Valentines

I had every intention of posting this last Friday before we went out of town for Morgan's gymnastics meet but time just got away from me.

Ever since Morgan was little, we have hand made her valentines. It is something my kids look forward to doing each year. They look for ideas in magazines and on line and decide on their creation.

I didn't think we were going to be involved in a formal valentines party so i put off coming up with any fun/creative ideas. At the last minute {i mean last minutes, like two days before} I got an email saying we were going to have a little get together with a few homeschool families.

I started to panic for a minute and then I remembered the site where I found the invitations and thank you notes for Mauryn's birthday party. She always has free downloads and really cute stuff.

Sure enough there were a TON of valentine ideas. I downloaded a bunch to put in my files for the future.

Here are the valentines my kiddos picked to give to their friends:

I also needed to come up with a snack to bring to the party. I wasn't in the mood for cookies or bars. I wanted something festive and different. I decided to make cake balls. If you haven't made them or tasted them, you are missing out. Have mercy... they are delectable. I don't even like cake that much and I can't keep my hand off them.
To make them you need:

- cake mix of your choice and ingredients to make cake

- a can of frosting {enough homemade frosting to frost a 9 x13 inch cake}

- almond bark or chocolate

1. bake the cake. let the cake cool then crumble and mix with frosting. roll into balls , place on a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and place in the freezer.

2. once the cake balls are frozen, dip in melted almond bark or chocolate. i prefer to use white chocolate or white almond bark.

3. enjoy... try not to eat them all at once.

* i prefer white chocolate and haven't made any with milk or dark chocolate

* when you freeze the cake balls, they are not super hard but solid enough to dip

* if you use a funfetti cake, it will look brown and yucky when you mix it up but it tastes great!