This has been a family favorite for a long time.  December 6 is the Feast of St. Nicholas.  On the eve of his feast day (the evening of December 5), the kids put out their shoes and carrots for St. Nick's horses.  When they awake, they find a candy cane and their Christmas pajamas.  This year, I'd like to have the kids do some research on him, draw a picture and share a favorite thing about him with the family.  They ...

About three years ago, we started the family movie night tradition during Advent.  Albeit, it usually ended with an unfinished movie, crying kids who didn't want to go to bed and a mom and dad who wondered why in the heck they were doing this.  This year, we started to turn a corner. They were all wiggles on Saturday night, but about 30 minutes into the movie, everyone finally got their egg laid and watched the show.  Our choice?  Miracle ...

A few weeks ago, Will competed in the county 4-H Food Show and placed first (woo hoo) and earned a spot to represent Travis County at the District 4-H Food Show yesterday in San Marcos.  He had 10 other competitors in his category, breads and cereals.  Many of them chose quick breads, but I think Will may have been the only one to attempt a yeast bread.  It definitely took more skill and he worked very hard on learning facts ...

As part of my Advent series, today I'd like to share I completely, 100%, unashamedly stole from someone else.  The Faga-Meyer's are an awesome Iowa family we got to know during our graduate school years at Iowa State.  They were part of a "Young Marrieds" group at our parish.  I'm pretty sure we were the youngest by a decade.  All the couples had kids except us.  There is not enough room on this blog to tell you the amazing parental wisdom, the ...

Yes, I fully recognize that Advent started on Sunday, November 27.  For me, it's always *felt* like Advent once we hit December 1.  Perhaps I'm still recovering from turkey hangover and Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping highs.  Either way, Advent is in full swing and it's time to get to it. My "how do you do it" Mondays and "top ten" Wednesdays are taking a December break while we focus and celebrate the season of Advent.  I may sneak in a few ...

After my marathon 15-hour cooking spree, I decided to sleep in this morning.  Well, that and the brutal "run out of time on the clock" last night between the sips and the Ags.  Yesterday was pretty great, though.  We had 19 family members here to celebrate.  I offered to cook the entire menu, minus the rolls and the sweet potatoes, which my mom and brother so graciously brought.  It's been more than a decade since I've cooked Thanksgiving dinner in total ...