I freely admit that I am a bit of a grump when it comes to Disneyworld. I respect that it is a very special place for lots of people, but waiting in long sweaty lines with lots of sweaty people just is not my idea of fun. Layer in anxious and exhausted kids, and I’d […]

During our recent trip to Florida, we enjoyed some major family time. Beach in the morning, biking in the afternoon, pool in the evening. Add in some serious lizard hunting and Disney rides and extra ice cream cones and I’d say it was a kid fantasy come true. By the time dinner rolled around, we […]

We just returned from a wonderful spring break trip to Florida. All year we had no plans to travel, but then last month I found ridiculously low airfare – so low that it could not be ignored – so low that it was cheaper than driving! – so we decided to book the trip. I […]

My little Evie is growing up so fast! This year she finally started to lose her teeth. I’m pretty sure she was one of the last of her classmates to lose one, but since she is the youngest in her grade I reassured her that everything was happening in the right time. The other day […]

Ahhhhhh. Chicago. The old saying “if you don’t like the weather in Chicago, wait five minutes” couldn’t be truer than in the spring. A week ago we had snow, and today we enjoyed sunshine and 70 degrees. The kids and I spent the entire day outside, and when Chris suggested we walk to dinner we […]

We have the world’s BEST babysitter. Seriously. We first met Nataliya nearly two years ago when a nanny from our neighborhood referred her to us. Ever since then, she’s spent a two days a week caring for the kids while I am at work. Nataliya is kind and patient. She loves loves loves taking the […]

We had no big plans for Valentine’s Day. But, we did have a plan. Inspired by a a blog post I read, the kids and I were going to surprise Chris with a fancy “restaurant” dinner at home. I was going to make dinner, and Evie and Mack would be the waiter and waitress. Mack […]

Chicago finally got it’s first significant winter storm. A solid 28 hours of blizzarding dumped nearly two feet of snow, and even though the streets and alleys are a mess I think we’re all not-so-secretly excited about it. Everyone here is joking that the East Coast got five days of news coverage for their storm, […]

Mack was overdue for a date night with mom. As he has been reminding me lately, Evie has had THREE special nights out with me (Katy Perry concert, going to see the movie Annie, and the Lyric Opera). In the interest of fairness, I owed him! When I saw that the Chicago Children’s Theatre had […]

Living in the city with four kids requires a bit of sacrifice. We don’t have a big back yard or a spacious basement. Everyone doesn’t have his or her own bedroom. Minimal storage space means that we can have minimal stuff. But…living in the city with four kids also means we have world-class cultural events […]