Pool Party

[caption id="attachment_1859" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Red Bird
Oil on Canvas[/caption]

I am so glad you stopped by! What a gorgeous morning! The sky is breathtaking in different shades of blue, and the sun is a sight to behold. Oh how I've missed seeing  the sun! Honestly, the sky has been filled with clouds for so long that I have struggled to be excited about the day. Ah, but today the sun fills my kitchen with warmth and joy! I almost feel like laughing out loud! I wish you could be here to see all the birds in my back yard. They're having a pool party! It's the perfect day for it, and they've obviously invited every one they know. There are lots of puddles left over from the enormous amounts of rain we've had, and I think every bird from the neighborhood is splashing around in my yard before the sun dries it all up. I can hardly pull myself away from the window, the birds are fascinating!

You can't imagine my thought process. As I watch the birds flitting from puddle to puddle, I wonder if they know each other or if they're friends or if they're family. Do they speak to each other...obviously they do because somebody had to have spread the word about the massive pool party! They each seem to have little personalities. Some are smack dab in the middle of the puddle, while others are slightly more cautious and stay closer to the side  of the pool. There is also a group that has had enough water and is hanging around the snack bar. Then there is the group too cool for school basking in the sun on the perfect branch high above the crowd. The interesting thing to me is, no matter how fun, how cautious, how hungry, or how cool, none of them have a cell phone, grocery list, or even a towel to dry off with when they get out of the pool. They are having a fabulous morning without a care in the world. They have everything they need.

It reminds me of the verse in Matthew 6:26, " Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns and yet  your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"  The answer is YES! Yes you are worth so much more to God than the birds, and just look at how He provides for them! He clothes them in the finest of feathers, not to mention the brilliant colors and designs. He provides their food, shelter, friends, and even pool parties. But for you, His beloved, His gifts are beyond compare. He loves you with an everlasting love! Did you hear that? Everlasting love! You can't earn it. You certainly don't deserve it. He loves you for you. He loves you so much that He even sacrificed the life of His only Son that you might receive His free gift of salvation. You are worth more. You are loved.

Soak up some sunshine today! Live today with the joy of knowing that you are loved. Love love love Ruthie

 

 

 

Party Night

 

     I am so glad you stopped by! I have loved following so many of you on fb, pinterest, and instagram and seeing all your fabulous ideas for Valentines! The incredible dinners, decorations, and gifts have inspired me like crazy! I love our tradition at Valentines and I wanted to share a little of our night with you! The day was a blast! I'm pretty laid back about most everything, so where most people would have spent the day in the kitchen getting ready for a dinner party for nine, I was out playing with everyone anticipating the dinner. Towards the end of the day, we split up and conquered the grocery store and other little errands. When we got home, everybody pitched in to clean up and prepare dinner. Eddie always says "Many hands make light work." I say "Many hands are just way more fun!" Right around dinner time I thought it would be fun to take everyone to meet Baby Rain. So we turned dinner on low and headed out to the pasture. Crazy, I know, but I'm so glad we did! She was glad to see us. Well, I like to think she was. Her mama definitely was because we came bearing food. After we ooohed and aaahhed over Rain we headed back to finish fixing dinner. We eventually got dinner on the table and it was perfect!

[caption id="attachment_1836" align="aligncenter" width="584"] My Valentines from my family[/caption]

Probably my favorite part of the night is giving away Valentines. They are all handmade and truly reflect the personality of the maker. (Unless your my sweet husband, and this year his valentines reflected the personality of one of our children, who remains anonymous. Thank you for helping your daddy, KK!) Anyway, it is my most treasured part of the night! My heart truly just wells up as we pass around our valentines. Some have notes and some just a sweet sentiment. Some are incredibly elaborate and some are quite simple. Either way, it really is the thought and time spent on the piece of art. Eddie always gives a box of candy to everyone, and I always wrap up a little happy along with my valentine. It's so much fun!

