Note: Since drafting this post, the husband is embarking on another round of tests and treatments. Backstory here. We’d be grateful for your prayers.

Today, I’m sharing a question from the mailbag. Have a question about liturgical living or Catholic life? Send it to me at helpdesk@catholicallyear.com.

Dear Kendra,

Really quickly . . . I attended the Catholic Homeschool Conference online this past year and like many of the listeners LOVED your morning prayer routine. Would you consider sharing it in a blog post? I jotted parts of it down on a misplaced piece of paper (argh!) but would love to use it as an inspiration/template for our own domestic church. I have two little boys so I definitely remembered the “run around outside first” bit.

Happy Feast Day of St. Matthew! I made silver dollar pancakes and they were a big hit with the littles. We also turned on Bach’s Passion According to St. Matthew.

Thank you for all that you do. I’m a big fan of Maria von Trapp (Around the Year with the Von Trapp Family) and I have The Year and Our Children on my shelf, but I turn to you for the updated inspiration for liturgical living TODAY, in the 21st century, with cell phones and laptops and all.

God bless you and your family!

Respectfully,

Elaine S.

Our Morning Prayer Routine

Thanks Elaine!

​Here’s what our morning prayer routine looks like:

Days sometimes get away from us, right? It happens. So whatever we choose to do FIRST in the day, that’s the thing that we are giving the highest priority, the thing that is least likely to get skipped or glossed over. For us that’s prayer and catechesis. That’s what we do first.

Because even though, yes, math and science and grammar are important, my children’s faith formation is the MOST important.

They aren’t going to get it from the world. Who else are they going to get that from but me? So THAT comes first, every day.

1. Run Around Outside

The pregame is to run the kids around outside for a few minutes for exercise. This makes what comes next more successful.

2. Say “Good Morning” to Your Guardian Angel

Then we come into our schoolroom and we begin our day with morning prayers. We kneel down and pray the Morning Offering and the Guardian Angel Prayer.

Then we stand up and we say “good morning” to our Guardian Angels, then we say “good morning” to everybody else’s Guardian Angel, and then everyone hugs each other, usually in a big “group hug” while we also shout “group hug.”

This is a little thing, and it feels like a fun, silly thing, but, really, it gets to the heart of practicing what we preach, which is so meaningful to children. If we believe what we say we believe about our guardian angels, wouldn’t we acknowledge and interact with them?

We would. So we do.

3. Read a Bible story

Then we sit down. The kids each get a lit candle in front of them, which really does seem to help them stay quieter and more focused for this part, and we read a section from a children’s Bible. We begin at the beginning and just keep reading it cover to cover over the years. This allows us to be familiar with the stories and characters and promises of the Old Testament, which helps us to understand how they are fulfilled in the New Testament.

4. Goals and intentions for the day

Then we go around the room and each of us says a goal for the day (something we hope to accomplish this day with God’s help, if it is God’s will) and an intention for the day (someone or something that we are praying for). I think this process helps create a feeling of community. Sharing our prayers and goals with other members of the family helps make us accountable for those goals and lets us pray for each other.

5. Two Minutes of “Silent” Mental Prayer

Then we attempt two minutes of silent mental prayer. Sometimes this might be a guided meditation, in which I try to help us envision ourselves in the scene of the Bible story we read, other times it’s just two minutes of (relative) quiet. Some days are quieter than others, but we keep at it.

Then we blow out our candles. And because everything is a competition, they like to see whose candle smokes the longest and therefore “wins” at lifting our prayers to heaven. 

6. Feast Days

At that point we switch to the liturgical calendar. We’ve got a wall calendar, and a more interactive daily calendar with a cute sticker for each day and a little summary of the feast days (available as part of the CAY Membership here), and we take the sticker off the calendar for the day and read the little summary.

And, usually, that’s it, we move on to the rest of our lessons, which include singing liturgically relevant hymns and memorizing catechism, but . . .

That’s what we do together each morning. It takes 10 or 15 minutes.

7. Liturgical Year Bonus Stuff

But if it’s a feast day that’s of particular importance to our family or the Church, we spend some more time. I’ve got The Catholic All Year Compendium that tells the history and backstory of a lot of feast days, and I’ve got The Catholic All Year Prayer Companion that includes prayers and devotions and Bible readings that are associated with those days, so it’s all right there compiled already and I don’t have to be fiddling around on my phone looking for information or the version or translation of the prayer I want.

And I also have my liturgical year meal planner that has ideas of feast day meals, and I use that too, for planning. 

8. All Feasts are Movable Feasts

Now, WHEN we do this part varies depending on the feast day and our family schedule. It’s usually my preference to involve as many people as possible in our more important feast day observations, so if we can throw a party and invite the neighborhood, I’ll do that. If we can have the whole family together at dinner and do our prayers and readings and discussions all together, I’ll do that. But sometimes better is the enemy of good enough, so if that doesn’t seem likely to happen, I’ll do our feast day readings and prayers and devotions with my school kids. We can always do them again with the family if things change. Sometimes we even move the day we celebrate the feast as needed. We are in charge.

9. Feast Day Activities

Especially for younger kids, I sometimes plan a little activity for them, which makes a feast day feel more special. Honestly, it’s usually as simple as a saint coloring page which I can hand to them as I get started on the school day with the older kids. There are lots of great Catholic artists with coloring pages on Etsy, and Shining Light Dolls puts out a coloring book for each month, which is very convenient.

Catholic All Year Subscription Boxes also come with fun feast day activities for the family . . . that we use in our family!

