Kendra Tierney's Blog, page 24

Seven Quick Reasons I Don't Have a Problem With "Happy Holidays"

Every year, I see rabble rousing Christian websites trying to get folks to boycott businesses that use Happy Holidays in their advertising. Obviously, I support people's right to do as they please with their own money. But as for me, I'm not a boycotter to begin with, and I think I like this particular boycott least of all. So, here are the seven reasons that I, as a God-fearing, Christmas-loving, Catholic, don't have a problem with "Happy Holidays."



1. It's Accurate

There ARE many holidays around this time of year. Even if we're just talking Christian-celebrated holidays (but more on that later) there's Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, plus Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Lucy, St. Andrew, and many, many, more. *I* want YOU to enjoy all of them: Happy Holidays.

2. It's Catholic

The word "holiday" comes from the Old English. It means "holy day." That's what it means. *I* want you to enjoy all the holy days the liturgical year has to offer: Happy Holidays.

3. It's Inclusive

But. They might say. BUT. That's not what it means now. What it means now is, "a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done." Or, it's something that people say to refer to ALL religious or pagan celebrations celebrated all over the world by people who are or are not Christian.

Annnnnd . . . I don't have a problem with that.

I'm going to be honest with you guys right now. I have a secret agenda with this blog. I want to draw you in with parenting tips and Netflix recommendations and once you're here, I want to also show you how much I love my Catholic faith and how I celebrate it with my family and how I think it makes my life a million times more rewarding in this world and will make it better beyond all imagining in the next. I want you to see that and I want you to want it for yourself. I want you, whether you're a Catholic mom who wants to live her faith more fully, or a lapsed Catholic, or a Wiccan priestess, or an Episcopalian lady priest, or a militant atheist, or a Muslim in full burqa, or whatever, I want YOU to march down to your local Catholic Church and make some inquiries. Or at least email me some questions.

That's what I want.

And I can't for the life of me see how me insisting that the only acceptable greeting at this time of year is "Merry Christmas," would help me do that: Happy Holidays.

4. It's Business

And really, we're talking about businesses anyway. Businesses who, understandably, would like to have customers from all faiths and walks of life. The nice thing about "Happy Holidays" is that, to ME it means one nice thing, and to someone else, it will mean a different, but also nice thing: Happy Holidays.

5. I Don't Like Bullying

Big Christian Boycott wants to scare us. They want us to think that anyone who uses "Happy Holidays" is part of some secret government agenda against Baby Jesus. And it's working. Seriously. It's easy to just say, "I hope you'll have a merry Christmas," to people after church, but what if I don't know what a particular person is celebrating? I, personally, never know what to say to anyone in the grocery store anymore.

I was out shopping on the first day of Hanukkah, days and days away from Christmas starting, but only hours away from Hanukkah starting, and I was paralyzed with indecision about how to greet people. Because I want people to have a happy whatever it is they're celebrating. But I'm afraid if I say "Happy Holidays" someone will throw rocks at me.

But really, for general pleasant greeting of strangers in November and December, I think you can't beat Happy Holidays. And I'm going to say it. Like Kevin in Home Alone, I'm not going to be scared anymore: Happy Holidays.

6. It's Probably Liturgically More Appropriate Than "Merry Christmas"

It's still Advent. It's not actually Christmas yet. This article is a joke article from a fake news website, BUT IT MAKES A GOOD POINT: Happy Holidays.

7. But Let's Not Get Carried Away, Now

I mostly think that, in general, we should worry less and love more, and not boycott people, and that getting upset about how we greet each other won't bring us or them any closer to heaven.

I don't think we as Christians should be scared of people saying Happy Holidays.

But, I'm certainly not saying we should avoid saying Merry Christmas. I'm called to Christian witness, and the Christmas season is a great time to evangelize people through generosity, and hospitality, and eye contact, and conversation at the grocery store, and saying Merry Christmas.

We send out Christmas cards that say Merry Christmas on them, even though they go out to friends who celebrate Hanukkah or nothing at all, as well as to friends who celebrate Christmas. And I have every intention of putting that Christmas card on this blog and wishing you a Merry Christmas, when the time for that comes.

We'll be spending these last few days before Christmas, and then the whole Christmas season, inviting people into our home for parties, and appearing in public with many children, which are my two favorite ways to evangelize. I'll say Merry Christmas whenever possible. I'll say Happy Holidays when that seems more appropriate. But what I won't be doing is spending my days boycotting anyone, or getting offended by holiday greetings of any kind, because I suspect that those are not good ways to evangelize.

In conclusion: Merry Christmas.


Linking up with Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum for the last Seven Quick Takes of 2014!

12 Days of Family Christmas Movies -mostly- on Netflix Streaming (and a BIG giveaway. you probably want this.)

Keep reading all the way to the bottom for the winners of the two most recent Advent giveaways, and my next to last giveaway of the season, which just might help you enjoy these Netflix recommendations a little more. Speaking of that . . .

As I've written about here and talked about here, our family likes to avoid watching Christmas movies during Advent, then we watch one movie every night of the twelve days of Christmas while eating Christmas treats in a cinematic and gastronomical Christmasplosion . . . for Baby Jesus.

But this new baby has been making me feel pretty Netflix-y, and, since I'm a responsible parent AND a professional blogger . . . I decided to make the sacrifice of pre-screening many, many Christmas movies that Netflix Streaming has to offer. This way, I'll know that I'm offering my children and you, gentle reader, only the BEST and most enriching in Christmas entertainment.


1. Mickey's Christmas Carol

Until very recently, this was my favorite version of A Christmas Carol. I've watched quite a few and they have always been too badly animated, or too badly musical, or too Jim Carrey for my taste. So, even though this one is very short, and takes quite a few liberties with the plot, I've always really liked it. As have my kids. We love how familiar characters are cast in the story and how it manages to get Dickens's message of redemption across with humor. There are some slightly scary parts, but it's Goofy as the ghost of Marley, and Pete as the undertaker, so I really think all but the most sensitive kiddos would be okay with it. It's a good starter version.

It's available on Netflix Streaming as a part of Snowed In at the House of Mouse.

2. The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Mickey one used to be my favorite version, but now this is. By a landslide. It's the Muppets, so, like Mickey's version, we've got familiar faces in the roles, but in this version we also get great songs, top notch live actors, and a VERY faithful adaptation of the book, complete with actual quotes.

I actually think this version is also a little less scary than the Mickey one, but it's more sophisticated plot may be more difficult for little kids to understand. But they won't mind, because they'll be watching Kermit.

And, just as a quick aside, if you find yourself poking about on Netflix and you think to yourself, as I did, "Hey, there's Scrooged! I loved that movie when I was a kid. I'll be a cool mom and let my big kids watch it this year." I'm just going to tell you that there is a The Walking Dead-worthy zombie-esque Marley, and Solid Gold Dancers and the nipples of Solid Gold Dancers in this movie. And maybe other stuff, but that was as far as I made it. And I'll let you decide from there.

3. White Christmas

I am a huge fan of Bing Crosby, and we watch a lot of his movies as a family. So I was really excited to see this one available on Streaming this year. It's got war and slapstick for the boys and dancing and romance for the girls, how could you go wrong?

It's mostly just an excuse for a bunch a musical numbers, but there is a sweet story of helping out an old buddy woven in there. Plus Phil tells Bob that what he really needs to do is get married and have nine kids.

4. Bells of St. Mary's

Speaking of Bing Crosby, we also love this classic sequel to Going My Way. It's very funny and very Catholic, and features an adorable Christmas pageant, which makes it appropriate for the season.

It would be worth watching just to hear Bing Crosby singing as Fr. O'Malley, but you also get Ingrid Bergman as Mother Superior teaching a little boy to box. And there's a grumpy rich old coot and the sisters' blind faith in miracles, and it's all just lovely. It's slower than today's movies, of course, but my kids really think it's funny.

