santa Archives - Kathryn Whitaker

Giving Gifts with Purpose

In the book, The Five Love Languages, one of them is gift giving. But, truth be told, it’s not my primary love language. With six kids and a lot of birthday and holidays, I’m getting better, though! At Casa Whitaker we have a mish-mash of family traditions. Scott grew up Catholic and I grew up…

Advent & Keeping My Sanity

That must be an oxymoron, no? I can’t EVEN tell you the happy dance I did at noon last Friday when the kids got out of school. No homework! No lunches to make! No schedule! The fun will wear off in a couple of weeks, but right now it’s pretty much awesome. I have a…

HDYDI: Santa vs. St. Nicholas

Entering into the Santa vs. Non-Santa or St. Nicholas camps can be as heated as to Harry Potter, or not. This is not that post. Honestly? I don’t concern myself with whether families choose to celebrate the jolly man in red or not. Their family, their culture, their choice. My beef has always been with kids…

Ho! Ho! Ho!

For the first time, oh I don’t know, EVER, I waited until the week before Christmas to visit Santa. Note to self: don’t do that again. The line was long and creeping and just as we got into line, John Paul says, “Mom, I gotta go potty.” Arg. We forgot to give him his meds…

Advent: Feast of St. Nicholas

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,…