I also think it’s important to remember to mentally “count” non-desk time as school when applicable. I like to associate family outings with particular feast days whenever I can. So we’ll go to the zoo on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, and we’ll go for a hike on the feast of Pope St. John Paul II because he enjoyed hiking, and we do a little Marian pilgrimage on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, and those are all learning activities!

We read picture books about the saint or the day at storytime. (Find those books here.)

I also do a lot of cooking with my homeschooled kids and I think that’s really educational. There is so much that goes into getting a meal on the table. As a person who didn’t learn to cook until I was a newlywed, I remember vividly how challenging it is to cook before one has learned about planning ahead, and measuring properly, and doing things in the right order, and getting the math right when you need to triple or quadruple all recipes all the time. There’s a lot of learning to be had in cooking, not to mention an example of service to others, so I count that as part of “school” and as part of our liturgical living in the home.

Hope that helps! You can do it!

AMDG, Kendra

Posts with links to books we use

How to Raise Good Little Catholics

The Ultimate Liturgical Library Post: Saint Books for All Year Long

And posts with Father’s Day resources

Twelve Free Father’s Day Printables

Movies for Father’s Day That Don’t Hate Dad

Some products for Father’s Day:

All-Natural Sacred Heart Lotion Bar

St. Benedict Medal Car Magnet

St. Augustine Coasters

The post Our Catholic Morning Prayer Routine with Kids appeared first on Catholic All Year.

Then came Jack’s seventeenth, which we celebrated on the one weekend he was home in June between the Naval Academy summer session and a leadership camp he was helping to lead. And it was the feast of the Sacred Heart (hence the Sacred Heart-themed brookie cake). And he got to share a birthday party with George (2). He says don’t be jealous.

THEN, we had Anita’s 10th and Midgee’s 4th (which is actually still upcoming, but we will be out of town on her actual birthday. Hopefully we can find a good bathtub for her annual photo! ).

The Decor

Decor was this set of birthday banners and dangly things (some assembly required, but Anita was able to put them together) and the two sets of Princess Bride printable quotes I made when I first opened the printables shop! (Available here.) We got this set of paper plates.

UPDATE 2024: the paper plates originally linked above aren’t available anymore, but these ones are very similar!

The Food

Food was rotisserie chicken, twice baked potatoes, a few snacks and candies, water and 2L bottles of soda. Super simple. BUUUUUUUUT . . . super duper fun because of the movie quote food pun food tags. You guys. Food puns are my love language.

Potato ROUSes (I made these out of twice-baked potatoes, with bugle snack noses, frito scoops ears, green onion eyes, and asparagus tails. Could also be baked potatoes, or potato chips.)

There’s a shortage of PERFECT (CHICKEN) BREASTS in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours. (I used rotisserie chickens, could be any kind of chicken!)

Pick up a rock, hide behind the boulder and wait for the man in black. The minute his head is in view, HIT IT WITH THE ROCK! (I used pirate booty, could also be chocolate rocks, rock candy, cheeto balls, or brussel sprouts.)

No more rhymes now, I mean it. ANYBODY WANT A PEANUT? (I used salted-in-the-shell peanuts, could also be fancy mixed nuts, nutter butter cookies, or circus peanut candy.)

THAT’S A MIRACLE PILL? The chocolate coating makes it go down easier. But you have to wait fifteen minutes for full potency. And you shouldn’t go in swimming after, for at least, what? An hour? Yeah, an hour. (I used chocolate-coated full-sized marshmallows, could also be chocolate-coated strawberries, raisinettes, goobers, or m&ms.)

THOSE ARE THE SHRIEKING EELS — if you don’t believe me, just wait. They always grow louder when they’re about to feed on human flesh. (I used gummy worms, could also be pretzel sticks, or green beans.)

If you’re in such a hurry, you could LOWER A ROPE or a tree branch or find something useful to do. (I used red vines, could also be pretzel rods, or asparagus.)

Not pictured: We know the SECRETS OF THE FIRE SWAMP We lived there quite happily for some time. So whenever you feel like dying, feel free to visit. (I used takis, could be hot cheetos, or a salad.)

WARNING: Beverages may contain Iocane Powder (Works for any and all beverages!)

Get all the food tags as a free download here!

The Cake

When Anita was five and we were planning Betty’s 10th birthday, which was also Princess Bride-themed, Anita is the one who came up with the concept for the cake. It was a wedding cake, but with a green slope on one side, and Buttercup pushing Wesley down it.

It was a really fun concept, and the girls loved how it turned out, even though it was a bit wonky. It definitely exceeded my baking skills at the time. It still does, but I was glad to get to try it again, five years later. I think it was a bit more polished-looking this time around!

It was a lemon pound cake, and very yummy. I used this recipe from Spoonful of Flavor, tripled it, and baked six layers–three larger rounds for the bottom and three smaller rounds for the top.

I stacked them up, using the lemon glaze from the recipe in between the layers. Then I carved out a little slope on one side of the cake, and used the same lemon glaze as a crumb coat all over the outside.

Then I frosted it with white buttercream frosting. I used lemon juice instead of the milk and vanilla the recipe calls for. For the green part, I thought it would be fun to try a natural option, so I used an immersion blender to mix a handful of fresh basil leaves into about a cup of the frosting. I like the taste combination of lemon and basil, and it definitely looked cool with the little flecks of green in there. But you could always use a few drops of green food coloring instead!

I made the decorations on the top and sides by printing them out, covering the printout with parchment paper, and tracing the words/figures using candy melts. Ta dah! I couldn’t find the image I used the first time I made the cake, which I think I like better (oh, wait, here it is) so I used a few of the Wesleys from this one.

