Our fourth annual Epiphany dinner!  This year was a bit of a train wreck: I had children who declared they didn’t really like chili and refused to eat, there were some tears and whining and just general bad moods.  But I persevered!  We managed to still chat about our family goals for the new year and the kids came up with these three all on their own:

• Go to daily mass once a week.
• Work on our patience and kind words. 
• Spend even more time outside.

After a whopper of a dinner, everyone ripped open their gifts wrapped in gold paper and…went their separate ways.  Hah!  No reading together by the fire this year.  Maybe next time.
Our Epiphany books for 2020:

MARK – Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World by Charles J. Chaput

ASHLEY – There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids by Linda Åkeson McGurk


M (age 13) – The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman

D (age 11) – The Falcon’s Feather (Explorer Academy, Bk. 2) by Trudi Trueit

J (age 9) – Addison Cooke and the Tomb of the Khan (Addison Cooke, Bk. 2) by Jonathan W. Stokes

S (age 7) – Amelia Bedelia Means Business by Herman Parish and Lynne Avril

TJ (age 5) – Stop! Bot! by James Yang

P (age 3) – Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by by Brianna Caplan Sayres

P.S. I bought everyone’s books on Book Outlet during their Black Friday sale!  I think the most expensive book was $5 – such a steal!

Our third annual Epiphany dinner!  As we ate our pot roast and potatoes, we chatted about our family goals from 2018 and what we’d like to work on in the new year.  Our top three are:

• Work as a team and cooperate.  
• Spend more time outside. 
• Create habits to make Sundays truly a day of rest.

After dinner, everyone ripped open their gifts wrapped in gold paper and cozied up by the fire.  I love this sweet tradition and how it ends the Christmas season on such a high note.  Our Epiphany books for 2019:

MARK – The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity by Taylor Marshall

ASHLEY – Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obituary Writer by Heather Lende

M (age 12) – 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff

D (age 10) – Edge of Extinction #2: Code Name Flood by Laura Martin

J (age 8) – The Saint Chronicles, Collection 1


S (age 6) – Science! STEM Sticker Adventure

TJ (age 4) – Dinosaurs Seek & Find by Romain Amiot and Loic Mehee

P (age 2) – Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Kevin Lewis

Due to upcoming schedule conflicts, we held our second annual Epiphany dinner last Saturday night.  (Liturgically incorrect, but we’re going with it…)  As we ate our pot roast and potatoes, we chatted about family goals for the new year.  Our top three are:

• Out-do each other in kindness.  We are a team and we should seek ways to serve one another.
• Be brave.  We are new to this town and feel a bit isolated.  We are ready to get out of our comfort zone, invest in our community and make new friends.
• Cultivate a habit of reading.  This isn’t really new but something I want to continue.  We are going to finally go get those library cards, help J with his fluency (so reading isn’t so exhausting for him) and get Sophie started on simple stories.

After dinner, everyone ripped open their gifts wrapped in gold paper and cozied up by the fire.  It was something out of a storybook and the perfect way to usher in 2018.  Our Epiphany books:

MARK – Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era by Eiji Yoshikawa

ASHLEY – Thrush Green (Book 1) by Miss Read

M (age 11) – The Ruins of Gorlan by John A. Flanagan

D (age 9) – File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents by Lemony Snicket

J (age 7) – The Adventures of Tin Tin (vol.1) by Herge 

S (age 5) – Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo

TJ (age 3) – Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry

P (age 1) – Little Blue Truck (the board book version) by Alice Schertle and Jill McElmurry