Kelly Jo lives her life just how she writes, with lots of exclamation marks! Her Saint Paul home is filled with noise from her fantastic husband, Jon, and their four spicy kids, Owen (‘07), Evan (‘08), Kierstin (’10), and Calvin (’14). She loves her family, her faith, adventure, people, meaningful conversation, the world at large, laughing, and is always armed with a good hug waiting for someone who needs or wants it. She often drives a different way home just because and has more embarrassing stories than two lifetimes put together! She loves coffee, honesty and any reason to celebrate! When she is not building forts or reading books aloud to her kids, she can be found working as a paraprofessional in her school district.
It’s time to clean up and clean out the house. Yes, let’s throw away that broken toy that has been stored in the maybe-I-can-try-and-fix-it-pile on top of the fridge. No,...
Nature shows are amazing. I have learned about animals I never knew existed in places I still can’t pronounce. I’ve watched sloths elegantly fording the river, monkeys with their high-flying...
The three times a week my little guy has preschool; his oldest brother is also with us for drop-off. I barely have my mom-mobile in park before my eldest unbuckles...
I get it. Being a mom often times means holding the line, enforcing the rules, and forcing – I mean fostering – a change in behavior. I am fully aware...
I hate this time of year. It’s really the worst. Everyone’s out with their Pumpkin Spice Lattes, going Apple-Picking and buying Halloween Costumes. Not me. Call me the grump, the...
Morning came too soon. I had snuck out of bed and downstairs to set breakfast in motion. My husband was quietly readying himself for work as our four-year-old slumbered away...
I was wearing orange underwear that day. No one should have known that except me. We were at the local gymnastics gym for a couple of hours of open play....
I remember it clearly. It was the middle of the night. I had just finished a doozy of a diaper change. He was lying there just chillin’ on the fuzzy...