With fall’s chilly weather settling upon our fair city, the kids and I are looking for more indoor activities to keep us busy. We’ve spent every free hour outside for the past six months, so the adjustment to indoor playtime can be tenuous. Fortunately, I recently discovered Peaceable Kingdom, a line of board and card […]

Chicago enjoyed some blissfully mild weather this past weekend. On Saturday we took a nice family walk to Lincoln Park along Lake Michigan. No coats, no hats, no problems! Sunday was equally as nice, so I wanted to take the kids on another trek around our city. Unfortunately, Chris had to teach a class, so […]

We recently celebrated Ben’s baptism.  The little man was six months old, and so it was time to celebrate his life with our family. It turned out to be a really lovely day, and I think baby Ben soaked up all the love and peace. Baptism means different things to different people.  I don’t believe […]

Now that it is getting cooler here in the city, I am on the look out for fun indoor activities – we don’t want to be cooped up in the house all weekend! This morning I took Evie, Mack and Vivian to see Leo Lionni’s “Frederick,” a new musical at the Chicago Children’s Theatre. It […]

Oh, sweet Ben. The wee fella doesn’t get much of a routine. I have to wake him from almost every nap so we can fetch an older sibling from ballet or school or a playdate. At six and a half months of age, he isn’t close to sleeping through the night. While I am mind-numbingly […]

Patricia and her grandmother Elsie   Now that we are no longer renting our home – but the proud owners! – we finally unpacked some boxes that had gone untouched since we moved in more than two years ago. Two dusty boxes in the back of our garage held a sort of time capsule: vintage […]

We aren’t halfway into September, but it feels like winter is moving in to Chicago. While we haven’t turned the heat on (yet), we’ve been tempted. Three of the six of us have runny noses, and all of us want tea to drink every morning. Winter is coming. Sigh. This morning was particularly chilly, so […]

It has been a long month. Earlier this summer, our landlord let us know that she needed to sell the home we were renting.  We didn’t want to move, so we scraped and scrambled to purchase our modest city home.  Many people wouldn’t think it is big enough for a family with four kids, but […]

Ahhhhhhh! This summer has gone by waaaaaay too fast.  After the terribly brutal winter we endured, I hoped for a hot, steamy, slow summer…but what we got turned out to be kinda cool and super fast.  I could use another three months of lazy days and sunshine. Perhaps one of my most favorite days this […]

Sweet Vivian. The little lamb is obsessed – obsessed, I tell you! – with Hello Kitty.  She doesn’t really know what it is (what is it anyway?!), but with all that pink and the bow and the white kitty…what about it would a girly 2 year old not love??  I think her obsession is cute […]