The Activities

Activities were swimming and an outdoor showing of the movie.

This movie was made in the eighties, and pretty much all of the movies from the eighties are problematic. The majority of the movies I remember from my childhood, we just don’t show our kids until they are teenagers, if at all. The Princess Bride is one of the exceptions.

It does have problematic elements, for instance: there’s a “damn it” and a “son of a bitch” and a “Jesus, Grandpa” . There is talk of murder and suicide. There is torture and revenge killing. There’s the “perfect breasts” part , and the kissing parts, which can feel awkward. There are some scary moments in the fire swamp. But, I think the message overall is a good one and that it’s appropriate for family viewing. All our kids have seen it.

It does require reminders that we have good manners so we don’t say things like son of a bitch, and we don’t wish anyone to go to hell, so we don’t say damn it, and we would never EVER say the name of Jesus in a thoughtless way like the boy in the movie does. (We might even pause it and say a quick, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.”)

We talk about how Inigo plots revenge and how that’s different than killing in self-defense or in defense of others, and about the fact that piracy/ mercenary genius for hire/royal torturer are not good career choices.

Since the movie isn’t (in my opinion) visually problematic, I think it’s a good jumping-off point for a good discussion with kids about important moral issues, and that the rest of the movie is charming and funny and that the overall message is one of love and friendship and devotion. So, that’s why it’s okay with us, but you may wish to preview it before watching with your kids.

So that’s that! I think the food tags and quote posters could work at grown-up parties just as well. I’d love to hear about it if you use them!

The post A Shortage of Perfect (Chicken) Breasts: Another Princess Bride Birthday Party (with free food tag printables!) appeared first on Catholic All Year.

The first I ever heard of a liturgical bonfire was through Kelly at This Ain’t the Lyceum. Their annual St. John’s Eve bonfire sounds like a pretty epic party. I knew we had to do it, but wasn’t until THIS YEAR that we finally did. (A bit early, so we could film it and share it with you guys!)

Here it is!

Thanks to Elissa Mirzaei for creating the video, to Ignatius Press for sponsoring it, to Fr. Matt Wheeler for blessing our food and our fire, and to the Darr, Marsden, Frey, Johnson, and Feller families for joining us and making it a party! Stay tuned to the end of the video for this month’s book recommendation. See the end of this post for links to the party supplies we used.

The feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is cool for MANY reasons. Firstly in that it exists as a feast day at all. A saint’s feast day is usually celebrated on the day of his death, or his birth into Heaven. (There is a different feast day for St. John the Baptist’s beheading, on August 29.)

Being born is, after all, a beginning and not a resolution. This is why Catholics have historically celebrated a living person on his nameday (the feast day of his patron saint), rather than his birthday. Because we KNOW things ended well for the saint, but the jury is still out on the person!

But three birthdays do appear on the liturgical calendar. This is because Catholic teaching tells us that three people have been born without original sin. Jesus and Mary were also CONCEIVED without original sin, Jesus because he was God, and Mary as a gift from God. John the Baptist, however, was conceived as usual, with original sin. But THEN, he was baptized in some way before his birth when he recognized Jesus as God in the womb of Mary at the Visitation. He was sanctified in that leap within his mother’s womb. So he wasn’t conceived without sin, but he was BORN without sin! Read more about it here.

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist was officially established as a feast on the liturgical calendar in the 4th century and by the 6th century the tradition of observing the eve of the feast day with a bonfire was already well-documented. It’s thought that, along with just being a fun way to celebrate, the bonfire signified the way that John’s ministry lit the way for Jesus.’ How cool is it to be able to participate in a Catholic party that’s been going on for well over a thousand years all over the world?! Water fights are also a traditional, but probably more recent, way to celebrate in some parts of the world. So, we do that too.

We are all so busy now, and often don’t live very close to extended family and Catholic friends. It can be a challenge to get far-flug friends and relations together, even when you live in the same town. With work and school and extracurriculars, it’s often all we can do to observe a feast day with Mass or a special meal with the family. But we really make a point of including friends and neighbors (Catholic and not) in our celebrations at least some of the time!

Our faith really is intended to be lived in community. These feasts on the liturgical calendar were historically celebrated by entire parishes, and towns, and countries . . . all together! Especially as our kids have gotten older, we’ve really come to understand how important it is in their own journeys to see our family’s Catholic faith reflected in adults and teens of other families. Looking outside of the family is a part of their natural growth process. We want to make sure there are people in our lives that can give them another example of what a faithful Catholic life looks like.

Some feast days really lend themselves to a party. And this is certainly one. There’s an actual official Roman rite for blessing a bonfire on the Eve of the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, which I find amazingly cool. It appears in the Catholic All June booklet here or here, or as a one page printable here. If you don’t have a priest available, the blessing can be performed by the head of the household (just don’t make the outward cross blessing motion, that’s reserved to ordained persons). But, really, invite a priest over! Priests need friends and community too!

Our friend Fr. Matt who came over for our party, was really excited to be asked to participate in such a cool old tradition. He wondered aloud how many priests ordained in the last fifty years have gotten to perform this blessing!

The date of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist was set on the liturgical calendar to fall three months after the feast of the Annunciation, as the Angel Gabriel told Mary on that day that her cousin Elizabeth was six months along in her pregnancy. The Annunciation is observed on March 25th, nine months prior to Christmas, so St. John the Baptist’s feast day ends up on June 24th.

