To Bribe Or Not To Bribe: Encouraging My Kids Best Behavior

Katherine Heigl with daughters Naleigh and Adalaide
Before I had children I would have sworn I would never bribe them to behave, to pitch in or to be respectful. Almost ten years into momming that inexperienced opinion has gone up in flames. To all the mothers and fathers out there I was secretly judging when witnessing the “I’ll buy you a lollipop if you get off the ground and stop screaming” technique…I deeply apologize. For years I tried the stern mom voice and the “look” you all know the one. Eyes squinted, lips pressed, chin titled to the side. It occasionally worked but it never really brought the best out of my kids and wasn’t really the incentive they needed to encourage positive behavior. Sure no one wants to piss off mom, or few sane people do, but is that really what I wanted my kids to be thinking when good versus bad choices arise? “Don’t piss off mom, don’t piss off mom, don’t piss off mom.” Continue Reading

Toronto Adventures: Evergreen Brick Works

Toronto Adventures: Evergreen Brick Works
The Kelley clan has been really living it up exploring our adopted city of Toronto. We relish our quiet existence in Utah but have been loving the change of scenery and the opportunity to experience city living. Before kids I rarely ever got out and explored the locations my work took me to. I am so grateful my little ones have forced me off the couch and out to adventure. The first stop on our Toronto tour was Evergreen Brick Works. We hit it up kinda late on a Friday so most everything was closed for the evening but we loved the beauty, serenity and all the awesome, even though we couldn’t use them, features of the park. We plan to hit it back up for the Saturday Farmers Market soon and Josh and I are dying for an adults only date night at the beautiful farm to table Cafe Belong.Continue Reading

Holidays 2017: Christmas Decor

Christmas stockings
My mixed metals Thanksgiving table is what truly inspired my 2017 Christmas decor. I loved the look of all those glorious gleaming metals paired together in one cohesive way so I figured, why not carry the look into Christmas? I found relatively inexpensive shatterproof ornaments at Michaels that fit the theme perfectly and had a LOT of ornaments of my own I could mix in. I built myself another wreath for the front door with more finds from Michaels. Though I’m starting to run out of storage space for all these wreaths, maybe I’ll use a few for a fun giveaway and one of you who likes the look of them could use it for your next holiday inspired front door! Thoughts?Continue Reading

In My Knitting Basket This Month

Katherine Heigl and yarns from her knitting basket
I recently walked into a lovely knitting store while in Jackson Hole WY and got totally carried away as I so often do among piles of beautiful fibers. The crisp temperatures in Jackson had me gravitating towards the chunkier yarns and cozy fall patterns. I also happen to love projects that knit up quick and can be done in one rogue afternoon while binging my new favorite show. With my time spread so thin these days I’m in need of quick and easy craft projects and these patterns were exactly what I was looking for. So with out further ado, here is what’s in my knitting basket this month.Continue Reading