“Natural Family Planning” and Method Effectiveness

Last updated on: October 18, 2012 at 8:29 pm By Juris Mater

Refugees from the sympto-thermal method, my husband and I have begun learning the Creighton model for fertility awareness over the last few months. With five healthy children in seven years, as Mary-Alice says so perfectly, we are “drowning in blessings”! Both the sympto-thermal method and the Creighton model rely on one of the same biomarkers to indicate fertility, and both involve daily charting of signs to determine fertile and infertile days of a cycle. In spite of such noticeable similarities... Read more

Thoughts for Thursday

Last updated on: October 18, 2012 at 12:08 pm By Kellie "Red"

Keeping it real with thoughts for the week, including--dinner plans, weekend plans, and what's challenging me lately. Read more

Dipping a toe in to the political waters

Last updated on: October 17, 2012 at 10:53 am By Mary Alice

Was any one else really embarrassed by the debate last night? I’m not sure whether to blame the format, the moderator or the candidates, but I am leaning towards the latter. The time clock would expire and a candidate would just keep talking and talking until finally the moderator had to interrupt. Then, they would talk over her, or object to her interruption. Which left the moderator in the position of having to decide whether to tell the President of... Read more

The Gift of a Meal: It’s Not Just about the Food

Last updated on: October 16, 2012 at 10:14 am By Katrina

This summer after the birth and death of our daughter, Annie Rose, many wonderful families brought us meals, cookies, muffins, cupcakes – you name it, we gratefully received it all! It was such a blessing to not have to think about dinner plans for the first couple of months following Annie’s birth, and for our children to see in a tangible way how much the community cared for our family. I think that I’ve heard others say this before, but... Read more

A Great Year for Catholics Worldwide

Last updated on: October 11, 2012 at 6:38 pm By Katrina

Today, October 11th, marks the beginning of the Year of Faith for Catholics across the world, which will conclude on November 24th, 2013, on the Feast of Christ the King. What is the Year of Faith? Simply put, it is a year set aside for all Catholics to deepen their faith so that they can share that faith with their families, their communities, and all the world. Why now? October 11th, 2012, marks the 50-year anniversary of the beginning of... Read more

Taste and See

Last updated on: October 9, 2012 at 6:52 pm By texasmommy

Like B-Mama, I am also on an elimination diet for our baby who cannot tolerate any milk protein. I love to cook and bake, so this is tough for me. I have made some vegan versions of recipes with varying degrees of success, but I know that my family prefers buttercream icing to be made with actual butter and cream (not coconut milk and palm oil shortening.) So I continue to make the good stuff for them. The problem is... Read more

Logging Off for the Year of Faith

Last updated on: October 6, 2012 at 10:22 am By Mary Alice

I tried out facebook at first because I thought that it was important for me to understand social media before my children were old enough to use it. I found that I really enjoyed catching up with old friends, and adding depth to local friendships by seeing what my friends were posting. I like facebook more than I thought. Also, since homeschooling means that I am away from other adults for most of the day, it is nice to feel... Read more

Why I feel sorry for Einstein.

Last updated on: October 5, 2012 at 11:25 am By Bethany "B-mama"

One of CNN’s headlines this morning caught my eye: “Einstein Letter: God a Sign of Weakness”. Naturally, I clicked and read on, learning of Einstein’s “God Letter”, a correspondence he wrote to his friend, Eric B. Gutkind, in response to Gutkind’s book, Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt. The letter was written the year before Einstein’s death and some claim it to be his final thoughts on God, revealing a true atheism despite being raised Jewish. Here is an... Read more

Thoughts for Thursday — Birthday Edition!

Last updated on: October 4, 2012 at 10:54 am By Kellie "Red"

So it’s been a while since I’ve posted, and since we have run a thoughts for Thursday. And since it is my Claire Bear’s 3rd Birthday, I’m going to mix things up a bit. What am I cooking for Claire’s Birthday? Today I am baking cupcakes. I’m making two batches (thanks to Betty Crocker!), one GF and the other plain old delicious chocolate. A big batch of icing on top and I’m sure both will be fantastic. I purchased a... Read more

Say Cheese

Last updated on: October 2, 2012 at 7:53 pm By Bethany "B-mama"

Ever find yourself hiding behind the camera so that you don’t have to see pictures of yourself? The kids are much cuter than we are, right?! I found this post an honest and funny look at why we, moms, avoid photos, but why we should really step out in front of the lens to document our lives with our children. Enjoy the read! Read more