The Little Things Journal

20 Creative Writing Ideas for Kids of All Ages

by The Little Things Mama on May 28, 2016 • 12 Comments

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...

Main Dish / recipes

Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti Pie

by The Little Things Mama on Oct 27, 2015 • 1 Comment

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...

Around Town / ohio / road trip / travel

Sandusky: Cedar Point and Hotel Breakers

by The Little Things Mama on Oct 19, 2015 • 3 Comments

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...

Around Town / Family Fun / Outdoors

Rowe Woods Cincinnati Nature Center

by The Little Things Mama on Sep 30, 2015 • Comments Closed

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...

appetizer / recipes

Pesto Cream Cheese Dip

by The Little Things Mama on Sep 5, 2015 • 1 Comment

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...

Around Town / ohio / Outdoors / restaurant / road trip / travel

Spend a Day in Hamilton Ohio

by The Little Things Mama on Jun 29, 2015 • 29 Comments

Edit: June 2023 – I have come to realize that this post has some outdated information so I have deleted places that have since closed in Hamilton and will endeavor to make a day trip to Hamilton to make some updates this summer!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...

Around Town / Chicago / road trip / travel

Our Chicago Vacation

by The Little Things Mama on Mar 2, 2015 • 2 Comments

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...

appetizer / recipes

Five Easy Appetizers

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 30, 2014 • Comments Closed

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...

Main Dish / recipes / slow cooker

Our Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 2, 2014 • 2 Comments

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...

Around Town / date night

Cheap Date Nights in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky

by The Little Things Mama on Jul 18, 2014 • 4 Comments

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...

florida / Organizing / travel

Family Fun in Siesta Key & Sarasota

by The Little Things Mama on Apr 17, 2014 • 3 Comments

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...

kids / Organizing

Getting Organized :: Children & Chores

by The Little Things Mama on Jan 28, 2014 • 1 Comment

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...

florida / travel

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

by The Little Things Mama on Apr 25, 2013 • 5 Comments

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...

Main Dish / recipes

Our Favorite Homemade Pizza Recipes

by The Little Things Mama on Feb 10, 2013 • 13 Comments

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...

Organizing / party planning

LEGO Birthday Party

by The Little Things Mama on Jan 30, 2013 • Comments Closed

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...

Organizing

Thirteen Ways to De-Stress

by The Little Things Mama on Jan 20, 2012 • 3 Comments

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...

Around Town / crafts / museum

Create Your Own Chihuly Sculpture

by The Little Things Mama on Oct 16, 2010 • 4 Comments

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...

Main Dish / recipes

Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs

by The Little Things Mama on Jun 21, 2010 • 4 Comments

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

family / this moment

{this moment}

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 16, 2012 • 6 Comments

{this moment} inspired by SouleMama: A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find...

family / Outdoors

Hoot Hoot

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 15, 2012 • 2 Comments

Impromptu nature lesson in the back yard last night…. We see so many cool birds in our yard! **The middle picture adorns a photo note card that I sell in my Cards by Katie Etsy shop!

crafts / sewing

Sewing Neck Ties for the Boys

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 15, 2012 • 1 Comment

Michael’s brother and his fiance Jenny (now his bride) had a grand wedding in September, and I got it into my head that the boys needed to have ties that coordinated with the wedding party. See, Michael and Ella were in the wedding and were going to be wearing pink accents with their outfits, so...

giveaway

Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival GIVEAWAY {CLOSED}!

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 15, 2012 • 60 Comments

This giveaway is now {CLOSED} Congrats to Maureen who said :: We would love a family night out! Maureen, you have 24 hours to email me at Katie(at)Cards-by-Katie(dot)com to claim your prize! Please keep tuned into the blog…I have several more giveaways coming up in the next few weeks, including a $100 gift card to...

Around Town / Outdoors

A Chilly Morning at the Cincinnati Zoo

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 14, 2012 • Comments Closed

Today I took Henry to the Cincinnati Zoo for a short visit. It was 40 degrees outside, so some of the animals were not on display, but we still had so much fun! There were not many people there, so it was as if we had the place to ourselves. And all of the employees...

family

Saturday in Autumn…

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 11, 2012 • Comments Closed

Around Town

Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival – Coming to Town!

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 10, 2012 • Comments Closed

Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival is coming to town on December 1st! The show will be at USBank Arena for two shows that day (4pm and 7pm). This seems like the perfect way to kick off your holiday season! I will be hosting a giveaway for tickets here on my blog next week, but if...

beyond books

The Books I’ve Been Reading…

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 9, 2012 • 1 Comment

This post was inspired by Ella Bella Princess of Kentucky, my sweet nine year old daughter. She wrote a blog post a few weeks back listing all of her favorite books and books she had been reading over the summer. After reading her post, and helping her take a picture of her favorite books I...

family / samstyle

Student of the Month ~ Sam Style

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 8, 2012 • 1 Comment

Around Town / restaurant

Henry and the Chopsticks

by The Little Things Mama on Nov 7, 2012 • Comments Closed

While we dined at Yat Ka Mein Henry insisted on using chopsticks… This kid cracks me up all the time! I took these pictures while we had lunch at Yat Ka Mein on Madison Road in Oakley. We LOVED our lunch there! The food is scrumptious and the service is fantastic! You can read more...

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20 Creative Writing Ideas for Kids of All Ages

Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti Pie

Sandusky: Cedar Point and Hotel Breakers

Rowe Woods Cincinnati Nature Center

Pesto Cream Cheese Dip

Spend a Day in Hamilton Ohio

Our Chicago Vacation

Five Easy Appetizers

Our Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes

Cheap Date Nights in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky

Family Fun in Siesta Key & Sarasota

Getting Organized :: Children & Chores

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

Our Favorite Homemade Pizza Recipes

LEGO Birthday Party

Thirteen Ways to De-Stress

Create Your Own Chihuly Sculpture

Homemade Spaghetti & Meatballs

{this moment}

Hoot Hoot

Sewing Neck Ties for the Boys

Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival GIVEAWAY {CLOSED}!

A Chilly Morning at the Cincinnati Zoo

Whole Foods Market Meal Plan Challenge :: The Shopping Trip

Saturday in Autumn…

Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival – Coming to Town!

The Books I’ve Been Reading…

Whole Foods Market Meal Plan Challenge :: Getting Organized

Student of the Month ~ Sam Style

Henry and the Chopsticks

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