20 Creative Writing Ideas for Kids of All Ages

20 Creative Writing Ideas for Kids of All Ages

Just because summer is here doesn’t mean the kids need to stop learning!  I wanted to make learning fun this summer so with the help of some friends I put together a list of 20 Creative Writing Ideas for Kids of All Ages.  My kids are all very creative, and...
Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti Pie

Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti Pie

Growing up in the Greater Cincinnati area makes it hard not to love “Cincinnati Style” Chili.  It’s not like your traditional hearty chili recipes, Cincinnati chili has a bit of sweetness to it and it’s perfect atop noodles and smothered with cheese.  We have our local preference on where to...
Sandusky:  Cedar Point and Hotel Breakers

Sandusky: Cedar Point and Hotel Breakers

Recently we made our first visit to Sandusky, Ohio for a long weekend spent at the Hotel Breakers.  While much of my time was spent learning great things at the Bloggy Conference, we also spent many hours exploring Cedar Point (known as the Roller Coaster Capitol of the World) getting...
Rowe Woods Cincinnati Nature Center

Rowe Woods Cincinnati Nature Center

The Rowe Woods Cincinnati Nature Center is one of my favorite places in the Greater Cincinnati area to spend a day in the woods exploring nature.  There are over sixteen miles of trails in Rowe Woods and they meander past a lake, over bridges, along boardwalks, over hills and through the...
Pesto Cream Cheese Dip

Pesto Cream Cheese Dip

You must know by now how much I love easy appetizer recipes.  Well here’s something you might not know about me, I cannot go to a party empty handed.  That’s where all of my easy appetizers come in…I have a collection of easy appetizers that I can throw together in no...
Spend a Day in Hamilton Ohio

Spend a Day in Hamilton Ohio

Edit:  June 2023 – I have come to realize that this post has some outdated information so I have deleted places that have since closed in Hamilton and will endeavor to make a day trip to Hamilton to make some updates this summer!  That being said, there’s still some good...
Our Chicago Vacation

Our Chicago Vacation

For Spring Break 2014 we took the kids on a mini-vacation to Chicago for three nights and four days. We crammed as much fun as we could into those four days and had adventures all over the Windy City. For our next trip, we may even take a trip to...
Five Easy Appetizers

Five Easy Appetizers

I have lots of favorite easy appetizer recipes, because I love making Hors d’oeuvres for any occasion.  Over the Thanksgiving weekend we had five different events going on!  So I had lots of easy appetizers to make.  I put together five of my favorite easy appetizers this weekend and thought...
Our Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes

Our Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes

My slow cooker is my best friend during a busy school week. I really don’t know what I’d do without it. If you don’t have one, I really recommend buying one! You can browse the best ones at somewhere like https://buyersimpact.co.uk/ to see if there are any that take your...
Cheap Date Nights in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky

Cheap Date Nights in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky

My husband and I value our date nights.  We have four children, we love said children, but we also cherish our alone time.  Sometimes we will jump at any chance to have a date night.  While we enjoy having nice dinners in swanky restaurants from time to time, we also...
Family Fun in Siesta Key & Sarasota

Family Fun in Siesta Key & Sarasota

Last year we took our family of six to Siesta Key for a long vacation.  We had so much fun exploring Siesta Key and the surrounding area, that I wanted to share my ideas for family fun in Siesta Key with you.  Our focus was mostly on beach lounging, so...
Getting Organized :: Children & Chores

Getting Organized :: Children & Chores

I am a stay at home mother of four children. I hate housework, but I also hate a messy house. It’s a frustrating way to live. And with five other people in this house with me, keeping up with the housework is a never ending task. My husband and I...
Walt Disney World with Kids :: Tips for a Fun Trip

Walt Disney World with Kids :: Tips for a Fun Trip

For Spring Break last year we took the family to Florida and spent three days at Walt Disney World. It was a blast! I was so thankful to have the tips & advice from friends and family before we went…I felt somewhat prepared for the special kind of chaos that...
Our Favorite Homemade Pizza Recipes

Our Favorite Homemade Pizza Recipes

Homemade Pizza with Salad is a favorite dinner around our house. I would venture to say we have homemade pizza on the menu almost every week. Homemade Pizza When Michael and I were first married he would make the dough and I would make the sauce, and we made some...
LEGO Birthday Party

LEGO Birthday Party

Last summer we had a big birthday celebration for all four kids at a local Civic Club. I wanted to find a common theme that they were all interested in, and settled upon a LEGO Birthday Party! They all love their LEGO blocks and especially their Minifigures. When I told...
Thirteen Ways to De-Stress

Thirteen Ways to De-Stress

I have days where I feel stressed & overwhelmed all day. There’s a huge amount of reasons, one is that I’ve just found out that I can get cheaper broadband deals with the help of someone like Usave, but there are many other things that are stressing me out. I’m...
Create Your Own Chihuly Sculpture

