Celebrating Epiphany and other late-Christmas fun (7 Quick Takes) January 7, 2023By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window It was Epiphany Sunday when we received the referral to adopt our older son, so this time of year always makes me smile. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are wonderful gifts, but that phone call brought the best news we had ever received.
Returning a Christmas Gift January 5, 2023By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window Hi Santa, I’m sorry, but I’d like to send this back. Yes, I know we had asked for a Christmas break again this year, but this wasn’t quite what we had in mind.
Christmas treats, victories, and memories (7 Quick Takes) December 29, 2022By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window We’ve reached the point in our Christmas break where I am not entirely sure what day of the week it is. What I do know is that we are still in the midst of our Christmas celebrations.
A Christmas Eve Miracle December 27, 2022By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window On Christmas Eve morning, we woke up to find that our furnace had stopped working.
When the end of Advent is a scramble to the finish December 18, 2022By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window In these final days of Advent, I am way behind on my preparation for Christmas.
Finding our way through the darkness December 13, 2022By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window At this time of year, alarm clocks seem to go off during the middle of the night. But we have to get up and get the day started, even when it looks like midnight outside. So, I climb out of bed and make sure my high schooler is awake. I ask him what he wants […]
Journeying toward Christmas December 4, 2022By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window When we were waiting to adopt our older son, we had a long to-do list.
Ready or not, it’s Advent November 27, 2022By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window Maybe you didn’t even realize Advent had started. You feel like you’ve fallen behind. Advent will rush by, and Christmas will come, and you’ll never catch up.
Thanksgiving leftovers, Grandma’s gravy, and a road trip (7 Quick Takes) November 26, 2022By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window ~1~ I had thought that this would be the first Thanksgiving we would spend with extended family since 2019. By Wednesday afternoon, however, I could see that that wasn’t going to happen, thanks to a few sicknesses running through the family. My mother told me she would be happy to share the food she had […]
Start the day with a smile November 19, 2022By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window I groaned as I saw the frost on my car. And then I saw the smile.
Apple cake, a special birthday movie, and making the impossible possible (7 Quick Takes) November 13, 2022By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window We are still eating our way through the apples we picked last week, so I made an apple cake. Our house smells sweet and cinnamon, but this beautiful cake only used six apples.
We played Powerball…and now we’re rich November 9, 2022By Rita Buettner Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window Like many other people, we bought a Powerball ticket. Then we did a little dreaming.
