I absolutely love Christmas day.  Sure, its nice to open presents and eat good food, but my favorite part of the day is doing nothing at all.  We spend the weekend before Christmas with my husband’s family, and Christmas Eve is celebrated with my family, so December 25 is blissfully reserved for the five of […]

We took the kids to New York City last week.  We lived there more than four years ago when Evie was a baby, and it was one of the happiest times in my life.  Just me and my tiny girl during the day, making the most of an incredible city.   Here we are in […]

Christmas is fast approaching, and like most parents I am busy squirreling away boxes of treats and treasures, crossing my fingers that curious kids don’t stumble upon a secret gift. We follow a WANT.NEED.WEAR.READ mantra with holiday gift-giving: the kids get a gift or two from each of the four categories.  It keeps me focused […]

This afternoon was such a lovely surprise.  After a hectic lunch hour filled with sibling rivalry the likes of which I see all too often, I wasn’t expecting a peaceful remainder of the day.  But, some Christmas cheer rescued the day and I now have some of my most favorite memories from 2012. Today’s holiday […]

One of my absolute favorite holiday traditions is sending and receiving holiday cards.  There is something quaint and special about sending real cards through the real mail. Putting pen to paper requires more thought and time than a quick email or Facebook post, and I always get excited to open a mailbox full of something […]

The holiday season is upon us, and like most mothers I am busy looking for ways to make it a special time for my kids.  We are a young family, and now is the time when traditions are started and memories are made. To recognize the ~25 days of Advent I typed up some simple […]

Every year I try to have some professional pictures taken of my growing family, so when I found out that my sister’s childhood friend Ruthie Hauge was a professional photographer, I knew it would be fun to work with her.  Fortunately, she was available on an unseasonably mild late October afternoon. Ruthie suggested we shoot […]

Until very recently, I dreaded the weekends.  For two years, Chris had to work full days every Saturday after long five-day work weeks.  That meant we had one day together as a family, and it was so rushed and jam-packed that we had no real opportunity to enjoy it.  The weekends were more work than […]

Lately, I’ve been extraordinarily stressed.  With three kids and only one me, I’m always worried that there just isn’t enough time in the day to make all of them feel loved and special and attended to. At the end of every day I realize that I literally have nothing left to give.  I am spent. […]

Every November 11 is an important day for our family.  Because Chris served in the Army for 4 years and was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq with the 82nd Airborne from 2003-2004, Veteran’s Day holds  extra special meaning. On this day I take a few moments to feel grateful for Chris’ safe return and to send […]