no school boo hoo

We got a call yesterday at about 4:30pm ~ school was closed for Friday due to the *threat* of snow. Yes, I said canceled due to the threat of snow. I find that hilarious being that I grew up in Michigan and lived there til I was 30. Which was just last year by the way! HA! I get that we don't have the infrastructure to deal with snow or ice so I get it but it still cracks me up!

The snow did make it's way here and we're anxiously awaiting for some of it to stick so we can go outside and play in it. They're saying 2-4" with a little more in some areas. I don't think it'll be like last year but we can hope!! This is what it's looking like right now...

And this old man used to love playing in the snow when he was a bit younger...

Anyway, as much as we love an extra day off school we were all a little bummed because we were supposed to have the kids' Valentine's Day parties today. They have winter break Monday and Tuesday so they won't be back to school til next Wednesday. And I had just made about 50 popcorn balls. Ugh... well, I hope they'll keep til next week!! 

So I thought I'd share a few of the Valentine treats that I made this week. I planned to make a bit more but after school was canceled I held off.

Some Valentine suckers...

I just took those heart shaped suckers that are sold in the long row of 12 (you know the kind) and punches some scalloped circles & circles & attached with glue dots and added some ribbon. 

I also made some yummy jello popcorn balls...

Like my fancy bowl?? hehe I found the recipe here (recipe to follow at the end) and decided to package them up like she did with some cute Valentine's cupcake liners. I did 2 batches and managed to get about 25 out of each batch. That's making the small ones. Obviously if you made bigger ones you'd probably get half. I used cherry jello and one 3oz. pkg of jello was enough for 2 batches.

Now, I was not meticulous in making them super round. They're going to 6 & 8 yr olds... My kids loooooved them and keep asking for more every day :) This will definitely be a recipe that gets repeated in this house!

And off the subject of treats, I found a new spot for my Valentine's burlap wreath

It was really hard to get a good angle for a pictures so that a) you couldn't see me in the photo, and b) you couldn't see all the clothes piled up on my chair! I found the mirror at Walmart for 30 bucks. Looks like wrought iron, doesn't it? I think it's actually plastic which may account for the price. That makes it good for hanging in my foyer because behind that wall is a pocket door. And we discovered the hard way that if a nail or screw is in too far into the wall it will scratch up the door

Like I said, we learn things the hard way in this house. So we have to be careful when hanging something heavy on that wall.

Also, my friend Carol came over the other day and made a couple of the marble frames. Aren't they cute?!

I like how she did the 'X'!

So while we wait for the snow to pile up enough to play in, we have a fire in the fireplace, kids are playing in the living room, and we'll be making some Valentine luminaries. And maybe we'll have some hot chocolate, too :)

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 Jello-O Popcorn Balls

Ingredients

3 quarts of popped popcorn (approx. 12 cups)

6 tablespoons butter

3 cups miniature marshmallows

3 tablespoons of dry Jell-O

Melt butter over medium heat in a large pot. When butter is almost completely melted add marshmallows. Once marshmallows are melted add dry Jell-O. Mix in well, Take off burner and add popped popcorn. Stir well to coat popcorn. 

My notes: I actually had the popcorn in a big bowl and poured the butter/marshmallow mixture on top, then mixed it all in. I used a large cookie scoop sprayed with Pam and used my other hand to form it into a ball in the scoop, then placed them on cookie sheets.

You really need to try them. Your kids will love them!