Mailbag time! The Question: Hello, my name is Mollie and I am a big fan of your blog. I lost my pet of 17 years this weekend and I am struggling with the thought of breaking the news to my seven year old son this afternoon. We have been preparing him for her passing...
A Few Things I Love About Living In an Unfinished House
I have so much to tell you all! All the different projects in the works, how the renovations are progressing, what I think about all the newsy things, weirdo stuff Frankie's been doing . . . But there's not much time to tell it, so today, you just get a peek at how it...
Should Catholics Attend Easter Egg Hunts on Holy Saturday?
Mailbag time! The Question: Hi, Kendra! Thanks so much for your blog. I was hoping you could offer some advice on a question regarding living out the liturgical year with young kids. Our parish Easter egg hunt is scheduled for Holy Saturday morning and I don't know...
It's Moving Day! -party horn emoji- dot dot dot -sobbing emoji-
Well, the day has finally arrived . . . moving day. Let's catch up on the goings on around here, shall we? -1- He absolutely insisted on getting TAPED into the box, and I was like, "Of course nawww . . . what am I thinking? Yes. Yes, I will tape you into that box,"...
The Pope Francis Conversation . . . or, Go Talk to Your Father, it’s His Feast Day
Hey Guys. Today is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. In light of current events, it seems especially important to remember what we celebrate today. According to Pope Benedict: This is a very ancient tradition, proven to have existed in Rome since the fourth...
The Year of Mercy Family Challenge
It's the Year of Mercy! But hopefully you already knew that, as I've been meaning to write this post since, um, November. We've been making an effort to be mindful of the Year of Mercy in our home, and we came up with a Year of Mercy Family Challenge to go with it....
Pro-Life is Complicated, and How You Can Help
Last month we had the unfortunate anniversary of Roe v Wade. Many cities, including my own Los Angeles, hosted Walks for Life, but our family wasn't there. We weren't there because we were at a funeral, for a baby named Emily Rose Marie. We are fortunate enough to...
Sixteen Pairs of Catholic Saints Who Were Friends IRL
On the Feast of St. Brigid, on Monday, the kids and I got to talking about the saints. Of course we know that they're all friends NOW, in heaven. But we were kind of intrigued by the idea that St. Brigid and St. Patrick were actually friends IRL, as it were. Spouses,...
How to Turn a Ten Bedroom House Into A Four Bedroom House
Renovations are well underway at the new old house. It's amazing to see it start to come together after playing around with it on paper and on the computer for so many weeks. My friend Christy keeps pestering me for before and after photos, which don't exist because...
Women’s Work: Do I Ever Feel Guilty About Not “Using” My College Education?
Mailbag time! The Question: Hi Mrs. Tierney, My name is Sanasi and I am a 21 year old university student. I stumbled across your blog when I was looking for more Catholic blogs to read in my free time and it's kind of weird, but I feel like I see so much of myself in...
State of the Blog Address
I hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas! School starts up again around here today, for better and worse. I do like a break, but . . . Especially this year. This holiday season has been an absolute blur of new house stuff. There was some back and forth as to...
Merry Christmas from the Tierneys!
Dear Gentle Readers, Thank you so much for being the best online community a gal could have. Thanks for your comments and opinions, your questions and your encouragement. Thanks for making this blog one of my favorite spaces. I wish you and yours a most beautiful...
The Blessed Virgin and the Blasting Out of the Baby Jesus
When I was expecting my second baby, lo those many years ago, my oldest would happily tell anyone in earshot that the new baby was going to "blast out" of mommy sometime soon. He also thought that maybe it was going to be a baby elephant, "like Dumbo." He was wrong ....
A Star Wars Birthday Party (in the van) *with spoiler-free movie review*
Okay, here it is you guys. Finally. I have been having exasperating computer issues that have been a drain on my already limited blogging time. But I just know you guys have been dying -dying- to know what I think about The Force Awakens and whether or not it's a good...
A Very Netflix Christmas 2015: Win it!
Last year, I wrote about all our favorite Christmas movies, but I had to update it for this year because -- you guys -- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is no longer available on Netflix. If you missed it, all I can say is I'm so, so sorry. But there ARE still some...
