This sweet little board book is sure to captivate your little one. The San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio Public Library Foundation, and Trinity University Press are giving away copies to 5(!) of our readers! Please leave a comment...

I've had it up to here (the writer draws a line with her finger somewhere above her hairline) with the Wall Street Journal headlines proclaiming the superiority of one parenting style followed by an entire culture. You'd think the editorial...

It's been awhile since we've organized an event of epic proportions and we have a feeling this is one of those events. Back in 2007, we held one our biggest clothing exchanges and it was where I befriended Brooke. Brooke...

Sound Roots, a family run music school that provides lessons to kids and adults, is giving away a $50 gift credit! Please leave a comment below telling us how you would use the $50 and your email address (so we...

The ever lovely Melissa Tomeoni is giving away a mini boudoir in studio session and 2 5x7 portraits! This package is valued at $195 and includes refreshments, 1 outfit and 20 minutes of photography time. The mini session yields 20...

It's my favorite time of year to get all paper-y. Early February carries so much promise! I can't wait to come up with some combination of scissors, paints, hearts and paper that will perfectly demonstrate my kids' big, big hearts....

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page. Head to Green Bean Books and join teacher, Kara, from Portland Early Learning Project, as she...

This weekend, I had yet another experience with a family member in which my son's behavior was absolutely not tolerated... leading to the swift ending of our time together (yes, for the rest of my kids and me as well)....

I clicked on the link to a post about whether or not you should let your teen child's boyfriend or girlfriend sleep over expecting a point of view that was very much permissive agnostic (think: the parents caricatured by the...

Eversave, a local daily deal website, is giving away a wine tasting class at Wine Up! Wine Shop to one of our lucky readers! Classes are held at the shop (840 SE Alder St., Portland, 503-616-1918) on Tuesday nights from...

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page. There are still lots of Chinese New Year activities going on around town to celebrate the...

I've never been what you might call "great" at organization. I love to have organized spaces, I do -- I even enjoy the process of organization when, from time to time, I put my mind to nothing but. What I...

At the turn of the year, we love to make resolutions. Many might like to make resolutions of the health variety: I resolve to eat better, I resolve to exercise more, I resolve to lose weight. A few weeks might...

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page. This Friday through Sunday from 10 to 4, the Oregon Zoo will open its Veterinary Medical...

I know my oldest has years to go before he hits the teen years, but I've felt for a while now that his behavioral struggles give me a window into who he will be as a teen -- he's got...

On an afternoon run through a park, I passed a cluster of teens, all of them happened to be female. They were standing in a circle, maybe 5 or 6 of them. Maybe more? There were puffs of smoke rising...

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page. The Portland Boat Show is on now, and continues through this weekend. Kids can make their...

Today, a friend told me, "It's twin Tuesday." Almost every Tuesday, he and his wife go and spend time with the twins who were born of his sperm, which he donated to a friend so that she and her partner...

Monday, Monday! Can't trust that day. I should know by now, after having considered this topic week after week last November and January in the days leading up to the LEGO competition -- LEGO club was Mondays and Wednesdays after...

Last night at 8:30pm, my first-born (now an eleven-year old sixth grader) came into my room. "Can you sign-off on my report?" This was the report on Ancient Egypt that has been in process for months. Originally due the Wednesday...

Since getting in the habit of making my own stock from roasted chicken, I’ve been experimenting with soups. Last night’s fare received 5 thumbs up, so I'm sharing, in case it gets cold enough to actually merit a pot of...

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page. Free admission to the Lan Su Chinese Gardens is happening now, and through January 9. Enjoy...

Note: As a fair warning, this post has been written after a night of very little sleep. I’m not making excuses, just stating the facts as they are. If it’s incomprehensible or confusing, consider yourself warned. If you are scared...

I'm sure my friend Brandy didn't make up the word "resolutionaries," but I saw it first on her Facebook page and so we're going with that. "Resolutionaries: people who you see in the gym in January." It's not just in...

You know what I mean: the organizations one supports these days bombard you in new and different ways. Gone, for the most part, are the address labels and thank-you cards showing up every month in your mailbox. Today, it's emails...

I'm feeling it as much as (or more than) my kids some years -- the post-holiday "I want"s. These come from such innocuous activities as talking to my friends, browsing Twitter, or looking at the Facebook photos of my community....

And a very merry Christmas to you, too! We celebrated with all the normal traditions: the cookie decorating with cousins, opening a single present on Christmas Eve (we, in keeping with my family-of-origin's tradition, start with a reading of the...

Yesterday was the shortest day of the year, and I have read a few of your comments this month about your winter solstice traditions -- just enough for my appetite to be whetted, and not enough for any actual knowledge....

It's a slow weekend as Hanukkah and Christmas converge. Things will pick back up - but for now here's a list of some of the highlights. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and...

There surely was a real St. Nicholas, of course (who would have given very few of our children the things on their Christmas lists -- his assistance of the needy, the sick and the suffering probably wouldn't have included a...