With winter settling upon our fair city, the kids and I need more indoor activities to wile away the snowy afternoons.  Chicago is due for a decent winter storm on Thursday, so we’ll probably do some fun Christmas themed activities like cookie baking or movie watching with homemade hot chocolate.  Sometimes the most fun afternoons […]

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.’” – Fred Rogers As I type this post I am at my husband’s parents’ house in Connecticut.  I am only a few miles […]

Christmas is fast approaching, and like most parents I am busy squirreling away boxes of treats and treasures, crossing my fingers that curious kids don’t stumble upon a secret gift. We follow a WANT.NEED.WEAR.READ mantra with holiday gift-giving: the kids get a gift or two from each of the four categories.  It keeps me focused […]

This afternoon was such a lovely surprise.  After a hectic lunch hour filled with sibling rivalry the likes of which I see all too often, I wasn’t expecting a peaceful remainder of the day.  But, some Christmas cheer rescued the day and I now have some of my most favorite memories from 2012. Today’s holiday […]

When we were married more than six years ago, we were gifted with a sturdy cast iron skillet.  For years, I was so intimidated by the thing.  It was so heavy.  And I was pretty sure it required special care and washing.  And what was I supposed to cook in it, anyway? But a few […]

I’ve been doing a bit of mental math lately: how many diapers have I changed during the past 4 1/2 years? At my best guess, it’s fast approaching 13,000.  And 98.5% of them have been cloth. I’ve always said that with the THOUSANDS of dollars we’ve saved by choosing cloth I will take a fabulous […]

One of my absolute favorite holiday traditions is sending and receiving holiday cards.  There is something quaint and special about sending real cards through the real mail. Putting pen to paper requires more thought and time than a quick email or Facebook post, and I always get excited to open a mailbox full of something […]

The holiday season is upon us, and like most mothers I am busy looking for ways to make it a special time for my kids.  We are a young family, and now is the time when traditions are started and memories are made. To recognize the ~25 days of Advent I typed up some simple […]

Every year I try to have some professional pictures taken of my growing family, so when I found out that my sister’s childhood friend Ruthie Hauge was a professional photographer, I knew it would be fun to work with her.  Fortunately, she was available on an unseasonably mild late October afternoon. Ruthie suggested we shoot […]

One of my absolute favorite places in the city is the Chicago Children’s Museum. We buy an annual membership, so we freely come and go as we please.  Its a great place to visit on a chilly afternoon when we feel like we have the whole place to ourselves. We’ve been to the Museum dozens […]