Summer birthday season is happening around here. I've shared some of these photos on social media, but since not everyone is on there, I figured I'd get them on the blog here too. And since the Princess Bride Quote food pun food tags proved pretty popular with you...
Hey guys. Did you miss me? I figured there might still be a few of you who would be interested in some updates to my announcements in my last post (seven months ago!). Let's begin with the most exciting, shall we? Introducing . . . baby George! After a very fast (and...
Okay, here it is you guys. Finally. I have been having exasperating computer issues that have been a drain on my already limited blogging time. But I just know you guys have been dying -dying- to know what I think about The Force Awakens and whether or not it's a good...
Lulu's "Pie Pedjus" second birthday party was last weekend, but it's taken me all week to get this post written because I fell hard down the rabbit hole of picMonkey + Jane Austen. But more on that later. First, for the party . . . Lulu is a big, big fan of the...
It's supposed to be a big deal. 😉 It's kind of all the small people in my house can talk about. Overshadowing even THE BIG MOVE . . . on team kid, at least. They have watched the trailer only four hundred and sixty seven times. Gus and Bobby have November and...
Pretty much nothing. Why do you ask? Oh, you mean because on All Saints Day, when other folks were posting pictures of their little saints-in-the-making in their #catholiccostume, *I* was posting photos of various octopus-shaped foods? I could try to come up with...
Cranky Frankie is four today. He likes lots of things. Cowboy boots: His little sister: His other little sister: Confined spaces: A good seat for his brother's football game: The communion of saints: Chicken Frank the chicken (and Nana): This exact set up of buddies....
So I've been teasing you guys on this one long enough, huh? Here it finally is. The most important detail, of course, is that Betty had a really great time, and so did her friends. But there are a LOT more details than that. I've got a lot of kids. They have a lot of...
Jack, my oldest, said of his baby sister the other day, "I think she's probably tied for the third best baby who ever lived. Jesus and Mary were probably better, but she's got to be at least tied with St. John the Baptist for third." Now, I don't have any way to...
I'm not sure why, but back early in my mothering journey, when it began to look like I was going to end up with more kids than, well, than I had previously realized was even POSSIBLE . . . I latched on to birthday parties as The Thing I had to maintain to make it Not...
On Sunday, Frankie turned three years old. You can imagine his excitement. We threw him a Little Monster-themed birthday party. Here's how it went down. THE DECOR Red tissue balls and green hanging fans, fabric circus bunting, a mini monsters banner, a homemade...
I know I am late to the Instagram party, but I had a good excuse: I didn't have an iPhone. I still don't. But all the cool kids were doing it, so I've finally made the plunge and joined. Here's why, and how, and what I think so far. WHY I joined Instagram because...
Frozen. It is like crack cocaine, only animated. And with singing. I saw it with the kids. I noted that the plot didn't, strictly speaking, make any sense and that the girl ended up with the wrong guy. I thought I'd just carry on with my life. Frozen-free....
We moved to Los Angeles when Jack was four, but we didn't make our first family trip to Disneyland until his sixth birthday. We really think that's the ideal age for the trip. At six our kids are old enough to be familiar with the characters, but not too old to hug...
Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles . . . The Princess Bride is my favorite childhood movie. And unlike all the other movies from my childhood, I never had to go diving for the remote in horror as I tried to...
Intrigued? You're going to have to wait for it . . . (Jenny, you may want to just skip this whole post, but especially the end.) Bobby and Gus have birthdays that are two weeks apart, and all the same friends and all the same interests, so for the last couple of...
Frankie is two. Look out world. (Oops, that wasn't a question. Sorry.) He's still not talking a whole lot, so his brothers and sisters got to pick the theme of his party and they picked: Moustaches. When I started looking around online for ideas, I found a lot of...
As a parent, I want to figure out how to pay enough attention to each child so that he knows he is precious and valued, but not so much that he ends up an entitled brat. Fortunately, we have enough kids that I think it would be really, really hard for us to err...
Yesterday, I told you why I like backyard birthday parties best. Today I'm telling you exactly how I do it. Step-by-step. And you get to see all the photos from Anita's fourth birthday party, held last Saturday in the Chicago backyard of my in-laws (who are awesome,...
I love backyard birthday parties. That's what we had when I was growing up, and that's what we throw for our own kids now. Anita jumping for joy at her 4th Birthday Party, held yesterday in the lovely Chicago backyard of my generous in-laws (we're visiting for the...
If you remember my review here, you'll know that I really enjoyed The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. It's smart and exciting, the writing is clever, and the characters make the right choices when faced with moral dilemmas. It even manages to...
Exactly as I had always planned it and in no way because I totally forgot about it, today you get a recap of Lent . . . And there will be prizes. Extra prizes. So keep reading.I had a big list of stuff that I wanted to try doing or not doing for Lent, but...
 Our dear sweet Betty turns NINE next week, and to celebrate she wanted a Snow (Princess) themed birthday party.  We ended up getting some great bargains, since on January 1st anything with a snowflake on it goes on clearance to make way for the swimsuits and Easter...