• Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Minnesota Mom

Lots of Coffee, lots of kids. It's a peaceful life.

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • My Photography
  • Contact

Welcome to my happy place!

Subscribe now to stay in the loop. You'll get new posts and freebies sent right to your in-box.

Baby Steps for a Big Baby: 7 Things I Did this Summer to Feel like Less of a Failure

September 3, 2015 by Minnesota Mom Filed Under: Blogging, Conversion, Friends of the Heart, Growing Up, Just Me, Spiritual Growth 21 Comments

Or: On How to Stop Over-eating, Over-worrying, Over-EVERYTHING, for crying out loud! You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging. There are at least two good reasons for this decision, seven of which I'm going to detail here. (?) The truth is, I was (trying to) squeeze every last moment of merit from the summer that flew by...and as … [Read more...]

Armed & Ready: My Firstborn’s High School Graduation

June 8, 2015 by Minnesota Mom Filed Under: Growing Up, Joe, Minnesota Me, Motherhood, Special Events 6 Comments

In heading into this last week before our grad party... I wish I could say I was as confident as this. I wish I had the unabashed strength of a two-year-old—a strength in spirit if nothing else.   I wish I felt ready to host a hundred people. I wish my garage were already clean.  "Would you just trust me?" My husband is … [Read more...]

On being the Bipolar Mom of Double Bookend Boys

May 17, 2015 by Minnesota Mom Filed Under: Growing Up, Keeping It Real, Minnesota Me, Motherhood, My Boys 13 Comments

[Including, but not limited to, a son who will be graduating from high school in three short weeks] I appear to be at a point in my life where either I blog it all or not at all. I was surprised to click over here yesterday and see that I haven't posted anything since the start of May. "How can this be?" I asked myself, "When life is full full … [Read more...]

Netflix in November: What I’m Watching, with Whom, and Why

November 20, 2014 by Minnesota Mom Filed Under: #StreamTeam, Growing Up, Minnesota Me, My Girls, Reviews 4 Comments

As part of the Netflix #StreamTeam, I'll be doing a monthly post highlighting certain themes and movies from their service. In exchange for these posts, I received a year's membership to Netflix and a streaming device, but the opinions expressed are entirely my own! So be warned. : ) My family's got a big weekend coming up—back-to-back birthdays … [Read more...]

Don’t blink!

October 28, 2014 by Minnesota Mom Filed Under: Growing Up, Letting Go, Minnesota Me, Motherhood 3 Comments

'Cause when you do... They grow up. Photo Credit: his sobbing mom ; ) Where are you going, my little one, little one? Where are you going, my baby, my own? Turn around and you’re two Turn around and you’re four Turn around and you’re a young [boy] Going out the door. Nanci Griffith ("Turn Around") … [Read more...]

Soccer Stories

September 24, 2014 by Minnesota Mom Filed Under: Growing Up, Minnesota Me, Motherhood, My Boys 2 Comments

The other day I was at the playground, (I tend to hang out at the playground a lot), this time with just my two little men. We were waiting for Jem (pictured below) to finish his soccer practice at an  adjacent field. Francis was fussy 'cause he didn't want to go. Lots of soccer = lots of waiting. I figure, might as well get myself some … [Read more...]

Cuddle Bunnies

September 19, 2014 by Minnesota Mom Filed Under: Gratitude, Growing Up, Minnesota Me, Motherhood, Spiritual Growth 5 Comments

Hmm...I wonder what inspired the title of this post? Perhaps I should have called it "Bed Hogs." I took this photo in the middle of the night. My husband was in Indiana and had no idea I'd snuck the boys into our bed, which, strictly speaking, is against house rules. So don't tell him, okay? Because, like, I'm sure he didn't notice it when … [Read more...]

