We just returned from a wonderfully relaxing long weekend in Wisconsin.  My great aunt and uncle invited us to stay at their peaceful country house, so of course my little family took them up on such a generous offer.  When I was growing up, my grandparents had a weekend house on tiny Rice Lake, near […]

One of my most favorite parts of everyday is the kids’ bathtime.  It comes at the end of the day, and at this time Evie and Mack are usually ready to start winding down.  They are so happy to play in the tub, and I am so grateful for a few quiet moments when I […]

My sister Meghan forwarded me a banana recipe from the Food Network the other day.  It was for a banana “ice cream,” and the recipe called for nothing more than bananas, peanut butter and honey.  It reminded me of a recipe I saw in a recent issue of Whole Living Magazine for a vegan “ice […]

A few years ago I created Sister Kitch’n, a simple recipe blog for the ladies of my family.  My mom, sisters, aunts, cousins and grandmothers are all invited to post their favorite recipes, new or old.  The recipes vary – all meals and cuisines are welcome, and it doesn’t matter where a recipe originates as […]

Much to my great disappointment, Evelyn has become a bit of a picky eater during the last six months or so.  She used to be so adventurous – she’d try anything we gave her, and more often than not, she loved every bite. But, these days if something looks even a little unfamiliar or suspicious […]

The kids and I love Tuesdays in the summer.  We stop by our neighborhood farmers market, exchange books at the library and play at a nearby park. It has become such a treasured ritual that I won’t make any other plans for Tuesday mornings. Chris left for a business trip very early on Tuesday this […]

I can’t believe the 4th of July came and went.  In my mind, this holiday marks the halfway point of summer, but Chicago weather has been quite temperamental the last couple months so it feels like summer just began. Chris has been working a lot lately, and the kids and I were going a little […]

My grandparents are two of the coolest people I know.  They live in the city…and I mean LIVE in the city.  They’ll jump on the bus at a moment’s notice to meet friends for lunch or family for dinner. They belong to book clubs, they walk along the lake, they volunteer at the zoo, they […]

We just returned home from a fun family road trip through Michigan. My husband normally works on the weekends, so with the Memorial Day holiday we jumped at the chance to enjoy some time together. We spent the first night of our trip along the shore of Lake Michigan in a fancy resort.  As soon […]

For a while I was operating under the not entirely unreasonable delusion that April in Chicago would be sunny and warm.  While the weekends have been lovely, Monday through Friday has brought nothing by gray clouds and scattered showers.  Sigh. The kids and I are now battling cabin fever.  The kids were getting especially restless […]