If you’re a liturgical calendar nerd, like I am, you will want to know that the reason it falls on the 24th, instead of the 25th, lies in the Roman way of counting, which proceeded backward from the Kalends (first day) of the succeeding month. Christmas was “the eighth day before the Kalends of January” (Octavo Kalendas Januarii). Consequently, Saint John’s Nativity was put on the “eighth day before the Kalends of July.” However, since June has only thirty days, in our present (Germanic) way of counting, the feast falls on June 24.

The birthday of St. John the Baptist has traditionally been the summer celebration counterpart to the winter celebration of Christmas. It’s beautiful that these feast days highlight way that nature mirrors the theological relationship between Jesus and St. John the Baptist. John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). John was born just days after the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. After his birth, each day decreases, becoming shorter and shorter, until . . . you guessed it, December. Jesus was born December 25th, after which each day increases, becoming longer and longer.

Pretty cool, no?

Okay, say I’ve convinced you? You want to throw a party for the Eve of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. In case it’s helpful, here are links to just about everything I used to throw our little shindig.

To eat:

• Locusts (dried, flavored crickets! This is three small boxes of three different flavors, there are maybe ten crickets in each package?)
• Wild honey (honey sticks work great for this)
• We also had hot dogs, chips, salad, and s’mores
• But grasshopper pie would also be a fun dessert

To decorate:

• Birthday bunting and paper decorations
• Adult party hats
• Kid party hats
• Party blowers
• Birthday plates/napkins
• These bamboo dessert plates seemed St. John the Baptist-ish somehow

To do:

• Self-sealing water balloons
• Backyard fire pit, in case you need it. We just built one out of rocks in a dirt spot in the yard.

To read:

• The Catholic All Year Compendium
• Catholic All June
• Blessing of a Bonfire
• Building the Benedict Option

The Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist is featured in the Catholic All Year Membership for June! That means members can grab some liturgically delicious recipes for Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie, Crispy Cricket Tacos, as well as a printable activity!

If you aren’t a member you can still join in on the fun by printing your activity pages here! Learn more about the membership to see how you can get free shipping, exclusive discounts, and access to the entire CAY Membership Library!

The post Bonfires, Blessings, and Building Community (also eating actual locusts) for the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist appeared first on Catholic All Year.

As you’ll recall from this post, Bobby and Gus wanted to go see the new Star Wars movie with their friends for their birthday, and they wanted to have the party in our van. And since we are gluttons for punishment love them very, very much, that’s just what we did.

We went to see The Force Awakens on opening day.

With our eight kids.

And eight extra little boys.

Here’s how it all went down . . .

The Prep

This party was actually less work than our normal parties. I didn’t even have to clean the house!

Bobby designed 4×6 Star Wars character trading cards in PicMonkey, and we had them printed up at the one-hour photo place (I threw in some of the quotes and prayers I made as well). They turned out really cute and the kids had a blast playing with them.

I put the character cards in the Etsy shop in case you need a last-minute gift! All proceeds go to Bobby.

I made candymelt cupcake toppers, again, because my cake pans are still packed up. But also because cupcakes are quite portable. And I made them like this . . .

because it’s how I do most things. (The trading cards also make excellent candymelt templates.)

Betty did the baking. We’re turning into quite a team in the kitchen.

Jack typed up a trivia game for the boys to play during the drive.

The morning of the party, Bobby and Gus cleaned out the van, and decorated it with a few hanging decorations we got at the party store.

And I called to order some pizzas.

The Pre Game

We met up at our regular homeschool park day, and the boys ran around in a barely-containable frenzy of excitement until the husband arrived to pick them up.

It wasn’t Mary Jane’s party, but she was pretty stoked about it nonetheless.

Jack, Bobby, Gus, and eight of their friends filled up the big van, and
my parents and I in two minivans with the rest of the kids joined
the caravan to the movie theater.

We ate pizza on the sidewalk.

We sang Happy Birthday and had cupcakes.

The Main Event

I just picked a random movie theater on Fandango for its proximity to the park, and it turned out to be one of those fancy recliner ones. I may be spoiled forever. Those chairs are excellent for nursing.

The boys liked them too.

I got reusable plastic Star Wars cups from the party store, to hand out to the kids in the theater for snacks and as their party favor. We bought two large popcorns and I brought a big bag of M&M’s and we all shared those between us.

It goes without saying that they LOVED the movie. Listening to them gasp in wonder as the movie started is something I will always cherish. Seriously. I’m not a super sentimental person. But it really felt like a special moment to be able to share together.

The Post Game

After the movie, I drove the rest of my kids home, and the husband spent two hours dropping boys off at various locations. His take: “How was it? It was fine. I don’t know if I’d recommend it, necessarily. But now I can say I’ve done that.”

The boys had a great time trading their cards. There were only five of each card and eleven boys, so they had to make deals with each other to end up with the ones they wanted.

They also played the trivia game and no one barfed. So . . . sounds like it was a success to me.

Spoiler Free Thoughts on the Movie

I watched it surrounded by ecstatic little boys, who loved every second of it, from the opening credits on. So, I would have had to have a heart of stone or it would have had to be truly terrible for me not to like it. But, really, I did like it.

I thought the effects were excellent. There’s been a lot of talk about the return to models and real stunts and film cameras (alongside digital effects), and I thought it was all worth it. There was a realness and heft to the traditional effects that was refreshing.

I liked the new characters. BB8 is uhDORable. Rey is a strong female character. Finn is a charming, if reluctant, hero. I LOVED that there was no language or innuendo or suggestiveness at all. (There are some battle scenes, but nothing gory.)

