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The first episode of Catholic All Year at Home is steaming now and it’s all about St. Nicholas Day.

You’ll get to see the kids and I make mulled wine and cider, speculaas cookies, and a Dutch fried meatball pub snack called bitterballen. Also, Bobby cries. #theonionsgothim I’ll share about some of the stories associated with these fun feast day foods, like why St. Nicholas is often pictured with three golden balls and without his mitre.

Most importantly you’ll get to see what actual feast day prep looks like in our kitchen. I hope you’ll be inspired to give it a try in your own home.

St. Nicholas’ Feast Day – December 6th

Complete recipes from this episode are available here:

Speculaas Cookies

Bitterballen

Hot Mulled Wine / Bisschopswijn

Hot Mulled Cider

If you like liturgical living recipes, check out the Catholic All Year Membership. CAY Members get exclusive access to the complete library of hundreds of recipes, organized by month and feast day, plus lots of other liturgical living resources.

We’ve got one more episode of Catholic All Year at Home in post-production right now, for Christmas Eve, so be on the lookout for that one.

If you like the show, please share it with your friends, family members, parish, school, and homeschool communities. We’ve got more episodes planned, but in order to get them greenlit, we need a lot of folks to watch these first two!

You can also find lots more Catholic All Year liturgical living video content on FORMED. Check that out here.

The post Catholic All Year at Home (on FORMED!) appeared first on Catholic All Year.

I’ve written about family movie nights before, see that post here. I think it’s been a really important part of establishing our family culture to watch movies together as a family. It gives us shared experiences and common points of reference and inside jokes. As a general rule—at any time of the year—I avoid letting my kids watch kid movies that are so insipid that I couldn’t sit through them, and the grown ups in our family avoid movies that are so racy or violent that we wouldn’t want our teens to see them. We will sometimes watch a shorter kids’ movie as a whole family, then put little kids to bed, then watch something a bit edgier with just the older kids. But in our family, the main goal of movie-watching is family togetherness. And that’s especially true for us at Christmas time.

I spent the month of November (that’s BEFORE Advent, so it’s okay ) previewing Christmas movies on various streaming platforms in the hopes of adding some new movies to our rotation. This post is a roundup of what I thought about the best of those, plus our family favorites . . . 

ANIMATED SHORTS & MOVIES

The Small One (1978, Disney+, 0:25, TV-PG)

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.

Illumination Presents: Dr. Seuss’ the Grinch (2018, Amazon, 1:26, PG)

We all love the 1966 classic version and most of us hate the 2000 live action version. IMHO this version is the best. Religious carols. Hilarious a capella group part. Not the usual bad guy backstory. I love this take on the Grinch. He isn’t the terror of the town. The whos shrug off his antisocial behavior. He’s isolated by his own hurt and his own choices. So accurate. All he has to do is get out of his own way to learn to love his fellow man, er, who. 

Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983, Disney+, 0:26, G)

This is a surprisingly good 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 frantic 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.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992, Disney+, 1:26, G)

The Mickey one is a good version. But this one is my favorite. 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 its more sophisticated plot may be more difficult for little kids to understand. But they won’t mind, because they’ll be watching Kermit. (P.S. it’s not animated, it’s puppets and live action, but I made the executive decision to list it here. 🙂 )

Klaus (2019, Netflix, 1:38, PG)

An amusing (if mistaken) origin story of Santa. Great visuals, great voice acting, sweet message, gentle reference to an afterlife.

Alien X-mas (2020, Netflix, 0:42, TV-Y)

Amazing claymation, a sweet (if secular) message of love and giving, and a Santa who wields candy cane nunchucks in “The Battle for Christmastown.” It’s awesome. (Violence is limited to snowballs and automatic ribbon machines.)

Prep & Landing (2009, Disney+, 0:22, TV-G) & (2010, Disney+, 0:07, TV-G)

These Pixar shorts feature the elves who get houses ready for Santa’s visit. 2009 & 2010 are cute and unobjectionable. (We skip the 2011 one since the plot of that one centers around hating the new baby, then deciding that you like the new baby. That’s not a concept I support.)

