Just a reminder: The August Prayer Booklet is available in the blog shop as a print at home PDF, and on Amazon as a paperback booklet. The first devotion for the month is Our Lady, Queen of Angels and the very cool associated Portiuncula Indulgence of St. Francis of...

‘Good Omens’ and ‘Lucifer’ Are Both Wrong About Angels and Devils, but One of Them Is also Wrong About God and Human Beings
The shows Good Omens (Amazon Prime) and Lucifer (formerly of Fox, now on Netflix*) have quite a bit in common on the surface. Both are about angels and devils who decide to come hang out on earth with we mortals, and find us surprisingly compelling. Both shows are...
So. Many. Decisions. (We went with Purse, Snail, Radio.)
The end is coming into hazy view on the horizon . . . of phase one, anyway. Phase one of at least three (but probably more like thirty-seven) phases of the fixer-upping of Gramblewood. Our contractor says he'll be done with the kitchen and the upstairs in about two...
The Problem With Every Movie From My Youth: and ten family movies that won't teach your kids to swear like a sailor
Ahhh . . . movie night. It's one of the most beloved parts of our family routine. Our kids don't watch a whole lot of TV, but we do plan on watching a movie together as a family just about every week. We started off watching mostly Disney animated movies, but as the...
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 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...
Seven Quick Takes of Chatting and Catching Up
Let's be random and rambling today, shall we? 1. My drafts folder is empty. I wrote and scheduled about two months' worth of posts before I had Mary Jane. Then, since she was born, I've been writing about one new post per week, to mix in here and there, and that's...
A Show About the Depth of Male Friendship . . . and farting trolls
The husband is reading The Lord of the Rings aloud to the kids, and I find myself struck again by the beauty of the friendship between Frodo and Sam. Sam's constant selfless devotion, Frodo's (eventual) trust and reliance . . . it's just all so touching. And a deep...
Netflix Summer School: our favorite educational kids’ shows
Here in the San Fernando Valley part of LA, it's been in the nineties pretty much every day for a month. I am a big fan of shutting kids outside to play (A BIG fan. Seriously.) but the blazing heat of the afternoons can melt even MY mean mommy heart. After all, people...
Family Movies for Holy Week on Netflix and Amazon
Movies can be a great way to bring families together, and a great way to help kids understand complicated concepts. Holy Week is an excellent time to do both of those things. So, even though we give up our family screen time during Lent, our family Holy Week...
If Irish Eyes Are Smiling, You Can Bet They’re NOT Watching an Irish Movie, or: Eleven Irish Movies That it’s Entirely Possible That You Would Want to Watch
But then again, maybe you wouldn't. I watched a LOT of Irish movies over the past few weeks, in the hopes of finding a few to recommend for a fun St. Patrick's Day family movie night. But I found that many them made me want to throw myself into the pit of despair....
The Very Best Shows on Netflix . . . according to my kids
So, this whole Netflix sponsored post thing is really supposed to be a LOT more kid-focused than mine are. Mostly, I prefer to hide from my children and watch Netflix streaming on my own. So I've been writing about what I watch when the kids aren't looking, or what we...
Bless Me Father, for I'm a Catholic on a TV Show
I have mentioned that I have watched quite a bit of Netflix streaming during this blah part of my current pregnancy. I didn't set out to find Catholic characters on TV shows or anything. My very scientific method of selecting series to watch is to just click on shows...
12 Days of Family Christmas Movies -mostly- on Netflix Streaming
Keep reading all the way to the bottom for the winners of the two most recent Advent giveaways, and my next to last giveaway of the season, which just might help you enjoy these Netflix recommendations a little more. Speaking of that . . . As I've written about here...
There’s a Right Way and a Wrong Way to Fracture a Fairy Tale . . .
I am so, so late to jump aboard the Once Upon a Time train. Not as late as I was for Doctor Who, I guess. But still, Once Upon a Time has been on the air since 2011, and I only started watching it last month. I had heard of it. I knew Haley liked it, but . ....
Halloween for Kids on Netflix Streaming: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
For my inaugural Netflix Stream Team sponsored post, we're going to look at the kids' Halloween-type movies streaming has available. I'm going to tell you about a few I really like, a bunch that are kinda meh, and a few that you should NOT SHOW TO YOUR CHILDREN. This...
Good News Guys, I’m Selling Out
And I want you to come with me. The good folks at Netflix Streaming invited me to join their team and write monthly about Netflix shows. So, since I was already doing that for free, I said okay. Once a month, I'll be regaling you with thoughts about movies and TV...