Join my family as we prepare to celebrate Holy Thursday! WATCH NOW Holy Thursday is a day of contradictions. On the evening of Holy Thursday, Jesus' Passion began. But before that, he gathered with his friends to celebrate the Last Supper and at this meal, he...
Also available as a YouTube video here! Well, you've done it. You AND your children have, somehow, against all odds, survived through to these last few days of Lent. Though for a while there, it looked like you might succumb to an acute lack of coffee / Netflix /...
The story of Mary Magdalene’s miraculously dyed eggs, and how to dye eggs naturally at home using flowers, herbs, and vegetables.
It's a solemnity and a Meat Friday, I hope you're celebrating today! I posted last week with some celebration ideas and free printables for the feast of St. Joseph. But I had to pop back in today to share one of my ALL-TIME favorite poems. We read it for St. Joseph's...
Happy Spy Wednesday! Today we'll be hiding thirty quarters. Here's why: https://youtu.be/2alx0jkg1Jw See the April Booklet for the collects and readings for Spy Wednesday and each day of the Triduum. We've done the quarters thing for many years now, and love it. New...
Palm Sunday is tomorrow you guys! I'm inadvertently VERY prepared for an at home Holy Week and Easter, but definitely mourning the prospect. The images of Palm Sunday from old picture Bibles are kinda punching me in the gut right now. The sea of humanity, the crowd,...
There's an all new Catholic All Year Liturgical Living Video up, all about the Stations of the Cross! Scroll on down to check it out. And because I love you guys . . . you get a bonus video this time. I die. every. time. It's the cutest. If it looks like Mary Jane is...
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...
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....
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...
Happy Easter everyone! He is Risen. . . Are you guys getting tired of that yet? Sorry. I just found out about it this year. It's possible I'm getting carried away. Also, I've eaten a LOT of candy. They're always saying how easy it is to take candy from a baby. But...
How much of Jesus' suffering and death to share with little ones is a question many parents struggle with. It can be overwhelming to feel like you have to introduce so many facts and concepts and characters all at once, especially if your kids are perhaps more...
Alleluia and Happy Easter! We had a triumphantly adorable Easter, so I thought I'd try one of these what I wore link-ups to share. And hey, today there are THREE! Thanks to Camp Patton, The Practicing Catholic, and Fine Linen and Purple for hosting. First, the what...
I've been posting photos from the last couple of days on the Catholic All Year Facebook page, but I know not everyone who reads the blog is on Facebook. So while I'm waiting for my hot cross buns to rise, I figured I'd put the photos up here too. Happy Holy...
Yesterday I wrote about what we do for Holy Thursday. (I had intended to write about what we do for the whole Triduum, but, as usual, it got a little long, so here's the second installment.)Good Friday is meant to be a solemn and somber day. But little...
As the end of Lent comes in to sight, I like to focus on one of my favorite things about this time of year: saying the word Triduum. Seriously, how great is that word? It's right up there with trousers, gubernatorial, and ladle. ...
As the light of Easter morning slowly begins to lighten the horizon of our Lenten journey (seriously you guys, can you believe I'm writing this stuff for you for FREE?), I thought I would address a concern that seems to plague good Catholics all year, but especially...
--- 1 --- Two of my boys can say they were named for a Pope, but only one can say that a Pope was named for him. (Sorry Gus!) When Gus was a toddler, a priest once remarked to me,"If you didn't want him to give you trouble,you probably shouldn't have...
The Solemnity of St. Joseph is coming up soon (March 19th), so I thought I'd share how we celebrate this very welcome feast in the middle of Lent. When I was in high school, one of my best friends was from an Italian family. Mrs. Vitale is an uh-mazing cook (if...
So, I figured that now that I have this blog, I have a responsibility to stop waiting a month to see movies that come out. I saw that Oz the Great and Powerful was coming soon to theaters. I reread The Wonderful Wizard of Oz AND read its sequel The Marvelous Land of...
--- 1 --- My sister and her two little girls are visiting from Iowa this week. Hooray for cousins! Is Frankie finally surrendering? I doubt it. My sister's baby likes to really rub it in by being super-smiley and charming AT ALL TIMES. The...
If you usually read my blog, you'll understand how much of a challenge "quick" takes are for me. Let's see how I do . . . --- 1 --- Happy Chair of St. Peter! In this house we celebrate the fasts AND the feasts, so we always look forward to the feasts...
I don't see this jar as mostly empty,I see it as a tiny bit full Our clipart Lent calendar and our Lent RemindersOnly forty-three pictures to go Our school/dining tableWith purple cloth, potted succulent, and rocksAlso, in-progress mortification(Just look at that...
Happy (?) Ash Wednesday everyone! Lent 2013 is upon us. Here's what I'm doing for Lent. Our family goal is to live a perfect Christian life for 40 days. We've never managed it yet, but maybe this is the year! We don't include Sundays or Feast...
Adam from Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families has issued a challenge to Frankie and me and all of you too! This challenge is now closed, however, you can still take up a Chore and share with me on the Catholic All Year Facebook page! Every time you tackle a special...
We expect a lot from our kids. We demand good behavior in church, kneeling up straight for evening prayers, and speaking up when saying the Rosary. We keep Lent (and Advent). We fast and abstain when the Pope says we're sposta. And all that's...
Hey All, For today, you get a roundup of how things sounded around my house this week and the important lessons we learned. 1. I am not an acceptable substitute for Julie Andrews.Anita (3) in the car: "Mom, could you not sing? I'm trying to hear Mary...
If you like Star Wars and Christmas presents and awesome, but prefer wood and lasers to faux fur and embroidery floss, you should just scroll down a bit. This is a bit off topic . . . but, speaking of projects, I wanted to share my most recent one, my...
Merry Christmas to all! Well, it's still Christmasy here, even if the mall has moved on to Spring Break. Although the husband has recently informed me that there are actually only eight days of Christmas NOT twelve. I would argue that that's the kind...