Rankin Bass Stop Motion Christmas Movies

We have many of these on DVD and really like them, but they’re unfortunately not easily available now, either for purchase or streaming.

DON’T RECOMMEND

Angela’s Christmas (2018, Netflix, 0:30, TV-Y)

I much prefer to shine a light on good entertainment rather than point out bad, but . . . I think this deserves to be the exception. Angela and the Baby Jesus is my favorite book in our Advent/Christmas book collection. Our Christmases have been improved by the phrase, “His mother will be roarin’ an’ bawlin.’” The book is sweet and funny and poignant. The Netflix show . . . not so much.

I wanted to like it. Really I did. But its heart is all wrong. In the book, Angela’s brother Pat tells their mother of Angela’s transgression for just the reasons we tell our kids they should tattle: because something is dangerous or destructive. In the show, he’s a taunting little bully who terrorizes his sister constantly and tries to push her into traffic and can’t wait to tell on her.

In the book, the policeman makes a good natured joke to the priest about the Limerick jail, to which the priest doesn’t even reply. In the show, the noble policeman must talk the priest out of his apparent intention to throw a small child into prison . . . just like her poor father had been, traumatizing everyone. It’s just preposterous.

There’s other stuff, but I won’t bore you with more. Just, please get the book. It’s darling.

OLD-TIMEY CLASSICS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

White Christmas (1954, Netflix, 2:00, TV-G)

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 of 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. 

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, Prime, 2:10, PG)

We often 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!

The Bishop’s Wife (1947, Prime, 1:50, TV-G)

Though centered on a Protestant Bishop and his wife and daughter, it’s a more theologically Catholic take on a movie featuring an angel who intervenes in human affairs. He’s not a person who became an angel, which is nice since that isn’t possible. I like how everyone around him is simultaneously drawn to and confounded by him. That seems accurate! It’s not as funny as It’s a Wonderful Life, though.

The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945, DVD, 2:06, NR)

The second Bing Crosby movie on the list (White Christmas), 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.

Come to the Stable (1949, Amazon, 1:34, NR)

Like It’s a Wonderful Life and The Bishop’s Wife, Come to the Stable seems VERY like The Bells of St. Mary’s. Come to the Stable has the advantage of being based on a very sweet true story of two French religious sisters who came to a small New England town and involve the townsfolk in helping them to build a children’s hospital. But it has the disadvantage of not having Bing Crosby for its random song insertions or quite as much humor.

EIGHTIES TO OUGHTS LIVE ACTION MOVIES

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1983, YouTube 0:48)

Not Catholic, but a sweet and very religious faithful TV adaptation of a favorite Christmas book.

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe (2005, Disney+, 2:27, PG)

I love these books. They are such a lovely mix of adventure, fantasy, and allegory. I think the movie adaptations from the oughts are well-cast and enjoyable. The Father Christmas cameo makes this one a Christmas movie in my book!

A Christmas Story (1983, Amazon, 1:33, PG)

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.

Home Alone (1990, Disney+, 1:43, PG)

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 soundtrack 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. 

I screened the new Home Sweet Home Alone and it’s trying really hard to check all the boxes of the original, so it’s got sickening slapstick violence and even a scene in church, but it’s just not as charming and the “accidental bad guys” angle just didn’t do it for me.

Elf (2003, Amazon, 1:36, PG)

It’s really funny, for sure, and the overall messages of making time for family and learning to find your place in the world are great. But in my house this is a teens and up movie. Out of wedlock secret pregnancy, paternity tests, and lingerie are not things I want to discuss with my littles.

Joyeux Noel (2006, Amazon, 1:56, PG-13)

A bleak look at war, but a heartwarming take on the stories of enemy combatants in WWI coming together to celebrate a trench-style Christmas. Dialog is in French, English, and German, with subtitles. There’s a nudity-free sex scene between a married couple that we don’t need to see, so we jump past that part. For older teens and up.

Die Hard (1988, Amazon, 2:12, R)

It’s a well done action film. It’s not very Christmassy. But it’s okay with me if you want to call it a Christmas movie. Utterly pointless brief topless scenes (because the eighties) that can be jumped through, very bloody violence. Pro-marriage. For older teens and up.

