I recently celebrated my birthday! 30! Yikes! I always thought turning 30 would be a very difficult birthday — I was pretty content being a 20-something and I didn’t like the idea of entering a new decade. I can be a very sentimental person and I try so hard to be grateful for every day, [...]

Its hard to believe Christmas is over! I love the holiday season, and I’m always a little sad when it ends. Sometimes I wish Christmas came later in the winter so we’d have something warm and cozy to look forward to during the year’s bitter months. While we spent Christmas Eve with my very large [...]

Veteran’s Day is a very special day in our household. My husband was a captain in the Army and deployed to Iraq. Although he is no longer active duty military, I treat November 11 as another birthday. He worked hard to serve our country with honor, and during his deployment he never complained once. He [...]

When I was growing up, which really wasn’t all that long ago, Halloween seemed to have more of a homemade aspect to it. I don’t remember my mom ever buying my siblings and me costumes. Rather, we were left to our own resourcefulness to come up with a suitable and entertaining outfit for the day. [...]

We took a family trip to a charming apple orchard in Indiana the other day. It was Evie’s first taste of fall tradition and I think she loved every minute of it! The weather was perfect — sunny and high 70s, but the smell of fall was certainly in the air. Bees were furiously gathering [...]

We took Evelyn to her first concert the other night! The show was at an outdoor venue that encourages concertgoers to bring along picnics. I asked my mom and sisters for some picnic menu ideas, and my mom’s suggestion was the winner. It all came together and we had a great time! Fried Chicken I [...]

Yesterday we celebrated Evelyn’s first birthday. I can’t believe my precious bundle of joy is now a big girl! We started off her special day with chocolate chip pancakes made from scratch. Its a tradition I grew up with, and I plan to continue it as my little family grows. She ate three pancakes (I [...]

As a homemade mother, I am responsible for all the family’s records and documentation. In other words, I gotta keep all our photos organized! In the few months following Evelyn’s arrival we took hundreds (maybe thousands?) of pictures and before I knew it they were all over the place and in no special order. I [...]

Chris has been out of town on a business trip all week, and Evelyn and I have really missed him. So, I want to welcome him home tonight! First thing on the agenda? Homemade oatmeal raisin cookies: 1 stick room temperature butter 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 [...]

Today is Chris’ 29th birthday, so we welcomed the day with chocolate chip banana pancakes! Instead of using a mix such as Bisquick (which has trans fats) its fun and surprisingly just as easy to make them from scratch. Here’s my recipe: 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 [...]