Family Time

Making the Best of It

Starting tomorrow at 6 am Chicago locks down. Again. But, this time it is different. Schools can stay open (although the city’s 400,000 public school kids have been 100% eLearning since March). People are allowed to leave home for work…but no one is supposed to leave home. Restaurants are closed indoors, but warm and cozy […]


Not the Worst Summer

So, the summer came and went. Poof. Just like that. Despite the turmoil and uncertainty swirling around the globe, our little (ok, big) family made the most of my favorite season. Here in Chicago, much of what we love about the city is locked down (beaches, playgrounds, museums) or burning down (looting and rioting), so […]


Books to the Rescue!

Saturday. Or is it Wednesday? Does it even matter? Who knows?! Now in our umpteenth week of quarantine, the days are blurring together. Weekends don’t really feel special anymore, except for the fact that I don’t have to constantly herd the kids back to the dining table to finish their eLearning. To be honest, I […]


Grateful For This Day

My big girls are off school all week for the Thanksgiving holiday, but the boys had to go Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. While it might seem annoying to have kids on two different school calendars, it actually works really well for our large family as I’m always grateful for time with a smaller crew every […]


Life is Happening

My 11-year-old daughter recently pointed out that I haven’t written on Homemade Mothering much lately. She loves reading posts on this site – especially ones from when she was little. It really is our family’s record book. But, lately, life has just been so BUSY. So full. Which, I am absolutely grateful for because we […]


“A Very Hungry Caterpillar Show” at The Chicago Children’s Theatre

After a dry, hot summer, this weekend’s weather was a bit surprising: torrential thunderstorms! Sticks of lightening! Many, many inches of rain! All baseball games were canceled, and since Chris took the car all weekend to a Notre Dame game with his friends I was – in theory – stuck at home with six kids. […]


Pesky Poppy Problem…Solved!

When the Elinor and Juliet were born almost three years ago (ohmygosh has it really been that long?!) I entered what I now refer to as Survival Mode. Twins are hard enough, but when four older kids are also a very vital part of the overall picture life becomes…desperate?…chaotic?…challenging, shall we say? With Survival Mode […]


Grandma Gloria’s Italian Cream Recipe

My Mack is STILL in school. Chicago Public Schools might just be the last school in the entire country to let out for the summer. I actually don’t mind: we’ve had a crappy start to the summer as far as the weather goes, so he might as well enjoy the heat of August and early […]


The Last Push

While Ben was at swim lessons the other day, I brought the other kids to play at the adjacent playground. The twins were so happy to roll down the slide and Vivian was content to chase after them. A fine spring day indeed! Evie and her friend Anna Maria hung out on their own, caught […]


Marching On

March is a big month in our family. Three of the six kids celebrate birthdays, so we are busy with all the fun festivities. Birthdays sure are a nice way to make it through a dreary month in Chicago! Birthdays in our big family are a big deal because normal days are spent vying for […]


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