CHRISTMAS ROM-COMS

This is a whole genre now, as I’m sure you’re aware. Christmas rom-coms have a deserved reputation for being poorly acted and poorly written, but, ya know what, some of them are fun to watch anyway. I think it’s good to celebrate romance and happy endings. We avoid rom-coms that feature divorce or living together as a plot point.  

While You Were Sleeping (1995, Disney+, 1:43, PG)

A movie from my youth that I can actually show my kids! Very sweet and old-timey romantic and definitely at Christmas time, though it’s not really about that. It’s rated PG, but because of mild references to adult situations, I think it’s more appropriate for teens and up. I love the message of appreciating family as they are. Bonus: They are Catholic and go to Mass and there’s a priest to perform the wedding.

A Christmas Prince (2017, Netflix, 1:32, PG)

Probably the most sophisticated of the Netflix Christmas rom-coms (not a super sophisticated bunch). Fun, sweet, family-appropriate, and features more interesting characters than I expected. And all the chaste romance and Christmas decorations you’d want. The sequels get progressively dumber and have subtle nods to less appropriate content.

The Princess Switch (2018, Netflix, 1:42, TV-G)

A Christmas/fairy tale version of the Prince & the Pauper. There are some plot holes, but overall it’s cute and sweet. There’s a “hubba hubba” shirtless guy scene. Hey, how about we all agree it was inappropriate to objectify women’s bodies in the movies of my childhood and it’s inappropriate to objectify men’s bodies in movies now? Could we just NOT? Anyway, the two sequels introduce a third doppelgänger with a troubling worldview and really bothersome accent and mannerisms. They’re not making it into our rotation, even though the third one features a bishop (who isn’t the bad guy , shocking, I know) and some sort of relic of St. Nicholas, but it’s just all dumber than it needs to be.

The Knight Before Christmas (2019, Netflix, 1:32, TV-14)

This one isn’t even trying to make sense, plot-wise. And it really confuses things in the Netflix Christmas Cinematic Universe (NCCU) by introducing a fourth character who looks exactly like Vanessa Hudgens. But it’s sweet and romantic and there’s a focus on honor and virtue, which is nice. (If only also faith!)

Christmas Catch (2018, Netflix, 1:26, TV-G)

My girls get a kick out of the hilariously awkward heroine. It breaks my rule against divorcee rom-coms, but we are pretty sure he could qualify for an annulment.

A Very Country Christmas 2017 Netflix, 1:24 (TV-G)

A sweet, chaste romance featuring a widowed mother, a fun gramma, a cute kid, getting back to one’s roots, and a lot of country music. Also a shirtless guy scene. Argh.

12 Dates of Christmas 2011, Disney+, 1:26 (PG)

Groundhog Day . . . but make it Christmas and Andie MacDowell is the guy from Saved by the Bell. Predictable, but aren’t they all? And she learns some good lessons and even goes to midnight Mass a couple times, so that’s good!

Some Notes:

1. These movies are mostly secular. Ideally, a list of Christmas movies would feature a lot of religious movies, right? Right. However, while I don’t mind correcting secular movie misconceptions about St. Nicholas/Santa Claus, I find the misrepresentations in religious Christmas movies to be more problematic and just, generally, bothersome to me. I know there are religious Christmas movies out there. I have previewed most of them. In my experience, they all get Mary wrong. They all show the Three Wisemen arriving on Christmas day. It. Bugs. Me. So, we read the story of Jesus’ birth from the gospel, we go to Mass, we do a family Nativity Play. There’s no question in our house as to the “reason for the season.” But the majority of Christmas movies we watch are secular.
2. In keeping with the whole “if you don’t have anything nice to say . . .” thing, if I didn’t like a movie, I just didn’t include it here. (There is one exception, but I just really wanted to warn you about that one.)
3. I’ve tried to note instances of language, violence, or racy-ness that I remembered, but I’m sure I missed a few. IMBD.com has a very helpful and detailed “parents guide” section at the bottom of their information about movies. I highly recommend checking that out before watching these or any family movies, since your screening priorities might be different than mine.