5. & 6. Veggie Tales It's a Meaningful Life and St. Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving
These are the two Veggie Tales Christmas movies available on Netflix Streaming. Our family actually usually watches the St. Nicholas one on December 6th for St. Nicholas Day, and we've got another, older Veggie Tales movie called The Star of Christmasthat is in our regular Christmas movie rotation. But, really, you mostly can't go wrong with Veggie Tales. They are funny and clever and sweet. We like 'em.

7. Bush Christmas

Here's where I'm going to go a bit rogue on you. Because when I said I watched a lot of Christmas movies on Netflix, I mean I watched a LOT of Christmas movies on Netflix. Including this grainy black and white movie from the 40s wherein a bunch of little kids defeat some horse thieves. It's like Australian Home Alone.

I love how independent the kids are. You see them lugging saddles around for themselves. The boys ask their mom if they can head off a day's horseback ride away to go camping, and her response is, "Sure, but you have to bring your sister and your little brother." Which is AWESOME. The kids are brave and resourceful and responsible.

One note: it's from a different time, and the aborigional people are referred to as "blacks" in a way that seems really noticeable to today's ears. I'm okay with just discussing this with my kids, but it might be uncomfortable for some. It's also not ALL that Christmasy. It IS Christmas in the movie, but it's also summer, because Australia is weird like that.

8. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Okay, okay, I KNOW. But, really this isn't a joke. I actually intend to show this movie to my kids and husband over our Christmas break. Yes. It is super cheesy. There are people in green spandex suits and a bad guy with an evil mustache growing through his green face paint.

But this movie actually has a lot going for it, as far as I'm concerned. Santa is dignified and heroic. He is generous and loving towards his Martian captors, but in the end, he conquers them. I think it's a pretty accurate depiction of how the historical St. Nicholas might have behaved in such a situation, although maybe there would have been more punching.

Also, as in the movie above, the children make brave and selfless decisions. I want to encourage that kind of thinking in my kids. And, mainly, I just think it's going to be really hilarious to watch as a family.

And . . . that officially exhausts the Christmas movies on Netflix that I feel would be appropriate and enjoyable for all members of our family. But since there are twelve days, I'll also share with you the other four movies we'll be watching even though it will mean kneeling on the floor and waiting for the little DVD drawer to open like some sort of cave person.

9. It's A Wonderful Life

We usually watch the Veggie Tales version of this story AND the classic black and white version. I HOPE my kids prefer this one, but it's hard to tell. There are a lot of sweet, funny moments, and the message is timeless. Its theology about angels is, um, how to put this . . . totally wrong. But we just explain to our kids that people don't become angels when they die anymore than cockroaches become horses when they die, and then we enjoy the movie.

Hee-haw and Merry Christmas!

10. A Christmas Story

Our whole family loves this movie, but perhaps we shouldn't. The dad uses gibberish words instead of actual swear words, but there are a handful of lesser but still significant bad words in there. It's got the infamous leg lamp, which Ralphie caresses. The department store Santa is mean, and Ralphie is pretty convinced that the meaning of Christmas is Getting Stuff. Still, somehow, it seems fun and funny and lighthearted, and the family is loving. We're going to watch it again this year, but it's okay with me if you don't.

11. Home Alone

This one is another Tierney family favorite, but maybe not for everyone. It has some language, an unpleasant family fight right at the beginning, and a very brief scene of Kevin finding and tossing aside an adult magazine. (Nothing that a quick trigger finger on the remote can't handle.) It also has an extraordinary amount of comic slapstick violence that results in very nasty looking injuries.

BUT. The sound track is perfect, the kid is brave and resourceful, and there is a message of forgiveness and redemption and the importance of family. There are beautiful scenes involving a Catholic church, in which a character listens to his granddaughter's choir sing Christmas carols, and Kevin hides from the bad guys in a life-size nativity scene.

12. The Small One

Okay, to finish with here, let's go non-controversial. The Small One is a classic Jungle Book-era Disney animated short film. It's sweet and fun and has catchy, if not-always-relevant-to-the-plot musical numbers. And, spoiler alert, it's got the Baby Jesus at the end.

We have it in Volume 9 of Walt Disney's Classic Cartoon Favorites, titled Classic Holiday Stories. But it also seems to be available on YouTube.


These are my honest opinions, but it's a sponsored post. And there are affiliate links, too, clicking the titles of the movies will take you to Amazon. (By the way, thank you SO MUCH to all of you who have been shopping through my affiliate links this year. It doesn't cost you any more, and it makes our family a few pennies every time, which have really added up. I am very grateful to each of you!)



There's another giveaway coming, to help you watch all these crazy shows I'm always going on about.

But first, I've got some winners to announce.

The winner of the Alison Oliver BabyLit print and copy of the new book Doodle Litis: Tori who liked the Jungle Book prints! (check your email)

The winner of the set of Shining Light Dolls is: Caroline with a baby with pigtails at home! (please email me by Thursday) Didn't win? If you've got Amazon Prime, you have plenty of time to order them for yourself!

The winner of the
and

The winner of the ebook copies of Feast! and More Feasts! is: Elizabeth whose mother is gluten-free! (please email me by Thursday)

And now, for another installment of the Catholic All Year Advent of Giving . . .

Tired of not being able to weigh in on the big Curious George Boofest controversy of 2014, because you haven't seen it, and don't know whether you approve of hat-kicking or not? Wish you could watch all the cool TV shows about dresses that Christy and Haley are always going on about? Want to commiserate with me about how much we love a bunch of dirty English gangsters or some star-crossed Spanish lovers who might be dead now but we don't know what happens to them because the third season isn't in English . . . on Netflix or ANYWHERE?

Doesn't that sound great?

Well, it's your lucky day. Because I have two, yes TWO one year subscriptions to Netflix Streaming to give away to my awesome readers.

Just leave a comment telling me your family's favorite Christmas movie, whether it's on Netflix Streaming or not (but if I'm being honest, if it's not on Netflix Streaming . . . probably I'm not going to see it). If you already HAVE Netflix Streaming, you can still win. You can either give the subscription as a gift to someone else, or just add it on to your existing subscription.

You'll be able to watch movies and TV shows on your computer, tablet, or on even on your TV if you've got the right set up. And you'll finally know what we're all talking about with these shows!

Come back Friday for the last of the Advent giveaways, which is sure to help you ring in 2015 right.

Catholics, Celiac, and the Dread Pirate Roberts

I'm turning the blog over today to reader Sarah Kaye, who has had an Advent to remember this year as she and her family learn to cope with a diagnosis of celiac disease and what that means for their Catholic faith, particularly reception of the Eucharist. With 0.5 - 1% of the world's population suffering from celiac disease and 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide . . . Sarah's is a struggle potentially facing over six million Catholics! I'll let her take it from here . . . 


Today, Kendra has graciously allowed her fantastic blogspace to be invaded by a fellow mother-in-the-trenches, partially due to the fact that I share so many of her likes and dislikes.  Take for instance this iconic movie:



She may have mentioned it once or twice here on the blog; but I caught sight of it listed among her faves, and I knew right away we were of the same generation.  (note from Kendra: I am winning over a new generation to the Princess Bride!)

But the reason I have been thinking about this guy


lately is not really related to Kendra at all, but rather to his fascinating defeat of the dreadful villain, Vizzini, which we come to realize he achieves because he was able to drink poison and survive.  How had he done this?

By simply conditioning himself; by building up an immunity for the odorless, tasteless yet deadly iocane powder, reaching the point of being able to survive the same dose of poison that killed his enemy.

But unlike the Dread Pirate Roberts, my family has been unable to build up a tolerance to a very ordinary substance in our daily lives: gluten.

No iocane powder necessary here; we were in fact poisoning ourselves every day by our morning  Cheerios.