[caption id="attachment_1837" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Fox and KK battling it out for the win[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1838" align="alignleft" width="200"] Luke waiting to begin[/caption]

The next part of the night is always a huge hit. I plan games. This year we had a hula hoop contest and charades. The hula hoop contest should have been on "Americas Funniest Home Videos!" My children can hula hoop for hours, so I decided to hoop with a twist. You had to hoop blind folded and drinking a glass of water. It was hilarious! Since there were nine of us, we decided to go in groups of three and have a run off for the winner of each group of three. KK took the first win in her group. It was a tie between MaryCam and Towns in my group, because they finished their water and could have hooped for days. Since our third group consisted of a few new comers, we let Eddie lead the group without water or blindfolds. Absolutely fabulous entertainment! The boys were great sports and we

[caption id="attachment_1839" align="alignleft" width="200"] Fox ready to hoop[/caption]

decided they were all winners! For the gold, the winners of each group had to hoop and run from a starting point to a finish line! KK won the prize! She was the hooping queen of the night! So fun!

Last but not least, charades of songs about love, books about love, and movies about love. It was girls against the boys. Though we had MaryCam on our team (she is the best charades player ever) the girls were unable to pull out a win. The boys took home the gold in charades. However, Luke, I still don't think "Poor Richard's Almanac" counts as a love story! Way to go guys!

After the games, Eddie and I called it a night! Everyone else stayed up for a movie. It was a great night! Any night you spend laughing and playing is a great night! I think it was so much fun because it was easy. It's not about the stress of details. It's about being together. So dinner was a little late, I forgot the bread, and Eddie had a little help on his valentines. At the end of the day, no one remembers that stuff. It's the fun and the laughter that everybody treasures. Plan a family fun night for no reason! Let me know how it goes! Or message me for ideas! I love it! Thank you for stopping by! Love love love Ruthie (I hope you don't mind if I post pics from the party! Enjoy! Take a few ideas too!)

[caption id="attachment_1840" align="alignleft" width="200"] Sharing Valentines[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

[caption id="attachment_1841" align="alignleft" width="200"] Hoopers[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1842" align="alignleft" width="300"] Towns working on the blindfold[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1844" align="alignleft" width="200"] Towns giving Ryan last minute hooping strategy[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1845" align="alignleft" width="300"] KK drinking water and hooping blindfolded[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1846" align="alignleft" width="200"] Awesome Zack![/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1847" align="alignleft" width="200"] Only Eddie can hoop around his knees! Amazing![/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1848" align="alignleft" width="200"] Its a movie[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1853" align="alignleft" width="300"] My favorite Valentine[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Greatest Love Story Ever!

 

[caption id="attachment_1832" align="alignleft" width="584"] Handmade Valentines[/caption]

 

I am so glad you stopped by! Happy Happy Valentines Day! This is my favorite day of the year! I love decorating my house. I love making valentines and giving them away! I love surprising friends with little happys. And my most favorite is all my family getting together for dinner and games. Truly, the most fun day ever!

I've thought a lot this blog. I wanted today to be extra special. So I decided to tell you the greatest love story ever. I love a love story! Don't you? If you are a girl, I know you do. We eat up the "Cinderella"stories! "True love's kiss." All that stuff that makes you lose your breath! It's so yummy! And if you're a guy, well you know you love it when Prince Charming scales the tallest mountain, defeats the horrific dragon. and swoops in to save fair maiden from peril. Why am I talking like that?  Anyway, you get the idea! We all love LOVE! So to celebrate the day all about love I am going to share the greatest love story ever!

There once was a young man guilty of many crimes, some of which were too horrible to even mention. It was his day to come before the Judge and receive his sentence. When he walked into the court room, a hush came over the crowd. Everyone in the audience watched as the man made it to the front of the room. At the mention of his name, the crowd became uneasy and began to whisper among themselves. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The whispers turned into uncontrolled conversations among the people. Every one knew he was guilty, it was just a matter of officially announcing the man's death sentence. The Judge slammed the gavel on His bench and demanded order in His courtroom. When the Judge asked the man to approach the bench, you could have heard a pin drop. The crowd was deathly quiet so not to miss a single word the Judge had to say. The man approached the bench. The Judge looked at the man who stood in front of Him with eyes I could hardly describe. But the one thing I could say is that they were filled with compassion as He announced his punishment. He said, "You are guilty of crimes punishable by death." It was almost as if the crowd had been holding their breath because the entire room seemed to sigh all at one time. Everyone knew he was guilty. Everyone knew his crimes were punishable by death, but hearing it out loud made it real. The man nodded in agreement with the Judge as if he knew. He hung his head and began to cry silently. The guards moved in to take the man away and the Judge held his hand up and signaled them to wait.The man looked up for the first time. His eyes met the Judge's and the Judge said, "Do you know my Son?"The man was taken back and didn't really know how to respond. He shook his head and quietly said, "No Sir, I don't." The Judge proceeded to tell the man about his Son. He laughed as He recalled story after story about His boy. "He is amazing. He is the apple of my eye. He is my heart." There wasn't a dry eye in the room as the people listened so intently to the Judge talk about His love for His son. Then the Judge said, "I am letting you go free and my Son will take your place today. He will die for you.

