Good Reads: Posts I’ve Enjoyed

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Organizing Junkie: When Kid's Play Spaces Take Over YOUR Spaces! - We have to deal with this in our living room because it also contains all of John's toys. We have a toy box, but I also like the activity mat idea in this post.

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Catholic Icing: Lenten Navigation Page - Good source for living out the Lenten season with kids.

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Karen Edmisten: A Meaningful Lent - Long but good post about having a meaningful Lent for the whole family!

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Mama Natural: 10 Tips for Flying with a Toddler (video and text)- We're not planning on flying anytime soon, but these are good tips for the future!

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Star of the Sea: Fr. Lappe's Homily on Marriage - I wasn't able to hear this in person, so I'm glad it was put online!

St. Maximilian Kolbe Novena Begins Today!

I'm posting for Star of the Sea today:

"If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion." ~ St. Maximilian Kolbe

St. Maximilian Kolbe's (1894-1941) feast day is coming up on August 14th. That means that the novena invoking his intercession begins today!

Here are some ways you can celebrate his feast day on the 14th:

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Celebrating St. Jean Vianney's Feast Day

I'm blogging for Star of the Sea today:

"I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the cross than serving the world and its pleasures." ~ St. Jean Marie Vianney

Tomorrow, August 4th, is the feast day of St. Jean Vianney - patron for parish priests. We named our son after this great Saint, so we hold him dear to our hearts.  Here are some ways that you can celebrate his holy life with your family:

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e5 Men

I'm blogging for the parish today:

I went to college at Western Washington University from 2003-2005. I followed my older brother there and from him I learned about the "Shalom Center" - which is now called the Newman Center - it was the Catholic Campus Ministry for the university. It was a vibrant community of young Catholics who were passionate about their rich faith.

During my first year, I went with a group of Catholics to see Fr. Corapi in Vancouver. Ironically enough, we happened to stay the night in the youth center of Fr. Lappe's old parish in Camas. On this weekend I learned a lot. Fr. Corapi was amazing - but what resonated with me the most was getting to know the fellow Catholics I traveled with - particularly the men. On the first night, before we went to bed, the men decided they wanted to pray for all the women in our group. So they formed a circle and faced outward, while the women made a larger circle around them and faced inward. The women rotated around and each man prayed for us individually. Each man poured out his heart in whispered prayers for our purity and our holiness.

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Toddler Mass Kit

I'm blogging over at our Parish today:

My son just turned one in May. He has been pretty good in Mass, but since he learned to crawl and now walk, my husband and I have had to spend a lot of time with him in the vestibule. Sometimes we wonder if we should even sit down in a pew at the beginning of Mass!

One of the gifts we gave him for his birthday was a bag for Mass. I found the items at various Catholic stores over the last few months. I wanted to make it really special and personalized, so I bought a denim bag at JoAnne Fabrics, and used this method to paint a Marian cross on it. I also embroydered his name on the front of the bag.

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7 Ways to Celebrate Mary's Month with Your Family

I'm blogging over at our parish today:

It's almost May, which means it's almost time to celebrate Our Blessed Mother in a special way!

1. Pray the Rosary together: Here is an idea for praying the Rosary with your children.

2. Read a book about Mary, as a family. There are SO many great books out there, here is a sampling. Be sure to check our parish library for more books about Mary.

• Picture book: Our Blessed Mother by George Brundage
  
• Easy Reader: Mary My Mother by Father Lovaski, S.V.D
  
• Intermediate Reader: Bernadette, Our Lady's Little Servant by Hertha Pauli or Our Lady Came to Fatima by Ruth Fox Hume
  
• Teens and adults: Hail Holy Queen by Scott Hahn or True Devotion to Mary by Louis de Monfort

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Over at Star of the Sea...

I'm going to start writing for our parish's blog. I wrote my first post today.

"Calling all mothers!!

I would like to invite all of you to get involved with the parish's group for mothers. It's never too late to join!

I am the mother of a ten-month-old son, and I know it can be hard to get out of the house. I am so glad that I've been able to get involved in the mothers group! I have met a lot of great moms who share my desire to have Christ at the center of our households."

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