I liked the old characters. It’s wonderful to see them again, having aged as actual people do. The mature relationship between some of them is bittersweet, but seems in character. Han spoke almost exclusively in action movie one-liners, which got old. But I get what they were trying to do.

I appreciated that they went simple with the plot after the prequels and their Senate resolutions and trade agreements and Midichlorians and other unnecessarily complicated plots.

But I think maybe they overcorrected. Pretty much the whole plot was trying to find a map . . . to a person. Which A. Isn’t a thing (unless you’re Maroon 5) and B. Wasn’t even really explained (who made the map? Why not ask that guy? What if the person you’re looking for has, ya know, changed location? People do that.)

Clearly the nostalgia factor was high. Mostly I liked it. But what I liked was when they put nods to the original movies in a new setting, like the lightsaber in the snow, wiggling. I didn’t love how the plot itself was so self-derivative. There’s a Death Star. BUT ITS REALLY BIG! People get killed and fall down shafts. Why do they even have shafts? (I kept thinking of The Emperor’s New Groove.) There’s a death that is very reminiscent of a death in the original trilogy.

The surprising twist is VERY surprising. I was shocked!

Basically, it felt like they were going for . . . safe. Don’t go too deep or too edgy or too complicated, just make sure people don’t hate it.

Anyway, I’m hoping the plots gets better and the rest stays good. Overall I think it’s enjoyable. And appropriate for kids of all ages.

Thoughts on Parties in Vans

I think it was cool. And certainly something the boys will remember fondly. I might even be talked into doing it again on May 26, 2017. It just happens to be exactly one month before Jack’s 15th birthday . . .

You might also enjoy . . .

The Force is Strong With These Guys (but you already knew that)

DIY Chewbacca Sleepsack Mod and a Homemade X-Wing Bomber

The post A Star Wars Birthday Party (in the van) *with spoiler-free movie review* appeared first on Catholic All Year.

It’s March! Spring is in sight (at least in California), we are mostly in the swing of Lent (however much that’s possible, anyway), and around the Tierney gaff, it’s time to get super excited for the upcoming feasts this month.

Because if there’s anything better than a feast day, it’s a feast day that falls during Lent. Amirite?

Getting started with liturgical living in the home can feel like a really daunting task. It did for me, anyway. But if you’re just starting out, Lent is the perfect time to give it a go. We’re all in this one together, after all. Lent is a great time to share a fast or a feast with family or friends or neighbors.

We throw a HUGE Saint Patrick’s Day party every year . . . but I know that’s not for everyone. And I didn’t start out throwing huge parties for everyone we know. Before that I threw dinner parties, and barbeques, and . . . liturgically-themed play dates. Just a couple other moms, their kids . . . a couple of snacks, an activity, and a book or movie about the saint. If you’ve never done ANY liturgical living in the home, this is a GREAT way to start.

I’m going to talk you through it step by step.

– the guests –

Probably, you’re going to want people to come to your party. So, you’re going to want to invite them. I’ve done play dates like this for as few as three and as many as thirty kids. I think ideal is around six to ten kids. Evite is great for keeping track of people, but for something like this, I find a good old-fashioned email is just as good, maybe better. You can just type up the what, when, where and send it, or, if you’re feeling fancy, you can make your own invitation image in Picmonkey, and email that.

Or you can use this one . . .

If you right click on it, and save the image to your computer, you can then pull it up in Picmonkey and type in the text you want to add, save it again, then email it out.

Or ya know, just print it out, write on it with a pen, and hand it to people. Up to you.

– the craft –

found here

– the snacks –

Kids like snacks. Everyone likes snacks. In fact, the food is where I’m always tempted to get carried away. There are always so many cute ideas out there. But too many choices is overwhelming for little kids, and a lot of work for hostesses. Usually one beverage choice plus water, and three to four food choices is plenty.

My own kids drink quite a lot of tea, but for their friends it’s usually a fun novelty. I usually choose two different types of decaf tea, in flavors kids would recognize (like mint and lemon), and put them in two tea pots. If I’m feeling particularly brave, I serve the kids in real tea cups, or sometimes we ask guests to bring a cup and saucer from home. Sometimes we just serve our guests in sturdy disposable cups.

Sugar cubes and cream are always a big hit.

Of course, you could always go with limeade, or any green beverage, instead. Although that would make it rather less like a tea party.

For the food, I make Irish Soda Bread, from a recipe my mother-in-law gave me . . .

found here

That’s what *I* would do. But if you read my blog with any regularity, you’ll know I am nothing if not an over-doer of things. Green juice, goldfish crackers, maybe some grapes . . . would totally get the job done. Kids would love it. Give my kids store-bought shamrock cookies and they’d love you forever.

– the entertainment –

After snack time, I like to have some sort of saint-themed entertainment for the kids. We have quite a few of CCC of America’s Saints and Heroes animated films, and Patrick: Brave Shepherd of the Emerald Isle was the very first one we ever owned. The CCC films present kids with the stories of the saints in a fun, accessible way. Letting my kids watch these shows has been a really easy way to help them become familiar with the lives of the saints. St. Patrick’s story uses a mix of history and legend to teach kids about the kidnapped boy, who grew up to become a bishop and missionary in the land of his former captivity.

Update 2024: You can also watch it for free on Formed.org!

It also features a ridiculously catchy song over the end credits that my kids sing to themselves for days afterward anytime we watch it. Also . . . me. I’m singing it right now.

And, at thirty minutes, Patrick is the perfect length to hold the attention of even the littlest kids, who may be slightly hopped up on sugar cubes.

