Harvard Homemaker Harvard Homemaker
  • Parenting
    • Mom Tips
    • Making Traditions
    • Education
    • Narrative
  • Home
    • Organization
    • Tips & Tricks
    • Renovation
    • DIY Projects
  • Photography
    • Photo Ideas & Poses
    • Cards & Invitations
    • Photo Display
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Breads & Muffins
    • Main Courses
    • Salads
    • Side Dishes
    • Soups
    • Sweets
  • Holidays
    • New Year
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Mother’s Day
    • Father’s Day
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • Birthday
  • Fun
    • Party Stuff
    • Crafts
    • Travel Tips
    • Giveaways
  • Gifts
    • Gift Ideas
    • Gift Idea Lists
  • Info
    • About Me
    • Contact Me
    • New? Start Here!
    • My Favorite Posts
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy

Search

Join the fun!

We moms love to keep track of firsts. Well, today We moms love to keep track of firsts. Well, today is a new first for me—the first time I haven’t been with one of my daughters on her birthday. Can’t say that I love this first, but I DO love that I’m so confident in my daughter’s ability to be off on her own. She’s currently in Hawaii with a gap year program before starting college next fall. We haven’t seen her in two months now, but she is handling all that comes at her just fine without us, right down to her ride in an ambulance and the 16 stitches she received! 😩 I’m so proud of the strong and independent woman she’s become in her nineteen years. Even though that goodbye ripped my heart out as she got on that plane, I can already feel how much she’s changed. She needed to be doing her own thing; her life at home was no longer enough for her. And honestly, I’ve been okay, too. Although we are thousands of miles apart, she still needs me. It’s just—different. Moms of teens, soak it all up before your kids leave the nest, but know that it’s going to be okay when they do. Things will shift, but a lot of that change will feel positive. There’s something pretty amazing about watching your child navigate the real world and knowing all your efforts to get her there were worth it. And all I know is that when this girl finds me in the airport just before Thanksgiving, that will be one special reunion. This stage of being her mom doesn’t feel like the “end” but rather the start of another exciting chapter. ✨ To our daughter across the ocean, happy birthday!! 🥳 Can’t wait to celebrate with you soon. Until then, consider this to be my way of being with you—it’s also your gift since you can’t receive mail. 😝 You’re welcome. 😘🎂 Love you so much! ❤️
“She wasn’t looking for a knight, she was look “She wasn’t looking for a knight, she was looking for a sword.” –Atticus Ladies, there’s nothing we can’t do. Here’s to strong women — may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them. #internationalwomensday #allyouneediswithin
This girl turned sweet 16 last week, and I can’t This girl turned sweet 16 last week, and I can’t think of a better word to describe her. She once received the “Most Likely to Apologize for Doing Something Right” Award if that tells you anything. 😉 We are so proud of the kind and talented young woman she’s become - to know her is to love her. ❤️ I can’t believe I get to be her mom! Happy birthday to our beautiful girl! 🎂 Swipe for a “then” shot. And check out my stories for more pictures through the years. 🙂 As much as we moms wish we could make time slow down, there’s nothing better than watching our kids become capable, amazing, thoughtful young people! Don’t worry, moms of little ones. The teen years have a lot of good stuff mixed in, too! 🥰
Sending happy holiday wishes your way from Pittsbu Sending happy holiday wishes your way from Pittsburgh! We had a quiet Christmas (just like Thanksgiving... and Easter... haven’t seen our extended families in a year now), but we are trying to find the silver linings. So grateful for all this quality family time, just the six of us, before our oldest graduates this spring! The kids even let my husband and me be in another Tik Tok for Christmas! 😬 (My husband deserves a medal for spending this much time with 5 women over the past year. He will literally go along with anything at this point. 🤪🤷‍♂️😂 #bestdadever) Now here’s to the year ahead! Hoping 2021 feels lighter and brighter for all of us!!! We made it, friends! 👊🏻🥳✨
My oldest daughter turned 18 last week, and it’s My oldest daughter turned 18 last week, and it’s taken me until now to be able to pull myself together about it. 🥺 I feel like I’ve grown up right beside her this whole time - she has taught me all about what’s most important in life. I couldn’t be more proud of the young woman she has become, and I can’t imagine a better big sister to pave the way for her three younger sisters. That is going to be one hard goodbye next fall when she heads off to college, but she is ready and her future is bright! . To my amazing girl: I love you more than words can say. Thanks for making me a mom. You are a dream come true. ❤️
These four girls light up my life. So proud to be These four girls light up my life. So proud to be their mom today and every day. #nationaldaughtersday 💕 #luckyme 🍀
#challengeaccepted. 🙌 Thanks to @kaitesull, @je #challengeaccepted. 🙌 Thanks to @kaitesull, @jeneckert4, and @stambroskymach for nominating me. You all radiate positivity, and I am better for knowing each of you! 🥰 Have you been seeing a lot of black & white selfies of incredible women in your feed lately? Wondering what that’s about? (I was! 🙋‍♀️) It’s a Women’s Empowerment Challenge. I don’t often participate in “challenges”, but I’m all for this one! If there is one thing I try to do through this platform, it’s to be encouraging. We women are way too hard on ourselves - we pour so much love and energy into our family and friends, always reassuring them that they are “enough”. Why can’t we do that for ourselves? So with that, I want to tell you ladies reading this that you are AMAZING. Never doubt that everything that makes you YOU is just what this world needs. Embrace that. And keep building one another up. We are stronger together. Part of this challenge is to nominate some women privately (which I will do), but I also want to nominate EVERY SINGLE WOMAN READING THIS. I encourage you to dive in and be part of this movement - don’t ever wait to spread positivity. Share a picture of yourself with the hashtag #challengeaccepted and maybe a few words of encouragement - whatever that means to you. And please tag me if you’d like! If your account is public, I can share your post in my stories. I would love to spread the love among this community! We could certainly use more of that these days. ❤️ #womensupportingwomen #womenempowerment #strongertogether #womeninspiringwomen