Gluten is somewhat of a current “food fad bad guy.” Many people choose to avoid gluten because of various levels of sensitivity to it, or to try to lose weight or have more energy. But we recently received the news that I, and much of my family, suffer from celiac disease.  Whereas intolerances can develop to any number of food substances, causing significant and uncomfortable digestive symptoms, celiac disease is quite different.  It is an incurable, hereditary, and often irreparable autoimmune reaction by the body to the protein found in a majority of our American dietary grains.

When a person with celiac disease ingests gluten, it attacks the lining of the small intestine, impairs normal digestion of food, and leads to an assortment of gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, endocrinal, and neurological symptoms.  The vast array of symptoms it produces is dizzying, and can result in patients like myself being misdiagnosed until well into adulthood, despite a barrage of random complaints for poor health since childhood.

via purplecactusdesign on etsyBut back to the Dread Pirate Roberts.  The point of my mulling on his ability to tolerate his own brand of self-poisoning, is in the decisions we as a family have had to make regarding our reception of the Holy Eucharist.  Just as in this season of Advent we are reveling in the approaching arrival of the infant Jesus at Christmas, so too do we normally await His coming into our bodies and souls through the act of Holy Communion with great peace and eagerness, so much so that we have been a daily Mass family since I was a single, collegiate coed.

Now suddenly, the “advent” which brought us such daily joy and manifold grace has become tainted through fear of gluten.  Not only for us, but for our children.  While we have always striven since early childhood to stress that it is “really Jesus” they see us consume, our current predicament of, “yes, but there is still gluten in it” has opened a portal through which doubt of the real Presence could creep in. But doesn’t, thanks to this guy:

Thomas Aquinas would say that the accidental properties of the gluten are still active. Hence, someone with an allergy to gluten will still react to the accidental property of this grain protein even though the substance of bread has changed . . . The accidents remain while the substance changes. The physiological human response to the properties of alcohol or gluten remain even after transubstantiation. Likewise, our physiological response to the calories (also accidental properties of bread and wine) are real. We truly receive natural nourishment from the Holy Eucharist, although the purpose of the Blessed Sacrament is to provide supernatural and sacramental nourishment through habitual grace.

So just as we taught our kids, “Yes, it still looks like bread, smells like bread, and tastes like bread, but it is not really bread anymore,” we simply need to add, “Oh yeah, it works like bread in our bodies . . . but still, not really bread anymore.  Just Jesus.”

More questions easily follow though:
Why does the host have to be made of wheat? Answered here.

What about a low-gluten option? Answered here.

How much gluten is actually okay? Answer: no one really knows, and even more confusingly, it varies from person to person.

It this last question that caused me to ponder iocane powder.  Real poison can be given little by little, hardly detectable to the human body, building to a point of immunity.  That is, if fairy tales are to be believed.

Unfortunately, for the reality of celiac disease in which we now live, the accidental property that allows the precious Body of our Lord, Jesus Christ, to still behave in our bodies as gluten does, means that even the smallest amount has the potential to set off the chain reaction of silent, imperceptible damage to one of our most vital organs, with wide-reaching consequences.


That's the bad news. The good news is that we now appreciate more fully God’s providential Wisdom that ordained the holy sacrifice of the Mass to be performed under not just one, but two species: bread AND wine, becoming Body AND Blood.  We are so grateful that the body that is sacrificed on Calvary is separated during death from the blood that pours from His side; enabling us, these nearly 2000 years later, to remain able to receive our Lord fully in sacramental Communion.

A second coincidence I take great peace in realizing is the fact that about six years ago, our children noticed the Anima Christi prayer on the back of the missal in the pew.  Seizing a moment of inspiration, this prayer became our post-Communion act of thanksgiving, especially for the youngest ones who had not yet received their sacraments.  Learning later that this prayer was an act of Spiritual Communion, we are now grateful to have a dearly loved prayer available to us for those instances where, despite our best efforts to be prepared, we will not be able to participate in the reception of Holy Communion.  Once again, the providence of our heavenly Father is making sure that neither knowledge (“Yes, it is really Jesus”) nor grace (which is present in, but not limited to, the sacraments) is kept from us as we seek to welcome Christ into our souls at each and every Mass.


Soul of Christ, sanctify me; 
Body of Christ, save me; 
Blood of Christ, inebriate me; 
Water from the side of Christ, wash me; 
Passion of Christ, strengthen me; 
O good Jesus hear me; 
Within your wounds hide me; 
separated from you, let me never be; 
From the evil one protect me; 
At the hour of my death, call me; 
And close to you bid me; That with your saints, 
I may be praising you forever and ever. 

Amen.

As the celebration of Christmas approaches, let's be grateful to be able to take a few moments to recalibrate our own sense of awe and wonder at the gift of the Holy Eucharist, and give great thanks for each and every opportunity to welcome Jesus anew into our lives, whether you are blessed to physically receive Him, or whether you must suffer the sacrifice of praying for Spiritual Communion.  Jesus seeks us out . . . let us be ready to receive Him.

AMDG,
Sarah


Sarah Kaye is a homeschooling mother of seven (so far) who spends her free time consulting with the great folks at Memoria Press. Find her on the Member Forum at MemoriaPress.com under the title, KF2000.

p.s. from Kendra: The winner of the Liturgical Living giveaway is . . . Ashley Strukel! Please email me at catholicallyear@gmail.com by Monday to claim your prize! Ashley wins either a printable pdf OR a spiral bound hardcopy of Kelly's planner: The Best Laid Plans AND an ebook copy of Haley and Daniel Stewart's new liturgical living cookbook: More Feasts! 

And, in a pretty awesome coincidence ALL the recipes in More Feasts! are gluten free.

SOOOOO . . . I talked with Haley, and she wants to offer my readers another ebook copy of More Feasts! PLUS an ebook copy of the first book, Feast! That's 33 recipes based on Saints' feast days that are perfect for all the gluten-free Catholics in your life.



I'd love these books to benefit someone who is gluten-free. So, if you'd like to win them, please leave a comment telling me who you know who's gluten-free who will either receive the books, or at least something you'll cook from the books if you win them!  The person can be you, that's allowed. And since they are ebooks, all you internationals are eligible to win!

I'll announce the winner on Wednesday, so be sure to check back then to see if you won.

And the Advent giveaways don't stop, Sarah got the fine folks at Memoria Press to offer a giveaway you homeschool types will love. Check back for that next week.

In the meantime, enjoy the great feasts this weekend. We're braiding our hair and having Tamale Pie for Our Lady of Guadalupe today.


Then (if this very-welcome-but-still-very-inconvenient rain ever stops) we'll put up our Christmas lights on Saturday for St. Lucy's day. And eat these, which are either supposed to be cats or eyeballs, depending on whom you ask. But *I* am going to make them out of a pop-tube of cinnamon roll dough. Please don't tell Norway.

Lulu Had a Birthday, and She's Got Some Presents for You! (a giveaway from BabyLit, Shining Light Dolls, and Whole Parenting Goods)

Jack, my oldest, said of his baby sister the other day, "I think she's probably tied for the third best baby who ever lived. Jesus and Mary were probably better, but she's got to be at least tied with St. John the Baptist for third."

Now, I don't have any way to verify his theory, but she is awfully, awfully sweet.

And she just had a birthday. (Well, last month, but we've been busy.)



So, to celebrate, she'd like to give YOU her birthday presents. Don't worry, she gets to keep hers. But you'll get them too.

We went pretty big for Frankie's Little Monster birthday party, and really big for Bobby and Gus's shared Lego Movie birthday party. So I wanted to keep it simple for Lulu's first birthday party. Now, I am aware that some of you will read this and think it is not simple at all and that I am some sort of crazy robot.

To those people, I say: We have already covered this. I am most likely NOT a robot. But it's hard to know for sure.

And for ME, this is as simple a birthday party as I am capable of throwing.

We only invited immediate family, my parents, and Lulu's godparents and their kids. And that was nineteen people. It's pretty much impossible to throw a small party when the guest of honor has six siblings (soon to be seven!).

