Winter in our household can be a challenge. With so many people comes SO MUCH winter gear. Hats, mittens, coats, snowpants, boots…multiply all those things by 8 people (plus an extra back up set for the inevitable lost items) and we have a LOT of stuff. Fortunately, we are really good about using hand-me-downs. As […]

One of my most favorite holiday traditions is sending and receiving Christmas cards. Even though Facebook provides us with regular updates on my friends and family, there is something so quaint and special about receiving a custom card prepared with love. This year, we enlisted the very talented Ruthie Hauge to take some family photos […]

Earlier this year my siblings and I were called out to my parents house to retrieve the decades of our stuff they were storing in their attic. Yearbooks, first shoes, grade school art projects.  It all had to go. It was a tad bit overwhelming: so much stuff and no where for me to put […]

I swear, sometimes these kids are going to send me to the looney bin.  Aside from the constant messes and spills, they tend to take things and misplace them.  This happens a lot.  Like, ALL THE TIME. Case in point: yesterday the can opener went missing.  I have no idea where it is.  To open […]

My parents recently called my siblings and me to their house for help with a rather daunting task: pick up all our crap.  Bins full of grade school art projects and high school year books. File folders with report cards and college acceptance letters.  Tiny shoes and faded photos and personal journals filled with the […]

Nearly 5 years after bringing our first baby home, we recently got around to one of the more important things on our baby-proofing check-list: secure furniture to the wall.  We had many excuses for the delay: we weren’t sure when/if we were moving, we didn’t have the time, we didn’t have the right equipment. But, […]

I can’t believe my sweet little Vivian is now 6 months old.  How time flies!!  I still so clearly remember the morning of her birthday – I had no idea that she was about to be born!  And now she is grabbing everything and smiling with friends and strangers.  Her newest trick is sitting up, […]

A fellow Homemade Mother recently asked me how I keep my recipes organized.  Aside from this blog – where I post mostly original recipes – I’ve found a few other ways to maintain records of my family’s favorite dishes. 1.Recipes I clip out of magazines or print off the internet are placed in one in […]

Chicago can’t seem to make up its mind.  Earlier this week it was sunny and in the 90s, but this weekend its cloudy and high 60s. Weather changes like this make it hard to know how to dress the kids in the morning!! Fortunately, I’ve got our stroller packed for summer just in case the […]

We are very fortunate to live in a generously sized downtown Chicago apartment.  When we first moved in two years ago we thought two bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a dining room and in-unit laundry all spaced on two floors would be more than enough room for our young family. Oh, how foolish we were… Christmas […]