childhood memories Archives - Page 2 of 3

Healthy Summer Snacks (without the stress)

Kids are ALWAYS hungry, aren’t they? I feel like there’s always someone in the kitchen munching on something–morning, noon and night. I don’t have the time or the desire to be tethered to the kitchen, trying to make sure that my kids are choosing healthy options when they (incessantly) snack. It’s all about being stocked…

Prepping Yourself – And Your Life – for Summer Break

Are your kids getting antsy about summer vacation coming up? I’m not talking about going away for vacation–I mean just being off of school and lounging around the house. School days have challenges. All the sports practices, homework and driving kids around here and there. But summertime has its own problems, whether you work from…

Adding a New Family Member

In case you missed it, we added a new little girl to our family in February. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to get her, and I immediately wondered why I said yes. But we are so excited to have our little Ivy in our lives! I’m a first-time dog mom so getting a puppy has…

Growing Grit in Girls & Boys: My Experience

When my boys were younger, I got the stereotypical, “Two boys! What a handful!” And as the girls get older, I get the sympathetic, knowing looks from people who see grey hair in my future from having two teen girls in my house at once. It’s true that I have a bit of a crazy…

The Start of Football Season

What better way to celebrate football season than a trip north, where the weather really feels like fall. I’ve said it before: One of my favorite perks of my job is being able to work mobilly and to be able to support a lifestyle where my husband and I can travel and do things for…

Coming Back On the Grid

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you know that my two “middles” spent almost the entire summer off the grid. They were away at summer camp for 7 weeks, with no phones, no social media. Just good, old-fashioned fun and outdoors. They both had a blast and I missed them terribly, of course.…

Indoor Fun for Bad-Weather Days

As kids get older, they start to ask for birthday parties that are a little out of the norm. When we celebrated Lucy’s 11th birthday recently, she asked to go to the mall with her friends. Not knowing what kind of trouble a group of 11- and 12-year-old girls could get into at the mall,…

Go With the Flow

In February, my younger kids’ school closed for three days because the classrooms were needed for a conference. Staying home would have been easy. We’re so busy most of the time that I considered kicking back at home and relaxing. But where’s the fun in that!? Instead, I called up my friend Monica to see if…

Facing My Fears Head-On

I haven’t always been afraid of heights. When I was younger, I had no issues with it—probably because we’re all a little more fearless before our sense of mortality sinks in. As I’ve gotten older had kids who depend on me, I’ve become more fearful of scary things. Enter zip-lining. While we were on vacation…

The Donut ‘Do – Inspired Fun

Lucy’s summer camp had a dress-up day and we needed an idea. Fortunately, my niece had just done a fun “crazy hair day” activity where she’d come up with a really creative hairstyle, so that was our initial inspiration. I searched Pinterest for more ideas and found someone who had done a great style where they…