Valentines Day falls on a Saturday this year, which to me means: you go out for delicious breakfast/pastries/brunch on Valentines morning. If you are looking for a kid-friendly destination that fulfills this requirement, allow me to suggest O'DoodleDoo's Donuts, a sweet little retro roadside shop in Suffolk that offers some gorgeously fluffy and delicious cake donuts in creative flavor combinations. James, Anne, and I drove out to sample their wares last weekend, for research purposes of course.

Besides the donuts, O'DoodleDoo's was hosting one of the Virginia LOVEworks and so we all posed for photos with it while we were there. For some reason, Anouk and I are obsessed with the LOVEworks statues and really want to hit as many as we can. For a complete list of LOVEworks locations, click here.

And if you are really interested in a full report, our favorite donuts were the French toast, chocolate fudge, and chocolate-peanut-butter habanero (sweet with a spicy kick). O'DoodleDoo's has dozens of flavors and changes it up their menu on the regular, but their Facebook is really good at letting you know what to expect on any given day.

Happy Valentines Day in advance!

Anouk originally picked her own valentines this year -- some paint-with-water ones we found at Walgreens. But sadly, when we got home and tried one out, we discovered those store-bought valentines were kind of a bust. The paint didn't paint, the colors ran, the paper ripped as soon as it got wet. But A. was committed to the paint-with-water concept so it seemed we would have to come up with a DIY solution.

We tried a few versions, but our final and most successful valentine was made using watercolor pencils and card stock. I designed the card (according to A.'s careful guidance, there is nothing more micromanaging than a 3 year old) and then we printed them off and she colored them in with the watercolor pencils. (The more color we used and the harder we pressed, the more vibrant the end result turned out). We tested a few by adding water, and they went from patchwork to brightly tye-dyed, just as A. wanted.

I designed these size-wise to fit little envelopes we already had, for small thank you cards. We did include small brushes taped to the envelope with washi tape so our friends have everything they need to paint their valentines at home.



If you'd like to make your own, paint-with-water valentines, I've uploaded our template here.

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!

Here's a last minute Valentines craft we did during the little snowstorm we had last night. I was browsing Pinterest a few weeks ago when I saw these adorable glittery heart-shaped shoe clips. At almost $35 a pair, the price was a little outside of our budget but Anouk was so enamored that I decided to try a DIY.

We cut hearts from red poster board, covered them in glitter, and then I verrrrry carefully superglued bobby pins to the back (flat side against the paper) (hot glue would probably work better). They slip right over the front of the shoe pretty comfortably and they look just as adorable as we'd hoped. Pro tip: if you have glitter cardstock already available to you, I think it would be even easier to use that.

As far as running and jumping and wearing them outside go....well, we haven't tried it but I don't I think they'll hold up super-great being just paper and all. I do, however, think they'll be just the right thing to wear on Valentines Day! Next year, I'd like to try to make a more durable version, maybe from felt or faux leather? Or else save my pennies for the original, which are gorgeous.

We're taking the rest of the week off. Happy Valentines Day! Hope you're spending it with somebody you love. x

Last Saturday evening, we went to the SweetART family night at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach and had a great time. In addition to amazing interactive art exhibits, there was food, crafts, live music, kiddie spa treatments (courtesy of the Klumsy Moose), and even an open bar for the parents (score!)

Anne and James and I attended the event with our friend Sarah and her Baby A. I think it's safe to say that we all had a blast. We decorated heart-shaped cookies, made Valentine's cards for friends, and then explored the art gallery a little. Some of the things we enjoyed seeing included some really cool avant garde jewelry, a custom Vans exhibit, and even a few of our old favorites from the Chrysler!

But best of all was probably the ArtLab, "a space of activity and exploration" for children of all ages. Anouk and A. spent a lot of time sticking felt shapes onto different surfaces, playing with chalk, and jumping onto the giant beanbags that littered the gallery.



After a while in the ArtLab, we were called back to the main courtyard by the strains of the C-Shells, who did a live performance that had most of the room up and dancing. At the end of the set the lights came up and we left with our goody bags. But I know we'll be back again soon.



The next Family Fest at MOCA will be held on Feb. 24. And Feb. 21 is Pre-K Art Day! Will you be there?