Valentines Day - Pleasanton,CA

I am thinking of doing an Amazing Race type of Scavenger Race where you are t5he prze at the end. This would most likely require a babysitter for the night and the cost of a hotel room. You would leave him clues and at each place he would get an envelope from someone there with his next clue.

Last year, the night before, I went out and decorated his car with crepe paper streamers and window paint pen on the windows. I wrote cute things, terms of endearment. Or you could decorate the garage door with a big sign and streamers so that when he pulls up in the driveway after work he sees it.

You could make your home like an italian restaurant. Buy the cd "Amore: The Great Italian Love Arias" from Amazon.com and play it. Or Dean Martin's "Thats Amore" for a more lighthearted affair..
Put on a red dress. Men appreciate dresses so much and so rarely see them anymore on women. Put a red tablecloth on the table. Use white china plates, put chocolate hearts on them, or chocolate roses. Make an easy pasta, fettuchini alfredo is easy and looks fancy. I use the jared alfredo sauce. I start out with a zuchini and a hand full of mushrooms chopped into short strips. Throw them into a sauce pan with butter and cook 3-4 minutes. but I add a clove of baked garlic. (I wrap a whole bulb of garic in foil and bake it for an hour.squeeze out the soft pulp and smash it into the sauce, incorporate it well.) Add the jar sauce, heat it all up to a boil, then reduce heat and it's ready. If he's a meat eater add baked chicken chunks, or, throw in some strips of ham. I just cut thin strips from the end of a ham lunch meat package. Sprinkle with fresh grated parmagan, have a salad,(I mix Marie's creamy ceasar dressing and a squirt of lemon, and toss it) and put a brown and serve bread loaf in the oven.. Have a dipping plate for the bread with a mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Have red wine or sparkling juice. Have your kids make paper menus, and be the waiters. Draw mustaches on them if they will let you, and pull back the girls hair in a hair tye. Pin a construction paper black bow tie to their shirt collar.Throw a towel over their arm. Show them how to "present" the bottle of wine/sparkling cider to dad so he can approve it before they pour it for him. Make sure to take pictures! Have the kids make red paper hearts and hang them from the light fixture. When dessert is served at the table and everyone is sitting around, go around and have everyone take a turn saying what they think is special about each person at the table. A little love note on his plate is a nice touch. Men love respect- tell him all the reasons you respect him, admire him, how much he helps you.

Once I put a construction paper heart shaped 'I love you' note in a different place every day for the week. One day in his shoe, once in his sock drawer, Once under the sheet when he pulled them back for the evening, once on his rear view mirror, etc.

Hi S.,
There are so many cute and romantic ideas to do that are inexpensive. Start by writing little love notes use some of the love songs you two listened to while dating each other. Then plan to get someone to keep the kids for a couple of hours, plan a special dinner make what he likes. Get some candles, etc. Now use your own imagnation.

M.

If you are not a morning person (thats me) and never up when he leaves for work.... you could get up early make him breakfast... I always make pink and red pancakes for the kids (never up early enough to make hubby breakfast) and serve in bed (wearing something cute and sexy would be extra fun for him...maybe cold for you).
Stick a meaningful love note (or steamy note) somewhere he is sure to find once left for the day (or you have if you leave before he does).
Make his favorite dinner and eat by candlelight.
All these things women love but men.... who knows??? LOL Hope this helps!:)

HI S.-
How about a home movie night?
Make a little bag up for your husband as a gift. Get a movie (like the princess bride), a box of microwave popcorn, a bottle of sparkling cider or his favorite soda, some snacks, like milk duds, etc. You can do this whole bag for $20 or less at places like Walmart, the Dollar Store, etc.
A second idea is to get some massage oil or lotion and give him a back rub. The easiest for me is to sit in the recliner while my husband sits on a pillow on the floor. The loving touch of your hands means ALOT to a man, and the visual for your children when they see you that way is priceless.
My last thought is to choose a separate day to celebrate, one where the madness has settled down. My hubby and I celebrate "love" on St. Patrick's Day, because no one else is. =) We make our own holidays and celebrate my husbands "Irish"ness at the same time.
Hope that helps!

Hi S., I am a Creative Memories Consultant. We currenlty have a couple of Valentines products that might work for you. The first one is a paper album that you can add pictures to tell him how much you and the kids love him. Check out my website for more information. http://www.mycmsite.com/aprildunhamfilson

Hi S. and all moms,
When my kids were small (they're 28 and 24 now,) I set up a cute table in the living room in front of the fireplace; put out the good china and on top of the plate had a handmade valentine note for each one telling them what I loved about each of them. I made a meal ahead of time that was served easily. (I think I made canneloni which everyone liked.) I served sparkling apple juice in the wine glasses for the kids.