Roots & Wings & Other Things

September 16, 2014 by Minnesota Mom Filed Under: Growing Up, Health & Wellness, Letting Go, Minnesota Me, Motherhood, My Boys 9 Comments

It's started already so go ahead and be warned. Last night, as the kids were doing their various kitchen clean-up chores... Our dry erase board's a mess but it works. Note that we cycle the chores based on the day of the week, and that my kids are extremely fond of butter. The high school senior starting fighting with the 4th grader. He … [Read more...]

On the Feast of St. Ignatius

July 31, 2014 by Minnesota Mom Filed Under: Gratitude, Growing Up, Minnesota Me, Special Events, Spiritual Growth 12 Comments

Once upon a very long-ago time, I was living on East 48th Street in Manhattan. Midtown, they call it, (I had so much to learn!), and I was living with the writer Kurt Vonnegut and the photographer Jill Krementz as their nanny. I learned a lot about life in New York that fall—about their life, certainly, about being one person among thousands on … [Read more...]

Bath Magic

January 8, 2014 by Minnesota Mom Filed Under: Growing Up, Minnesota Me, Motherhood, My Boys 17 Comments

I took these photos on Monday morning. I took them because I liked the light. I took them because these kids are cute. I took them because I might one day need blackmail. Just ask my teen-aged sons about this. I took them because I'm in "survival mode" these days, but if I pause now and then to just focus on the moment...not forgetting, of … [Read more...]

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 7
  • Next Page »

Hi there!

I’m Margaret in Minnesota, and this is my mom's-eye perspective of a kid-heavy life. I love the Lord; I take lots of photos; and I always try to tell it like it is, from sex to depression and everything in between! I hope you enjoy your time here. ♥

Welcome to my happy place!

Subscribe now to stay in the loop. You'll get new posts and freebies sent right to your in-box.

Join 172 other subscribers

Your support is appreciated. ♥

Too shy to leave a comment?

Email me instead.

Search This Blog

My Archives

All original material on this site copyright Margaret Berns, © 2006–2025.

Tags

#StreamTeam Alaska Ask the Blogger blogging busyness Cute Kid Stories Daybook Depression Eczema Fallen Heroes Family Fun friendship Gluten-Free Good Habits Gratitude Health & Wellness Home Education Home Improvement Homeschooling Intercessory Prayer Liturgical Year Love & Romance Maggie's Quick Picks Marriage MCHEC Military Life Mindful Living Minnesota Mother-Daughter Motherhood Netflix NFP Family Foundations Magazine North Dakota On Being Catholic Parenting Purgatory recipes Reviews Shameless Blegs Smartphone Monitoring Spiritual Growth Stranger Things Suzuki Violin Travel Trust

Recent Comments

  • Dinora Canales on A First Communion Novena
  • chamnan on Boot Camp: Ten Ways to Cope with Missing Your Recruit
  • Carolina on CHC is Loved by Me
  • Heather on Boot Camp: Ten Ways to Cope with Missing Your Recruit
  • Liz S. on Boot Camp: Ten Ways to Cope with Missing Your Recruit

Top Posts & Pages

  • A Letter to my Daughter on Her First Holy Communion
  • A Letter to my 3rd Daughter on Her First Communion Day
  • A First Communion Novena
  • Boot Camp: Ten Ways to Cope with Missing Your Recruit
  • Blog
  • In Honor of Our Fallen Heroes: a Calendar that Remembers
  • You've got depression?!
  • Happy birthday! Love, NETFLIX
  • The Gift of Girls: a Mini-Memoir on Making it Through
  • Shark (Tooth) !

Hi there!

I’m Margaret in Minnesota, and this is my mom's-eye perspective of a kid-heavy life. I love the Lord; I take lots of photos; and I try to always tell it like it is, from sex to depression and everything in between! I hope you enjoy your time here. ♥

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • My Photography
  • Contact
  • Family Fun
  • Just Me
  • Hearth & Home
  • Motherhood

All original material on this site copyright © 2006–2025 by Margaret Berns