My Ben. He just turned 4 and has officially declared himself to be a Big Boy. I have to remind myself that he is right – 4 means he’s left the toddler years behind and he is ready for more. He had his 4-year check up with the pediatrician this morning, and even though he […]

A few weeks ago I took the kids strawberry picking. It was on my summer bucket list, and I am so glad we checked it off before I broke my ankle. We stumbled upon the strawberry farm quite unexpectedly. The kids and I were driving home after a weekend at Notre Dame when we (almost) […]

  Sweet little Evie celebrated her birthday a couple weeks ago. Summer birthdays are the best – warm sunshine, windows open, cute little dresses.  I was born in January…in Chicago…and 30+ years later I still hate the winter! So, I love celebrating Evie’s special day during the warmer season. My parents came over for a […]

Lately we’ve been enjoying bacon and eggs for breakfast.  It is such a hearty way to start the day, and the eggs from our co-op are delicious in an addicting sort of way.  But, with summer here I am now in the mood for a lighter start to the day, so I’ve brought back our […]

Our friends Casey and Michele invited us over to their house for dinner last night.  It was a glorious summer evening in Chicago – street fest right outside the front door with live music, warm weather and clear skies, amazing food and great friends. Michele made grilled corn-on-the-cob, garlic bread, peel-n-eat shrimp, grilled artichokes and […]

The local produce market I shop at once a week had a sale on domestic strawberries – just $0.50 a pound!!  Granted, the fruit was about 5 minutes from going bad and it wasn’t organic, but at that price I just couldn’t walk away.  So, I scooped up four packages, raced home and spent yesterday […]