The post A Christmas Family Movie Night appeared first on Catholic All Year.

This happened, more than would have been my personal preference, but I’m not in charge.

But that wasn’t the ONLY thing that happened. And I felt LESS horrible in the mornings, and didn’t get sick then, so we were able to do some fun things as a family. I’ve been documenting some of our shenanigans on Facebook and Instagram, but not ALL of them. And not all of YOU are getting those updates.

So, lets catch you all up, shall we? Seven Quick Takes style? Done.

1. Christmas

As with the Grinch, morning sickness did NOT stop Christmas from coming. It came. Even though I felt barfy, it came all the same.

So . . . we got a Christmas tree.

And despite all my high ideals and my blog posts and radio interviews about the virtues of a simple Christmas, it wasn’t a COMPLETE success.

The big kids have neighborhood jobs, and they earn money, and they bought each other gifts, and those gifts were toys. *I* did manage to stick to my guns and the kids’ gifts from Santa, and from mom and dad were activities and one group technology gift. And they were perfectly happy. But they got some toys from each other, and it was okay. I may try to talk them into going in on something together next year, or I may just keep my mouth shut and let them be generous to one another in their own way. Only time will tell.

Christmas Eve was new jammies and a group reading of a kids’ theatrical version of A Christmas Carol. Anita really stole the show as Scrooge.

Christmas Day was Mass in our new duds, and the Nativity play, and my first Yule Log!

2. Also Christmas

The rest of the Twelve Days of Christmas included a boxing tournament for Boxing Day:

Plus Christmas cookie-baking, and Christmas movie-watching (but not until all the Santas are lined up properly).

3. New Year’s

As is our family habit, we celebrated New Year’s Eve a few hours early.

So we could hit an early Mass for Our Lady, and head for the Rose Parade.

The floats were impressive as usual: dragon, phoenix, trampoline guy, Jesus. The works.

My sister and her family have been in town visiting us. Anita and her cousin Emma are best of friends.

4. The Getty

The husband got some time off of work, which was lovely. He took the boys and girls on separate outings, while I lolled about the house. But one of the days I did manage to put my big girl pants on and head out to do some art appreciation’ at The Getty.

And, since there’s only so much art kids can look at at one time, we also let them run around like maniacs outside, and roll down the lovely rolling-down hill.

5. Epiphany

Epiphany also came, and the Three Wise Men left some treats in our shoes, and Anita found the ring in our King Cake and got to be Queen for the day. She requested pineapple pizza and root beer floats for dinner, and that’s what she got.

6. The Beach

While the rest of the country is in the throes of yet another Polar Vortex (or so I hear on Facebook), the weather has been lovely since just after Christmas here in Los Angeles. We’ve been inspired to actually take advantage of it, since my sister and my two little nieces will be heading back to Iowa soon (brrrrr).

The beach. Really, you can’t beat it.

7. And Frankie’s Been Frankie

He didn’t SAY it was a self portrait. But it’s a pretty uncanny likeness. I gotta say, I know how doodle Frankie feels.

And that was that. I really have been feeling much better the last couple of days. I have an OB appointment next week, so we’ll all get to find out about when to expect this little troublemaker.

The post What I Did on My Christmas Vacation appeared first on Catholic All Year.

And in case you couldn’t read that, here’s the transcript:

Dear friends and family,

We hope this card finds you healthy, happy, and keeping warm.

We took a family trip to France and visited Lourdes for Gus’ First Holy Communion. It was lovely to be back, seven years after Gus went with mom and dad as a baby on our first trip to Lourdes, the one with the miracle.

In other international baby news, we went with just baby Lulu, on an unexpected trip around Spain with friends, and got to attend the beatification of Blessed Alvero del Portillo.

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in Southern Utah, visiting Zion and Bryce Canyon. The boys camped in a tent. The girls were snug in a cabin. And we grilled our turkey over an open fire.