I know that  story sounds kind of far fetched and unbelievable, but it's really not. The bible teaches in Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In Romans 6:23 It says For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. You see, we are no different from the man in the courtroom. We have all sinned. Sin is punishable by death. But, God the creator of the universe, loved you so much that He sacrificed His only Son on the cross so that you wouldn't have to die for your sin. Not only that, but He gave you the gift of eternal life. All those explorers went looking for eternal life and it was right there in front of their noses the whole time. It's a free gift given to you from God Himself if you believe in Him. Why did He do that? Because He loves you. John 3:16 For God SO LOVED you that He gave His only Son. That whosoever believes in HIm will not die but have everlasting life. Now tell me that's not the greatest love story ever!

I am overwhelmed that God loves me with an unconditional love. My cup is so full. In fact, it's spilling over all over the place! He loves you that much too! You only have to open your heart and believe in Him. He is Valentines. He is love. Happy Happy Valentines Day to you! I am so glad you stopped by for the greatest love story of all!                                            I love you! love love love Ruthie

 

 

My New Baby

I am so glad you stopped by! I'm so excited for you to meet my new baby! Isn't she just about the cutest thing you've ever seen? I met her this morning! My children had just left for school and Eddie got a phone call that our cows had gotten out of the pasture. We quickly grabbed boots, food for the cows, and of course my camera and headed out the door. The pasture is about  three minutes from the house, so we got there in no time. Our sweet neighbor and his wife were outside our gate with news that they had already gotten the cows back inside. While we stood there talking, I noticed that my cow, Holiday, was off by herself and not with the herd. I watched her for a minute, and then I could see why! She had a sweet new baby by her side. Holiday is such a good mama! That sweet thing was born yesterday in the rain. We had some rain yesterday. It never quit. So we named her Rain. She is fine. We drove into the pasture to get a closer look. Eddie dropped pellets for all the other girls then carefully made his way over to Holiday and gave her her very own pile of food so she could stay with Rain. Meet Rain.



Oh my goodness! She is sweet! Look at that precious face. I sat in the field with her and watched her while Eddie moved hay around for the rest of the cows. I told Eddie I could have sat there all day and watched her and taken pictures. She was as curious of me as I was of her, but her mama was so protective it was hard for either of us to get to know each other too well.



I think it's amazing how God made animals to have babies and take care of them. I love watching the animal channel and seeing all the different animals care for their young. It's so  incredible! Holiday had one eye on her food, one eye on me and both eyes on Rain. And even though there were lots of mama cows out there, Rain knew exactly who her mama was. She had no trouble finding her breakfast. Fascinating!



How adorable are they? These are a couple of the other babies, and they came over to say hi to Rain. They stopped by to say hi to me first and then over to Rain.  They are not much older than Rain, but just enough older to not be the new kid. I could hardly wait to watch them introduce themselves to Rain, and of course, see Holiday's reaction as well.



I'm not too sure that anybody really enjoyed the company at first. It might have been a little early. Holiday was looking at me like "Really?" Sweet Rain just kind of stood there motionless. One of the babies moved in and just licked her little face and kind of chewed on her ear. I thought it was a very sweet gesture. Rain didn't move, and Holiday had a look of uneasiness the whole time. Every one was tip toeing around each other. It really was funny!