The theme was pink and brown giraffes, because Lulu likes her Sophie giraffe toy, and she has a giraffe sweater, and we had leftover pink plates from her baptism.

- The Decor -
This banner, courtesy of me:


And this poster, courtesy of Bobby, which is still hanging in my house, because it has a certain je ne sais quoi and I can't bring myself to part with it:


- The Food -
I know I'm usually all about the funny party-themed foods, but for this party, we had a pizza. And I didn't even come up with anything else to call it. It was just a pizza.
But, it WAS a really, really, REALLY big pizza, which is kinda giraffe-like. Right?

- The Cake -
I made a pink giraffe cupcake tower. That's a thing, right?


I am a big fan of Wilton Candy Melts. I print out whatever I want the decorations to be, put a piece of parchment or wax paper on top of it, and trace it with melted candy melts, squeezed out of the corner of a ziploc bag. I can't draw freehand. But I can trace like nobody's business.
No games. No prizes. No favors. She's only one, after all.
But she DID get presents. And now you can get them, too. This is actually supposed to be NEXT week's giveaway, but Nell from Whole Parenting Goods, who is sponsoring one of the giveaways, is closing up shop for Christmas and TODAY is the last day to place orders. I didn't want you to see her cute stuff and not be able to order it.

So . . . the giveaway for Haley's book and Kelly's planner is still on-going, but I'm going to go ahead and post this one too. And then there's one more giveaway, which I'll probably post next week, because who reads blogs the week before or after Christmas? Anyone? I don't know. Anyway . . . 
I have been a fan of the BabyLit board books, since they first came out in 2011. They are baby versions of the greatest classics in literature (focused on things like colors or counting, rather than the actual plot of the original book) written by Jennifer Adams and beautifully and whimsically illustrated by Alison Oliver. Whimsy is my favorite.


For her birthday, Lulu got Sense and Sensibility, Jane Eyre, and Romeo & Juliet, to add to our BabyLit collection.
Allison sells selected illustrations from the books at her shop, Sugar. She's offered to give a winner the print of his or her choosing from the shop. You can also check out her blog, here.
I don't know how anyone could possibly choose.
London from Sense & Sensibility Thornfield from Jane Eyre Ball Gowns from Pride & Prejudice
You'll ALSO win a copy of Alison and Jennifer's newest book, a HUGE interactive book of inspirational doodling prompts called Doodle Lit.

So cute. I know my older kids would love to get their hands on this. But it's for YOU.

Lulu's second gift was generously provided by Chantal at Shining Light Dolls. These dolls are practically perfect in every way.


They are sturdy, bright, engaging, quality-made little dolls.



If that wasn't enough, they are also beautifully designed, and whimsically painted (what did I tell you about whimsy?) grippable, unbreakable, little vinyl versions of Mary and the saints.


Lulu loves them, the rest of the kids love them. Each doll comes individually packaged with a little prayer card.

They are THE cutest.

One lucky winner will get a whole set, or you can order them for yourself from Amazon for all the babies and toddlers in your life!

There's Our Lady of Czestochowa of Poland, St. Nicholas, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Patrick, and Our Lady of Knock of Ireland. Each one cuter than the last.

Finally, Lulu received a gift of handmade love with a side of awesome, from Nell of Whole Parenting Family and Blessed Is She.



This owl skirt. Seriously. You wish Nell made them in your size, right? Well, she doesn't.



But she does make lots of cute little skirts for little girls, and bibs and burp cloths and blankets, and knit scarves, and stretch leggings. All very very cute. And, say it with me now . . . whimsical.

Unicorn skirt? Check.


Foxes with monocles? Done.

Airstream trailer pants? Yes.

A festive place to drool? No problem.

If you'd like to have and hold any of these cuties for yourself, TODAY is the last day to place an order in
We also got this fun infinity scarf, that Lulu and I can BOTH use:





One lucky winner will receive the gift of this lovely purple and gray number, so we can be almost twinsies:


So that's the whole shebang. And a pretty great one if I do say so myself.

There will be three winners. One winner will receive an Allison Oliver print and the new book Doodle Lit.  One winner will get a complete set of Shining Light Dolls. And one winner will get a nice cozy scarf, sized for a grownup, but also enjoyed by some super-easygoing babies.

To enter, click over to Sugar illustration & design, Whole Parenting Goods, and Shining Light Dolls (on Amazon) and leave a comment (or three) telling me what you like best on each page, and maybe wishing Lulu a happy birthday. ;0) I'll announce the winners next Monday. US addresses only for this one.

UPDATE! Alison will ship the babyLit prize anywhere in the world! International address cost $10 for shipping, but that's still pretty great, right?

The liturgical living giveaway is still going on. You can enter to win by clicking over to this post and leaving a comment there.

This post contains affiliate links. Some of these products were provided to me in exchange for my honest review.

And if you're on Facebook, stop by the Catholic All Year page sometime today, I'm going to have a special giveaway going on JUST over there, beginning around 9am Pacific.

A Little Feast of the Immaculate Conception and a Little About Feasts (and more giveaways and new winners and printable prayers)

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which is a Holy day of Obligation. Yes, even though it's a Monday. Go ahead, run to Mass. We can do this when you get back.

Okay, back? Obligation fulfilled?

Your reward is this free printable:


also, this one:

Celebrating the liturgical year in our home is something that it took quite a while for me to figure out. I wrote all about it in this post:

BABY STEPS TO LIVING THE LITURGICAL YEAR AS A FAMILYI hope you'll click over if you haven't read it yet, or in a while, because that's where you'll find the complete rundown of how and why we do it, and how I used to be freaked out by the whole thing, but now it's no biggie.

The key for me, ended up being learning to focus on things we were doing anyway. I fit the saint into our day, rather than tailoring our day to the saint. So, if you do a lot of art projects in your house, a saint-themed art project would be perfect. But in MY house, if Kiwi Crate or Saint Mail doesn't put it in a box and send it here, there are no art projects. Same goes for field trips. Our homeschool group plans one per month, and we do those, but otherwise, our days are pretty full at home with school . . . and naps.

So our celebration of the liturgical year in our home focuses on food, books, and little family activities.

For today's feast, the Immaculate Conception, for example, I like to make all white food. The menu has varied over the years, but this year I'm planning:

- To Eat -
Three Cheese Chicken Alfredo BakeRoasted Garlic CauliflowerSourdough Bread
- To Drink -
Milk
- Afters -
Angel Food Cake (from the store)with Whipped Cream (that I can manage myself)

Ta dah! I was going to make dinner anyway, but now it's all infused with meaning and such.

We'll use the good dishes, and set the table with various little Virgin Mary statues, collected on our travels. After dinner, each kid gets to hold a little Virgin Mary aloft, and we do a little family procession around the house, singing "Ave Maria."

For our story, we're going to read our Advent book of the day, which will be The Christmas Story, new to us this year:


If we are really on top of things, we'll manage a family rosary as well.

But that's pretty much it.

For major feast days such as today's, I take the lead, and we celebrate them each year, usually the same way, because I am a creature of habit. Each month, I plan for us to celebrate any of the Three Special Days that happen to fall during that month, as well as most solemnities.

For other feasts, I let my big kids take the lead. Our deal is, if any kid presents a short saint report on the saint's life at dinner, we get dessert. We learn a little something, we have a little something, everyone wins. No advance planning.

I've found that centering our liturgical living on things we were going to do anyway, like eating dinner, has made it something that I can manage to keep up over many years and many seasons of life. No matter what else is going on, we still have to eat dinner. We can usually manage to have a dinner that "goes" with the saint, whether we are home or away.

