Valentine's Day

A quick peek around Shine or on Pinterest and you'll see that kids and their parents are busy creating adorable Valentine's Day cards to hand out at school next week.

The Valentine's Day card process -- from deciding what to give out through purchasing, making, addressing and signing cards -- is time consuming and causes angst for many a parent and kid. (Understatement, right?) But when school Valentine's Day parties are over and classmates have brought their treats home, where will all of those personalized, handcrafted or cute store-bought Valentine cards end up?

If you've followed me here at Shine or on my personal blog, you already know I'm a memory keeper. I like holding on to school momentos because they are such telling snapshots of my kids' lives at places in time. While I don't save everything my kids bring home from school, I definitely save Valentine's Day cards.

As for the cards handed out by classmates, you and your kids can use or save them in a variety of ways:

-U

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You have the gift wrapped, card signed and wine ready, but what on earth are you going to make for your romantic Valentine's Day dinner? How about the delicious recipe that Food Network's celebrity chef, Anne Burrell, has planned out for you!

With two hit shows-Secrets Of A Restaurant Chef and Worst Cooks In America-Anne has the knowledge to create a diverse and aphrodisiac-filled menu that will leave your Valentine wanting seconds... of both the food and you. She's also armed with the tools to make prepping and cooking this 3-course meal quick and easy using Frigidaire Induction appliances.

Watch the video above to see why her dish choices, including Warm Shaved Fennel with Pink Grapefruit, Pasta Bolognese and Churros con Chocolate are the perfect dishes for Valentine's Day!

To score all three of these recipes, visit Facebook.com/Frigidaire, and make sure to tune in to watch Anne kick Bobby Flay's butt on the new season of Worst Cooks In America on The Food Network.

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Colonel Wallace and her partner, Kathy Knopf

This Valentine's Day, Air Force Colonel Ginger Wallace will do something different: Openly celebrate her relationship with her partner of 10 years, Kathy Knopf, thanks to the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

"For the past few years, we have celebrated with really good friends in Charlottesville, Virginia," Wallace told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. "This year we'll go out to dinner to celebrate. I got Kathy a promotion ceremony gift that I think is going to be Christmas and Valentine's Day combined-at least that's what she tells me it should be." (The big gift? Diamond earrings.)

Before the repeal, Wallace said, she always felt her career as an intelligence officer could be over if her sexual orientation became known. "I could never talk about Kathy. I didn't talk about Kathy," she said. "She was always on my security clearance, but not as who she really was."

In January, Wallace attended President Obama's State of the Union speech as a special guest of the first lady, representi...Read More »

By Signe Whitson for GalTime.com

Love is in the air and your child is feeling creative this Valentine's Day. These simple craft projects are easy and fun ways for your little one to express his admiration to teachers, friends, grandparents and…you!

Butterfly Hearts

Using store-bought heart-shaped doilies or hand-cut construction paper hearts, have your child glue the bottom ends of two hearts together, to create "butterfly" wings. Use markers to draw in a face and antennae or glue on fuzzy pom poms and antennae for a more bug-like creation. Help your child write love note on the wings like, "you make my heart flutter,"and create a butterfly garden for loved ones.

Related: Host the Perfect Family Valentine's Day Party

Heart Print Cards

I'm a sucker for anything that has my daughters' hands or fingerprints. I love these kinds of moment-in-time remembrances. Last week, on one of our many snow days, I set both of my daughters up with washable paint and construction

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I love heart-shaped foods for Valentine's Day, of course, but I also like to break out the hugs and kisses. There are far too few X-and-O shaped foods around, and this year I set out to remedy that. In fact, everyone at Babble joined in on that quest. We all dreamt up our favorite ideas for X-and-O Valentine's Day treats. Wouldn't it be so much fun to give these to your sweet family next week? I can almost feel the hugs and kisses that would ensue when any of these adorable treats are served!

1. X-and-O Baked Donuts
These baked, not fried, donuts are perfect for Valentine's morning and are less guilt, too!

Ingredients:
1 large egg
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 cup whole milk, warmed
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1/2 cup butter, room temperature and cut into small cubes

For the Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Sprinkles

Related: 7 sweet Valentine's desserts that aren't

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