Valentine's Day fun

We had a fun Valentine's Day celebration in our house, starting with a weekend experiment with heart shaped cake pops.  I have followed Bakerella's blog for a while, and when I saw her cake pop cookbook on sale at school I couldn't resist.  Turner and I have enjoyed flipping through pictures and various designs for weeks and we decided we'd give it a whirl for a preschool class treat.

They aren't perfect by any stretch but, as with any cooking experiment, after doing it once I learned a few tricks and things I'll do differently next time.  I was a little disappointed at first since mine didn't look as beautiful as the book...but when Mark's first words upon seeing them were, "Aren't those just about the cutest things I have ever seen" I knew it was a hit!  He gives compliments when they are deserved, but certainly not hollow compliments just to make me feel good. 

Here are a few pics of the finished product.  The cake pops I've had in the past were a bit bland, and if you know me pretty is a good goal as long as it tastes good.  Pretty treats that taste bad are a waste of time and calories.  :)  The cake was a milk chocolate cake mix, mixed with milk chocolate frosting according to Bakerella's directions.  Then red (vanilla flavored) candy coating on the outside. I was actually quite surprised by their delicious taste!

I loved an idea on Pintrest that I saw where a teacher had use this printable attached to a single glow stick as a Valentine treat.  Turner has fallen into a glo-necklace obsession so we took advantage of these 15 pack glo-necklaces in the $1 spot at Target back in December.  I thought these turned out perfect too!

And thanks to Zulily, I purchased these teacher treats last summer for a steal!  Zulily is dangerous I tell you!

And thanks to a sweet, thoughtful husband my Valentines gifts arrived a day early.  Mark works late on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and last week I worked late on Monday night.  I arrived home to planned and prepared dinner (grilled shrimp!), and my sweet little girl so excited to give me my presents.  There were a dozen roses...

...and several other goodies.  If you think my husband doesn't know me well you are crazy.  Jelly Belly conversation beans in my favorite "sassy sour" flavor (one box had been consumed by picture time), a cinnamon pumpkin scented candle, 2 packs of Rolos, and a plastic light up necklace for me to sport at school on Tuesday.   What more does a girl need?

Maybe a few pieces of new jewelry? :)  Y'all know I am like a raccoon and love anything that sparkles.  The gaudier the better. Well, last weekend we were checking out closeout deals at our local K-Mart which will close in a few weeks.  Because Mark knows me well, he pointed me to the "fine" jewelry counter which was advertising a 70% discount for the weekend plus some other discounts at checkout, etc.. I spotted a few items I liked and told him I'd happily pick out my Valentines present if he preferred.  Seriously, an almost $300 ring for $50 - who doesn't love that kind of deal?!  They are big and gaudy - cubic zirconia not diamonds (in case you forget we work in public education) -  and I LOVE them!  :)   And I love the man who knows me well enough to entertain these types of jewels...when I walked in the door and showed him he just shook his head and laughed.  My sweet Valentine.

And I love this little thing too. She had a super Valentine's Day at school with fun parties and treats, and even was the only girl in her class to receive a pretty little bracelet from a boy.  I asked her if he was her boyfriend and she said no...not sure she even knows what that means.  She wasn't in the mood to take pictures before school - like her momma in being slow to wake - but she's certainly a cute Valentine to me!