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Edit:  June 2023 – I have come to realize that this post has some outdated information so I have deleted places that have since closed in Hamilton and will endeavor to make a day trip to Hamilton to make some updates this summer!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...
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Winter is Soup Weather :: Izzy's Gift Card Giveaway

Winter is Soup Weather :: Izzy’s Gift Card Giveaway

When I think of winter, I think of soup.  It’s my favorite winter comfort food.  Everyone knows that Izzy’s is famous for Rubens and potato pancakes, but did you know that they have soup as well?  It wasn’t until recently that I realized that one of my favorite restaurants, Izzy’s, carries soup on their menu....
School House Rock Live JR! {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

School House Rock Live JR! {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

I grew up with School House Rock – it was a Saturday morning staple at my house, and in the houses of most of the kids in my generation, and generations before and after us.  The show is iconic!  My children watch School House Rock videos at school!  The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati is bringing...

The Little Things Blog on Fox 19

Last month I was contacted by Fox 19 News and asked to come on their Sunday Morning show and share one of my favorite winter recipes.  I immediately thought of my Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff recipe because it’s so easy to put together and it’s a perfect hearty meal for a cold winter’s night.  On...
Cincinnati Ballet presents ALICE {GIVEAWAY}

Cincinnati Ballet presents ALICE {GIVEAWAY}

I have a confession to make, I’ve only ever been to one ballet, and that is The Nutcracker.  I have seen it several times over the years, but I have yet to see another Cincinnati Ballet performance.  Not for lack of wanting, but because I just couldn’t make it happen.  That is all about to...
Easy Garlic Chicken

Easy Garlic Chicken

Are you looking for an easy dinner recipe?    I have just that for you.  You should try this Easy Garlic Chicken recipe that I concocted this week.  The weekend got away from me and I never made it to the grocery store and had to make dinner with what I had on hand Monday night.  Which...

Menu Plan Monday {January 12}

It was a delicious week at our house last week!  What’s cooking at your house?  Do you need inspiration?  Visit OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday Roundup or my Recipe Archives for recipe ideas!  Have a great week! Menu Plan Monday :: Spaghetti Carbonara Beef Goulash Soup ~ perfect winter night dinner!  And the leftovers hold up...
Our New Addition

Our New Addition

Say Hello to our newest mouth to feed, “Maximus Heinrich Samwell”, a tiny Bearded Dragon. In the summer of 2011 we told our children that instead of buying them birthday presents we were going to get them a pet Bearded Dragon. Fast forward three and a half years and we finally made good on our...
Broadway in Cincinnati presents Cinderella

Broadway in Cincinnati presents Cinderella

Cinderella is in town for just a few weeks and you are going to want to see this show!  If you are planning on going to see Cinderella at the Aronoff Center and expecting to see a story about the animated princess we are all so familiar with then you need to get that notion...
Game Restaurant in Louisville

Game Restaurant in Louisville

Are you a big fan of burgers?  Do you like to try different kinds of meat?  If so, you need to stop by Game in Louisville, Kentucky.  My sister turned thirty today, and in celebration we took a little road trip to Louisville with our brother and Henry for lunch at Game, a restaurant that serves...
Garlic Asiago Risotto

Garlic Asiago Risotto

A few months back my cousin Joe married his sweetheart Andrea, and Prince Henry was their ring-bearer.  The rehearsal dinner was held at my Aunt and Uncle’s house and my Aunt made a five-star meal for us.  It was seriously one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever had.  She served a tenderloin and fresh...
Chicago :: Lincoln Park Zoo

Chicago :: Lincoln Park Zoo

Chicago Vacation :: For Spring Break 2014 we took the kids 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.  I’m going to share our adventures with you in a series of installments so you can...
New Riff Distilling & Ei8htBall Brewery at Party Source

New Riff Distilling & Ei8htBall Brewery at Party Source

I have always loved shopping at The Party Source.  They really are a one stop shop for any sort of party.  We are particularly impressed with their selection of craft beers, especially the local brews.  Now there’s even more reason to head to The Party Source, as in the past year they became the home to...