Benedict said it first, but it didn’t make headlines.

Last updated on: September 30, 2013 at 6:08 am By Kellie "Red"

If you think Pope Benedict was a rule-oriented curmudgeon, and Pope Francis is charting a NEW, mercy-oriented course for the Church, think again. Read more

Back to School: All In!

Last updated on: September 25, 2013 at 7:00 pm By Juris Mater

Our little Catholic school is opening a Moms’ Morning Out program on Thursday mornings this fall, for kids 12 months to 3 years. Thus, today is the first day of school for my… one year old and two year old. When my oldest two were both toddlers, I thought we would homeschool. Now my fourth and fifth are starting school before they know how to talk. As my oldest said yesterday, tongue-in-cheek, “Oh Mom, it’s so hard to believe [baby]... Read more

Fall Morning Magic

Last updated on: September 25, 2013 at 6:00 pm By Mary Alice

I love Kat’s post about being intentional about meeting our own needs so that we can set the right tone in our household. My biggest challenge lately has been the early morning hours. I am NOT a morning person. Life has radically changed for me this September and the mornings have been rough. When my big kids get up to head to the school bus, my others all wake up as well, so we have a household that is noisy... Read more

Follow-Up to the All-Powerful Mother

Last updated on: September 23, 2013 at 6:36 pm By Katrina

After last week’s post on the All-Powerful Mother, I started to think about how we, as mothers, can ensure that we are setting ourselves up for success in our interactions with our husband and children. If it is really true that we “possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous” for our families, then we need to be intentional about making sure that we are physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy ourselves. How can we do this? Of course, daily... Read more

Tiny victories

Last updated on: September 23, 2013 at 8:49 am By J'

I still very much feel like I’m in new mama land, but today is a big day for me. Not only is Pia, my sweet firstborn, 7 months old (oh my, how did that happen?), but it also marks month 7 of nursing her. I am positive some of you can relate, but breastfeeding was a huge, huge issue for me at first – I had wanted to do it and thought it was important, but was completely shocked at... Read more

Bizarro Army Stepford Neighborhood

Last updated on: September 20, 2013 at 5:38 am By AWOL Mommy

The Army has plunked us down in beautiful Kansas, but boy is our neighborhood strange. We are back in the States for the first time in five years, after a lovely stint in Germany and we chose to live on the Army base here. For those of you who do not have experience with the military pay structure, every time our family moves we are given two options: 1) live in the appropriate size house on the Army post where... Read more

Building Cathedrals’ Midwest Expansion

Last updated on: September 18, 2013 at 9:20 pm By Katrina

We are beyond excited to welcome Queen B to our Building Cathedrals family! Below is her first post. Queen B, I don’t know how you managed to squeeze in a blog post in the midst of your very busy week, but we’re glad that you did! I can’t tell you the number of times that I shook my head in disbelief this summer, realizing that it has been ten years since I graduated from college. That means that it has been... Read more

Dinner on the go

Last updated on: September 18, 2013 at 5:43 am By texasmommy

Having recently entered the world of kids sports teams, I am still figuring out how to make it all work. The Lord generously blessed me with back to back practices at the same location for my 2 bigger boys. So we only have one practice night a week. But add in two early evening games, and my weekly dinner plans come crashing down. I know that Red feeds her kids dinner early, but my son takes a medicine that... Read more

Wedding Survival With Kids In Tow

Last updated on: September 17, 2013 at 9:13 am By Bethany "B-mama"

Our family is still happily reeling from the whirlwind wedding weekend of my husband’s brother and his new bride. It was beautiful, breathtaking, tear-filled, and so very special. We had a fantastic time. Going into it, though, I have to admit I had my doubts. How were we supposed to achieve all of us being in the wedding, satisfying a lot of people’s expectations, while still having fun and keeping our sanity? It seemed a feat almost impossible. Yet as... Read more

The All-Powerful Mother

Last updated on: September 15, 2013 at 7:37 pm By Katrina

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person... Read more