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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....
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,...
October is the Month of the Rosary . . . Sometimes I imagine Saint Bernadette, eagerly and devoutly praying the rosary at the feet of Our Lady. She reverently hold the beads, she carefully recites the prayers, her heart and her mind full of Mary's love for her son...
When I had my first baby thirteen years ago, I knew a lot of things would change. I was warned that sleeping, and showering, and getting laundry done would all suddenly require ingenuity and advance planning, and back up. And that was true. But no one warned me about...
With baby Mary Jane closing in on the two-week anniversary of that time she was accidentally born in our bathtub, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some photos of her, and a few things I've learned NOT to do while parenting my newborns. 1. Change Her Diaper...
Mary Jane was baptized last Sunday, and since a few of you asked in the comments of Facebook and Instagram photos, I'll use this photo dump to answer your godparent/godchildren related questions. How Do We Choose Godparents for Our Children? We choose practicing...
Planned Parenthood is yucky. I hate that they exist. I hate that they use lies and doublespeak to prey upon the most vulnerable among us (the women AND their babies). I was not one tiny bit surprised by the latest Planned Parenthood scandal. Sad, yes. But not...
It's easy to sometimes feel like motherhood isn't compatible with true Christian works of mercy. After all, not many of us are able to manage the kind of charitable activities that our sisters called to single life or religious vocations might be able to do. I have...
Before Pentecost can happen, of course, we have to have the Ascension. The kids and I will be observing Ascension Thursday by flying from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. to meet up with the husband who is there for business all this week. It seems somehow fitting to be...
Today is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. And I just happen to have a mailbag question that is particularly well-suited to the day. Let's get to it, shall we? the question: Dear Kendra, Hi! First, I enjoy your blog very, very much. I am on my way into the Catholic...
Between nearly twenty weeks of all-day morning sickness and my failed going to bed early for Lent experiment, I ended up with quite a backlog of mailbag questions. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing them . . . I received this one after linking to my post about...
It had been many, many years since I had read The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward when we got it out of the library last year. And I was like, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD, children's book from 1939 about how to become the Easter Bunny!" Because,...
Every year, during the first three days of Holy Week, we do a big declutter and donate. This is how I get motivated . . . We Can Do It! Here's why it works for us . . . 1. Since it's tied to a big event - Easter - I can't "forget" about it, or put it off forever....
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...
Today is the fifth Sunday of Lent, traditionally known as Passion Sunday. This is the day on which images and statues are often veiled in churches. We like to do this in our home as well. (I used think we were supposed to do this for all of Lent, but have recently...
Tomorrow is the feast of St. Joseph, and it's a biggie. St. Joseph's Day on March 19th and the Annunciation coming up on March 25th are both solemnities. Note for 2017: Because March 19th falls on a Sunday this year, the celebration of St Joseph's Day is officially...
Happy Laetare Sunday all! Here's what we wore. Obviously. Me: ModCloth dress (I really love their stuff. I have an affiliate link, over on the right sidebar next to the comments, if you want to check them out.) Old Steve Madden shoes. Lulu: Hand me down smocked dress,...
Blogger was having some technical difficulties last night and this morning, so most people (including me) got a "server down" error message when they tried to access Catholic All Year and many other blogs. But it seems to have been resolved. So if you missed today's...
I grew up listening to showtunes and pop music. I am still pretty partial to both. But, ya know, ya get married and are introduced to whole new worlds you never even knew existed. Like Irish Folk music, for instance. I wasn't aware of any such thing until I met my...
This is a sponsored post. See my disclosure policy. It's March! Spring is in sight (at least in California), we are mostly in the swing of Lent (however much that's possible, anyway), and around the Tierney gaff, it's time to get super excited for the upcoming feasts...
I shared a bunch of these photos on Instagram and a couple on Facebook, but not all of them. So I figured I'd throw them up here as quick as I can, in case you didn't see them there. AND I want to announce the winners of the Lent giveaway in time for the winners to...
Lent is nigh, you guys. It is NIGH. Hope you're ready. If you're not, I might be able to help . . . with some recommendations, and some free printables, and a contest. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? Because before Ash Wednesday, comes Fat Tuesday (aka...
I'm once again striding boldly into the dangerous, churning waters of Lenten "breaks." This time to answer a mailbag question . . . Question: Hi Kendra! My youngest is celebrating his first birthday next month and I'm wondering how to celebrate a birthday in Lent. I...
Okay, folks. Now that Candlemas is over and all things Christmas are officially behind us, it's time to quit being in denial that Lent is coming. Fast. It is for me, anyway. Two weeks from today is Fat Tuesday. Then, it's on. A pretty significant percentage of my...
I get plenty of questions about how to introduce our Catholic faith to preschoolers and little kids, but so far, none about how to help guide older children as, hopefully, their faith matures and becomes something that they take some initiative for themselves. So...
Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which is a Holy day of Obligation. Yes, even though it's a Monday. Go ahead, run to Mass. We can do this when you get back. Okay, back? Obligation fulfilled? Your reward is this free printable: also, this one:...
It's the million-dollar Christmas question, right? And I've been asked it many times in the lead-up to Advent and Christmas: Do our children "believe" in Santa Claus? But . . . I don't think it's the right question. Hang in here with me. Seriously, let's look at what...
I've already written about how we are planning a more simple and a more toy-free Christmas than we've had in the past. Not because we are AGAINST toys but because we have reached the natural conclusion of a few years of more mindful toy-buying, more discerning...
Tomorrow, Sunday November 2nd, is All Souls Day. In our home we commemorate the day by going to a cemetery and praying a family rosary for people who have died. We pray particularly, but not exclusively, for our family's deceased friends and relatives. In honor of the...
I am on a ridiculous (and completely unintentional) streak of two weeks of almost daily blog posts. We can't keep this up forever. I'm trying to stop. Really I am. But there's been all the guest posting and sponsored posting to tell you about. And Frankie was grumpy...