Holiday

There are a few holidays during the year that are my absolute favorite. Christmas and Easter are two of those holidays for more than one reason. My children rank pretty high on that list. Not only are these two holidays a way for us to celebrate Christianity, but also give my children a chance to be children. I am all for my kids believing in something that is not real. Please don't ruin it for them if you aren't on the same boat. Ruining my child's Christmas imagination I get that some parents don't believe in celebrating Santa Claus during the Christmas holiday, thinking they are just encouraging the concept of lying to them. I don't view this as 'lying' though,...

Around town: gifts that give an experience! Christmas has come and gone. Despite my best effort to #konmari, we still have too much stuff! And yet holidays and birthdays continue to roll around. So many people talk about experience gifts versus opening gifts. I have a sister-in-law that is THE BEST at gifting experiences! Every year she’ll ask what membership I think my kids will enjoy this year. And enjoy it they have! So now I keep a running list of experience gifts so when asked, I can toss out some suggestions. I’m here to share all the around town experience gift ideas! Memberships: Knock Knock Museum - For as little as $150 a family of four (two adults and two kids) can...

We all know what month it is and what that means for most. I say most because I fall into the category outside of this "most." Since my husband and I started dating over 15 years ago, we have never celebrated Valentine's Day. The expectations are not even there. No expectations for February 14th After meeting my husband for the first time, I knew then that he was not a romantic. He does try sometimes by sending sweet texts and even having flowers delivered on the important dates - anniversary and my birthday. Outside of this, well, there aren't any mushy details to share. And I am okay with this. Maybe it is because I am not a romantic myself and...

It’s February! This means that, other than it being the middle of carnival season for us here in Louisiana (thank you Jesus for King Cake), it is also the time of year for Valentine's Day. The holiday where pressure is put on you to buy your special someone chocolate, jewelry or flowers. Even worse, if you are a teenager, society tells you that if you don't have a valentine, you are lame ... and the schools are in your face about buying items to support various clubs by sending Valentine's Day cards. By now, you can probably see that I’m a hater of Valentine’s Day. There are some of you going “heck yeah, me too!” While others are left wondering "why...

Kids watching Elf. Cookies baking. Alexa playing instrumental Christmas music. Evergreen candle and tree both lit. It's the most wonderful time of the year! Except according to all secular "rules," Christmas is over. It's December 27th, so I guess I should be in that post-Christmas funk, eating my feelings. But I'm really enjoying this holiday season. I'm Catholic, so I've always celebrated the Advent season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, while Christmas Day started the "Twelve Days of Christmas" leading to epiphany, which then meant time for King Cake and Mardi Gras! Still, though, it was tough to keep the Christmas spirit going when everyone says it's over. Our tree stays up until January 5th (maybe later if I'm being honest),...