A Pride and Prejudice 2nd Birthday Party to Ardently Admire and Love
Lulu's "Pie Pedjus" second birthday party was last weekend, but it's taken me all week to get this post written because I fell hard down the rabbit hole of picMonkey + Jane Austen. But more on that later. First, for the party . . . Lulu is a big, big fan of the...
Liturgical Living for Beginners: An Our Lady of Guadalupe Play Date, with help from me and CCC
This is a sponsored post. See my disclosure policy. I had such fun last spring putting together a St. Patrick's Day play date that I decided to do another one . . . this time for the upcoming feasts of St. Juan Diego on December 9th and Our Lady of Guadalupe on...
In Which We Discover if I Really Meant it About Not Doing NFP
Mailbag time! The Question: Hi Kendra, I find myself at a point where I am needing to sort of “vent” out some frustrations with NFP, and storing children’s clothing in a too “small” of a house. I went searching your blog for “storing clothes” and somehow found your...
A Few Things That Happened on Our Long Weekend
We are spending a lovely long weekend in San Diego at my parents' house, and it has been relaxing . . . yet productive. Mostly productive, I guess. I'm super bad at relaxing. But it was fun. Here's a quick look at a few things that went down. 1. The New Liturgical...
The Catholic All Year Quick Gift Guide for Catholics (and non-Catholics)
As someone somewhere in this blessed country is getting knocked unconscious over a discounted Keurig Machine, I plan to be observing Black Friday by continuing our family tradition of watching all of the Lord of the Rings movies (and none of the Hobbit movies) over...
When There Is So Much to Fear
Mailbag time: What to do when it all seems like too much . . . (and if you make it to the bottom there's news and shopping, yay!) The Question: Hi Kendra, I found you blog a new months ago and have so enjoyed going through your old posts and soaking up all the...
So I Hear There’s This Movie . . . Star Wars?
It's supposed to be a big deal. 😉 It's kind of all the small people in my house can talk about. Overshadowing even THE BIG MOVE . . . on team kid, at least. They have watched the trailer only four hundred and sixty seven times. Gus and Bobby have November and...
Here We Go . . .
Winners of the Advent giveaway are at the bottom of the post . . . Well, I said I wasn't going to believe it was ours until I had the keys in hand. But I'm still not sure I do believe it. It's been quite a journey so far, and we're only just getting started. I'm...
Why My Daughters Are Not Altar Servers
Mailbag time! A few weeks ago, I argued that learning traditional homemaking skills in an all-girl environment was beneficial for my girls. I'm back today to support something for just the boys . . . the question: I had a question about your kids and altar serving. I...
How to Advent, in three steps
Advent is less than two weeks away . . . are you ready, TO WAIT? Advent is a beautiful time of year. But for those of us attempting to live the liturgical year in our homes (at least a bit) it can be a tricky season to get right. Sometimes it feels like whatever we...
Over 150 MORE All Saints Day Costumes for Kids: and all the winners of Catholic Costume 2015
Another excellent year of Catholic Costumes y'all. I just love the variety. Here's a look at how the Tierney kids' costumes turned out this year . . . I had all but given up on a costume for Mary Jane and I. Then, the morning of our homeschool group All Saints...
Our Father Who Art in Stop Hitting Your Sister: praying with regular kids
If the figurine genre has taught us anything, it's that children love to kneel reverently and piously recite their prayers. But if your children happen to not be figurines, maybe they sometimes complain about saying their prayers. Maybe sometimes prayer time turns...
Sneaky Peeks at the Hundred Year Old House and the Brand New Shop
I was going to wait to show you guys this hundred year old house until we had, ya know, bought it. But . . . I got tired of waiting. It is the best of houses and the worst of houses. Living room: Yay! Kitchen: Boo. Schoolroom: Yay! Mummified Rat: Boo. And it's still...
Praying for the Dead With Children
November is the Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. If you aren't in the habit of hanging out in cemeteries and praying for the dead with your kids . . . well, you're really missing out. And so are your kids. AND so are the dead. As Christians, we believe that the...
What Does an Octopus Have to Do With All Saints Day? {and giveaway winners revealed}
Pretty much nothing. Why do you ask? Oh, you mean because on All Saints Day, when other folks were posting pictures of their little saints-in-the-making in their #catholiccostume, *I* was posting photos of various octopus-shaped foods? I could try to come up with...