Mostly we are home, which is why I've enjoyed owning Haley and Daniel Stewart's awesome guide to liturgical living. You know Haley from her lovely blog, Carrots for Michaelmas and her adorable podcast, Fountains of Carrots. Their first book, Feast!, was just what I was looking for, a resource for simple but fun home-cooked meals that help tell a story to my family when I serve them. The first book has over twenty great recipes, but I keep coming back to the Black Beans and Rice and the Shepherd's Pie. The book also has lovely reflections on living the Christian year in your home.

And NOW, Haley and Daniel are back with a sequel.



Like the first book, More Feasts! features real food and gluten-free recipes, and explores international food traditions (easy sushi for Japanese St. Paul Miki, Vietnamese Summer Rolls for St. Andrew Dung-Lac, Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto for St. Catherine of Siena, etc.).

I'm really looking forward to trying out the new recipes. 
You can go here to get the new ebook for $3.99 and, for all of Advent, the original ebook, Feast! is on sale for $4.99 ($3 off the usual price of $7.99). You can use the coupon code HAPPYFEAST to get 25% off your purchase from Nov. 30th-Dec. 15th!

Another great resource for living the liturgical year in your home comes to us courtesy of Kelly, from This Ain't the Lyceum. She's created a planner, complete with weeks and months, and inspirational writing, available as a download to print yourself for $8, or as a hard copy for $16. You can use it to keep track of all those great feasts. 

And, lucky you, I get to give away a copy of each! One winner will win an ebook copy of More Feasts! AND either a printable pdf OR a hard copy of The Best Laid Plans, and will no longer have any excuse not to get right on the liturgical living train.

Leave a comment telling me how these books might make your life a little better, and you could win them.
I will announce the winner on Friday.
Speaking of winners, I am super excited to announce the winners of the first three of the Advent giveaways . . . 
Tara Darnell wins the $100 to Joules!
And Emily of the confession that it's been 4 years since her last glasses, wins the Firmoo frames!
Jennifer Buckley is the winner of the Advent bundle!
Winners! Please email me at catholicallyear@gmail.com before Wednesday, or I'll pick again.
And, last thing. I had a great time chatting with Jennifer Fulwiler on her radio show last week. Her show is on SiriusXM, but even if you're not a subscriber, you can click here to hear my segment. And you can click here to read what Jennifer thought about our little chat!

Not Believing in Santa Claus is Like Not Believing in Jesus . . . or George Washington

It's the million dollar Christmas question, right? And I've been asked it many times in the lead up to Advent and Christmas: Do our children "believe" in Santa Claus? But . . . I don't think it's the right question. Hang in here with me. Seriously, let's look at what we're really asking. Not believing in Santa Claus is like not believing in Jesus . . . or George Washington. At least inasmuch as all three are actual historical persons who lived on earth.


Which brings me to the second part of the question, as I am sometimes asked, which is if we do St. Nicholas instead of Santa Claus. And, if you'll forgive me, that's an even odder question than the first. Asking if we do St. Nicholas OR Santa Claus is like asking if we prefer Saint John Paul II or Santo Juan Pablo II. It's the same guy, his name is just translated into a different language.

"Santa Claus" is just the German version of Saint Nicolas's name. Ni . . . claus.

Santa Claus was an actual historical, Catholic person. He was born in what is now Turkey in the third century. He became Bishop of Myra. He was real.

He continues to be real and to exist, because as Catholics we believe in an everlasting soul that never dies. The Catholic Church has recognized St. Nicholas as a canonized saint, which means we believe that he lives in heaven and can hear our prayers and intercede with God the Father for us.

Kids, and other people, are free to not believe in leprechauns or fairies (although I happen to want to believe in them, myself) since the evidence for the existence of those creatures is tenuous at best. But not believing in Santa isn't like not believing in unicorns, it's like not believing in Secretariat. I mean, you can not believe in Secretariat if you want, but I gotta say, I'd think it was weird if you didn't.


So now that we have addressed the questionable questions, let's address the question people really MEAN. Which is: do we and should we allow our children to believe that Santa brings them presents.

We do. I think we should.

When Santa brings gifts to my kids on December 6th for St. Nicholas Day and on Christmas, it allows ME to toil in secret, and to experience giving without receiving anything in return. Not even the thanks. I think that's a good thing, "And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:14)

I also think that getting gifts from St. Nicholas helps my kids to understand that the saints are real and that prayers to them are efficacious. Maybe not exactly in the "put chocolate in your shoes" way it might seem now. But it's a good start.

Here's the 7 Quick Takes version of exactly how we talk to our kids about Santa Claus. 
-1-Santa and St. Nick (and Father Christmas) are all the same guy.
-2-He is a saint, so, like all the saints, he lives in heaven with Jesus.
-3-He has a workshop at the North Pole, where he makes toys. (Maybe he has elf helpers, we can't know that part for sure.) 
-4-He brings birthday presents to all the good boys and girls on Christmas Eve (and probably the naughty ones too), to help us all to celebrate Jesus' birthday. Jesus is very generous, and, like hobbits, he likes other people to get the presents on his birthday.
-5-Reports are that he has reindeer that fly. Saints are sometimes able to do miraculous things, with the help of God. St. Pio could bilocate. St. Francis could reason with murderous wolves. St. Joseph of Cupertino could fly all on his own for goodness sakes. It's really not that big a stretch for us that Santa could have reindeer that fly and somehow manage to visit houses all over the world in one night. But, like St. George and the dragon, it's possible that it all means something else somehow.
-6-Santa visits most houses on Christmas Eve only, but, for kids who are waiting for Christmas and observing Advent, he also visits on his feast day on December 6th, and leaves some extra little treats as an attaboy.
-7-Many countries, and many families, have different Christmas traditions, Santa is cool with that and abides by the customs and preferences of individuals. We are cool with that, too.
We feel like Santa makes our Christmas more fun and more reverent at the same time.

I guess it's okay with me if you don't. But, really, I can't see what's dangerous about believing in and loving Santa -- and getting presents from him -- as long as we are foremost a family that knows and loves God, and knows and loves the baby Jesus and the story of the first Christmas, and that understands the communion of the saints.

So, tonight, we are going to put out our shoes for Santa on his feast day. And on Christmas Eve, we'll hang up our stockings. And we will be grateful to God and the Catholic Church for little treats that we don't deserve, and for Christmas magic.

I'm going to let GK Chesterton have the last word here, from a letter he wrote to the Tablet of London:

What has happened to me has been the very reverse of what appears to be the experience of most of my friends. Instead of dwindling to a point, Santa Claus has grown larger and larger in my life until he fills almost the whole of it. It happened in this way.

As a child I was faced with a phenomenon requiring explanation.  I hung up at the end of my bed an empty stocking, which in the morning became a full stocking.  I had done nothing to produce the things that filled it.  I had not worked for them, or made them or helped to make them.  I had not even been good – far from it.

And the explanation was that a certain being whom people called Santa Claus was benevolently disposed toward me. . . .  What we believed was that a certain benevolent agency did give us those toys for nothing. And, as I say, I believe it still.  I have merely extended the idea.

Then I only wondered who put the toys in the stocking; now I wonder who put the stocking by the bed, and the bed in the room, and the room in the house, and the house on the planet, and the great planet in the void.

Once I only thanked Santa Claus for a few dollars and crackers. Now, I thank him for stars and street faces, and wine and the great sea. Once I thought it delightful and astonishing to find a present so big that it only went halfway into the stocking.  Now I am delighted and astonished every morning to find a present so big that it takes two stockings to hold it, and then leaves a great deal outside; it is the large and preposterous present of myself, as to the origin of which I can offer no suggestion except that Santa Claus gave it to me in a fit of peculiarly fantastic goodwill.

 Linking up with Kelly, 7QT hostess!

Fashion Blogging in the National Parks, it's how we roll. (Also, big news. And even bigger news. And a FASHIONABLE ADVENT giveaway.)

