We had a mellow Christmas Eve today. It was the first day in a long time that Mark and I really had no work obligations. December has been a busy month and it was nice to have a day totally focused on holiday and family. And now comes the part where I barrage you with photos from Christmas Eve. And not just this year! I have nostalgic and self-indulgent older photos to post, too! Still here? And ready to take a stroll down memory lane? For the last fourteem years, we've . . .
Kids responding to gifts: where honesty and kindness collide
We’ve all experienced it, though I’m not sure anyone has come up with a name for it. The Christmas Cringe? The Seasonal Squirm? Mortified Yuletide? Whatever we call it, it's that moment when your child gets a gift from a well-meaning family member...and it immediately becomes clear that your child won’t like the gift. Maybe they already have one. Or it was last year's popular toy and has lost its appeal. Or it's just not appropriate because your son is into skateboards and not baseball, but . . .
A template for your annual braggy Christmas letter
[photo credit] I have a love-hate relationship with the Christmas letter. I’ve always loved getting those letters from friends: reading them, keeping up with their activities, and watching their children age in the delightful photos.And while I loved reading them, I also began to become annoyed at how easily these letters turned into here’s-why-our-family-is-awesome PSAs. In the early 2000s, I started writing a satirical Christmas letter—we called it The Howertons’ Fabulous, Fabulous Lives®—and . . .
A New York minute
This past weekend, I spent a very quick two days in New York City visiting with my nephew and my friend Heather. I was on the East Coast for the Red Letter Christians gathering in Philadelphia, which has become a highlight of my year every year. I will post more about that later. But any time I have the chance to be that close to the city, I feel like I have to make a quick visit. I know this is nothing unique to me, but I am in love with New York City. I would never want to live there, but . . .
Top ten favorite Christmas albums
This post is sponsored by Aether Cone I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas music. It makes me feel all warm and glow-y for about a month, and then I grow totally sick of it and don’t want to hear it again for another year. I think a part of this is the fact that, really, it’s pretty much the same 25-30 songs being recycled into different versions and genres every year. Growing up, my parents listened to the same couple of albums each Christmas: Manhiem Steamroller, Sandy Patty, Anne . . .
What I want you to know about having an abortion
What I Want You to Know is a series of reader submissions. It is an attempt to allow people to tell their personal stories, in the hopes of bringing greater compassion to the unique issues each of us face. If you would like to submit a story to this series, click here. Today’s guest post is by Anonymous. I never thought I would be in the shoes of a woman who has had an abortion. I am Catholic. I tried for six months for this baby. I wanted this baby. I remember when . . .
Merry Christmas from Beer and Hymns
Every year for the past nine years my friend Neil Kramer of Citizen of the Month has hosted an annual online concert featuring bloggers performing their favorite holiday standards. Neil’s intention in the concert was to bring the blogging community together, regardless of race or religion, for some holiday fun. I decided to enlist my Beer and Hymns crew (Chad and Lauren) to sing Joy To The World with me, since we were already working on our Christmas gathering. (And if you . . .
Mama Said: Real talk about being a blogger
In this episode Sarah and I are having a real-talk discussion about the ins, the outs, and the aggravations of being a professional blogger. . . .
The Gift of Education! (Or the Difficulties of Christmas Gift Recommendations)
This post was sponsored by Scholarshare. The older and more independent kids get, the more difficult gift-giving becomes at Christmas. As I've written before, we're working hard this Christmas to make it more about memories rather than things. This helps us keep our holiday spending within our budget, of course, but it also reinforces our belief that Christmas should be about more than just material stuff. But we're not hermits. And when our relatives ask us what the kids want for . . .
Get one, give one: making donations at Christmas
This post is sponsored by Savers. We have tried really hard to avoid being too consumerist over the holidays. We attempt to limit the kids' toys, and try really hard to focus on experiences over things. For example, this Christmas, a bulk of our children's presents involve tickets to see some Broadway shows throughout the coming year. However, there will be some new toys and new clothes under the tree this Christmas. A couple of the kids still have Big Ideas about Santa and have made their . . .
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