Ferocious Flirting: Making Marriage Wonderful

One idea that has worked, get the kids together and trace their foot prints on pieces of paper and lay them out like some has walked to a room in the house where you and the kids can all hide. At the head of the foot prints put "Follow the Footprints". Now make a simple card and have all the kids put "love you mom" or "love you dad" and you put something about how much you love your sweetie and how grateful you are for them. When you hear your sweetheart coming, run and hide at the end of the footprints. Then jump out like its a surprise party and yell "Welcome Home!!". Let the kids give her the card. It takes very little time for everyone involved and sets a great tone for the whole evening.

Crunch time folks. If you haven't done anything for your sweetie yet, now is the time to get moving on it. Some of you, or maybe lots of you will be giving flowers this Valentine's Day. Flowers are an appropriate Valentine's gift for your sweetheart. The problem with flowers is that, while romantic, they are a bit common place this time of year. What can be done to make flowers more exciting? Most of the time when you give flowers, you include a little note. Instead of the note, include something else that is small and paper. You could include movie or play tickets, a gift certificate or coupon to be used at a favorite restaurant with a note asking them to go out with out. As always, its not the amount you spend, but the thought you put into it. As an example, if getting movie tickets, get them for that movie your sweetie has been wanting to see but you have been not enthusiastic about. The folks at 1800flowers have Flowers from $24.99. Same Day Delivery available

Turn a simple gift into a more meaningful and memorable gift experience. Instead of getting a single gift, get several smaller gifts. Make the gifts things that your sweetie real could use. Often, the gifts we need aren't that romantic. To give the gift a romantic touch, include a small note with the gift. For example, if the gift is long johns then the note might say "Because your smile gives me the warm-fuzzies". I think you have the idea. Now wrap each small gift individually with the accompanying note, then place all the wrapped small gifts into a larger box and wrap it. By putting a little effort and creativity into your gifts, you can turn a mundane item into a romantic experience for both of you. To involve the children, have each kid contribute a gift and a note into the box. They will love to watch as the gifts are opened and appreciated. If one or more of the gifts your sweetie is getting are not "kid appropriate", create two boxes. O

Once after my first child had gone to the doctor for a healthy baby check, my mom asked, "Did the doctor tell you how cute your kid is?". She then told me that she would never take her child to a doctor who did not compliment her baby. Of course, she was just joking with the proud new father. But little conversation has stuck with me because my mom ended up teaching me an important lesson. As parents, we are highly invested in our kids. Their successes are our success and their failures are our failures. It's natural that parents feel that way because we sacrifice so much for their training and up bringing. When someone compliments the child, they are also complimenting the parent for doing such a good job in raising the child. Today's tip, then, is to compliment you children. Compliment them sincerely for things they do well. Also, compliment them in ways that reflect well on your sweetie. Each of us see certain aspects of ourselves in our kids. Compl

Take a moment and thank you sweetie for some romantic gesture you really appreciated. Do not couch it as a "you used to do nice things but don't anymore". Instead, just thanks them like "It was so much fun when ... ". This will do two things. First, it will let you both share the moment again. Second, it encourages your sweetie to do romantic things by showing that you appreciate them long after the fact.

Does you sweetie want an iPod? If so, here is a sweet deal for you:free. This is one of those things that you think, "This must be a scam". I know I did when a friend of mine introduced it to me. The funny thing is now he has gotten his free iPod and now I see its not a scam because he really got his. How does it work? From the free ipods wbesite Check out this great site that is giving away totally FREE iPods! I've joined and I think you should as well. It's a completely legitimate offer, and this company has already given away $4 million in FREE stuff! All you have to do is join, complete an online offer, and refer friends to do the same. That's it! Here is my referral link. To help me get my iPod, click this exact link to join, or copy and paste it into a browser: http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=9096650 Ok, I know its pushy. On the otherhand, if your sweetie has been wanting an iPod, here is a way to get it without breaking the bank. They als

My sweetie was in the hospital for Valentine's Day one year. Not how one would choose the spend the day most of the time, but those things happen. I also had a friend in a barbershop choir and they were raising money by doing singing telegrams. So he brought a barbershop quartet to my sweetheart's hospital room and sang a couple of songs for her and gave her a rose. Even now, several years later, she still talks about how wonderful it was. Of course all the nurses stopped to listen and enjoy. The other people on the hospital floor, when they saw my sweetie, told her how nice it was and how lucky she was to have such a thoughtful sweetheart. When I arranged it, never occurred to me how it would affect the other people in the hospital. She just beamed when people told her how sweet I was. The point of this story is two-fold. First, when presented with an unexpected situation come up with an unexpected way to show your sweetie how much you care. Second, its more

Every so often I come across a Sweet Deal to pass along. As I mentioned before, HearthSong is a fun site that provides all sorts of ideas for romantic surprises. They are now offering a special $10.00 off coupon code! Find Valentine's Day items at HearthSong!

Picnics are great fun for couples and for families and I'm sure that picnic ideas will find their way into this list later, maybe when it warms up. However, today I wanted to share a great romantic, picnic which one reader shared with me: Even though we are very happy, I must admit that we have been sometimes broke. A few years ago, my hubby and I found ourselves in just that situation... stuck at home with not enough money to go anywhere special for a nice date. I don't remember who's idea it was, but we ended up deciding to go on a picnic to a nearby park. We made ourselves some tomato soup with a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches and packed our basket along with a jug of hot chocolate, and a soft quilt for us to lay on. I remember that we sat at the top of the play area, and laughed and talked about everything that was going on in our lives. I enjoyed it so much!!! This was by far the best date I've ever had. Did I mention that our date was on a Cold Winter

I got my wife an early Valentine's present. It was a solid milk chocolate fish with packaging that looks like its ready to to be mounted on the wall. The name of the candy is "You're a keeper". She laughed and then went to show off the present to her friends, who also laughed. My kids thought it was the funniest thing ever. Although I didn't buy it, at the mall I saw a chocolate nose on a stick that said something like "If I hadn't PICKED you, nobody KNOWS what I would have done!". Having already given her a fish, I thought a nose might be too much. Valentine's tends to be a serious holiday with lots of romantic and pricy shows of affection. So a good gag gift is unexpected and is therefore more effective. Your sweetie will appreciate a good laugh, along with whatever romantic ideas you have. I will pass along to you my wife's advice to me, through the laughter: This had better not be my whole valentines!