As much as moms work to focus on celebrating Christmas as Catholics, consumerism abounds in our culture. Most families have been busy buying, wrapping, and sending gifts and driving themselves crazy. Let’s see if I can simplify your life a little bit. 1. Buy a box of small manila tags …

November 22 is a dual holiday this year: the traditional day of giving thanks as well as the feast day of St. Cecilia. So, how can you incorporate her feast day into your family’s feast? Before we can understand how to celebrate St. Cecilia, we must understand a bit about …

To help the little ones (and the big kids, too), I drew our prayer petitions for the Lenten season. Each strip has a picture and the beginning of a prayer for a child (or adult, actually) to finish. To enjoy, just download the page, cut along the dotted line, put them …

This little matchbox may be tiny but it holds a little Saint Valentine picture and a mini peanut butter cup, two sweet things that go great together. Materials: a matchbox (Do a search online for a “matchbox template.”) red paper colored pencils or markers paste (works better than glue for …

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and do you know what you’re going to get for your husband? Valentine’s Day is important and what you choose for your husband is important as well. Consider that typically your children and your friends are going to know what you got for your husband. Therefore, what you choose …

Whew!  Christmas is over for another year!  Or is it?  Here at my house, it is still Christmas.  We typically wait until after the Epiphany, when the Wise Men prostrated themselves before baby Jesus, to take down the Christmas decorations and end our celebration. I know many people do not …

With Christmas right around the corner, and my son on his way to turning three in March, I find myself reflecting on Christmas traditions that I enjoyed as a child.  I remember waking up Christmas morning, so eager to see what was under the tree.  My parents watched us open …

Editor’s Note: We congratulate Marge Fenelon on the release of her wonderful new book Strengthening Your Family: A Catholic Approach to Holiness at Home. With the approach of the upcoming holiday season, this is the perfect time to treat yourself to Marge’s book. Watch for her guest appearance soon on the …

Two years ago, I asked many people, both young and old, what they were thankful for in order to compile a list of 100 reasons to be thankful, even in hard times. While some time has passed since I put together that list, times are definitely still hard and the …

The only people who think about Christmas in October are St. Nicholas, people who work in retail and sprinkle Halloween in one aisle and Christmas in the next and, of course, moms. Although fall is by far my favorite season, a tiny bit of my autumn joy has been stolen …

You may recall in a previous post the story I shared about how anger and aggravation overcame me beginning with the task of vacuuming the pool. I shared that story with my spiritual mother who advised me to say the Jesus Prayer before I begin, and during the task. It worked like …

“And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. Then the angel said to the women “Do not be afraid! I know …

Back in early January, late December I was surfing the web, reading some of my favorite Catholic bloggers. As a lurker and sometimes participant in “7 Quick Takes Friday,” with my blog via “The Conversion Diary” I saw the saint generator and thought about it but didn’t push the button. …

Each February, our society puts tremendous pressure on us for romance and intimacy that is, at best, contrived.  Commercials for flowers that can help your sweetie one-up her cubicle neighbor are followed by teddy bear, greeting card, chocolate, and even sexual enhancement advertisements.  While St. Valentine is credited with supporting …

What we all need to be aware of in any of our relationships is that it is going to involve pain.  The world wants us to think that if our marriage is painful, we must have made a mistake and should find someone else who appreciates us or can make …

A special thanks to Lauren Sheahen of Catholic Relief Services for sharing the great information on CRS’ partnership with Cocoa Farmers in the Philippines – sounds like a win/win situation!  Click here to read Lauren’s fascinating blog post and enjoy this video that will undoubtedly have you craving some chocolate! Please …

With Saint Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it makes good sense to share a little secret about well oiled marriages.  Haven’t we all seen enough magazine covers that include every promise to a happy and successful marriage?  They always miss this one secret…..small, yet a necessary ingredient along with …

From time to time I wax nostalgic about my college days in southern Minnesota.  For two years after graduating from Bible school I lived in a small house with four other women, and worked as a copyeditor.  Professionally speaking, these were critical years.  And yet privately I also spent a …

On the rare occasion that I am out shopping alone or when I have a little leisure time and don’t have to crank my pacemaker up all the way to keep me from overheating on the days I’m scurrying from one errand to the next, one of my favorite ways …

Originally published on CatholicMom.com on November 27, 2009. It’s not easy to admit, here in this highly Catholic space, to people who may or may not “really” know me, that just the other day, the phrase “I hate Christmas!” came out of my mouth. It was by way of explanation …