However, at the end of the day, I think Rain felt welcomed into the group! And I think Holiday was glad to see her making friends so quickly! Isn't that just like a mama? She wasn't quite ready to send her out to play but so wanted her to meet new friends and feel loved. Though Holiday was obviously holding her breath, she did good. But I know she was ready for everyone to say goodbye so she could be selfish with her baby just a little while longer.



I think this picture is hilarious! It's like the other mamas sent the babies over to test the water, and once they looked like all was well then they all came over to speak. My Holiday was not so thrilled when the crowd decided to visit! She looked a little irritated when all the big mamas began to circle around her new baby. They all took turns smelling her and nudging her and just saying hello. It was really sweet, but I thought at one point Holiday might come unglued. I even told Eddie I was a little nervous for myself at one point. But she did great! I was so proud of her to share her little blessing with everybody! She is a good mama!



Today is Valentine Eve! It's the day before the day we celebrate love!!!! Don't let the day go by without loving somebody big! Seriously! Do something out of the ordinary! Call someone you haven't seen in awhile! Send a text filled with hearts! Email lots of love! Call your husband for no reason and tell him you love him. Have an amazing after school treat for your children. Visit a neighbor! Come on y'all! Love somebody out loud tomorrow! It's so much fun! Who doesn't want to be loved! What a treat!



Happy Happy Valentines day! I hope you enjoyed meeting Baby Rain as much as I did! She is my valentine this year! She is one big bundle of love! I love you!  Thank you for stopping by! love love love Ruthie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check Yes or NO

[caption id="attachment_1807" align="alignleft" width="224"] I created a valentine in my art journal and thought it would be fun for you to try![/caption]

I am so glad you stopped by! I was wondering if you remembered the first time you heard "I love you" from your sweetheart? I was actually thinking about that yesterday. Most people ask "When was your first kiss?" But I love thinking about the first time Eddie told me he loved me. Oh my word, it sent me to the moon! Then that sent me down a rabbit trail to second grade. There was a boy in my class that passed me a note that said "Do you love me?" Then there were two boxes I could check, one said yes and one said no. Are you wondering which one I checked? Me too. I really don't remember, but I can vividly remember the note on torn notebook paper written in pencil with horrible handwriting."Do you love me?" Why is that? I think it's because I am a girl. Girls love love! Think about Cinderella. Do you remember anything she said? Uh...no, we only remember the way Prince Charming looked at her and whisked her around the dance floor. What about sleeping beauty? All we remember is Prince Charming waking her with a kiss of true love and riding off into the sunset with her on his horse.

[caption id="attachment_1808" align="alignleft" width="224"] I used paint, stencils, and pens to create a background. No real plan, just lots of color and designs.[/caption]

"I love you." Wow those words are powerful. I never grow weary of hearing them. Those three little words still send me to the moon! They have a way of touching your heart like no other words can do! Those little words can do big things. They comfort, they encourage, they heal, they are magical. I love hearing them all the time! It doesn't even matter how often I hear them, I treasure those words every time I hear them. Those words are never not special? Do you know what I mean? You eventually grow tired of your favorite dessert. You can only watch your favorite movie so many times. Even your favorite sweatshirt has a shelf life. Hearing the words "I love you" never gets old.

That brings me to my next question. How often do you say those three little words? Not how many times do you think it, but how often do you say it? Let's be honest. It is so easy to tell your children that you love them. You probably don't even realize how often you tell them you love them. If you're like me, you tell them all day. When they leave for school, or before I hang up the phone, whenever they leave the house...every time they breathe, you know what I mean. It's so easy to love our children and we so want them to know that they are loved. But how often do we tell our spouse? Do you take for granted that you married them so they know you love them?  It's so important to tell your children that you love them, but I believe it's even more important that we tell our spouses how much we love them. I know schedules are crazy, and when you finally see each other you're juggling dinner, kids, homework, sports, the computer, or whatever. However, imagine when your husband or wife walks in the kitchen after a long day and you just share a sweet smile and say "I love you." Oh my goodness, I just got chill bumps thinking about that! Seriously! It's that easy. We just need to be intentional about nurturing our relationships. I'm a year and a half away from empty nest, and when my babies leave, I don't want Eddie to have to reintroduce himself. Not good! Nurture now so it's even finer later.

