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(question edited for clarity) Hi! I have to ask a parenting question. With our oldest, after reading a few of your blogs, we did time-outs. The "two’s" were a breeze! However, he (and now our second child who is almost 3), went through a challenging stage at age...
--- 1 --- This is Trevi Fountain: When we went to Rome for Jack's First Communion, we threw coins in, because when you actually ARE in Rome . . . well, you know. Some folks think that means we're destined to return. Of course, we're not superstitious, because...
Hey all, while we're out of town for Easter Break, I'm cleaning out my drafts folder. So if this sounds like it was written a while ago, it probably was. I'll still be checking comments, so feel free to have an opinion. And a very happy Easter to you...
If you read my blog with any regularity you probably know that my 17 month old baby is a real stinker. He screams. He throws stuff. He hits me. He won't eat. He insists on being picked up, mostly. He insists on being put down, occasionally. He is very...
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,...
Happy regular ol' day between two feasts! Today I want to share some photos from the Hooley and also share why we have parties (aside from the obvious reason of us being pretty cool). The husband and I got married, went on our honeymoon, and then immediately moved...
--- 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...
It's a funny thing about leprechauns. If you don't believe in them, they seem to leave you quite alone. For twenty-four years I didn't bother with leprechauns, and they didn't bother with me. But then I married into a south-side Irish family, and I...
Last week, I posted about WHY we believe in Parenting With Authority and HOW we do it. And I assured you that if you ALWAYS MEAN WHAT YOU SAY you'll be all set. And, I stand by that. But there IS another component to the system, which is -- to assume that...
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 --- A quick lesson in SCIENCE . . . The Flat-tailed Horned Lizard looks like this: to blend in perfectly with his surroundings. The Chapman Zebra looks like this: to momentarily confuse its predators by motion dazzle. Frankie looks like this: to...
For Tuesday's post on WHY we practice Parenting With Authority, see here. I started out to make a list of rules for Parenting with Authority. But it turned out that all the rules I wrote out just ended up coming back to one single concept: ALWAYS MEAN WHAT YOU...
For me, writing a blog has been an interesting window into my own brain. It turns out I think very tangentially. Who knew? (Husbands are not invited to answer). Every post I start writing makes me think of three others I ought to do alongside, or before, or...
A pretty standard response to "regular" people finding out that I homeschool is, "Wow, you're amazing, I could never do that." I never know how to respond in person. So I'm going to do it here instead. I'm going to let you all in on a little secret....
On Tuesday, I wrote about how I keep my two-and-ups entertained during air travel. But what about babies? Just look how entertained he is. For me, six months and under is EASY. They just nurse. The whole time. Trans-Atlantic, trans-continental,...
Thanks to a reader question from my dear sister-in-law (Hi Brie!), today's post is on flying with kids. Ah yes, that's it. Safety first. Although this way is also fun. And this. I have done A LOT of traveling with kids. From a trip to Hawaii with the...
My ten year old son loves to read. And though he enjoys the books recommended by our classical curriculum, sometimes he yearns to read something a bit more modern and edgy . . . or perhaps something a bit more ancient and Greek. Somewhere, he heard...
As a homeschool Mom who follows a Classical Catholic Curriculum, I do not lack for excellent recommendations for lovely old-timey picture books. Someday, I will do a post on those, in case you don't have access to the same. But today I want to talk about NEW picture...
I have already posted about our family's Lent undertakings. And what I'm doing this year. But not everything I have tried to do (or not do) for Lent has worked. Today, you get to hear about what I don't do during Lent, what I avoid not doing during Lent, things I...
This is me on my last day as a flight instructor: Scanned from a Polaroid, but isn't it awesome?My student is totally pointing at my belly. Well, I guess not quite. This was my last flight, one month to the day before Jack was born. But I was still teaching a...
If you're like me, you like your husband. You like getting dressed up. You like eating food. You like general adorableness. And being waited upon. And little bells. But if you're like me you do NOT like sitting in traffic on a Saturday...
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...
Our dear sweet Betty turns NINE next week, and to celebrate she wanted a Snow (Princess) themed birthday party. We ended up getting some great bargains, since on January 1st anything with a snowflake on it goes on clearance to make way for the swimsuits and Easter...
Thanks to everyone who voted for Catholic All Year in the Sheenazing Catholic Blogger Awards. Alas we did not win. Now go check out Like Mother, Like Daughter -- a waaaay better blog than mine. Seriously. But then you could come back here if you want....
This post is number two in a series on essential baby gear, see here for the first. For parenting book recommendations, see here. My six to twelve month old babies are still using most of the gear from my newborn to six month old recommendations, but I've also...
Voting is now closed. Thanks to you if you voted, or if you didn't. That's fine too.After nearly a month of blogging, I am FINALLY getting some recognition. :0) I am excited to have been nominated in the category of "Best Lifestyle Blog" in the...