Jack (12 1/2) flew back to LA while the rest of us were staying with Gramma and Papa in Chicago, to attend back-to-back weeks of summer camp. He’s in the 7th grade this year, is taking most of his classes online from MODG, and loves science and engineering. He’s currently researching patents in the hope of securing one for a XXXXXXXXXXX. The name of Jack’s invention has been redacted at his request, so you don’t steal it. He’s really taken up the kid birthday party-throwing mantle from his mom. Kid throws a good party. He is quite proud of the fact that he is now as tall as his Nana.

Betty (almost 11) is the founder (and currently the sole member) of the Junior Damas Archivistas of the San Fernando Mission. Which means she helps the old ladies serve coffee and donuts after Mass. She’s in the 5th grade, and likes crafts, reading, history, and does not hate math. She is currently making detailed plans for a Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone birthday party in February, then six more birthday parties based on the six other books after that.

Bobby (9) got an insider view of the French healthcare system when he sliced his hand open on a pokey metal part of a very historic French wall. He got to attend Mt. Carmel football camp this summer in Chicago with Jack. He is in the fourth grade, but believes himself to be enrolled in fifth grade math by his own merits and not at all because his teacher wanted to combine his math lesson with Betty’s. His favorite things are onions, kiwi birds, house flies, and the name Steve (he names flies, kiwi birds, and onions “Steve”).

Gus (7) is fast, really fast. He was on his own sports teams this year, but he didn’t like those as much as being the practice squad for Jack’s championship flag football team. He got a trophy and everything. Now that he’s had his First Holy Communion, he gets to join Jack and Bobby as altar boys at the mission. He has a policy of taking his shirt off and doing pushups everywhere he goes.

Anita (5 1/2) is quite fond of her beauty mark, her yellow hair, and anything that has to do with the movie Frozen. She played soccer this year, and was as surprised as anyone when she scored three goals, in each of her last three games. She’s enjoying the first grade, which in her school, is taught mostly by the members of the fifth and seventh grades.

Frankie (3) is a real piece of work. He went from speaking almost not at all this time last year, to speaking constantly and at all times. He has a pretty hilarious case of grumpy resting face. His favorite things are shrieking, driving toy cars on the walls, and jumping on the couch. Unfortunately for him, none of those things are allowed in this house.

Lulu (1) is the sweetest baby we’ve ever met. The kids figure that she’s probably tied with baby John the Baptist for third place on the all time best babies list, after baby Jesus and the baby Virgin Mary, of course. Her constant beaming smiles at strangers really paid off on our trip to Spain, when a passing priest beheld the vision that is baby Lulu and insisted upon us taking his VIP seats for the beatification.

Jim is still working for DaVita, and coaching tee ball. He and Jack and Grandad climbed Mt. Whitney (14,505 ft) this year, after an unsuccessful attempt two years ago when Jack got altitude sickness.

Kendra is keeping busy homeschooling, mothering, and gestating baby Tierney number eight, due to arrive next summer. Her book (A Little Book About Confession for Kids) was published by Ignatius Press last spring. She continues to enjoy blogging at www.CatholicAllYear.com and hopes to spend her Christmas break writing a book on how our family celebrates the liturgical year. Or maybe just being queasy and watching Netflix. Your call, baby.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2015 to all.

Love,
the Tierneys
Jim, Kendra, Jack, Betty, Bobby, Gus, Anita, Frankie, Lulu, and tiny baby

I’ve got some winners to announce!

The two winners of the year’s subscription to Netflix Streaming are . . .
Elizabeth of Super Swell Times, and Isabelle of England and France (I hope it will work there!)

The winner of the Living Our Faith With Older Kids giveaway is . . .
Nicole of Children of the Church

Enjoy your awesome prizes y’all!

And now, in case you didn’t win, don’t worry. It’s still the season of giving and whatnot. So here are a couple Christmasy printables I made for you.

Please feel free to print or share them as you please, for any personal (but not commercial) use. To request a custom printable, visit my Etsy shop here.

Joy to the World on red . . .

And just because we love this book
and Anita keeps shouting this at us at unexpected moments throughout the day . . . 

I wish you and yours the very merriest of Christmases!

