While spiritual preparations for the birth of Christ are much more important, perhaps you, like me, are fielding questions of what gifts your children would like from relatives. After 4 kids, it takes a lot for me to get excited about a baby item. I cannot function well amidst clutter so I usually loathe to add any more stuff to our home. Yet, grandparents often insist on getting something for the little guys who would rather eat the wrapping paper.... Read more
Today during quiet time I cleared off the shelf that held our “Wednesday pile” all the way from last Christmas. There were a few random things which never got opened, and those will go along to goodwill (we use www.pickupplease.org). The truth about the Wednesday pile is that we lose interest by the time the weather gets nice in April, so anything still around by then is usually forgotten. The full shelf above is our games and puzzle shelf, and... Read more
Sunday was my 12th wedding anniversary and (I know Red hates it when I get sappy), I have to say that we are happier together than we have ever been. Here is what I’ve learned: 1) Say “Thank You” often. He goes to work and I stay home, but even in other arrangements, it is easy to take the other person’s contribution for granted, or at least to let them think you do. I really appreciate that my husband gets... Read more
Does your mantle look like this? Ours does. Or at least it did until last Sunday. Bobble head Pope Benedict and Fighting Irish player now look through the Advent greenery and lord over the stockings. They’ve been sitting there all season, placed haphazardly before the first game back in September and never moved thanks to superstition. (It’s only weird when it doesn’t work— thanks ESPN.) We will not move them until after the National Championship on January 7th. It has been... Read more
We have been lighting our Advent wreath at bedtime each night and then taking some time to talk about, and pray for, the people who have sent us Christmas cards. We have moved so many times and some of our children don’t remember much about different places we have lived, but they like to hear about our old friends, the twins who lived upstairs from us in the city, or the couple who hosted us the first Christmas that we... Read more
Happy New Year, dear friends! Although the calendar new year is just under a month away, the Church’s new year began a couple of days ago on the first Sunday of Advent. Following the season of Advent will come the Christmas season, then a period of ordinary time before Lent, then the Lenten season, the Triduum, the Easter Season, and another long stretch of ordinary time before we come to Advent again. How fun it is to be a Catholic!... Read more
From one of our dear friends: I am growing weary of listening to toddler music in the car. My daughter will happily listen to classical music at home but not in the car. She has heard pop music only a couple of times but really seems to love it. Do you allow your children to listen to pop music? If yes, then how to you determine what is or isn’t appropriate and how do you enforce this in a consistent... Read more
We have a rule for our boys that they may not come out of their rooms after we kiss them goodnight unless it is for something important (subject to the arbitrary discretion of mom and dad), upon penalty of having to stay in their room 5 minutes longer in the morning. It is torturous for them to know that their brothers are eating breakfast 5 minutes before them, so it is quite an effective deterrent. It is so interesting to see what they... Read more
It is truly remarkable how easy it is to slip into a household of negativity around here. Add in a four-day Thanksgiving break and lots of family togetherness and our home was beginning to implode with pessimism, complaining, whiny responses, and a cloud of negative thoughts and attitudes. Our home life started to feel toxic. Something had to give. My husband and I talked it through and decided on a plan yesterday morning. We needed to get back to routines,... Read more
Today is the tenth anniversary of the birth of Therese Joy, the first child of my dear friend and fellow blogger, Kellie. Therese was born with anencephaly and quietly passed away during delivery on that cold November night back in 2002 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was there with a multitude of friends. We knew Therese was coming and we knew she would only be here on earth for a short while. After she was born, Kellie and her husband... Read more
Building Cathedrals
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