One of my favorite parts of Advent is celebrating the handful of popular Catholic feast days that fall during this season. From Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and more, there are some big ones! A few years ago, we kind of randomly included the feast of Saint Lucy (December […]

A few weeks ago, we took our second trip as a family of four/of 2020! We travel with our good friends, the Shaners, every year, but with everything going on right now, we fully expected to sit 2020 out. After weighing a handful of options (and feeling pretty discouraged by them), we found out about […]

I don’t want to jinx it, but I think the weather in Raleigh has finally cooled off for the year. Even though I’ve spent the vast majority of my life in hot climates, I like my fall/winter clothes so much more than my summer wardrobe. It doesn’t hurt that I couldn’t wear many of my […]

Friends, we’re here! The last month of the year, the start of Advent, and a much-anticipated season of celebration. Over the last few years, Dave and I have been experimenting with different ways to distinguish between Advent and Christmas intentionally, and I feel like we finally have a good grasp on what works for us. […]

One tradition that lands in the “good for her, not for me” category right now is matching family pajamas. Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s adorable and can imagine how much fun it is, especially with a bunch of kiddos to dress up! Since I spent most of my childhood Christmases overseas, where matching […]

This is my third year creating a Catholic gift guide. The first year, I remember it being a bit challenging to pull together enough ideas for a curated list of well-designed, meaningful products (that didn’t feel cheesy). This year, though, it was much harder to narrow the list down! I’m continually amazed by the Catholic […]

It’s hard to believe that Azelie’s first Christmas is less than a month away. In the time warp of 2020, it definitely feels like it should still be May, but here we are with a nine-month-old who might be walking by Christmas, if she has any say in the matter. We keep things pretty simple […]

Is there anything sweeter than Christmas with a preschooler? Last year was the first Christmas when Charlie really seemed to keep up with what was going on, and as a result, it was one of my favorite Christmases ever. This age has plenty of hard thing about it, but when it comes to Christmas magic, […]