Faith & Family Live!

Faith & Family Live is where everyday moms offer one another inspiration, support, and encouragement in Catholic living. Anyone grappling with the meaning of life or the cleaning of laundry is welcome here. Read the blog, check out our magazine, join our community, learn more about our mission, and come on in! READ MORE

Bloggers

Meet the Faith & Family bloggers. We invite you to join us in encouraging and helping the Faith & Family community grow in faith!

Danielle Bean

Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean, a mother of eight, is Editorial Director of Faith & Family. She is author of My Cup of Tea, Mom to Mom, Day to Day, and most recently Small Steps for Catholic Moms. Though she once struggled to separate her life and her work, the two …
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Rachel Balducci

Rachel Balducci
Rachel Balducci is married to Paul and they are the parents of five lively boys and one precious baby girl. She is the author of How Do You Tuck In A Superhero?, and is a newspaper columnist for the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. For the past four years, she has …
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Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey
Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com and the author of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms and The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa is also enjoys speaking around the country, is employed as webmaster for her parish web sites and spends time on various …
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Arwen Mosher

Arwen Mosher
Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their 4-year-old daughter, 2-year-old son, and twin boys born May 2011. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site …
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Rebecca Teti

Rebecca Teti
Rebecca Teti is married to Dennis and has four children (3 boys, 1 girl) who -- like yours no doubt -- are pious and kind, gorgeous, and can spin flax into gold. A Washington, DC, native, she converted to Catholicism while an undergrad at the U. Dallas, where she double-majored in …
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Robyn Lee

Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee is a 30-something, single lady, living in Connecticut in a small bungalow-style kit house built by her great uncle in the 1950s. She also conveniently lives next door to her sister, brother-in-law and six kids ... and two doors down are her parents. She received her undergraduate degree from …
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DariaSockey

DariaSockey
Daria Sockey is a freelance writer and veteran of the large family/homeschooling scene. She recently returned home from a three-year experiment in full time outside employment. (Hallelujah!) Daria authored several of the original Faith&Life; Catechetical Series student texts (Ignatius Press), and is currently a Senior Writer for Faith&Family; magazine. A latecomer …
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Guest Bloggers

Kate Lloyd

Kate Lloyd
Kate Lloyd is a rising senior, and a political science major at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire. While not in school, she lives in Whitehall PA, with her mom, dad, five sisters and little brother. She needs someone to write a piece about how it's possible to …
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Lynn Wehner

Lynn Wehner
As a wife and mother, writer and speaker, Lynn Wehner challenges others to see the blessings that flow when we struggle to say "Yes" to God’s call. Control freak extraordinaire, she is adept at informing God of her brilliant plans and then wondering why the heck they never turn out that …
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Thankful For: Encouragement

For moms in the trenches

“And so I tell you, whoever is reading this and needs to hear it. Don’t quit. Retreat, yes. Surrender, never.”

We’re in a season when my husband and I refer to Sunday Mass as “the most exhausting hour of the week,” and this article, “Mass with a Difficult Child,” was exactly what I needed to read. It’s by blogger and mother-of-six (and, I believe, F&F reader and commenter) Michelle Reitemeyer, and it’s lovely.

“The goal is to have antic-free children. We call them mature adults.

I laughed, I nodded, I felt consoled after reading. I hope you will too.


If God Rested…

...why can't I?

My husband, wonderful man that he is, often says to me, “Why don’t you go take a bath?” Or if it’s the best day of the week (Saturday) he says, “Why don’t you go out by yourself for a couple hours?”

I sometimes tell him no. “I will feel better if I stay here and get more stuff done,” I tell him.

I don’t know why I haven’t learned by now: there is always more “stuff” to get “done.” I rarely stop moving... READ MORE 


Which Came First?

turning a baby corner

We had a chicken costume in 3-6 months size, and we have two babies, so what could we do but make an egg?

Actually, I wasn’t planning on dressing the babies up at all, since basic non-frivolous tasks take all my energy these days. Kids demand costumes, but babies don’t care, so why bother?

But we only have two babies once. One chance to make a hilarious double costume so we can enjoy the photos for... READ MORE 


Sibling Gifts

Savoring and looking ahead

Once or twice a year all my siblings and I are in the same place.

Last weekend was one of those times. The six of us went out to dinner for my youngest sister’s birthday. We laughed so hard my stomach ached afterward, but my eyes also welled up a couple times as we shared stories and support and joy at being together.

What a gift my parents gave us in each other.

One of the hard things for me as... READ MORE 


So Simple, So Helpful

Share your simple solutions!

My mom came and helped for a couple weeks after the twins were born. She was great (as always) but one of the best things she did was give me an idea on her way out.

While here, Mom took over one of my smaller-but-no-less-annoying-for-being-small daily tasks: pouring cups of milk, juice, and water for my children. Camilla and Blaise are thirsty kiddos. I was not looking forward to taking this task... READ MORE 


Can I?

How parenthood has stretched me

A friend of mine mentioned that her five-month-old has recently ramped up his night wakings. He’s her third child, and she’s baffled. Shouldn’t she have the hang of this by now?

I dunno, I told her. I have four kids, and I certainly don’t feel like I have the hang of things.

Later, I realized that’s both true and untrue.

Four kids in, I’ve concluded it’s impossible to “get the hang” of babies in general.... READ MORE 


Two for One

challenges/blessings

I like to nap with a baby. I lie on my side, snuggle the baby on my arm, and wake up well rested hours later.

Twins complicate this.

Last week my big kids were at my parents’ house, and I was determined to nap with the twins. But the couple times I tried it, I ended up on my back in the bed with a baby on each arm, afraid to move either of them but unable to sleep well myself.

The situation felt... READ MORE 


Playing It Safe May Not Be Safe

Here’s another child development theory telling us the opposite of what the previous child development theory said; take it with salt or salt-substitute as your favorite diet study suggests.

I find I’m most persuaded by theories that confirm my own thoughts on the matter, so I like this one.

It suggests that today’s playgrounds, where the slides and monkey bars are removed, are so “safe” they inhibit... READ MORE 


True Faith

What is Catholicism all about?

Our parish got a new priest last weekend, a priest reassigned to our parish to replace the outgoing priest.

This will be our third priest in five years (our tenth priest in thirty years) and it’s hard not to wonder what in the world in wrong with us. How do we keep scaring off these men so quickly?

The truth is there is a whole host of issues at our parish, none of which I’ll go into here. But that’s... READ MORE 


Slow Mama, Fast Toddler

How do you discipline a little one from the couch?

This pregnancy and my activity restrictions have brought a new challenge: disciplining my toddler.

For me, discipline with a two-year-old mainly consists of teaching him that I mean what I say, especially when it comes to hurting others. In theory, it is tedious but fairly simple: if I say “Blaise, don’t do that” and he doesn’t obey, then I grab him and hold him and tell him again, firmly, and he... READ MORE 


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