Create Your Own Chihuly Sculpture

Our family loves the arts, and we also love creating our own works of art. A few months back I read about a very cool art project for kids on the blog Mary Making and it inspired me to do a similar project with my children. The project was to...
Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs

Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs

Spaghetti and Meatballs is a quintessential comfort food, and a favorite at our house.  I found this recipe years and years ago and have tinkered with it over the years until I deemed it perfectly delicious.   This recipe is written for making mass amounts of sauce and meatballs…because I...
Latest entries
Broadway in Cincinnati Presents The Little Mermaid

Broadway in Cincinnati Presents The Little Mermaid

Broadway in Cincinnati has brought a beloved children’s classic Disney movie to town and you will not want to miss it!  Ariel and friends swam into town this week for a some swimming and singing at the Aronoff Theatre.  Disney’s The Little Mermaid will be on the big stage until January 29th and it is...
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood LIVE

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood LIVE

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is one of my favorite PBS shows because it hails from one of my favorite PBS shows from my own childhood, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.  Aside from the nostalgic aspects, it also appeals to me as a mom and a preschool teacher because of the lessons taught in each episode.  Not to mention...
Bite Restaurant in Milford

Bite Restaurant in Milford

We have found a new restaurant to add to our list of favorites in Cincinnati. Bite is a farm to table restaurant in Milford with a menu that changes with the seasons. They utilize ingredients from local farms and even from their own backyard. There is something for everyone on the menu, whether you be...

National Shortbread Day

Did you know that January 6th is National Shortbread Day?  Will you celebrate with tea and shortbread?  Might I suggest Walkers Shortbread for your snacking pleasure?  We had the opportunity to taste test a few of their products recently and they were a hit at our house. I have had a special place in my...
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Tonight we saw one of the funniest Broadway shows we have ever seen…A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. This show was FANTASTIC!  The songs were catchy and hilarious, the choreography of all the action in the film is perfect, and the set was incredible.  The performers were awesome, but a special shout out must...

Cincinnati Travel, Sports & Boat Show 2017 {GIVEAWAY}

I think that winter is the best time to start dreaming up vacations. I usually make our travel plans for the year during the winter months because I am longing for warmer weather. If you are planning a trip, or you love sports or travel then you should make plans to visit the Cincinnati Travel,...
A Weekend Away at Pine Mountain State Park

A Weekend Away at Pine Mountain State Park

A little while back Michael and I took leave of our children for a weekend. We left the kids with the grandparents, loaded up the van and headed to the Pine Mountain State Park in Eastern Kentucky. We were so far east in the state that we actually visited three different states during the trip!...
Salvadore's Pizzeria in Northern Kentucky

Salvadore’s Pizzeria in Northern Kentucky

Dinner can be a battle at my house sometimes, but there’s one food that ties the family together…PIZZA!  Recently we visited Salvadore’s Pizzeria on Dixie Highway in Elsmere and we had a fun family dinner.   This restaurant hasn’t always been known as Salvadore’s.  If you’ve been around Northern Kentucky for years like us then...

Comfort Inn Splash Harbor in Bellville, Ohio

From the outside the Comfort Inn of Bellville looks like a conventional hotel, but it is far from that.  It is home to Splash  Harbor.  Open the doors of Comfort Inn and you will not just find everyday things going on.  This place is a great place for families to stay when visiting Ohio or...
New Year's Eve with the Cincinnati Cyclones {GIVEAWAY}

New Year’s Eve with the Cincinnati Cyclones {GIVEAWAY}

The Cincinnati Cyclones are ringing in the new year with a BANG!  They are having a special New Year’s Eve game with an early start time and an indoor fireworks display to finish things up.  If you do not have a sitter for New Year’s Eve don’t sweat it!  Let the kids celebrate New Year’s...
Merry Brickmas in Over the Rhine

Merry Brickmas in Over the Rhine

Calling all LEGO fanatics!  You cannot miss Brickmas at Memorial Hall in Over the Rhine!  Brickmas is an epic LEGO display depicting everything from holiday scenes to Star Wars battles to giant castles and their realms.  The LEGO displays at the recently renovated Memorial Hall are larger than life and have so many incredible tiny...
Dinner and Dessert at Frisch's Big Boy

Dinner and Dessert at Frisch’s Big Boy

Recently Max and I attended a media event at the recently renovated Frisch’s Big Boy in Covington.  The reason for the gathering was to celebrate the opening of the Cincinnati Ballet’s Nutcracker AND the introduction of a new holiday dessert item on the Frisch’s menu: Peppermint Hot Fudge Cake.  Max and I had a lovely...