I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! (Luke 12:49) Jesus desired then, and He desires now that a fire be kindled on earth. Today, as much as at any time before in history, we as Catholics, as Christians, must take these words to heart. We must “rekindle… [Read More]
Attention! (please?)
Photo credit Recently I watched a mash-up of family videos in piece meal fashion from my childhood. This is normal in our family since Dad was famous for taping over one event to catch the next one, not deliberately, but because we were always running out of film. We flew through memories strung together… [Read More]
The Mystery of Parenthood
Fifteen years ago at St. Mary’s in College Station, I walked down the stairs with my then 3 year old son. What happened on those stairs opened my eyes and subsequently my wife’s eyes to the fact that parenthood does more for the parents than it ever does for the children. On that stairway, our… [Read More]
The Best Me
Last week marked the premature end of an all-too-short era in the Williston house when, after a remarkable temper tantrum by my son, Lincoln, we decided to sell the Wii and Xbox on Craigslist. It all started, as most family crises do, with a father/son matchup in Mario Super Sluggers, a Mario Brothers-themed Baseball game… [Read More]
Little Did I Know
A friend of mine said the other day “wouldn’t it be helpful if we could put our kids in shirts that said ‘student human’ so that their misbehaviors could be seen as part of their learning process, and not the failure of their parent teachers?” If I could time travel, my first stop would be… [Read More]
The Little Things Can Become the Big Things
We can all probably recall a time when we first noticed an ant trail marching back to its colony. And perhaps how we fought the temptation to stomp on a few, just to see what would happen. It is human nature to ponder… [Read More]
The Guardians of Time
It is possible that I am delusional enough that I see myself as a superhero, who is shielding her family from a gigantic unstoppable time-eating Monster on a daily basis. If you’re picturing it, I’m wearing red, since red is my power color. Also, you can imagine some jewel encrusted arm cuffs and boots. Fierce… [Read More]
Thrive – Adult Education Nights
Despite seemingly endless debates and legislation on sex education, teenage pregnancy rates and the spread of STDs doesn’t seem to be getting any better. As a society, this is causing us to completely freak out about the future of the individual lives of these students as well as the future of our society as a… [Read More]
With This Cross, I Thee Wed
Today my husband and I celebrate our 4 year anniversary! It seems like our wedding was just yesterday! With marriage comes a lot of unknowns. Saying “I do” in some ways is like walking the plank without knowing whether the plank gets you to land or to a long drop into the ocean! None of… [Read More]
Furrgivness is Divine
So the kittens have taught me another lesson. (I can only reasonably promise that this blog won’t turn into a Cat-holic blog :)) This past weekend they had a fight. I’m not sure what started it, but I noticed that Boomer did not want to share her cool new toy with her sister. After trying… [Read More]
Children, The First Teachers of Faith?
Children get it. We can learn much about faith from listening to the words of toddlers. Last weekend, my mother-in-law was in town and went to Mass with us. During one of the readings, she whispered into my two-year-old Olivia’s ear, “I love you.” Olivia turned, put her mouth to my mother-in-law’s ear and went… [Read More]
The Most Efficient Family in the World (Review: “Cheaper by the Dozen” book)
Kids don’t always understand why their parents do what they do. I have seen and vaguely enjoyed both Cheaper by the Dozen movies. After watching the remake of Yours, Mine, and Ours and reviewing Who Gets the Drumstick? last month, I was eager to read Cheaper by the Dozen, the first of two books featuring… [Read More]
This One’s for Everyone (Review: “Who Gets the Drumstick?”)
Do you have a favorite childhood movie? Mine was probably one of my Disney Sing Along Songs videos. I also remember the real movies my mom made me watch: Grease (which I was definitely too young for), The Sound of Music (which is always awesome…when you have 3 hours to spare), and Stephen King’s It… [Read More]
A Balm in Gilead (Review: “The Handmaid’s Tale”)
I knew Bumped reminded me of something. Various other reviewers online have mentioned the similarities between the premise of Bumped and that of The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. I knew I’d read The Handmaid’s Tale, and besides being more contemporary and having younger characters, I knew something was off with that comparison. Logically, I… [Read More]
Daddy of the House
A stay-at-home dad. While there are about 5 million stay-at-home moms in the United States, there are only 154,000 stay-at-home dads. Well, now 154,001. Vanessa and I swapped roles beginning this month. She returned to full-time employment while I began the process of leaving mine. I’ll save the reasoning for my personal site, but in… [Read More]
Inconceivable! (Review: “Bumped”)
Last week, I read a book that I could not put down. Even when I paused to gasp or to ponder what I’d just read, I only stopped long enough to process my thoughts, and then I immediately went back to turning pages as fast as I could. I was stunned and excited, and it… [Read More]