If you need suggestions on how to keep these treasured memories, contact me at ____@____.com. I've been a Creative Memories consultant for 16 years and have poems, sayings, etc. that I've collected over the years. My website is www.mycmsite.com/annemcmanus
Happy Valentine's Day! Let us know how it goes!
A. McManus

You could wait until after the kids go to bed and have some special treats and what you like to drink. Even apple cider in pretty glasses with some Valentine Cookies or candy. Decorate your bedroom with flowers and candles and a new nightie (red of course!) and enjoy your romatic bedroom with treats.

Greetings S.,
As a woman that needed to be creative for my husband becasue he was always doing things for us as a family, I know he never saw a football game without fixing toys or tears until the children got older! I tried something with our 5 children I hope helps.We didn't use babysitters often either.
I knew what his favorite movie was and I 'd enlist the help of the kids to make his favorite treat or snacks and have plenty of cream soda, and let him watch the movie without interuption(with 5 children ages birth to 9 that wasn't easy) generally he'd start withaJohn Wayne film or to Dave, and after his partners( in crime- because they got to stay up later but a bit) went to bed watched his H.Hornblower naval series. Once he was greeted at the door by the children that had a project they wanted to do with just him which gave them one on one time to build memories and I'd catch pictures for him to keep in the car to remember what was important if life got busy at work. Our children as teens really had a special relationship becasue of these times with their father. I know that he appreciated the fact he got to pick the movie for a change and it wasn't Disney!
Enjoy the moment and cherish the memories, Nana Glenda

Hi S.,

I hear you! My husband and I rarely go out just the two of us either. Here's what we do for Valentine's Day: Call Papa Murphy's (or Cenario's, if there's one in your area). They usually make a heart-shaped pizza for Valentines Day for less than $10. So we get that and a six-pack of beer or soda. That's it! We have been doing it for years and it is fun, cheap and different.
Good luck!
C.

I love it. I say stay home and make a nice dinner for all of you to enjoy. You can have candles, red cloth napkins if you have them, put up valentine decorations your kids make w/construction paper to get them involved, votives in glass (to keep the kids safe), red velvet cupcakes (which I think is too much work so we get cheap fortune cookies at the grocery store....fun!)I've also ordered these online from Emily's chocolates. They have chocolate dipped ones (yum) w/more of an adult themed message. But they're pricey. Write a short poem and roll it up as a scroll. My husband and I have done this every year and have enjoyed it. We went out once and it was terrible ( a long wait, overpriced food, too many people...even the tables were pushed closer together to accommodate more tables being squeezed in...never again). Take a trip down memory lane together with your husband after the kids go to bed. Talk about your life together as you grew...memories, favorite trips, mishaps, fun times etc. Give each other a quick back massage on the living room floor. Enjoy each other!!!!

Hi S.,
My husband & I met through a personal ad in a local newspaper (pre-internet). So every V-Day I place a Valentine love line for him in our current local paper. It doesn't have to be expensive. I think a 3 line ad costs about $12 here. You can spend more too (one year I placed a big one and it cost $75.) Most local papers have some sort of special just for V-Day. It's usually in the classified section. Call your paper advertising department to find out. I write a little note in his V-day card telling him to look in the paper. He knows where to go. He loves to search for each ad every year.

A few years ago I did something a little extra special with the ads. I took all the love lines I had saved and put them in a small 6X6 scrapbook. He loved it! Now each year I just add a page to it!

I started doing it for my sons when they were born too. They will get a similar scrapbook when they get older as well.

My husband and I usually make chicken parmesan with a carrot sauce. It is so good! The carrot sauce is a replacement to tomato sauce because I'm not supposed to eat tomato. (But I like it much better anyway.) It'd be a nice addition to the Italian dinner which sounds wonderful! I think we'll actually eat at the table too! This is rare. haha
I like the pizza and beer idea too because it's easy. My brother-in-law and girlfriend have done that and gotten a couple lotto tickets for fun.
Maybe you could take a picture with the kids. My friend did that once and put a sign that said "happy father's day" in front of her baby and then the dog. It could work for V-day. Or maybe you could have the kids make a sign and just hang it in the house.
Breakfast for dinner might be a fun thing to do too. Heart shaped pancakes, sausage, watermelon and honey dew balls, icecream with bananas, etc. My co-worker made some chocolate eclairs once and put them out on doilys in a pink box. It was a hit. Hope you have a wonderful day!

I made a giant Valentine card one year with a little poem using candy bars ( tape the candy bar in the card instead of writing it)something like.... I'm so glad I found my Mr.Good Bar. You are such a Hot Tamalle. You bring me and the kids so much Almond Joy. From your SweetHeart

Another year I made a Valentine box like the ones we made in grade school and filled it with notes and cards one each day for about a month before of little memories or about how much I loved him.

One year when we moved into our new house. We needed a new mailbox so I bought one and wrote him a love letter and also wrapped up some packages....massage oil, candles, lingerie etc.