Toddler: 1-3 years

Over the last few weeks, I have shared the importance of making time for and taking care of yourself.  Equally important is making time for we – investing in your marriage and making time for the two of you as a couple is extremely important, and often times even more difficult…

My favorite part of every holiday is all the decorating and preparations leading up to the big day.  For Easter, that means coloring eggs.  And if you are game for a little creative inspiration, I have 25 unique ideas for decorating Easter eggs.  Some are even easier than just dropping…

I love all holidays… I love the food, the festivities, the decorations, but most of all I love all the traditions that go with holidays.  And I love learning about different traditions among other families and around the world for each holiday. Growing up in South Texas, we certainly celebrated…

You spend hours filling eggs, creating a diversion to sneak out and hide them all… the egg hunt itself is over in 10-15 minutes tops.  Now what?  Whether you are planning your preschooler’s Easter party at school or need some Easter ideas to burn off those chocolate bunny highs, these…

Compared to my oldest, Lil’ M (age 2) has never had any attention span.  But now that she is getting older, and when my preschooler is at school, she has started requesting her own ‘projects.’ And, more surprising, without big sister around to takeover, she is fully engaged for 15-30 minutes, an…

Easter is coming up quickly! Whenever it comes in March, it always happens so fast, I never feel prepared.  So to that end, this Friday, we’re in love with Easter!  With 100+ Easter Ideas for Kids and Families, we have something for everyone – from activities and crafts, to food…

Easter is early this year, and rapidly sneaking up on us!  Last week, the girls and I got busy making some fun Easter decor, perfect for decorating your brunch table.  These DIY lanterns for Easter are so simple, even Lil’ M (age 2) made one.  And they are both so…

Four years at Notre Dame teaches you a few things.  God. Country. Notre Dame is a strictly held mantra for life… and St. Patrick’s Day comes second in celebration only to Christmas!  So of course I HAD to host this week’s It’s Friday, We’re In Love featuring all things green, rainbow…

Despite Easter being less than a month away, it snowed here again this week… and since moving to New England nearly 10 years ago, I have seen more than my fair share of egg hunts amidst patches of snow, it’s always important to plan indoor fun for Easter, just in…

It’s Girl Scout season, so it’s easy to find a box of the delightful Thin Mints… but y’all, these are better than that.  And better yet, you can make them all year round.  Better Than Thin Mints, Chocolate Mint Cookies! Better Than Thin Mints Cookies I almost called these ‘Amazing…

Last year, I tried to make colored eggs with Big M and a friend… I thought I had it toddler-proofed, and within 30 seconds of sitting her in her booster seat, she spilled an entire cup full of yellow dye in her lap.  Her legs were yellow for days!  While…

Lil’ M has been struggling with recognizing her colors.  We keep practicing through play, and she now names about half of them correctly, most of the time.  For this month’s Rainbow-themed Top 10 series , I sought out to find more fun color matching activities. Top 10 Color Matching Activities for Toddlers…

Growing up in Texas, it only snowed with any accumulation twice in my whole life… the month I was born and when I was 3.  Now, living in New England, I love experiencing winter with my kids because I feel like a kid myself – sledding, building snowmen, making snow…

In the last week, we’ve had three snow days and a weather advisory to stay indoors due to a windchill up to 30 degrees below zero!  To say cabin fever has set in would be an understatement.  For my own sanity last week, I needed the kids to burn some…

With two ND alums in our house, you can bet our house is filled with Irish spirit, if not Irish blood, year round.  St. Patrick’s Day is a momentous celebration around here, not only because of our Fighting Irish schooling, but also because it typically signals the beginning of Spring…

With three kids, it is an hourly struggle to be present and attentive to each of them.  Not to mention keeping up with chores, feeding everyone, writing, sleeping… oh, and showering!  That’s important too!  My video baby monitor helps me get closer to doing it all, every day.  I can…

My girls love math games – especially when they involve lots of shiny, new loose parts.  But official math manipulatives can be expensive, ranging anywhere from $10 to upwards of $30 for larger sets.  The good news is you can play and teach all sorts of arithmetic with math manipulatives that…

I’m always on a quest for activities that engage both my toddler and preschooler at the same time.  This one was originally set up for my toddler to work on her color sorting and identification, and to prevent my preschooler from taking over, I made a few modifications to create…

Confession.  Children’s books can be a bit tiresome, especially when your preschooler wants to read the same one for the 100th time.  Therefore, I really appreciate clever ones, like The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale which put an intelligent twist on classic children’s literature.  It portrays the architectural greats – Frank Lloyd Wright,…