The Saints & Heroes Collection includes these films:

• The Day Sun Danced: The True Story of Fatima
• Francis: The Knight of Assisi
• Nicholas: The Boy Who Became Santa
• Bernadette: Princess of Lourdes
• Columbus: Adventures to the Edge of the World
• Ben Hur: A Race to Glory
• Odyssey: A Journey Back Home
• Francis Xavier and the Samurai’s Lost Treasure
• Patrick: Brave Shepherd of the Emerald Isle
• My Secret Friend: A Guardian Angel Story
• Juan Diego: Messenger of Guadalupe

Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks for more St. Patrick’s Day movie recommendations, a BUNCH of free printables, and, of course, a recap of the Hooley at the Tierneys 2015. I can only assume it will be great. We’ll also be celebrating St. Joseph’s Day and the Annunciation. I hope you will be, too.

The post Liturgical Living for Beginners: A St. Patrick’s Day Tea Party Play Date, with help from me and CCC appeared first on Catholic All Year.

Question:

Hi Kendra! My youngest is celebrating his first birthday next month and I’m wondering how to celebrate a birthday in Lent. I guess a Sunday would be our best bet. But I’m working around my husband’s work schedule (which includes nights and weekends) and our son’s godparents’ very busy schedules. So, if I couldn’t make a Sunday work, would you still go ahead and serve cake and treats? What do you think about a birthday party on Holy Saturday? I’m thinking maybe a brunch with a bunny theme. Would that be okay? (I would only go bunnies on Holy Saturday. Otherwise, I’d choose a different theme.) One factor that puts me in favor of Holy Saturday (other than the idea of a super cute bunny brunch!) is the (hopefully!) warmer weather could allow the kids to play outside. What are your thoughts? Maureen

Update 2019: While reiterating that this is NOT Canon Law or anything, and good Catholics can have different opinions on the matter, our family practice has evolved a bit from what I’ve written below.

Our family’s voluntary Lenten disciplines for ten years now have included giving up treats (except for Sundays and solemnities). We went back and forth as a family for a few years on how to handle special days that fall during Lent. There is a case to be made, for namedays at least, that these could be celebrated as a solemnity for the individual, or for the whole family if the individual is the head of the household, as feast days get bumped up to solemnities for the members of a parish on the parish’s patron’s feast day, and the same is true of a town or city on its patron’s feast day. But that seems like a bit of a stretch in the home. Also, it doesn’t really engender the kind of family camaraderie I’m looking for if only one kid gets a treat on his nameday and everyone else gets to watch.

The only people whose birthdays appear on the liturgical calendar are Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist, and of those MARY’S birthday isn’t even a solemnity, so I certainly don’t think mine counts as a solemnity. So, all that to say, we no longer abandon our voluntary Lenten disciplines for family three special days that fall during Lent. But that doesn’t mean we don’t celebrate them! We do. The special day person gets to choose a meal, meat free if called for. We’ll do a family activity like a board game or a hike. But no treats on the day, because it’s Lent, and Lent is for real around here, and Tierneys are tough. If it’s a birthday, we’ll have a party with friends and a cake on a Sunday.

Answer:

Hey Maureen,

There isn’t an official church teaching on this, so you get to go with your gut on this one. For our family, we do celebrate birthdays with cake and treats, even if they fall during Lent. Just like specific religious orders celebrate particular days as special feasts for their order, we treat birthdays, name days, or baptism days as special family feast days . . . even if they fall during Lent.

It’s not a free-for-all day. We mostly maintain the rest of our voluntary Lenten disciplines, but if it’s a “special day” — either one of the liturgical calendar feast days that falls during Lent, or a family birthday — we have a special dinner and a dessert.

But not every family does. My grandmother will turn 95 this year, and she’s never in her life had a birthday cake. She had a sister with juvenile diabetes, and her birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day, which always falls during Lent. So, no birthday cake. Ever. And it doesn’t seem to have bothered her any. Still, I’m not sure every kid would be as understanding.

We actually don’t have any spring birthdays in our immediate family, but my oldest daughter’s birthday is in early February, and it once fell on Ash Wednesday. We weren’t going to have a special dinner and treats on THAT day, so we just celebrated early. If you’re not comfortable serving treats on a regular Lenten day, you could always celebrate on a Sunday.

Every Lent, the kids get invited to a couple of birthday parties for friends. We always gratefully accept the invitations and show up ready to have fun. We eat the food that’s set before us, without being gluttons, of course. But ruining other people’s birthdays is NOT one of our voluntary Lenten disciplines.

Many Catholics have conflated giving up sugar with the observation of Lent. But Lent is about so much more than sweets, anyway. There are TONS of other ways to grow and better myself during Lent (here are sixty-six of them). If I’m living my Lent as a time to really try to perfect myself — yelling less, praying more, engaging with my children, attending daily Mass — there’s just no way a birthday cake is going to derail that.

That said, I, personally, don’t throw parties on Holy Saturday. Again, this isn’t an official doctrinal thing, it’s just my opinion. But it’s because that’s the one day of the year . . . that we really feel Our Lord’s absence. He’s absent from tabernacles. There’s no Mass celebrated (as with on Good Friday). In our home we use it as a day of preparation and quiet. And just because there are so many secular egg hunts and whatnot on Holy Saturday, our kids just know that, as a family culture thing, Tierneys just don’t participate in that stuff.

The weekend before is Palm Sunday, which would be a great day for a celebratory brunch. You could decorate with palm fronds, and . . . um, donkeys? Up to you.