And I’m going to be signing off of the blog for a bit for Christmas here. But I’d love to see you around Facebook or Instagram. Some other Catholic bloggers and I will be using the hashtag #twelvedays as we share about how we are celebrating Christmas for all of, ya know, Christmas. I hope you’ll join us.

I would especially love to see it if you put on a Family Nativity Play, like, for instance, this one, that I typed up a few years (and kids) back. If you do one at your house, you can let me know via email or on the Catholic All Year Facebook page or tag me on Instagram (@kendra_tierney). And that would be AWESOME.

You may also enjoy these Christmasy-type posts, from Christmases past and present, but not future. Sorry.

PHOTO CHRISTMAS CARDS: WHY THEY ARE AWESOME

The post Christmas Wishes from Us to You, plus winners, and hashtags, and printables, oh my appeared first on Catholic All Year.

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.

The post Seven Quick Reasons I Don't Have a Problem With "Happy Holidays" appeared first on Catholic All Year.

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 Christmas
that 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!)

The giveaway is closed. Thanks to all who entered!

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 Lit
is: 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 Whole Parenting Goods scarf is: Megmckham (please email me by Thursday)

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.

If you’d like to keep track of ALL the feasts of the Catholic liturgical year, I’ve created a wall calendar to help you do it!

It features the all the feasts and fasts of the Universal Calendar and then some, illustrated with images featuring the traditional Catholic monthly devotions. It’s an easy visual way to bring liturgical living into your home. You can keep track of the feasts and fasts and seasons of the Catholic year, and be reminded to focus your prayer on a different aspect of our faith each month.

As the Church year begins with December, so does this calendar. You get December 2018 through December 2019, thirteen months. Available for purchase here. Thanks!

Coupon codes are available from the publisher here.

The post 12 Days of Family Christmas Movies -mostly- on Netflix Streaming appeared first on Catholic All Year.

And it’s not just about the gifts anyway, it’s about CHRISTMAS. I want them to enjoy Christmas, not just on December 25th, and not just because of presents, but for the whole twelve days, and because it’s a special family time full of fun family activities. I want our family Christmas to conform to our family values and our family culture. ‘Cause that’s how we roll.

ADVENT: HOW WE TRY TO CELEBRATE THINGS IN THEIR PROPER SEASON WITHOUT FEELING LIKE TOTAL JERKS

KEEPING ADVENT: OUR FAMILY’S TRADITIONS

KEEPING CHRISTMAS: HOW WE KEEP CELEBRATING FROM THE PARTRIDGE ALL THE WAY TO THE DRUMMERS

The post Seven Reasons My Kids Don't Need Toys This Christmas appeared first on Catholic All Year.

It’s been quite a day. (And we haven’t even had dinner or the Nativity Play yet!)

Yesterday we chopped down our tree and decorated it, despite the (sunny and 85) weather . . . 

This morning we awoke early to see what Santa had brought and open the gifts under the tree.

And, you guys! This blog made out very well, I have to say. I got an awesome new lens for my camera, which will allow me to take pictures of things that are farther than 5 feet away from me (also good for kids’ sporting events), AND a blog makeover (so stay tuned for that!) and . . . wait for it . . . 

THIS zombie-survival bracelet!

get your own here!

And then off to Mass . . .

I have no idea why it’s snowing in this picture. Apparently either Picasa or Blogger thought it would be a good idea. I’m going to go with it. Especially since I’m sleeveless and flip-flopped right now.

Merry Christmas to you all! (And if YOU got anything blog and/or zombie related for Christmas, I want to know about it.)

The post Whew! (and that's just day one . . . ) appeared first on Catholic All Year.

It gives us at least a chance of keeping up with the kids’ enthusiasm for the whole twelve days. (Or however many days of Christmas you like.)

So, in case you’re looking for ideas to make your celebration last all the way to Epiphany, here’s what we’ll be doing:

I heard about some folks sending their Wise Men on adventures during Advent, as an alternative to Elf on the Shelf. Which is fine. But if I were being nit picky, I might say that I prefer to have my traditions be less reactionary and more historically accurate, and my understanding is that the Star of Bethlehem rose upon the birth of Christ, and that’s what they were following. (But wow, if you really want to confuse yourself, try to figure out some hard facts about the Wise Men!)