I like photo Christmas cards. I wrote all about it last year, and included some of the Holy Family's OWN photo Christmas cards. So when the good folks at Joules Clothing were kind enough to send over some very stylish pieces for our whole family, I knew I wanted to use them to try a little fashion blogging on our trip to Zion National Park in Southern Utah. And see if we couldn't get a Christmas card photo out of it.

Now, if you want REAL fashion blogging, THIS gal is my favorite. For the best in fake fashion blogging, you're going to want to go here. But for cute kids in great clothes, in one of the most beautiful places on God's green earth . . . well, you've come to the right place.

These are the top three family photos, what do you think?




Here are the cast of characters . . .

Your friendly neighborhood blogger, me:


In my new glasses c/o Firmoo!

Firmoo lets you order custom prescription, sun, or just for fun glasses, all from the comfort of your computer screen. Yay! You can even upload a photo of yourself, so you can try the glasses on. Virtually. All glasses are buy one get one free right now, no coupon code needed.
fox sweater c/o Joules
The dashing husband, Jim:


corduroy pants c/o Joules
1. The bold firstborn, Jack:



polo shirt c/o Joules
2. The caring one, Betty:


peony dress c/o Joules
3. The wacky one, Bobby:



oxford shirt c/o Joules
4. The charming one, Gus:



gingham shirt c/o Joules
5. The spunky one, Anita:


party dress c/o Joules
6. The cranky one, Frankie:




baby fox sweater c/o Joules
7. The sweet one, Lulu:


When I bought my ticket to Edel last month, it went a little something like this . . . 
Me: <counting on fingers> Okay, as long as I'm not pregnant RIGHT NOW, there won't be a problem.
God: <doing math in head> Hah hah. You were.
Yup. July 27th, or so. I think?
Which means that, also along on this little adventure was . . . 
8. The new one:

Surprise! 
And if that's not big enough news for you, I'm ALSO going to be live on
If you made it this far, your reward is . . . THE GIVEAWAYS!

Because of some very generous readers and sponsors, I have ended up with a backlog of things to giveaway to you folks. So for the rest of Advent, I'm going to be giving away some really great stuff each week.

First up is a $100 giveaway to Joules Clothing, who sponsored our photo shoot above. Please click over to Joules and check out their brilliant selection of clothing and gifts for men, women, kids, and babies. Leave a comment on this blog post letting me know what you think you might choose if you win.





Hey, I just got an email from Firmoo telling me I can give away a free pair of frames to one winner! So if you'd like to win, leave a comment telling me how long it's been since you had a new pair of glasses. The winner gets to choose from a selection of frames worth up to $39, lenses and shipping not included.

A third lucky winner will receive an Advent bundle of goodies, including a digital download of a lovely calligraphy print by Elise at In Endless Song. These two are available for purchase in her etsy shop, along with lots of other seasonable and year-round lovelies.



You'll also win a copy of the 2014 Magnificat Advent Companion for IOS. It's the Magnificat Advent Companion, right there on your iPhone or iPad. Here's a great review from Catholic Mom. And if you don't want to wait, you can buy it yourself for less than $2.


AND you'll get a hard copy of a new Christmas picture book by my publisher, Magnificat/Ignatius, called Ishmael: The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem.

To win the Advent bundle, leave a comment telling me one thing you're doing this year to observe Advent in your home.

If you'd like to enter all three contests, you can leave three different comments, or just put all three entries in one comment. That's your call. I'll announce ALL three winners next Monday on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

This post contains affiliate links.

My Zion and Bryce Canyon Vacation Photos. Hey, where are you guys all going? Come back!

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you have already seen some grainy iPad mini photos of our big Camping Thanksgiving trip to Utah.


But NOW, I'm going to virtually trap you in my living room and show you my vacation photos like an aloha shirt grandpa with a slide show.
There are a lot of photos. But it's not my fault. Zion and Bryce Canyon are astoundingly beautiful. I want you to see it all. And then I want you to come back Thursday for the big Joules Clothing photo shoot. (And some exciting news!)

Southern Utah is about an eight hour drive from Southern California. So we loaded up the Nissan NV with luggage and car seats and kids and barf bucket hats, and off we went.


We took a detour to see the kitschy sights on Route 66.


And to drive down the Las Vegas strip.


We arrived on Wednesday evening at our home for the holiday: the Zion Ponderosa Ranch.


We had a campsite with a fire pit and a grill and a picnic table, and there were showers and bathrooms and a dishwashing sink. And, oh yeah, a cozy little cabin with real beds and heat. And wifi. Because that's how I like to camp these days. In a warm bed.

The husband and the boys were in the tent, and Frankie and the girls were in the cabin.

The ranch/resort is between Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park, so we were able to visit both.

On Thursday, we headed over to Zion to take some photos and pick up Junior Ranger booklets for the kids. They like to earn their Junior Ranger badges at all the National Parks we visit. Then we came back to camp so I could attempt Camping Thanksgiving.

Thanks to the advice of the good people of the Catholic All Year Facebook Page, I had spatchcocked the turkey before we left home, and so we set that on the grill to cook in two pieces. In the meantime, I made Jim's Mom's Ginger Pumpkin Bisque recipe, and some green beans on the camp stove, while Betty made the mashed potatoes in the crockpot. Once the turkey was done, the rolls and pies went on the grill to warm up.


Usually my mom hosts Thanksgiving at her house, but this year, they went to Iowa to visit my sister. I hated to think of her turkey dishes not getting used for a whole year. So I brought them with me. Camping. And crystal wine glasses and engraved silver handle cups for the kids. Because I'm fancy.


Dinner turned out great. I'm not a person who couldn't go on if Thanksgiving dinner had been a disaster. It's just not that high on my list of priorities, so it was a risk we were willing to take. But it was all hot and cooked and tasty. Although . . . I did cook the bag of giblets again. I have never yet managed to successfully remove the giblets from a turkey. If I take out the neck, there's a bag of other stuff in there. If I take out a bag of stuff, there's another secret bag in there. And yet, we are so far all alive.



The sunset was pretty spectacular.


The next day we got up early to head to Bryce Canyon. But before we got there we saw . . . SNOW. As it turned out, none of the kids born since we moved from Chicago back to Southern California had any memory of having been in the snow. So we had to stop. And touch the snow.


Then on to Bryce Canyon.


We hiked down into the red dirt of the canyon, through tunnels and along steep cliffs. It was about a three mile loop.


The views were none too shabby.

If you're in to that sort of thing.


Not everyone is.

The most striking part of the landscape were these "hoodoos," which are crazy, giant, towering rock formations that are very, very old but look poised to tip over at any moment.




Also, there were wild animals everywhere. We saw wild turkeys, bison, big horn sheep, birds of all kinds, and an absolutely ridiculous number of deer. We saw at least a hundred deer.



Back at camp we ate mac and cheese around the campfire, because it was Friday and we like to keep it meatless.

On Saturday, we headed out hiking again. This time back at Zion.

The parks are less than two hours apart, and both have the distinctive stripes of color in the rock formations that we had seen before at the Grand Canyon, but the hikes were really different.


Saturday's hike had forests (and sandwiches). And rivers.



And reflecting pools.


And waterfalls.


It was a 5.2 mile loop and there were a lot of rocky steps and scrambling over stones, but Frankie did almost the whole thing walking on his own.


Lulu got to ride with me for most of the way.


But Gus wanted to help, right at the end.


And there you have it. The Tierneys went to Zion and Bryce. We highly recommend them. Good job, God.


Then, Sunday morning, we got back in the van and headed west. You're not going to believe this, but a few other folks had the same plan.


But we made it home eventually! After a stop at St. George in St. George for Mass. And the longest recorded bathroom stop in human history in Primm, NV. Never again. Next time, I'm getting us one of these. That is all.

Okay, Thursday will have all the photos of the cute kids in the cute clothes, and the multiple big, exciting announcements. Then sometime after that, I've got a really, really great giveaway. So much good stuff comin' at ya.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a nice, peaceful start to your Advent. Whew.