Cheers,
Kendra

Update: Maureen wrote back to point out that another drawback of having a party on Holy Saturday, would be the need to prepare for it on Good Friday.

Some related posts you might enjoy . . .

Sundays in Lent: We Can’t ALL Be Right About This

Every Kid is Special (three days per year)

How to Win At Lent

Disclaimer: I am not a theologian, nor am I an official spokesperson for the Catholic Church. (You’re thinking of this guy.) If you read anything on this blog that is contrary to Church teaching, please consider it my error (and let me know!). I’m not a doctor or an expert on anything in particular. I’m just one person with a lot of experience parenting little kids and a desire to share my joy in marriage, mothering, and my faith.

If you’ve got a question, please send it along to catholicallyear @ gmail . com . Please let me know if you prefer that I change your name if I use your question on the blog.

The post Celebrating Birthdays That Fall During Lent? appeared first on Catholic All Year.

There are two more books in the series, plus a book of puzzles, and now a prequel (which I have yet to read).  I found book number two, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, to be the weakest of the three.  The author doesn’t manage to tell his story without resorting to my above pet peeve.  The four children decide that it’s up to them to save the day, so they run away from their parents and guardians to have their adventure.  Also, an authority figure that the children are told they can trust exhibits some weakness of character that I think could be confusing to kids.  (However he does save the day in a very self-sacrificing manner at the end of the book.)

Still, it’s a charming adventure with plenty to keep you turning the pages.  Madge, Muchos Brazos, and Cannonball are excellent additions to the cast of characters.  Mr. Curtain and the Ten Men continue to be well-written, menacing, heartless villains.  Overall I was a bit disappointed in it in comparison with the first book, but I didn’t find it problematic enough to keep my kids from reading it or to withhold my general recommendation.

Especially since it would be helpful to have read it before you read the third book, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma, and that one you DON’T want to miss.  It’s another fun and creative story with plenty of danger and puzzles to solve, but without all the running away and disobeying grown-ups (Oops, Jack just reminded me that there IS some disobeying and running away in this one too <sigh>).  But the focus of the plot is on the children learning that they must each use their own special gifts but work together to save each other and Mr. Benedict and Stonetown and the world from the evil Mr. Curtain.  And I actually teared up a bit at the beautiful act of Christian charity that ends the book.

There is a plot involving one of the children being able to use mental telepathy.  I did not find it problematic.  I just discussed with my son that there isn’t currently evidence to support that telepathy is scientifically possible.  I suppose some parents might have a stronger reaction against that aspect, especially since these books are set in our world not in an alternate world of magic.  But it’s presented as an unusual and special physical ability she posses, not as anything magical or occult.

When I consider the dubious (or flat out immoral) worldview espoused in popular kids’ series like Percy Jackson, A Series of Unfortunate Events, or His Dark Materials, it makes me really grateful that a fun, modern, moral, but non-preachy series like The Mysterious Benedict Society exists for my kids to read and enjoy.

It’s right up there on my shelf and in my heart with series like The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Redwall, and Harry Potter.  

And my 10 year old son Jack enjoyed the books so much that he requested that his 11th birthday party be The Mysterious Benedict Society-themed.  I’m a big fan of homemade backyard birthday parties.  And it’s especially great when it’s Jack’s birthday since he’s old enough and tyrannical take-charge enough to plan and run the whole thing pretty much himself.  

I’m in charge of oversight, some of the decorations, the food, and the cake, Nana does the shopping for supplies, and Jack plans his games and keeps things running on the day of the party so the grownups can all just sit around and chat.

He even wrote his own riddle poem for his invitation!

There were games including a scavenger hunt, decoding a Morse Code message (that one ended in the discovery of a cache of water guns and silly string), an estimate the m&ms contest, a re-enactment of the prisoner’s dilemma (for candy), and an anagram puzzle:

His birthday banner was a rebus:

The pinata was Mr. Curtain’s Salamander:

And he specifically requested a cake that looked like the Whisperer.  His cake does look a lot like the Whisperer, but unfortunately that means it also looks quite a lot like I made my kid an electric chair birthday cake.  C’est la vie!

Jack’s actual birthday isn’t until late June, but we’ll be out of town for the summer and he wanted to be able to celebrate with his friends here.  So, I’ll wait until later to wish him a happy birthday.  But it was a lovely day and a great party.  

And I highly recommend The Mysterious Benedict Society series as fun summer reading for Moms and kids alike.

p.s. Frankie got a new letter from his penpal Adam over at Equipping Catholic Families.  He’ll be answering the letter when and if he feels like it.  That’s kind of how he rolls.

The post A Mysterious Birthday Party (and a book review of the rest of The Mysterious Benedict Society series) appeared first on Catholic All Year.

No?  Just me then?

I have to admit, I only just thought of the Pentecost Tower and the Dove stuff, maybe for next year . . . ?  But we DO celebrate Pentecost now, usually with a bonfire cookout either at the beach or in our backyard.  And s’mores.  And red dresses.  And we pray Come Holy Spirit and handle venomous snakes.  (One of those isn’t true.)

That IS how I found out about Pentecost though.  I mean, I had heard of it and everything, but until I saw this page in Jack’s catechism, I never really thought much of it.

And going by their order in the book (which is not by the calendar), Christmas is actually fourth or fifth in importance, also after the Immaculate Conception and maybe the Ascension (depending on if we’re going left-right or up-down).

Thanks to Lindsay for pointing out that (duh) they are listed in order of the liturgical calendar.

