I tried to look on the bright side when our toddler decided my day was going to begin at 3:00 a.m. At least there wasn’t any chance of turning off the alarm at 6:00 and sleeping through the bright-and-early Rainbow Foods Easter egg hunt! We’re personal friends of their Easter Bunny so I had promised [...]

I’m not the crafty mom who’s got Pinterest bookmarked and a space in the house devoted to creative, messy fun. That’s why I love places like Heartfelt. They supply the great ideas and provide the perfect environment for carrying them out. I brought my 3-year-old daughter into the Linden Hills shop today for one of [...]

As we continue to plow through winter, the question this Saturday is about snow: ditch it or embrace it? I could go either way, so I’ll leave it up to the kids to choose. On second thought, the outcome of that is not hard to predict: my artsy girls would insist upon Free First Saturday [...]

I have long considered being from Minnesota– and specifically, St. Paul, Minnesota – a big part of my identity. Technically, I was born across the river (shhh) but have since spent half my life in St. Paul, bringing all four of our babies home to the house my husband and I bought when we were first [...]

On a day with a biting windchill of 25-below, was it worth it to bundle up four kids and take them to the annual Martin Luther King Celebration at Powderhorn Park? Unfortunately not, and it really didn’t have much to do with the weather. It was a disappointment to discover upon arriving about halfway through [...]

Balance and moderation are a couple key terms that come to mind when I’m thinking about extra-curricular activities for the kids. However, we’re only a couple years into having multiple school-aged children and I can clearly see the writing on the wall. Even if we limited each of the four kids to two activities in [...]

Just because we tighten the belt on our own family activities around Christmastime doesn’t mean we’re not out enjoying the kids’ winter break from school. And hosting a special relative around the holiday gave us good reason to introduce her to a couple of our favorite (and low-cost) spots around town. Poinsettias in every hue [...]

Too late to construct much of a blog post tonight. It’s probably also too late to RSVP for tomorrow’s annual free pancake breakfast with Santa at the Chatterbox Pub (Highland location). I’ve wanted to do a write-up of this family-friendly spot for quite a while. They do a very tasty Sunday brunch buffet (served 9 a.m. [...]

There aren’t any plans as of press time, but it’s been a tradition of ours for many years to head in the direction of Lake Superior after Christmas. Though the cold can be bone-chilling, there’s something extra cozy about being tucked away in a mom-and-pop motel after dinner at one of the charming eateries on [...]

For years we’ve been bringing home a Christmas tree from Frattallone’s Ace Hardware (still $24.95!), purchased on the Grand Meander in St. Paul. We strap it to top of the van and then head down the street in search of something warm to sip on (spiced apple cider at Penzey’s Spices) and to fill our [...]