In case you are still in the market for one, here's our cheap and easy, long-lasting, non-table-ruining Advent Wreath. It's not too late!

The Ten Things I'm Glad My Kids Got for Christmas

I've already written about how we are planning a more simple and a more toy-free Christmas than we've had in the past. Not because we are AGAINST toys but because we have reached the natural conclusion of a few years of more mindful toy-buying, more discerning toy-keeping, and the fact that we have a LOT of kids.
We're kind of set in the toy department.
But maybe you're not. Maybe your family Christmas traditions are just starting. Maybe you're trying to build a toy collection your kids will love and you won't hate. I've spent a couple of years now really trying to pay attention to which toys are working in our family, which are being neglected, and which are causing unhappiness and disarray. We've done clean out after clean out (and are due for another). And, for our family of four boys and three girls aged one to twelve, these are the toys that are consistently loved and played with, year after year, kid after kid.
I've had a lot of toy-buying regrets over the years, but these are the things we all enjoy.
Maybe your kids will like them too.


All links are Affiliate Links, thanks for clicking through!
1. BOOKS

No duh, right? But GOOD books. They don't all have to be great literature, but they have to have something to love about them. They have to be smart, or touching, or funny, or beautiful. 
We are going to do the Wrap Up Books for Advent thing this year, for the first time. So I've just ordered a new book for each of the kids . . . 
Jack (12)
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree
Last year he got:
Letters From Father Christmas
Betty (10)
The Christmas Story
Last year she got:
Angela and the Baby Jesus
Bobby (9)

The Friendly Beasts: an old English Christmas Carol

Last year he got:

Richard Scarry's Best Christmas Book Ever!

Gus (7)

Merry Christmas Mom and Dad
Last year he got:
The Wee Christmas Cabin
Anita (5)

Santa's Favorite Story: Santa Tells the Story of the First Christmas

Last year she got:

Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing

Frankie (3)

Lift-the-Flap Nativity

Last year he got:

An Orange for Frankie

Lulu (1)

Bear Stays Up for Christmas
Last year she got:

A Christmas Carol: A BabyLit Colors Primer
Here are our five all time favorite Christmas picture books.
And our favorite read aloud chapter books for Advent.

2. DRESS UP CLOTHES

We have a big trunk of dress up clothes, for boys and girls. We've got saint robes, and princess dresses, and animal costumes, and superhero capes, and Hulk Foam Fists.


My aunt, who doesn't have kids herself, but picks the best presents EVER, gave these fists to Jack ten years ago, and they are still going strong, thousands of punches later.

My little kids love the dress up box, and it's always really popular with visiting kids as well.

Pro tip: My kids are only allowed to put dress up clothes on over the top of their existing clothes. That keeps them from ending up mostly naked and with NO IDEA where their clothes are when we need to leave for the dentist -- right now.

3. BOARD GAMES

We have a lot of board games, and we try to make a point of having a family game night at least every month, hopefully more often.

Our favorites for the whole family but especially little kids are:


Hisss Card Game: This game is so simple, but really fun. Two year olds to adults can enjoy it.

Chutes and Ladders: Consequences! We have an older version with stuff like skating on thin ice and pulling a cat's tail. I'm hoping those are still in this new version.

Candy Land: Pro Tip . . . Put the picture cards in the deck in order from worst to best to avoid kids getting sent back to the beginning and therefore making the game take FOREVER.
Our favorites for the whole family but especially grade schoolers are:

Cranium Conga Family Game

Clue The Classic Edition: The kids get super into this game, and take their detective work really seriously.

Apples to Apples Party Box - The Game of Crazy Combinations (Family Edition): This is the version we have, and our kids eight and up enjoy it. But I did have to take out a whole bunch of cards that were people my kids didn't know, or were just wildly inappropriate. Apparently there is a Junior Edition, and a Bible Edition that are aimed at younger audiences, but it was easy enough to tidy up the regular version.
Our favorites for the whole family but especially middle schoolers are:


Monopoly - The Classic Edition: Math practice + fun + cutthroat landlording


Risk Game: This game takes a LONG time, like Monopoly, and it's complex. But once everyone figures it out, it's pretty cool.

Stratego Original Game: It's like minesweeper, but in board game form.
4. ART & CRAFT SUPPLIES

I love art supplies and craft kits that the kids can do by themselves.

In the past, I've given the kids a selection of things like sketch pads, oil pastels, pipe cleaners, glitter glue, googly eyes, etc, whatever is age appropriate. Or packaged craft kits. My kids are old enough and understand our family rules enough that they can be trusted to have access to arts and crafts supplies unsupervised, during nap time for little kids.



But THIS year, my kids are getting Kiwi Crate, a monthly subscription service that delivers a box of arts and crafts to the house each month. And I don't have to organize any of it. Yay!
5. SPORTS EQUIPMENT
We have -- and use -- a Hockey Goal Set, boxing gloves, and a basketball hoop. But the MOST popular thing in our sports equipment collection right now is . . . a Playground Ball.

My kids use sidewalk chalk to draw a foursquare court in the cul-de-sac, or they play in the segments of our driveway. Four square is awesome.

But ANYTHING that keeps them occupied and outside gets a thumbs up from me.

6. OUTDOOR PLAY EQUIPMENT



Speaking of that, we've also had great success with a tree house, and a playhouse, and a Trampoline. My parents almost always give the kids a group gift of something big for the backyard every year. And whatever it is always makes the kids excited to go outside, and you can't put a price on that. But we ARE starting to run out of room.

7. DOLLS
My girls love dolls. Betty has, and takes excellent care of, two American Girl dolls, that have been gifts. Anita still loves baby dolls. And even Lulu, at only one, adores baby dolls.

This is the Boy Baby Doll Anita got for Christmas the year Frankie was born. It's from France and smells like baby powder and is anatomically correct.

We have a couple of strollers, we have some extra outfits, we've got some food. But I try to avoid having lots of furniture and accessories for our dolls. We need the room inside our house for furniture and accessories for our kids.

8. TEA SETS

My girls throw the cutest tea parties. And sometimes I let them use real tea and everything, and sometimes even cookies. And that makes the boys willing to attend. They are not that interested in the idea of tea parties, but they are very interested in the actual tea and cookies of tea parties.


Plus, I really think a breakable tea set is an excellent way to learn about consequences and responsibility.
9. VEHICLES
Rolling things are very popular with both boys and girls at my house. We've had wooden train sets, and Hot Wheels tracks, and a driving rug and all have been enjoyed immensely. We ended up passing along the train set, because it took up a lot of room. And the Hot Wheels tracks are really fun for a while, but don't last very well for us. The rug lived outside for a while, and then dissolved.

Our favorite vehicle set right now is this Richard Scarry Busytown Deluxe Town Hall Playset that Frankie got for Christmas from my sister last year.

Frankie, as you may have heard, is cranky. He was particularly cranky last Christmas morning. Then he opened this present, and we didn't hear from him again the rest of the day. Busy Town saved Christmas.

10. Legos

LEGO Bricks. They are expensive and very tempting for little kids to try to eat. They get everywhere and it hurts a LOT when you step on them.



But they are overall the most popular toy with all kids of all age groups in my house. Frankie can build with Duplo blocks, and Lulu loves banging them together.

The older kids love to get and build kits, but then they just throw all the pieces from all the sets together and come up with their own creations, and those are always WAY better.

The only issue we've had with Legos, is that little kids tend to smash up creations that bigger kids are working on. That is obviously super frustrating. But we don't ever let big kids shut little kids out of the playroom. We always say that people are more important than things. So if you can't play with that thing around these people, then you need to not play with that thing right now. So, mostly they play with Legos up on the dining room table or during nap time.

But SOMETIMES they'll sit there making towers for Frankie and Lulu to smash, and that's fun for everyone.

This is how I attempt to keep them organized.

