Northwest Catholic Family Education Conference

The Northwest Catholic Family Education Conference, Nurturing Catholic Family Life, will be May 1-2, 2009 in Tukwila, WA (just south of Seattle). Speakers include Fr. Jim Kelleher, S.O.L.T., Fr. Gerard Saguto, F.S.S.P., Dr. Joan Cotter, Camille Pauley, Meredith Henning, and more. You can register online or via snail mail.

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The Little Mother

This is what I often see on Sunday mornings when I am trying to get everyone, including myself, ready for Mass. I usually ask one of my older children to hold their sister, but Theresa somehow ends up doing so. The irony is that when Theresa first heard that she had a baby sister she…

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Family Visit

My sister-in-law, niece, and nephew from Colorado recently visited us. I set my children loose with the camera and this was one of my favorite photos that they took.

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History Books

If anyone is checking the vendor page of the Northwest Catholic Family Education Conference, they will see Heritage History listed. This company is focused on “Putting the Story back into History, with traditional tales from long-ago.” I have been enjoying browsing their well-organized website and I am looking forward to purchasing some of their products…

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Pre-Lent

I am enjoying learning about Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima. On the old calendar, these Sundays served “as a time of transition for the soul, which must pass from Christmas joys…to the stern penance of the sacred forty days of Lent.” (Around the Year with the Trapp Family, p. 101) Maria Trapp offers the following advice…

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Inspirational Books for Mothers

The Mirror of True Womanhood

Every once in a while, I find it beneficial to read a book about parenting or motherhood. Over the years, I have read (and sometimes reread) several that I really like. These books include: Around the Year with the Trapp Family by Maria Augusta Trapp Children and Parents by Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen On Christian…

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Stress Free Driving

Today, I used the GPS for the first time and it actually works. Not only does it work, but it made for a very relaxing drive for me and my children. It was well worth the $90 (thanks to an instant rebate) that my husband spent at Costco to buy it.

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Educating for Eternity

Each month, I receive Catholic Heritage Curricula’s Educating for Eternity e-newsletter and I am always thankful that I do. I usually look forward to Theresa Johnson’s letter, as it always offers a little something to consider, encouragement, or information on how we might improve our homeschool. This month, I was happy to read: Lord, carry…

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Adding Years to my Life

Yesterday, my husband gave me an early St. Valentine’s gift, a gift that will add years to my life, a gift that fellow parishioners made us aware of when they loaned us theirs a few weeks ago. What is this marvelous gift? It is something which will most likely make me confess fewer sins in…

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Septuagesima

Explanation of Septuagesima from our parish’s Sunday bulletin: Today marks the beginning of the season of Septuagesima. From the Latin meaning seventy the Church has traditionally used this time as a liturgical preparation for Lent, effecting a transition from the joyful sentiments of Christmas to the somber penitential season of Lent. The next three Sundays…

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What Constitutes an Emergency?

Patrick: “Mommy, Mommy, it’s an emergency! It’s an emergency!” Mommy (heading to the kitchen to see): “What’s wrong?” Patrick: “Daddy’s been taking some of the goldfish to work.”

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