I find it a little hard to get worked up over Valentines Day, coming so quickly on the heels of Christmas. But Anouk really loves it, and is really excited about it, so I am trying. I've been slipping some of these Valentine bears in her snack for the last week or so, and they have been a big hit.

It's the easiest DIY ever: Teddy Grahams + red icing. The icing can get a little blobby which I am sure can be fixed in some way but I balk at spending too much finesse on something that is going to be eaten by a toddler in three seconds. Anyway, I just tell myself that the blobby hearts are anatomically correct ones, I am giving my kid a head-start on biology! #tigermom

Happy weekend!

There's a little place, tucked inside a nondescript shopping center off of Tidewater Drive in Norfolk, where you can get some of the best pastries in the area. It's called Naa's Bakery, and Anouk and I met Miss Molly and Little A. there last week to get ourselves sugared up before a park playdate.

Naa's has been around for the better part of a century, and as soon as you walk in you realize why it's earned its place as a Norfolk landmark, alongside places like Doumars and Charlie's Cafe. There's a sweetly (no pun intended) old fashioned charm that you just can't find anyplace else that makes you think it probably hasn't changed very much over the years. The long bakery case houses dozens of delicacies, from thick slices of homemade cake to feathery fluffed doughnuts to whimsically iced cupcakes and cookies. We had a hard time deciding what to order because everything looked so good (and a hard time meeting the $5 credit card minimum despite the half-dozen or so goodies we ordered -- seriously, the prices are so reasonable). As we sat at our table in the front of the bakery and sampled bites of each others' desserts, we chatted with the friendly staff behind the counter and it was a little bit like stepping back to a simpler time and place. The ladies behind the counter made us promise to come back -- they didn't have to twist our arms.

Have you been to Naa's? What were your favorites? In case you were wondering, our top picks were the plain glazed doughnuts and the thickly iced black-and-white cookies. Although everything we sampled was delicious. So much yum in one small place!

Last week, during one of those long afternoons of rain that we endured, I suggested to A. that we make sugar cookies. However, upon closer inspection, it became apparent that we lacked several key ingredients necessary for this process (little things like flour, butter AND SUGAR). As a tantrum built, I quickly scanned the shelves for something, anything, that would produce a cookie-like effect on my toddler. When my eyes fell on the watermelon, waiting patiently for Fourth of July festivities, I had an idea.

After a little experimenting, we decided we could make watermelon cookies -- use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the watermelon, frost them with coconut whipped cream, and decorate them (with berries, kiwi, sliced almonds, mint). We had just as much fun making these watermelon cookies as we would have ordinary sugar cookies and they were just as tasty (and far healthier), too.





We made sure to gently pat the watermelon dry before applying the whipped cream (if the fruit is too wet, the cream will slide right off). By the time we finished decorating the last cookies, the first ones were looking a little melty, so we slid the whole tray into the freezer for 10 minutes to let everything firm up. Then we took our nice chilled watermelon cookies outside and ate them on the deck (in the one fifteen minute period of sunshine we had in those gloomy four days).

Anouk couldn't bear to eat her snail cookie. "I don't wanna eat him, I love him!" I waited until she forgot about him and then I ate him. (He was delicious).

If you're like me (and you blithely declared you were going to hand-make all of your Christmas presents this year and are now feeling the burn of a deadline looming), you're looking for a few easy, low-maintenance kid-crafts to keep the wee ones occupied while you pull together those last few holiday loose ends.

Voila -- I give you three Christmas crafts that will keep even the littlest hands busy (and out of the way of grown-up projects). Bonus: they all look pretty festive around the house!

1. Baking soda clay ornaments




There are several recipes for baking soda clay floating around the internet; we used this one. Unbaked, the clay is a thick, playdough-esque consistency. Once it comes out of the oven, it is a beautiful matte white, and looks gorgeous painted or plain. We invited friends Z., A., and Miss Molly over to make ornaments with us and used cookie cutters to cut shapes, and rubber stamps and our imaginations to embellish them.

After we'd taken them out of the oven, our ornaments still needed to air-dry overnight, and so Anouk painted them with tempera paint the next day while I wrapped presents. We used a few of our favorites for gift tags, and the rest we hung on our tree, where I am sure to get misty-eyed at the sight of them for years to come.

2. Pinecone pom-pom trees



Anouk and I made these adorable trees when we visited Z., A., and Miss Molly at their house. Mini pom-poms + craft glue + pinecones = kitschy retro decor. We put the glue on paper plates for little fingers to dip the poms into and sat back to watch to see how each kid would interpret the idea of holiday decor. (Anouk's friend A. put one pom right at the top of each "tree" and that was it. So minimalist -- I love it!)

3. Cut-paper stars



These stars are a fun alternative to the traditional cut-paper snowflakes. They are also deceptively easy to make -- it only takes a few folds and one cut. Big kids can find instructions here (or a video tutorial here) and make a bunch on their own; I made a quick batch for Anne after breakfast yesterday morning and coloring them kept her entertained for a solid hour. Strung on a little bit of baker's twine, they make a festive homemade garland.



Aaaaaand, speaking of being in love with things, there's this Christmas cookie recipe, which produces the most perfect, easiest to handle/decorate sugar cookies on the planet. They lift up easily, they don't tear, they don't spread while baking, and they taste perfectly scrumptious. Highly recommended, if you've got cookie plans on the docket for this weekend.

T-minus five days...