the February 11, 2020 edition of the New Lenox Patriot