So, our Wise Men depart from their spot on the other side of the mantle from the Holy Family on the evening of Christmas. And they journey through the house for two years, because we’re real sticklers for accuracy around here. Just kidding. They journey for twelve days until the Epiphany, when they arrive at the Baby Jesus. And we have our Epiphany celebration.

Our outside Wise Men move across the yard and end up on the front porch. There they are on the right, creeping up . . . 

1. Home Alone

2. A Christmas Story

3. The Original Christmas Classics

4.Walt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites Volume 8
& Volume 9
 

These are awesome. Volume 8 is a collection of great old cartoons (some really old) starring Mickey, Pluto, Donald, and Chip and Dale. Volume 9 has The Small One, a very sweet telling of the backstory of the donkey that ends up carrying Mary to Bethlehem, Mickey’s Christmas Tree, and Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

It looks like these DVDs are hard to find, but most of the individual cartoons seem to be available on YouTube.

5. Bells of St. Mary’s

So that’s it! What do you guys do to keep it Christmasy at your house?

If you’d like to keep track of ALL the feasts of the Catholic liturgical year, I’ve created a wall calendar to help you do it!

It features the all the feasts and fasts of the Universal Calendar and then some, illustrated with images featuring the traditional Catholic monthly devotions. It’s an easy visual way to bring liturgical living into your home. You can keep track of the feasts and fasts and seasons of the Catholic year, and be reminded to focus your prayer on a different aspect of our faith each month.

January:The Holy Name of Jesus 

February: The Holy Family 

March: St. Joseph 

April: The Blessed Sacrament 

May: Mary 

June: The Sacred Heart of Jesus 

July: The Precious Blood 

August Immaculate Heart of Mary 

September: The Seven Sorrows of Mary 

October: The Holy Rosary 

November: The Poor Souls in Purgatory 

December: The Immaculate Conception 

As the Church year begins with December, so does this calendar. You get December 2017 through December 2018, thirteen months. Available for purchase here. Thanks!

The post Keeping Christmas: How we keep celebrating from the partridge all theway to the drummers appeared first on Catholic All Year.

I just had to re-type this because I’m pretty sure I have to say my favorite part of our Christmas celebration is the Mass. But a VERY close second is our At Home Family Nativity Play that we put on each Christmas evening.

that’s little Jack and even littler pregnant Betty

A few years ago, I sat down and typed up a script, based on Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-12. You can find the script here at Catholic Culture.

For a set we use an old cardboard box and some stuffed animals. Costumes are all dad’s t-shirts. Each person gets one for a tunic and one for a headdress. I also made some cardboard angel wings and found some sticks to be staffs, but you really wouldn’t need to do that part. I’m an over-doer. You don’t have to be.

who says there wasn’t a hippo in the stable?

I’d love to hear about it if any of you try this at your own homes this year!

By the way: giant baby spotted hanging out with the stuffed nativity.

Look out, Baby Jesus!

———————–

And, um, my book . . . available for preorder . . . great for kids, grandkids, Godchildren, etc., etc. . . .

Click through to Amazon here: A Little Book about Confession for Children 

Right now it says it will ship mid-March. My publisher says it’s more likely to ship in February, but they can’t be sure. So right now, it says March. Hey, it’s only $8.99!

If you order the book as a gift on Amazon, you can print out this lovely certificate to stuff in a stocking or tuck in a card. Just click on the link to download the printable PDF!

click HERE to download

————–

And, it’s Sunday, so here’s what Lulu and I wore to Mass:

Me . . . Sweater: Banana Republic Skirt: Gymboree (the girls had dresses that matched it a couple years ago) Shoes: Steve Madden Lulu . . . Sweater & tights: Gymboree Dress & boots: Old Navy

I’d like to point out that at 3 1/2 weeks old, Lulu has perfected the official What I Wore Sunday “Random Sideways Look Off Into the Distance.” She’s a real pro.

Thanks to the Ladies at Fine Linen and Purple for hosting.

Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas!

The post An at Home Nativity Play for Increased Christmas Awesomeness appeared first on Catholic All Year.