You Make My Heart SING!

I was one of those kids who made "mix cassette tapes" for my friends back in the day! I'd spend hours taping songs off of the radio, splicing them, and then putting the songs all together. It was one of the ways I showed others I loved them. This is still one of my very favorite presents... MUSIC! But seriously.... how much easier is it today to create a mix in Itunes??? This would have been beyond my wildest dreams during the "boombox" era. For Valentine's Day this year I made my kids and my husband a special mix.

I spent hours pouring over songs, since I wanted songs of LOVE from my grandparent's era, some sentimental to us, some from our childhood, some country, some pop, and some good tunes we could dance to in the kitchen. Here is what I came up with for each:

For My Kids:

Lean on Me - Rascal Flatts

Stuck Like Glue - Sugarland

Smile - Uncle Kracker

Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen

Come Go with Me - The Del Vikings

Say Hey (I Love You) - Michael Franti & Spearhead

Love is All Around - Wet Wet Wet

1, 2, 3, 4 - The Hit Co.

One Love (People Get Ready) - Glee Cast

Go Daddy-O - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

For my Valentine (I know there is a lot.... did I mention I LOVE music??):

Marry Me - Train

True Companion - Marc Cohn

Can't Fight this Feeling - Glee Cast

I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher

Fire - Glee Cast

Let Me Call You Sweetheart - The Hit Co.

Y-O-U - Jonah Werner

How Sweet it is to be Loved by You - James Taylor

It Had to Be You - Harry Connick Jr.

Love is All Around - Wet Wet Wet

Always Only You - Josh Wilson

Your Man - Josh Turner

Whatever it is - The Zac Brown Band

Hallelujah - The Canadian Tenors

I Love You - Martina McBride

Make Someone Happy - Jimmy Durante

Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer

Your Body is a Wonderland - John Mayer

Loving You, Loving Me - Dave Barnes

At Last - Etta James

Can't Explain this Feeling - Jonathan Kingham

L-O-V-E - Nat King Cole

Plus some of the ones above I put on the kids' CD

I'm sure I missed some key songs -- let me know what I"m missing!

Here is another idea for Valentine's Day:

Cookie Decorating Sets

You can buy un-iced cut out cookies from your local bakery (you may need to special order them). Make your own icing. I like using the classic recipe: 1 1/2c. butter, 1 lb. powdered sugar, 3 tbsp. milk or cream, 2 tsp. vanilla.

Place the icing in a cute bowl. Collect some Valentine's candies in a bag and tie. A fun activity for the whole family!