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Rita Buettner

Rita Buettner is a wife, working mother and author of the Catholic Review's Open Window blog. She and her husband adopted their two sons from China, and Rita often writes about topics concerning adoption, family and faith.

Rita also writes The Domestic Church, a featured column in the Catholic Review. Her writing has been honored by the Catholic Press Association, the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association and the Associated Church Press.

Recovering from vacation, for Pete’s sake, a new iCade, household chores, and the worst sounds in the world (7 Quick Takes)

July 19, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Nothing is more fun than taking a vacation week at the beach. But I can’t believe how tired I still am from a vacation that ended a week ago.

Cookies for breakfast and sloths for everyone (or what we do on a beach vacation)

July 16, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

It’s 7:30 a.m. on a morning of our beach vacation. I haven’t even poured my first cup of coffee. And I’m pretty sure I could have used another three hours of sleep.

Toes in the sand and peach cake in my hand or what we did on our family beach vacation (7 Quick Takes)

July 12, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

You might think that a blogger who is on vacation all week would have time to write a blog almost every day. In fact, I thought that myself.

All in the timing

July 12, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Commentary, The Domestic Church, Uncategorized

Maybe, I find myself realizing, we all long to understand time better so we can know how to make better use of it.

Peach cake season, stacking cups, fireworks, reading, and more (7 Quick Takes)

July 5, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

The peaches are ripe! Run, run, run to your nearest grocery store or farmers market and buy some peaches to make a Baltimore peach cake.

When you have a friend in Heaven

July 3, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

“Do you want these left out of the bag?” the cashier says, holding up two bottles of water.
“That would be great,” I say. “We need those for the flowers. We’re stopping at the cemetery.”

Getting our classic arcade on like Donkey Kong

June 30, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Although I grew up way back in the 1900s, as my children like to say, I often feel I failed to absorb much of the pop culture of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. And arcade games are definitely on that list.

Praying after tragedy and remembering moments from our week (7 Quick Takes)

June 29, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Please join me in praying for all those affected by the tragic shooting at the Capital Gazette.

Embrace the fullness this summer

June 27, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Summer doesn’t always match the picture-perfect image of summer in my mind. Often, instead, it’s full of dripping popsicles, scraped knees, and overtired children who are up way too late giggling under the covers. But it’s full. And there is a richness to that.

Staycationing, card playing, Buettner bucks for summer reading, and more (7 Quick Takes)

June 22, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

Going away on vacation is always amazing, but I am a huge fan of staycations, which is how the boys and I have spent our week.

Making a tiny discovery at the Shrine of St. Anthony

June 20, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

As we were walking to our cars, our children were running ahead—the way children do. And we saw them stop to look at what seemed to be a brown leaf floating across the sidewalk.

7 Quick Takes started at 30,000 feet (featuring beer-shaped salami, a button sculpture, a yard sale purchase, and more)

June 16, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window

I started writing these while on an airplane yesterday, but then I didn’t manage to finish them until today. But it felt a little like being in Green Eggs and Ham. “Can you write takes on a plane? Can you write them on a train? In a car or on a tree…?”

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