Lent is almost here! (Or maybe you're reading this late, in which case... I hope your Lent is sufficiently penitential and spiritually enriching!) If you haven't already solidified your family's plans, I've got an idea for you:

 

Katie is a religion teacher and an absolute gift to the Church - if you've never read her blog, please don't miss it! She has an abundance of resources for living the liturgical year whether you're homeschooling, trying to add to your religious education at home, or teaching CCD at your parish. And now, she's published a book!

 

49/52: Gingerbread Houses!

Advent 2020: Our Family Traditions and Plans

It's almost here! In the interest of getting my *own* planning done, I'll share our Advent plans this year in case you need a little inspiration.

Please know that if you're new to celebrating Advent, particularly with young children, these are not all must-do traditions! Our family practices have evolved and been added to over the years, with just a little bit being added every year until we've ended up with a rich set of traditions. If you're just starting out, focus on your Advent wreath and maybe a few beautiful books, and pick a feast or two to celebrate with extra gusto!

44/52: Pumpkin Carving, Snow White, and All Saints

Gift Guides, Planners, and Memento Mori {7QT}

Oh hiiiiii the baby has been up since before 6 and nobody else is waking any time soon so... Might as well get some blogging in (apparently I'm publishing one million posts this week, sorry?).

17/52: Egg Hunting and Family Photo Fail

1/52: Twelve Days & Epiphany

Saints, Scooters, & Cocoons {7 Quick Takes}

Hooray, Friday! I told the kids we would take things easy for school for Advent and John Paul is NOT pleased that this means he doesn't get to just completely slack off... But hey, we still need to do MOST of our subjects, it's just very likely that science will get dropped soon because I don't feel like reading it by the time we're done with everything else.

How about 7 Quick Takes?

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Our Twelve Days of Christmas {A Giveaway}

We love to celebrate Christmas all the way through Candlemas (February 2), but after spending Advent really preparing instead of celebrating early, we like to make sure we celebrate each day of the Twelve Days of Christmas! After we finish our Advent books, we shift the focus a little. Here's what we're doing and reading this year:

It's the Most Pie-ful Time of the Year! {7qt}

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Good morning and happy pie-for-breakfast day! Because let's be real, that's what the day after Thanksgiving is all about. My breakfast pie of choice? Dutch Apple Pie, the most superior of all pies.

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I'm officially in my 3rd trimester, which means I get to eat two pieces of pie for breakfast, right? Right.

44/52: All Saints Day!

22/52: Our May Crowning

Plant a Mary Garden!

My kids love to pick flowers and present the blooms to me. But they also adore presenting those flowers to the Blessed Virgin! Having vases in the house around any Marian statues or paintings is a wonderful way to encourage Marian devotion (after all, what better way to grow closer to Jesus than through His mother?). If you have the outdoor space, creating an entire Mary garden with your family will provide years of memories! Here's how to get started:

Praying the Rosary with Little Kids: 7 Practical Tips

Judging from my Instagram followers, there are a LOT of people who want to pray the rosary every day. How amazing is that?? And what's even more awesome, a ton of people want to pray the rosary with their families! So I gave you tips for praying the rosary on your own and promised family tips later... Here they are!

My Sunday Best, Volume 94: Twins in the Pew

Happy first Sunday of Lent!

5/52/2018: Candlemas and Feathers

Living the Twelve Days

Fun Fact: The 12 Days of Christmas are actually the days *after* Christmas (well, beginning with Christmas Day itself). Does it drive you nuts to see the crazy buildup to Christmas just... die on December 26? I hate it! We build up slowly and really try to live it up during the Octave of Christmas and the full twelve days. We do our "big" family presents on Epiphany (January 6) and I like to plan one special thing for each day until then. A lot of the time this ends up being me flying by the seat of my pants and making things up as we go, but it works for us!

Want to try to make your 12 Days of Christmas special? Here are some things we've done to encourage spending time together as a family:

Creating a Children's Prayer Table

I visited the kids' Level I Atrium classroom last year (read up on Catechesis of the Good Shepherd here if you're curious) and was inspired to create our own little prayer area for the kids where they could have a little quiet devotion time whenever they wanted. Over the years we've accumulated quite a lot of icons, statues, prayer cards, and other things that don't always get used on a regular basis.

41/52: All Saints' Day

This is the first year we've had an actual *event* to go to for All Saints' Day, and the kids were SO excited to go to church for the homeschool party! 

Well, we didn't tell Peter we were going... It was during his nap, so we dressed him up, took a picture, and then left while he was asleep...

My Sunday Best, Vol. 3: Pentecost!

Happy Pentecost! Sing the Regina Caeli one more time before we switch to the Salve Regina (this is a handy website for reminders and chant) and if you're really on the ball, see what red you can wear to be all liturgically matchy-matchy ;)