I don't do these family glimpse posts as much as I used to, because I tend to share that stuff on the Catholic All Year Facebook page and on my Instagram account now. But I forget that not all of you are all those places. And I share different stuff on Facebook than I...
Seven Free Printable Catholic Valentines
In honor of Saint Valentine's Day . . . Here are seven different free printable Catholic valentines, featuring saint quotes and Bible verses, made by yours truly. You're welcome to right click and save any of these images. You may print them for your own personal use...
Celebrating Birthdays That Fall During Lent?
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...
To the Harry Potter Finger-Waggers: Sorcery in the Bible vs Living in aMagical World
Dear Lady Who Commented on My Instagram Photo, I can't remember your name, because I deleted your comment very quickly. I don't usually delete comments, but I just didn't want a whole big thing to get started. I had a party to plan. The photo was this one . . . of the...
Seven Odd Things I’ve Come to Appreciate About Homeschooling
I've written before about why and how we homeschool. But, recently, as we go about our daily routine, I keep noticing odd little things that I really like about homeschooling. I don't think any of these would be a very good reason to have decided to start...
Are Older Siblings Overburdened by Responsibilities? Or Are They Empowered by Them?
I have a backlog of great mailbag questions I got during and since the ol' hiatus. So, here's another one. The idea that I might be overburdening my kids with responsibilities around the home is something that I have definitely worried about myself, but, so far, what...
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...
My Five Favorite Things About the Sheenazing Awards
Can you believe it's Sheenazing Award season again!? Time really flies, 'eh? Anyway, I am honored to have been nominated in a few categories this year, alongside some really terrific blogs. And Blessed is She was nominated as well! Please head over to A Knotted Life...
How to Teach Catholic Kids About Creation and Evolution
More from the mailbag! This time it's a homeschooling faith vs reason question I received on the Catholic All Year Facebook page from reader Karen. Question: We are new to homeschooling and love your blog! We are starting our journey through the history of the world ....
little kids & BIG CHANGES: how much help does an older sibling need when a new baby comes along?
What do you do when you want to blog, but you ALSO really, really want to take a bath and hit the sack? Why, fish something out of the mailbag of course. It's already written and at least one person in the universe is interested in the answer. Today's question is from...
Posts I Loved (but maybe you missed?) in 2014
Hey, I've (finally) got my first OB appointment today. Who wants to guess how far along I am and how many very small people are in there? *I* think twelve weeks and one person, but I really don't know for sure. I wasn't charting. I'm against charting. And now . . . I...
The Top Ten Posts of 2014
So, this pregnancy has been a more-sick-than-most pregnancy, and I'm still feeling pretty dead to the world in the evenings, which have always been my prime blogging hours. BUT. I don't want to just disappear forever. I have about a zillion things bouncing around in...
What I Did on My Christmas Vacation
Well, I was away from the blog for a couple weeks. And many things happened. This happened, more than would have been my personal preference, but I'm not in charge. But that wasn't the ONLY thing that happened. And I felt LESS horrible in the mornings, and didn't get...
In Which I May Just Be Back in the Land of the Living
I've missed you guys! Pictured: This was not MY funeral. This was the funeral of Brian Urlacher the hen, who was found dead on Boxing Day, and was buried with due reverence by her caretaker Bobby, with supervision by Frankie. But, whew, yesterday was the first day...
Christmas Wishes from Us to You, plus winners, and hashtags, and printables, oh my
Well, for those of you who are just dying of curiosity over which photo we went with for the Christmas card this year . . . it was the rocks one. In case your card got lost in the mail, here it is in blog form: And in case you couldn't read that, here's the...
Living Our Faith in Our Home With Older Kids
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...
Seven Quick Reasons I Don't Have a Problem With "Happy Holidays"
Every year, I see rabble rousing Christian websites trying to get folks to boycott businesses that use Happy Holidays in their advertising. Obviously, I support people's right to do as they please with their own money. But as for me, I'm not a boycotter to begin with,...
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...
Seven Reasons My Kids Don't Need Toys This Christmas
Don't you just love this song? I do. But naughtiness isn't why there's not going to be much under our tree this year. It's just that there are plenty of reasons my kids don't need any toys. Seven, in fact. Here they are . . . 1. We Have a Lot of Stuff We have a...
What Everyone Should Do for the Feast of St. Martin of Tours, with a printable
Is that too strong? Well, it's what WE are going to do anyway: CLEAN OUT THE COAT CLOSET! It's something we can ALL do, no matter our financial circumstances. We can take a look in our coat closets and see if we have anything to spare. Maybe we do, maybe we don't. But...
Over 150 All-Saints Day Costumes for Kids
I was so amazed at the awesomeness of your entries in the Catholic Costume Contest, that I decided to post, not just the winner, not just a handful of favorites, but almost 200 awesome Catholic costumes, made by real parents and kids just like you and yours. It seems...
At the End, Charlotte Dies: a Reflection on Death for All Souls Day
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...
Pumpkin Picking, Pumpkin Carving, and the Anarchy and Socialist Anti-Religion Agenda of Curious George Boo Fest
-- 1. Pumpkin Picking -- We had Frankie's birthday party last weekend and the husband has been out of town this week, so our first chance to get pumpkins was Thursday. I suppose it's just as well, because I've learned the hard way what happens when you carve pumpkins...
Last Minute Twofer Costumes for Halloween AND All Saints Day: and a Catholic Costume Contest!
So, you're all set for Hallowtide, right? Your kids have got a Halloween costume and an All Saints Day costume all set and ready to go? No? Not to worry. These costumes can be thrown together in a couple of days, and if you have Amazon Prime, you might not even need...
Celebrating the Feast of Pope St. John Paul II in the Home, with a Printable
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...
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...
Awesome All Saints Day Costumes in Expert, Store-Bought, and, What? is it October?
Can you believe it's October?! With the weather we've been having in Southern California . . . I cannot. But, there you have it. Probably, you want to be an awesome, totally organized mom who remembered that All Saint's Day and Halloween were coming up. But probably...
In Which there are Seven Free Printable Prayers and so many other things . . .
I've had some more requests for printable prayers from good folks like Sarah and Charlotte and Robin. And, in honor of the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, and in celebration of the monumental events of the day (more on that below), I decided to take an evening off of...
Answer Me This . . . and all the recent feasting!
It's been a Week of Feasts at Casa Tierney. Wednesday was the Optional Memorial of St. Bridget: You say "Optional Memorial," I hear "Excuse to Par-tay, Swedish-style." Or, I should say, my personal made-up Swedish-style. Since I am not Swedish and don't actually...
Updated: Answer Me This . . . Meat Friday (and What I Wore Sunday)
Welcome to Answer Me This . . . the internet's favorite virtual cocktail party* in which I ask six totally random questions and we all answer them and get to know each other a little better. Isn't that nice? *this statement may not be true. So, here goes this week's...