Valentine's Day 2009!

On Friday, February 13, Christian, Isaac, and I took cake truffles that we made up to Jacob's office. Cake truffles are made by baking a cake, crumbling it in a bowl, mixing in icing, chilling the mixture, then rolling the mixture into balls. Once the balls are frozen, they are then dipped in chocolate - yum! We made coconut cake with coconut icing dipped in milk chocoloate and chocolate cake with chocolate icing dipped in white chocolate.

You can make these using any cake mix / icing combo... my mom made them at Christmas with chocolate cake, chocolate icing, and dipped in chocolate, and we decided we like those best!

My mind was excited with all the possibilities:

strawberry cake /cream cheese icing /dipped in chocolate

yellow cake / caramel icing / dipped in chocolate

I was trying to be adventurous with my coconut and white chocolate versions, but so far, the best has been just good 'ole chocolate - chocolate - chocolate!

Christian helped me dip them, then he decorated them with Valentine sprinkles.

Heading to the office with a tray of cake truffles:

Isaac has lunch at the office:

Valentine's Day morning:



Christian opens his gift from Mimi & Poppy:

Isaac's turn to open his gift

Of course, this is Isaac's method:
Both boys received a tiny, hand-cranked music box. Dusty, Haley, and I received these when we were little, and we have always loved them, and now Christian and Isaac each have one too! Christian's plays the theme song to The Wizard of Oz, and Isaac's plays "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."

Christian opens a game from Mom & Dad:

The game is called Stare, Jr., and it's really fun. It includes a stack of cards with a different picture/painting on each card. The player has about two minutes (however long a sand timer takes!) to stare at a picture and try to memorize all the details, then that player is questioned about the picture.

Isaac opens his gift from Mom & Dad:

and again attempts to do it with his mouth:

It's a set of Winnie the Pooh books in French!

(can you believe that I stumbled upon this at T.J. Maxx?!?!)

I entered Jacob in a "Mr. Romance" contest at church, and he got in the Top 3!!! He was not thrilled with the attention! :) Here's my submission that won him the "Mr. Romance" honors:

On our first Valentine's Day in 2004, Jacob handed me a
green, shoe-box-sized box. In the frame on the front of the box was a picture of the two of us, and I wondered what could be in the box.

There was a note that read:

It's hard to see February 14th as special, when you make me feel so loved every day of the year. To show you what I mean, here is your gift...

When I removed the lid from the box, I found piles and piles of "kiddie" Valentines popping out of the box. There were Strawberry Shortcake Valentines, Care Bear Valentines (two of my childhood favorites), and Cat in the Hat Valentines (the first movie we saw together). Each valentine was addressed to me with a message written on each one, and I found another note that read:

One hundred and seventeen Valentines. One for every day we have been together. Each with a different reason why I love you.

He attributes the creativity of this gift to lack of money since we were both in college, but I know better! He's a romantic at heart and five years later, I still feel loved every day of the year!