Christmas is over and Valentine's Day is right around the corner! It's time to start thinking about the perfect gift for that special someone. While I would never personally turn up my nose to a bouquet of beautiful roses or a box of chocolates, these ideas go the extra mile to show your love.

1. Love letters book

For our 2nd anniversary, my husband put together a book of all the letters, emails, and Gmail chat conversations we had and put them into a book.

They were easy to gather as our email accounts saved everything. Not all of them were love letters either, some were just silly, meaningless conversations that made me laugh out loud! This compilation totally brought back the carefree and happy feelings of being young and in love. It was a totally unexpected and an AWESOME present!

There are a lot of websites out there to help you create books, so Google your price range and get to work on creating a wonderful memory for you, your spouse, and your kids who will eventually love to read it too!

2. Dating brochure

The Christmas before we started dating exclusively, I made my boyfriend a date brochure featuring dates with me! I picked an "intellectual date" to the art museum, a "sporty date" of skiing in the mountains, and a "mystery date."

Under each date, I gave him descriptions of what each date would entail. He totally loved it! And it gave us something to look forward to in the months ahead.

3. Spot the difference book

My husband created a book for me where you had to spot the difference between two of the same pictures. This was HILARIOUS!

He would make his nose HUGE, change the color of a sign, or remove jewelry. Some of them were tricky, but that's what made it so fun! You can use old or recent photos and have fun Photoshopping, or just use any photo editing software, to add minor differences for a major good time. Just make sure to include an answer key at the back of the book. (As an added benefit, my kids now use the book in church.)

4. Apartment cruise

My husband and I went on a cruise for our honeymoon. When we got home (aka back to reality as poor, young college students) we realized that we wouldn't be able to go on a cruise again for a long time. So we decided to create "apartment cruises."

We would take turns planning the evening. We would prepare "spa night" in our bathrobes, and face masks (my husband is a good sport). We would also do "fruit carving," where we attempted to make amazing creations like they did on our cruise. And one time we even set up a "zip line excursion" through our house (this consisted of an excessive amount of yarn, willingness to jump off furniture, and a lot of creativity and imagination).

With the same bit of imagination and creativity, you too can recreate a special night/activity in your home while your kids are sleeping.

5. Chocolate tasting

I saw this online awhile back and have wanted to try because I love (LOVE) chocolate in all forms. If you do too, then this will be a winner!

Instead of just bringing home a box of chocolate for Valentine 's Day, make it a little more interesting. Buy a variety of chocolate bars- white, dark, milk, extra dark, fruity, with nuts, caramel, etc. Buy some that you know your spouse will love, and then get adventurous on the rest.

Make a basic chart labeling each chocolate bar or you can go here for more ideas on how to make it a little fancier. Look up some lingo on how this one has "a fruity aroma" or this one has a "floral" undertone. It makes you sound sophisticated.

Now get to work to create that special, thoughtful, unexpected gift to show your special person how much you care.

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When you have chosen the path less traveled by... it can make all the difference. Rober Frost did have a point in his famous poem, "The Road Not Taken." However, not taking that nicely paved path, can also send your stress into overload if you let it!

Choosing to homeschool your kids, although becoming more widespread, is still not anywhere near "mainstream" and going against the norm always has its challenges. You throw a working mother into it, and you have a mixture of what some people call "amazing" or just straight up "crazy," but either way you are doing your best to do it all and do it well.

Here are five tips on how to keep the balance between homeschooling, work and your sanity:

1. "Sharpen the Saw"

Although not new information, our dear friend Stephen Covey uses this analogy in his book "7 Habits for Highly Effective People."

The gist of the story is about a man spending his entire day trying to cut down a tree with a dull saw. And if he would only take a few minutes to sharpen it, he could cut that tree down in no time. Although we all "know" this, it is often forgotten in our daily routine of trying to make sure that we are taking care of everyone and everything within our care. We need to take time for self-improvement.

If we are our best selves we can better (and often times with greater energy) take care of the things and people that need us the most. So, just do it! Check out a new book, learn a new skill, or do whatever it takes to help renew and invigorate yourself.

2. Exercise

Now some could say that this could fall under "sharpening the saw," and I suppose it could. But I think it is valuable enough to deserve its own recognition in this article.

There is endless research on the benefits of exercise and its effect on the body and the mind (aka your soul). I am not saying you need to spend 2 hours at the gym each day, or go out and buy the next beach body workout.

All I am saying is a go for a nice walk, get your blood flowing, and this will help you perform better in all of your tasks AND help you sleep better at night. (What mom doesn't need a little extra, quality sleep? Sign me up!)

3. Choose separate times to do school then work

Multi-tasking is what ALL moms do throughout the day. And for many things it works: holding the baby and making sandwiches, helping Olivia with handwriting, and Macey with her puzzle, reading a book and getting your feet rubbed (yeah right!) —but it simply does NOT work when it comes to work and homeschooling.

So, when it's time for school, do school. And, when it's time for work, do work.

If you work during school (guilty!) your kids KNOW you're not paying full attention to them, and they start to deviate as well. And the reality is, you can't do both well at the same time. Either your works suffers, or (worse) your child suffers. So make a time and stick with it. Although it's SO tempting to do "just this one thing real quick" for work, it's really not worth it for anyone.

4. Spiritual Rejuvenation

I am member of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) church. And this has given me great peace and direction in my life. But no matter what your beliefs are, take time to draw into the higher power.

For example, meditate and take at least 10 minutes a day to simply "be still." This doesn't mean making a grocery list, or a to-do list for later (I'm a list making maniac.). This means allowing yourself time to reflect on your life and the direction it is headed.

Ask yourself: are you doing the things you need to do, to get to where you want to go?

5. Gratitude

Being genuinely mindful and grateful for things you have in life doesn't seem to be part of our general culture at large (except during Thanksgiving, of course!).

As women, we often compare our "worst-hair day" selves with everyone else's best "Facebook-selves." We like to think if only we could "lose 20lbs, or be a better teacher like her, or run a successful business like so-and-so, THEN we will be happy." This is the worst kind of lie. We have so many things today, right here, at this very moment, to be grateful for. Even when times are tough (and they can be), there are silver linings all around us, if we have eyes to see them.

I went to a seminar several years ago where the keynote speaker recounted a fictional story of a woman with only three hairs on her head. The woman got up and looked in the mirror and said "I think I will braid my hair today!" and she did!

The next day when she looked in the mirror she only had two hairs left on her head. She smiled and said "I will do pigtails in my hair today." The next day she woke up and had only one hair on her head and she said, "I think I will wear my hair in a ponytail today." Then she woke up the following day with no hair left. She said cheerfully, "I don't need to blow dry my hair!" She saw the blessings around her, and she took what life gave her and felt blessed.

We can do this too. Look for the small things, perhaps even the hard things, and try to see the bright blessings that are there.

There is, of course, a never-ending list of things that need to be done in our lives. Kids will frustrate us, work will feel overwhelming and the laundry will NEVER be done (ever). But if we can keep perspective and follow these five above tips (me included), we can keep ourselves happy, healthy and balanced!

The post 5 ways to keep the balance between homeschooling, work and your sanity appeared first on FamilyToday.