[caption id="attachment_1809" align="alignleft" width="224"] I cut out shapes and created a bumble bee girl. I painted her and glued her into my journal with gel medium[/caption]

One way to nurture your relationship is the alphabet date night jar. My friend Lisa did this with her husband and I could hardly wait to get home and try it! She was so sweet to share the idea and she gave me permission to share it with my readers. If you are not married or dating someone, I thought this would be a fabulous "girls night out" idea as well! The idea is to fill a jar with fun activities that start with each letter of the alphabet. If you're married, give your spouse half of the letters and you take the other half. If it's a girls night out jar, split the letters evenly between the group. Take each letter and come up with a great activity and put it in the jar. For example, "A"might be Art night. Obviously that would be my letter, so I would have a fun art project that we could do together. "B" might be riding bikes or bowling or read a book together. The idea for me would be come up with an idea that's easy, inexpensive, creative, and fun. I think I will try to do it once a week. If your children are little, put them to bed early one night a week and pull an idea out of the jar. It beats sitting in front of TV or computer! It doesn't have to be elaborate! "C"cook something together! "D" dance party in the den! "E" eat ice cream sundays out of the same bowl. It's being intentional about time together. Try it!  I also think it's fabulous for a girls night out! Pick a night or two a month and draw an idea from the jar. Or assign letters to each other and that person designs the night! Be creative! It's a fun thing! I'm starting this week! Tonight we are filling the jar!

[caption id="attachment_1810" align="alignleft" width="246"] Then I added a little pen and ink and doodles and type that read "beeeee mine"[/caption]

I had so many thoughts in my heart today. I hope I did not overload you! I guess at the end of the day we all want to be loved. We just do. Take care of your relationships. Love your mate. Love your children. Nurture friendships. Tell someone you love them today. A lot of times.  I love you. Ruthie

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1812" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Art Journal "Beeeee Mine"[/caption]

 

 

 

I Wish I had Wings

 

 I am so glad you stopped by! A couple of days ago I was in the store and a grandmother and her grand daughter were strolling down my isle. The little girl was precious and couldn't have been more than three years old. She was holding on to the side of the buggy as her grandmother slowly made her way down the isle. I got tickled because the grandmother was just chatting away and the little girl was not paying her any attention. It was obvious the little girl was lost in her own thoughts and out of the blue she says, "I wish I had wings." The grandmother stops in mid sentence and says, "What?" The little girl was looking straight ahead and casually said. "I wish I had wings." The grandmother was hilarious as she repeated the comment as if she had not heard correctly, "You wish you had wings?" They

[caption id="attachment_1797" align="alignright" width="224"] Mix media class. Alice is the fastest worker and has the biggest smile![/caption]

had passed me at this point and I could only see the little girls pony tails bouncing up and down as she nodded in agreement with her grandmother.  As they were leaving my isle, I heard her ask her grand daughter, "What would you do if you had wings?"

I would have given anything to jump in the buggy that day and listen to every detail about those wings. I can only imagine what she would have done with those wings. The creativity and imagination of children is inspiring! I remember those days! I remember spending hours playing in the back yard with my friend Bicky imagining princes and princesses and horses and robbers and castles and all that very cool stuff. I remember going to work with my daddy and sitting at his artist's desk with tons of markers and stacks of paper. I never sat there wondering what to draw. My brain was full of ideas! The only thing I wondered was if there was more paper! The imagination of a child is limitless. It's fearless.

[caption id="attachment_1798" align="alignleft" width="224"] Tina always makes class more fun![/caption]

Why are we so fearful when it comes to being creative? Why do we hold back? Where is our imagination? Why do we sit in front of a canvas or pad of paper and wonder what to paint or make or draw? We were so free to create when we were little. Why is it so different now? Where are our wings? We do have wings. We do have creative souls. I know that because the bible says we are created in God's image. We are. You are. You are created in God's image. He is the ultimate creator. He created the universe. Look out your window right now. He created that sky with all those amazing colors. He created that landscape outside your door. It changes every day and somehow grows more beautiful every time I see it. If you have given your life to Christ then He lives in you. The same God that created the universe lives in you!  Do you get that? The Master of color and design lives in your heart. The author or creativity is in you. How cool is that? Remember that next time you are sitting in front of a canvas. Go find your wings and paint! I am so glad you stopped by.  love  love love Ruthie

