Another year has come to an end.  As a mom to three little ones, my New Years Eve consists of pajamas, a cosmopolitan and frozen yogurt with raspberries, and I couldn’t be happier or more content.  2013 is just an hour away, but it still sounds so futuristic – shouldn’t we have flying cars and […]

I absolutely love Christmas day.  Sure, its nice to open presents and eat good food, but my favorite part of the day is doing nothing at all.  We spend the weekend before Christmas with my husband’s family, and Christmas Eve is celebrated with my family, so December 25 is blissfully reserved for the five of […]

Chris and I have had an ongoing discussion about toys for the past six weeks. We have plenty of them in our house. And with Christmas on the way we’re about to have plenty more added. But, the problem is that our kids just don’t really play with many of their toys. Mack loves cars, […]

We took the kids to New York City last week.  We lived there more than four years ago when Evie was a baby, and it was one of the happiest times in my life.  Just me and my tiny girl during the day, making the most of an incredible city.   Here we are in […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]