Earrings: Anthropologie (they should be doves, I know . . . )

Sweater: Anthropologie Belt: Old Navy Bump: 12 weeks

Shoes: Zappos

Happy Pentecost everyone, hope you enjoyed it!

* and since I was really curious about what a traditional Pentecost Tower might look like, and I figured you might be too, I created this high-quality prototype:

It’s made of water, wind, fire, and a dove.  You really need to balance that middle part just right.  

The post Pentecost is Bigger Than Christmas appeared first on Catholic All Year.

So this year Betty and I made a lovely little ombre cake for her (thanks to Pinstrosity for teaching us what not to do!) and the big kids and I went over during naptime to bring it to her.  I figured that especially since she hadn’t been feeling very well since she had been hospitalized over Christmas that it would be a quick in and out visit, we’d sing, we’d eat, we’d go.  But that’s not what happened.  

Mrs. Gantner was there by herself when we arrived (with her hair in curlers).  And she insisted on putting on some water for tea and inviting us to sit down in the sunroom.  So that’s what we did.  Eventually, as we sat reminiscing, the little kids woke up from naps and my parents (who were visiting us for the weekend) wandered over with them to see what we were up to, and the husband finished up what he was working on, and did the same, and Mrs. Gantner’s daughter Katie came back, and all of a sudden it was a real no kidding surprise party.  

We were all there laughing and telling stories and drinking tea and “citrus” soda and the kids were singing their songs and reciting their poems.  Eventually, we did sing happy birthday and eat the cake.  And then Mrs. Gantner asked us to all hold hands and she lead us in a prayer and told us all how much she loved us and what we all meant to her.  It was an extraordinary afternoon.  And one of the best birthday parties I’ve ever attended. . . .

Especially when I consider that Mrs. Gantner died just a couple of weeks later, while we were away in Italy.

So how’s that for a Lenten discipline being its own reward?  

Here’s the 2011 version of the cake!

Everything else pales in comparison, of course, but I did feel like the whole family benefitted from the make-everything-from-scratch policy.  It was (mostly) cheaper and (usually) yummier than store-bought food and I liked that it required advance planning from me.  I couldn’t just open up a can of beans. I had to think about it the night before and start them soaking.  I couldn’t just open up a box of cereal in the morning, I had to plan on one night during the week to make granola so we’d have something quick on days there wasn’t time for eggs or oatmeal.  I just had to become a more thoughtful homemaker.  I thought it was good for me.  I felt this connection with mothers of bygone eras who had had to prepare for their families with the same foresight.  I had every intention of keeping it up.

Here we are with Mrs. Gantner

Then I turned up in a family way again, and headed straight for the frozen food section of Trader Joes.  Because my morning sickness is all day but mostly in the afternoon and it is not helped by the smell of a crockpot full of beans.  But at least now I know I CAN do it.  And hopefully someday, I will again.  

Oh, I am still making granola though.  It doesn’t have a particularly strong smell, and I bought a bunch of bulk wheat germ and oat bran and whatnot on amazon, so I’m kinda stuck with it.

And now for the prizes part!  Frankie and Adam couldn’t choose just one family to win the prize, so Monica of Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families has offered the project download of your choice to the following winners of our 2013 Lent Challenge.

1. Pinulotta of Catholic Homeschooling Joy
2. Chris of Campfires and Cleats
3. Melanie of Joy of Nine9
4. Valerie of Hand-Maid With Love
5. Charlotte of Faith-Filled Freebies
6. And Abby S. who knows who she is (and so do I!)

So if you won, head over to her website and check out all the great Craft Kit Printables she has available.  She’s got choices ranging from Converted to Catholic games like Bingo, Plinko and Jenga to missals, prayer books, and kid-friendly catechisms.  You can contact her at Monica@ArmaDei.com.  And if you didn’t win, go check it out anyway, you just might find something your family can’t live without!

The post A Perfect Last Birthday Cake (and remembering Lent 2013) appeared first on Catholic All Year.

We had a triumphantly adorable Easter, so I thought I’d try one of these what I wore link-ups to share.  And hey, today there are THREE!  Thanks to Camp Patton, The Practicing Catholic, and Fine Linen and Purple for hosting.

First, the what I wore part:

Now let’s back up a bit, shall we?  (Please feel free to make your own rewinding noises at home.)

We figured we wouldn’t go to the Vigil, since we didn’t know any of the Catechumens or Candidates this year, and it’s a late night.  But Jack and Betty weren’t having it.  Jack was shocked, SHOCKED when we suggested that perhaps he only wanted to go for the treats afterwards, and insisted that he loved the pagentry and the immersion baptisms.  So off we went.  And had a lovely time.

The next morning began bright and early.  The Easter Bunny stopped by:

Leaving Easter baskets for all.

This is how excited Anita is about getting a new toothbrush.

He changed our Lenten Sacrifice Beans into Jelly Beans!

Blue Easter drool: cute or gross?  You decide.

The “Golden Egg” has a dollar in it.

Jack went out to the front yard and changed the sign on the cross he made as his quiet afternoon project on Good Friday:

Later, we hosted some friends for a really wonderful Easter dinner.

My Mom and I combined forces on a Southern ham dinner with all the fixin’s.

And our guests brought desserts!

So this day has been officially siezed.  I feel so humbled and grateful.  Our God is good and triumphant.  Our family is hilarious, and beautiful, and fun.  Our friends are charming, and interesting, and generous.  Who could ask for more?

May all your Easter days be blessed.  Keep celebrating!

The post We Had Easter, It Was Cute appeared first on Catholic All Year.