What if I told you there was an article going around Facebook called 26 Reasons Women Shouldn't Be Scientists, with photographs of women doing dumb things? And that the comments were full of men gleefully agreeing that women were idiots and they sure counted themselves lucky that they were able to work in a woman-free industry. What if I told you that some men are calling for a return of Male Only … [Read more...]
The One Thing I Regret About My Wedding
I was 20 when we were married. Generally speaking, I didn’t know much of anything. I knew I wanted to marry Daniel in a church. I didn’t even care so much which church (it was a few years before we became Catholic). I didn’t care what our wedding colors were. It didn’t make much of a difference to me what song played when I walked down the aisle. It was before Pinterest. I just wanted a white … [Read more...]
The Secret to Not Fighting With Your Kids About Their Messy Room
Want to know the secret? Get rid of all the toys. Ok, ok, not ALL of the toys. Just a few garbage bags worth. Seriously. After weeks of begging, threatening, and fighting over the kids' messy room, we finally wised up and realized that they weren't trying to be uncooperative little stinkers, the task was overwhelming. When our five-year-old sat down in the middle of his room and cried that … [Read more...]
Why New Orleans Has My Heart and How to Visit with Young Kids and Have a Blast
We have some history in New Orleans. Daniel grew up there and I think that's where he picked up his appreciation for good food--something I'm really glad he brought into our family culture. NOLA's also about halfway between Waco, TX (where I went to college) and our hometown, Tallahassee, FL. Daniel and I met in New Orleans one weekend when I was a freshman and we were "just friends" before … [Read more...]
Becoming a Family of Prayer
When I read Kendra of Catholic All Year's Day in the Life post last week, I immediately asked if she would write about how she fits prayer into her family's life. We just started trying a family Rosary again after taking a break since Baby Gwen was born, but I was inspired by how Kendra centers her family's whole day around prayer. Enjoy! - Haley (p.s. Our only computer died this week, so … [Read more...]
More Than Chocolate Bunnies: Simple and Fun Kids’ Easter Basket Fillers (And Easter Egg Votives Giveaway!)
Ever since we began observing the liturgical year, we do it up big for Easter. After the 40 days of Lent, it’s time for the biggest party of the year in celebration of the Resurrection! We try to find ways to help our kids understand the Christian Year and having simple meals during Lent and then really celebrating with food and gifts for Easter helps them learn to participate in those seasons. I … [Read more...]
Two Parenting Epiphanies I Wish I’d Realized Sooner
I've had a couple of valuable epiphanies since Baby Gwen (our third) arrived. After an easy-going season for four-year-old Benjamin, the addition of a new baby seemed to throw him for a loop. His frustration wasn't ever directed at her, his "sweetheart", but at me. We just weren't clicking. It felt like he was a black hole of needs and I was in the throws of postpartum sleep deprivation with … [Read more...]
Preparing for a Child’s First Confession (And Giveaway)
I don't know the first thing about how to prepare a child for the Sacrament of Reconciliation which is why I'm glad there's people like Kendra who are a few years ahead of me in the journey of motherhood and know what they're doing. And, because she's helpful like that, Kendra wrote a book about it! AND IT'S AWESOME. And she sent me one to give away! Hurrah! The crowd goes wild! My oldest child … [Read more...]
A Hobbit Birthday!
Our sweet boy is FIVE! And after Daniel read The Hobbit to him last year, he's been requesting a Hobbit birthday party (and he loves watching the animated Hobbit movie). We don't throw large, elaborate birthday parties for our kids, but we do like to make it special. Preparations The big kids had a slumber party at grandma's house the night before the party, so Daniel and I spent the whole day … [Read more...]
How We Do Simple Birthdays (and a Beatrix Potter theme)
(Flowers from our garden and simple homemade raspberry cupcakes for Lucy's first birthday party.) We do simple family birthday parties at our house. Not that we don't make a fuss over our kids! We make a fuss. It's just not an expensive, stressful fuss. It's more of a homemade laid-back fuss. We really can't afford large, extravagant parties and the details of event-planning are not (really … [Read more...]