A NEW POST IS ON THE BLOG! (Miracles do happen! 😬) Click the link in my profile to find it. My oldest child is a rising high school senior. I can’t get her and the Class of 2021 out of my thoughts. I finally decided to write it all down. So to all you rising seniors - and your families - this post is for you. ❤️ Do you have a high school or college senior this year? What is the (tentative) plan where you live? I believe these kids can still have a good year! What if it proves to be invaluable to them in ways we never dreamed? ✨🎓 http://harvardhomemaker.com/dear-class-of-2021/
My 15-year-old daughter recently created this artw My 15-year-old daughter recently created this artwork. It was her way of speaking out about the racial injustice she sees in our world. After receiving an overwhelming response asking her if it would be possible to get prints/stickers/pins, etc. featuring this piece, she created a Redbubble webpage. She will donate all proceeds from any sales of this design to the Movement for Black Lives. You can find this artwork on many different products at her site here (or click the link in my profile): https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/50081501 I am so proud of my daughter for pouring her energy into this cause. While the youth of today are often criticized, I feel like in many ways they are the best of us – the most open-minded, optimistic, and inclusive. And I think they will lead the way to a better, more equal tomorrow. As I think about White privilege and what it has meant in my own life, my thoughts keep circling back to this: I have a child who has had her driver’s license for well over a year, and I have never once thought to talk to her about what she should do if she were ever pulled over by the police. I HAVE NEVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT THIS. Moms with Black children, however, have nightmares about such an encounter. It’s talked about and pounded into their babies’ heads long before they can even drive. (There is an emotional scene in the movie “The Hate U Give” that illustrates this perfectly.) Finally, speaking of movies, I would recommend all those listed below. These movies have prompted good and much-needed discussion in our house in recent weeks. JUST MERCY THE HATE U GIVE HIDDEN FIGURES THE HELP GREEN BOOK As a family, we know we want to be allies to the Black community during this national reckoning over race. Knowing how to do that feels like the hard part, but I believe it begins with an open dialogue (especially within our own homes) and a desire to be part of the change.
They say a girl chooses to marry someone who is a They say a girl chooses to marry someone who is a lot like her dad. My own dad certainly set the bar high, and now so has this guy. We are some lucky ladies! Happy Father’s Day to the two very best men in our lives. We love you! ❤️
Twenty years. That sure went fast! Even though we Twenty years. That sure went fast! Even though we didn’t celebrate quite as we had planned, it was still our most memorable anniversary yet. Our girls planned a surprise dinner for us - they shopped for all the groceries, cooked everything, and served us on our deck - complete with appetizers and dessert. Our four thoughtful girls are the best things that could have ever come from these two college sweethearts deciding to get hitched! ❤️ Thought I’d share some of my favorite pictures with my favorite. 🥰 Feeling so lucky and looking forward to the next 20 years and beyond!
“I am a strong woman because a strong woman rais “I am a strong woman because a strong woman raised me.” This lady right here is one tough cookie. When I was a kid, I remember her hitting homeruns over the fence and throwing the ball home from left field. Once a summer (but only once) she would jump in the lake in northern Minnesota when the water finally got warm enough and slalom ski, cutting back and forth across the wake. Sometimes she would go doubles with my brother, and they would zigzag under one another’s ski ropes. I thought she was the coolest mom around, and I wanted to be just like her. Fast forward a few years, and she’s no longer water skiing or tearing up the softball field at 71. But she’s still the strongest woman I know. Along with being diabetic, she has cleared more medical hurdles than I can count at this point. Most notably, she received a liver transplant 11 years ago that saved her life. She got so sick so fast that she shot to #1 on the transplant list out of 17,000. She is a walking miracle. We ladies are a feisty bunch. We are raised by strong women, and we become strong women. And then we raise more strong women. Happy Mother’s Day to all the women of the world - we truly are the ones who make it go ‘round. 👊🏻❤️ If you’ve never read my mom’s survivor story, you can find it by clicking the link in my profile. It’s like something out of a movie. Love you, Mom. Happy Mother’s Day to the strongest woman I know. 😘 P.S. How about that wallpaper in the second picture? 1970s, you were the best. http://harvardhomemaker.com/donate-life-liver-transplant-saved-my-moms-life/
Follow HH on Instagram!

Pages

  • About Me
  • Contact Me
  • Disclosure
  • My Favorite Posts
  • New? Start Here!
  • Privacy Policy
  • © 2012-2020 Harvard Homemaker. All rights reserved. You are welcome to use a single photo from my blog as long as you link back to the original post. All photos must remain in their original state. Failure to link back and credit my site as a source constitutes a copyright violation. Also, please note that you assume all risk involved when completing projects and using ideas that are shared on this site. Harvard Homemaker is not liable for any issues that may arise based on the inspiration found here.
  • © All Rights Reserved