[caption id="attachment_1802" align="alignleft" width="268"] Mixed media class!!!!![/caption]



 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1799" align="alignleft" width="224"] Dee Dee Awesome! Keep layering!!!![/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

A Valentine Treat

 

I am so glad you stopped by! I've gained 20 pounds since yesterday because we have made some delicious Valentine treats! I am kidding, but sweet treats are the best! This is a new twist on an old favorite! We made rice krispie treats! I actually had to google the recipe. I changed it a little. It was so good, I just had to share it with you! I melted 4 tablespoons of butter in the microwave. I then added 16 oz of big marshmallows. I melted those in the microwave. (30 second intervals, stirring in between) Once the marshmallows were melted I added 8 cups of rice krispies. Mix it all together and then put it into a 9x12 pan. My helpful hint of the day? Once you've put the mix into the pan, grab a piece of tin foil and spray it lightly with pam and press it on top of your rice krispies to pack it tight and flat. (that was my best idea ever!) Put in the refrigerator for about an hour to set. Then pull them out of the fridge, find your favorite heart cookie cutter and cut away.



 

After my hearts were all cut out, I put them on wooden skewers. (You can find these at walmart in the garden section for like a dollar a bag) Then we melted chocolate in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl. No double boilers or anything like that! The microwave is fabulous. Melt in 30 second intervals and stir in between. Dip the treat in the chocolate, sprinkle with your favorite topping and Woo Hoo! Fabulous!



I have to tell you, the rice krispie treat is an oldie but a goodie. Dipped in chocolate makes it that much sweeter! I had forgotten how much fun they were to make and how delicious they are! You have got to try it!



Once the treats were completely finished, we wrapped each one in cellophane and tied it off with a little piece of raffia. It's amazing what cellophane can do for a treat! If you have a jar or vase, put tissue paper in it and arrange your treats to make a fabulous center piece!



We had a few marshmallows left over, so we melted white chocolate, added a little red food coloring and dipped the marshmallows. We put the treat on a skewer and sprinkled them with different toppings. My family LOVED these! It is one big bite of sugar! Again, wrap a couple in cellophane and you've got a fabulous treat! This is a yummy dessert for yourself or the perfect "happy" for a friend! Have fun making your valentine treats! Please leave me a comment and let me know how it goes!!!! Thanks for stopping by. Love love love Ruthie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twenty Six Valentines

[caption id="attachment_1780" align="alignleft" width="584"] Oil on gallery wrapped canvas. 16x20[/caption]

It is definitely Valentines at our house! We made valentines all weekend and sweet treats too! (I will post those tomorrow) I was making my valentines and I thought it's kind of crazy we blow it out on "love" only one day a year. I love "love"! But, I guess if valentines came more than once a year it would not be as special. I would love to tell you it's valentines day at my house every day, but the truth is life gets busy. I find myself thinking lots of sweet things but forgetting to say them out loud, especially to my husband. I am quick to encourage my children in everything they do, but it seems that when my husband gets home I am all "encouraged" out. Not good! So I decided that I would send him twenty six valentines. Everyday in February I am giving my husband a valentine. I realize there are twenty eight days in the month, but I am using the alphabet to inspire my idea. Every day I am taking a letter of the alphabet and encouraging my husband with a valentine. For example the letter "A." On a simple heart I jot him a note of how "A"mazing he is. For the letter "B" how "B"rave he is. You get the idea. For the extra two days in February, I will either miss two days or do a little treat or goodie. After he reads his heart, he ties it to the chandelier above the kitchen table. Very cool! Who doesn't want to be encouraged? This is an easy, quick and creative way to love someone and encourage them twenty six times. It can be anyone that you love! Try it! Let me know how it goes. Valentines only comes once a year! Make it special! Do something out of the ordinary. Think outside the box. Encourage someone twenty six times! It will make Valentines your favorite day of the year! Thank you for stopping by! love love love Ruthie