Let’s start off with getting everyone on the same page: Snapchat is a phone app in which a person takes a photo, called a Snap, and shares it with one or more of their friends.  What makes Snapchat attractive to its users – teenagers are 1/5 of its audience – is that Snapchat is much more private than any other social media platform.  Snaps disappear immediately after viewing, and comments are seen only by the individual or group recipient.  For my 12-year-old and his friends, this means that they only use text messaging when communicating with their Olds (the vast majority of m ..read more

Thank you to the fantastic people who work for and watch North Dakota Today – it was a beautiful morning to talk about a “baby shower” for expectant mothers in Western North Dakota and a chance for boys and girls to take a spin around the rink. If you want to learn more about Bundle Up Your Baby Bump, click here or read this: And if you want to check out Try Hockey for Free, click here or read this: I hope you enjoy this week’s North Dakota Today segment, which you can watch by clicking the image below. Have a wonderful week! Are we newsletter friends yet? Sign up for the weekly North Dako ..read more

It’s spring.  IT’SSSSSSSPRINGGGGG!!  Calendric spring and what we’d consider actual spring in North Dakota don’t often intersect because our nice weather doesn’t typically start until, uh, June – but as I type this the birds are chirping, the trees are budding, and Kyle has stopped thinking about his backyard rink and has started thinking about The Official Kyle Kosior Drink of the Summer. Somewhere around the time he started saying things like, “Yes, I just swept out the garage but it needs sweeping again” and “Check out this sweet deal on this golf cart,” Kyle also determined that ..read more

Thank you to the wonderful people who work for and watch North Dakota Today – it was a Happy Eclipse Day to talk about an adventure to all 14 North Dakota state parks and a new-ish non-profit helping survivors of violence claim their dignity. If you want to join Women Who Explore: North Dakota on one of their next excursions, click here. And if you want to help Project Dignity fulfill their Amazon Wish List, click here – or if you are interested in attending their upcoming fundraiser, click here. I hope you enjoy this week’s North Dakota Today segment, which you can watch by clicking the image ..read more

Late last year, Warner Brothers released Wonka, a reimagined prequel to the 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory starring Timothee Chalamet as a bright-eyed upstart young candy maker who dreams only of coating the world in delicious, perfect chocolate.  Earlier this month, my 8-year-old walked into the movie theater for a showing of Wonka and came out a changed man.  Specifically, he had changed from a normal (or “normal,” as Eight very much marches to the beat of his own drum) kid into the real-life human embodiment of Willy Wonka – if Willy Wonka was in the 3rd grade in Nor ..read more

Thank you to the lovely people who work for and watch North Dakota Today – it was a typical North Dakota spring morning to talk about the wonderful host of Valley News Now and a free event for aviation fans of all ages. We only barely tapped into all of the wonderfulness that is Jessie Aamodt; to learn more, follow her on Facebook as she traverses the wild world of Rochester, Minnesota. I thought you all might like what she had to say about her work with the Girl Scouts in her own words: I absolutely LOVED getting to represent North Dakota at an international level as Mrs. North Dakota Interna ..read more

I have a few demands of life that have yet to be fulfilled.  The return of VH1’s Pop-Up Video, for one.  Indoor gas stations, for another.  Most importantly, I would really like everyone in the universe to carry a small card or QR code that details everything I would need to know about their backstory relative to where they are at that exact moment.  Just last night, our friend popped over wearing sneakers and no socks – both out of character for him.  Where were his socks?  What happened to his normal work boots?  How long has he owned sneakers and why was t ..read more

Thank you to the wonderful people who work for and watch North Dakota Today – it was a beautiful morning to talk about two sisters helping families feel good, and a team of “duckies” spreading “Smiles for Miles.” If you want to help Amanda Hendrickson and Amber Sundine with the work they do for foster families and CVIC, contact them at Rhapsody Spa and Salon by clicking here. If you want to help CVIC directly, click here. Aaand, to learn more about The Duck Truck, click here. They have already visited Fargo, West Fargo, Casselton, Alice, Mapleton, Milnor, Gwinner, Lisbon, Enderlin, Valley City ..read more

Fort Lauderdale is currently filled to the brim with collegiate spring breakers and the Kyle Kosior Family.  On Monday, we took the boys to Fort Lauderdale Beach, where we unintentionally threw thousands of newly-non-teenagers into momentary “Crap, are my parents here?” panic with our presence.  “Hello, family!” A girl wearing the bathing suit equivalent of two cotton pads shouted from the back of a golf cart before her friends, the same age as several of our friends’ children, were able to shush her. “Have fun and make good choices, ladies!”  I called back. “Yes, ma’am!” she ye ..read more

While it is unknown to the author as to how Bob the Dwarf Frog came to reside in a children’s curio store in Minnesota – one can only assume an audacious escapade involving a helium-filled birthday party balloon ride across the Congo and an unexpected friendship with a one-eyed loon – it is a fact that his life with the Kosiors began because the youngest Kosior, then six, liked to chat. “I like your frogs,” Six said to the shopkeeper, casually leaning against the countertop where four pairs of dwarf frogs swam in small square plastic containers.  “What’s their names?” “They don’t have nam ..read more