---------

And that's that. Those are all our favorites. Almost everything else in this house could go and the kids might not even notice. Or at least that's my hypothesis, we'll see if I'm right.

I'm sure your favorites are a little different than ours.

What is a Christmas present you are glad to have given your kids? Or that someone else gave them?

----------

We're off today with our little birthday girl Lulu and all the rest on our Thanksgiving camping adventure, so I will have only limited internet access until next Monday.


But once we're back in town, I'll recap her lovely (small) little birthday party, and she has some of her favorite things to give away to some lucky readers!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving, and a peaceful start to Advent.

Everything Is Awesome, but especially this Lego Movie birthday party (with free printables)

I'm not sure why, but back early in my mothering journey, when it began to look like I was going to end up with more kids than, well, than I had previously realized was even POSSIBLE . . . I latched on to birthday parties as The Thing I had to maintain to make it Not Weird to have this many kids.

I vowed that each of my kids would have a homemade birthday cake and a party every year, no matter how many of them we ended up with. I'm not saying that every kid NEEDS that, just that it's something I personally decided I wanted to do for my kids.

Which was all fine and good until we ended up with four kids' birthdays in the thirty-seven days between October 26th and December 2nd. But, as a testament to my extraordinary doggedness, I have kept it up. We've moved parties early and late to accommodate the new arrivals, and for the past few years Bobby and Gus have shared a party since they have the same interests and friends and even I have limits. It turns out that one of those limits is throwing the same party for the same people two weekends in a row.


The shared party this year was The Lego Movie-themed. Unlike a certain wintery-type nonsensefest that Anita chose for HER party, I actually really, really love this movie. And the kids are old enough now that they took the lead on ideas for the party. It was a family undertaking.

And here's how it went down . . .

The Decor
As per usual, pretty much all our party decorations are paper. I made a custom happy birthday banner in PicMonkey, and printed each image out as a 4x6 photograph on regular paper on our home printer, then I folded the top edge over to make a pocket for string, and cut them out with a rotary cutter.



I made a free download of the printable banner here. You can download the photo and letter images I made onto your computer. Just select each letter you'd like to print to spell whatever you'd like. If your child's name has letters in it that aren't in my banner, and you'd like to personalize it, you can open the blank one in PicMonkey and add whichever letters you need. There are little dots of color in the corner that you can grab to make the letters match the existing banner colors. The font I used is a free download here. If you download and install the font, it will show up in PicMonkey on the "yours" tab on the fonts page.

I also printed an Everything is Awesome sign for the door, from this free printable here.  I've always used Publisher for that in the past, but now that we have a Mac, I found an app called PosteRazor that allowed me to print a saved photo out on multiple pages, then I trimmed the edges with my rotary cutter, and taped them together.

The rest of the decorations were tissue paper garland and fans and balls left over from previous parties. I love how cheap and reusable and festive and easy to store tissue paper decorations are.

Plates, cups, napkins, and utensils were all solid yellow from the dollar store.

The Menu
The kids and I agreed that the AWESOMEST food table for this party would have included giant sausages, turkey legs, chicken wings AND tacos. But since that would be crazy, we just went with tacos for the main course.



We had some fun coming up with funny names for the other food items.



The little lego flame tags for the salsa, and chicken, cow, and turkey tags for the various meats were useful AND totally cracked me up.

Here's what we had . . .

1. Unikitty Chow: Lucky Charms + Skittles + Rainbow Twizzlers cut into two inch pieces
2. Pretzel Girl Pretzels: Synder's Old Time Pretzels
3. Benny's SpaceCHIP!: sour cream and onion chips, Bobby's favorite
4. Fruit Salad of Resistance: a hollowed out watermelon with a spray-painted soda box tooth-picked onto the back
5. Batman's Cheesy Batarangs: Cheetos
6. GoodCop Carrots: carrots + ranch dip
7. Business Taquitos: in beef or chicken
8. Tacos: It was Taco Tuesday even though it was a Saturday. Ground turkey and beef, hard taco shells and soft flour tortillas.
9. Condiments: lettuce, sour cream, and various salsas

Here are the food tags as printables. I printed them each as a 3X5 photograph on card stock, then cut them, scored them, and folded them. Voila.



For drinks for the kids we had water and sodas. THEMED sodas.


1. Wildstyle Strawberry Soda
2. Metalbeard Root Beer
3. Vitruvius Truly Lemon Lime

Here are the drink labels. I printed them 8.5x11 size, and folded them to be the same height as the existing labels on the soda bottles, then taped them on with packing tape all around, so the colors wouldn't run in the ice bucket.

The Games
We had two activities. The first, Bobby came up with himself: Pin the Pants on the Where Are My Pants Guy. Ingenious. It turns out this nice lady had the same idea, and I used her photos to make the poster and little pants-es. I added the movie title to it, and made it four pages. You can download it here.


The second game was Jack's idea. We have a big bin of Legos on the side of the house that I've been meaning to get rid of since our last major toy closet clean out. (Don't worry, we still have PLENTY.) Jack made up little baggies with a handful of Legos, one for each kid at the party. Then, with NO INSTRUCTIONS, each kid got to be a Masterbuilder and come up with his or her own little creation.

My kids love, love, love Legos, but even I was amazed at how enthralled the party guests all were by this activity. The party got REALLY quiet. As they finished, they each put their creation anonymously on a table. Then each kid and grownup at the party got two slips of paper with which to vote for their favorite creations. With dozens of people voting, every piece got a least one vote, so no one got their feelings hurt. But I tried to keep the kids away from the table anyway, once they had voted, and I only announced the one winner, so everyone else could figure he got second place.


The winner of each game got this The LEGO Movie Sticker Book.

The Cake
Introducing . . . the Double Decker Couch Cake, so everyone can eat cake together and be buddies!



As far as I can tell (from one google image search) Bobby and Gus had the only Double Decker Couch Cake that has ever existed in the history of the world. It had cupholders.

My dad built me the little platform on which it sat. The cakes themselves were just two 9x5 loaves of poundcake, with a rectangle chunk cut out so they'd be couch-shaped. It was one of my easier cakes ever, but fun.

The words are melting chocolate. I printed out what I wanted to write, then put parchment paper over the printout, put the melted "chocolate" in a ziplock bag, cut a tiny corner off of the side of the bag, and traced the words a few times to make them strong enough to stand up on the cake.



Those shirts were Jack's gift to Bobby and Gus, he designed them on PicMonkey and I printed them onto inkjet iron on transfer paper and ironed them onto shirts. Bobby's says Honey, Where Are My Pants? You can download it here.


Gus' says Everything is Awesome. You can download it here.


Want to make one? Here is the paper I used.

The Piñata 
This part was all Jack. He found this Lego Man Head Piñata tutorial online. I helped him enlarge the template using the same PosteRazor app, and cut the yellow tissue paper for him, then he did the rest. He even had the idea to make it GoodCop / BadCop, which was the best part.


The Favors
I absolutely do not feel obligated to give party favors, but my kids really enjoy coming up with a little something to thank their friends for coming to the party. There's something Hobbitish about giving other people presents for YOUR birthday, which I like. So we almost always send our guests home with a little something.


This year it was a Build Your Own Mini Fig (again rescued from our Lego discard pile), three un-inflated balloons, a Lego Movie Pencil, a super-flimsy little plastic hardhat, and an Emmet Head Marshmallow on a Stick. Plus their Lego creation and the rest of the Legos in their baggies. All in cute little Lego Bags.

And that was that.

Everything was awesome, if I do say so myself.



For more on our party philosophy see . . .

MY APOSTOLATE OF PARTIESTHE BEAUTY OF BACKYARD BIRTHDAY PARTIESHOW WE THROW A BACKYARD BIRTHDAY PARTYAnd to see more birthday parties, click here and scroll on through.
This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links, which means if you click through to Amazon from my blog and do any shopping at all, I get a teeny, tiny percentage of what you spend at no cost to you, so thanks!