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Edit:  June 2023 – I have come to realize that this post has some outdated information so I have deleted places that have since closed in Hamilton and will endeavor to make a day trip to Hamilton to make some updates this summer!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
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Presents:  A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Presents:  A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Last week’s date night found us at Cincy Shakes for the production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and our seats were right in the middle of the action on the stage.  It was the first time we have sat that close to a performance and it was downright magical!  It was such an engaging and...
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Presents: Gaslight

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Presents: Gaslight

Last night we had the opportunity to visit one of our favorite theaters in town – The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s Otto M.Budig Theater – to see their newest show, Gaslight.  This play took me back to my childhood because our family loved watching old thrillers from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.  The Cincy Shakes performance of Gaslight was...
Easy Burrata Appetizer Recipe

Easy Burrata Appetizer Recipe

I have finally figured out how to make an Easy Burrata Appetizer at home.  I have had this appetizer several times at restaurants recently and loved it so much so naturally I had to try to make it at home. Easy Burrata Appetizer Recipe The outside of the burrata is firm but when you break...
Fabled Brew Works

Fabled Brew Works

There has been much buzz in the Greater Cincinnati area about our newest craft brewery. Fabled Brew Works opened to much fanfare and rave reviews recently.  We had been waiting for this place to open for months since the first time we heard about the design concept and plans for a wide variety of craft...

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company Presents: The Living Dead

We went back to the theatre for the first time since the pandemic began and it was to one of our favorite places to see a show, The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company!  This intimate theatre makes you feel like you are up close and personal with the performers and their shows are always impressive.  The Living...
Golden Gelato in Covington

Golden Gelato in Covington

Until recently I did not know how much I love gelato.  Thanks to a dear friend giving me a Golden Gelato gift card for Christmas I was introduced to one of the most scrumptious treats I have ever had. Golden Gelato There is a gelato shop in Covington called Golden Gelato and these folks really...
The Elusive Cow

The Elusive Cow

The Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area boasts some of the most charming and interesting river cities.  Bellevue, Kentucky is home to many gems worth exploring like restaurants, bars, a brewery, and so many interesting shops.  Bellevue is also home to The Elusive Cow, an incredible eatery that serves up delicious food in a laid-back...

Free Shakespeare in the Park presented by Cincy Shakes {2023}

Shakespeare in the Park happens every summer when Cincy Shakes sends performers out into the parks and green spaces of Greater Cincinnati to bring Shakespeare’s works to the public.  The shows are free and fun for the whole family.  The performances are always entertaining and performed with zeal and passion. We saw Comedy of Errors...
Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe

Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe

I have been making Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad for years and years now.  It is so easy to make and always a hit at parties.  The recipe came from my cousin Vicky’s recipe collection and I have only made one change to it.  I sauté the chicken in olive oil and then cook it in...
Easy Blueberry Cobbler Recipe

Easy Blueberry Cobbler Recipe

After much trial and error, I think I have come up with the most perfect easy Blueberry Cobbler recipe.  I say that it is perfect because it’s just the way that my family likes cobbler – NOT mushy.  After a few attempts with mediocre mushy cobblers and studying our grandmother’s cobbler recipes I put together...
Thai Chicken Pizza

Thai Chicken Pizza

Pizza night happens quite often around these parts.  We all love homemade pizza and I love experimenting with toppings on pizza night.  One of our favorite pies is the Thai Chicken Pizza because the flavors are just perfect.  This reheats well the next day for lunch – or eat it cold, that is just how...

Unique Baby Shower Gift Ideas

I am usually not one to shop off of baby registries, because I prefer to try to come up with unique baby shower gift ideas.  And most of the time these unique baby shower gifts involve books.  I am a preschool teacher and a big advocate for early literacy, so I sometimes use baby shower...