Tag: family

  • Family Movie Night (at Home)

    Family Movie Night (at Home)

    Thank you, COOL WHIP, for sponsoring this post.

    Join us on Facebook for inspiration and recipes for everyday treats. What you add makes it. #coolwhipmoms

    Brandon and I like to have stay-at-home movie nights with the kids. We gather snacks, dim the lights, and pile the couch with pillows. The other night, I spelled out the evening’s activity with our magnetic letters, and Eleanor got very excited when I told her what the words said. “Movie night!? YAY!” She ran to her brother, yelling “August, it’s movie night!”

    It doesn’t take much to make an ordinary evening special. It’s in the little details, like jelly beans in a pretty bowl, getting drinks from a dispenser, and eating popcorn out of fun containers.

    We all help to choose movies, but some are more family-friendly than others. (“All right, Ratatouille it is, kids. Let’s save Crank 2 for another day.”)

    Do you ever make ordinary nights into something a little more special?

    Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content.

  • Family Weekend

    Family Weekend

    We drove to Wisconsin and back on Saturday for the Balch family reunion, then spent Sunday with my side of the family for my mom’s birthday. The kids had a great time.

    Balch Family
    (more…)

  • Happy Holidays

    Happy Holidays

    …from our expanding family.

    Thanks, everyone, for all of your love and support this year and every year. Happy holidays!

  • Family Photos

    Family Photos

    Another item has been crossed off of my 30 Before Thirty list! #26: Have an adorable family photo taken.

    Balch Family Photo Shoot

    Balch Family Photo Shoot

    Emily, one of my facebook friends, sent me a message shortly after I posted my list. Her husband James Julius is a photographer, and he was working on building his portfolio. Would we be interested in being photographed by him? He may have been working on his portfolio but I was impressed.

    Balch Family Photo Shoot

    Balch Family Photo Shoot

    Balch Family Photo Shoot

    You know the super adorable engagement photos that people have taken? The kind that always make me a little sad/jealous for not having photos like that taken before Brandon and I got married? Yeah, James Julius takes those. Now I have my own, but they’re even better because Eleanor is in them and we’ve got six years of marriage behind us. In fact, these photos were taken on our anniversary.

    Balch Family Photo Shoot

    Balch Family Photo Shoot

    James photographed us in Austin Gardens, here in Oak Park. Isn’t it a gorgeous setting? He and Emily chose the location, and they chose very well.

    Balch Family Photo Shoot

    Thank you, Emily, for arranging our photo shoot. And thank you, James Julius for giving us such fantastic photos of our family. We’re thrilled with them!

    Balch Family Photo Shoot

    Balch Family Photo Shoot

  • Vintage Cups and Saucers

    Vintage Cups and Saucers

    My mother-in-law moved back to Oak Park from Des Moines, Iowa last year. She downsized, going from living in a large home to a small condo… plus fourteen thousand storage units that she is now renting.

    She’s working on getting rid of a few.

    We, along with Brandon’s sisters, have been the beneficiaries of said downsizing. Sometimes the stuff is a little odd (she has an extensive collection of fake food), but sometimes it is awesome. Like these vintage cups and saucers (a set of twelve).

    Vintage Cup and Saucer

    She thought I might like them because they seemed like my style, and they reminded her of our living room chair. She was right. Aren’t they fantastic?

    Also, I just got this email from her today:

    I noticed somewhere on the blog something about “what do you do with 150 yardsticks?” We have a similar amount of antique ones, some with very entertaining ad slogans on them. When we get our act together, we are making a wainscoting (vertical placement) in the powder room here. (The one with the tree stump sink.) They will look awesome and will provide for some good reading for visitors, seated or standing.

    She’s referring to this tweet, but there are three things that stand out here.

    1. She is in possession of 150 antique yardsticks. (Please refer to the earlier mention of fourteen thousand storage units.)

    2. “tree stump sink”

    3. She is conscientiously thinking of both genders when designing her bathroom.

    My mother-in-law is pretty great.

  • Happy Holidays

    Happy Holidays

    The Balch Family is set to beguile
    decked out in vests of argyle
    while Brandon regales
    with holiday tales
    they wish you good tidings in style