Mixed Prints Life

All About Me! :: Charlie Edition

One of the first homework assignments Charlie had was to prepare his About Me poster. On the first day of school, I already witnessed the parental overachievers. With elaborate pictures and adult-drawn elephants and locations, parents had obviously taken over their three-year-old’s assignment. With a mixture of printed photos and drawings, I’m happy to say, Charlie did most of his… View Post

Real Mom Interviews :: Homeschooling

With the Chicago Teachers’ Union strike this week in Chicago, Charlie’s first day of preschool {sobs}, and  a growing interest in homeschooling, I thought a timely conversation piece for this blog would be to talk with moms who choose to homeschool and why they do so! I have had many friends express interest in homeschooling their own children, but weren’t really… View Post

Recipe :: BBQ Ranch Chicken Pizza

I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, but after having a leftover pizza crust, I thought it would be fun to whip this deliciousness up. It’s simple, quick, and tasty. BBQ Ranch Chicken Pizza 1 pizza crust (mine was ready made Freschetta) 1 c. BBQ sauce 1/3 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dry mix 1.5 chicken breasts, cooked and… View Post

Preschool :: Day 1 Recap

For Charlie: Hi Buddy! I can hardly believe that today was your first day of Preschool. It is amazing to me just how quickly you’ve grown and have shown just how ready you are! You asked Daddy to carry you up near the building, I snapped a few pictures and then you were on your way. I stopped to drop… View Post

Flying Time.

Remember this? I do. Like it was yesterday. I remember praying so hard for a baby and then suffering two miscarriages. I remember finding out about his existence and loving him from the moment I first knew. I remember feeling him kick and sharing that special moment – just between the two of us. I remember going into the hospital to… View Post

Manly Mondays :: Bear Attacks and More

Welcome to Week 3 of Manly Mondays after Daddy of The Peanuts Gang had off for Labor Day last Monday (and therefore took a day off from the blog)! He’s back today with an…um…interesting perspective on fatherhood! ___________________________________________________________  Being in the toddler and baby stage can be emasculating for some dads.  After all, changing diapers and chasing runaway 3-year olds… View Post

“Summer’s” Last Weekend

We spent the last unofficial weekend of the Summer running errands and housekeeping on our life. Here’s our weekend in pictures :: Jack lookin’ cool Heading out to snag a surprise breakfast for Charlie & Daddy Rockin’ the new J. Bieber hat A pit stop at Kmart for some shower supplies and we stopped to say hello to this guy… View Post

Hallmark Text Bands, Cody Simpson, Oh My!

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to head out to Wheaton at Kirlin’s Hallmark for a private concert with Cody Simpson (barely known by me prior to this). Promoting the debut of text bands (his new line of them comes out in November!) Since I don’t have girls of my own, I invited by sister-in-law, her sister (age… View Post

Juppy :: Review

Since I don’t have any non-walkers in my house, I thought I’d give my friend, Melissa, a chance to try out the Juppy with her on-the-move little guy, Matthew. The Juppy is ergonomically designed to teach your child to walk while eliminating your need to bend over. It is an all natural safe way to teach your child to walk. The… View Post

Parragon Books :: Review

With each of our boys, from the moment we found out we were pregnant, Jim has read to them, even while in the womb. While it may have seemed silly at first, his voice was eventually greeted with kicks, turns, and thumps. Then, when they arrived, their recognition of his voice was uncanny and it was a great way for… View Post

Young Love.

Every once in a while, the stars collide and love begins to brew. After hanging out with some friends for playdates, Charlie finally fell in love with K at her third birthday party. Constantly calling her name and chasing after her, I had visions of what the teen years may look like. Holding hands, swinging together and even eating bites… View Post

Tropical Vacation…{ahhh…}

Although I headed to NYC this summer for BlogHer, as a family, we have zero plans for vacation in 2012. Instead, we started to think about 2013 and all the places we would like to go. One of which may or may not include a certain mouse. In celebration of our BIG birthdays {ahem}, we turned our attention to the… View Post

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