Spring is a season of renewal. The world around us becomes alive after the slowness and darkness of winter and that sparks a desire to renew and refresh our homes and our hearts! Many homemakers are beginning to plan their gardens, digging out spring wardrobes, prepping for Easter and planning a deep cleaning. This year, make cleaning easier with a simple and organized checklist…read on to learn more! Free Printable Spring Cleaning Checklists To simplify... The post Free Spring Cleaning Checklists: Whole-Home, Detailed & Spiritual appeared first on Love & Messiness ..read more

Have you ever browsed through Etsy and wondered what exactly printable wall art is? Or maybe you found the perfect print for your gallery wall but are unsure of how to print it yourself? Or maybe you really are itching to update your home decor, but are on a strict budget? If that’s the case, then I am here for you! Below I explain the 3 easy steps for downloading and printing Etsy Digital Downloads... The post How to Print Your Etsy Printable Wall Art appeared first on Love & Messiness ..read more

Each year then the Lenten season comes around, I long to help my children grow in a deeper relationship with the Lord and truly understand his suffering. Ash Wednesday always sneaks up on us and it feels like a rush for everyone to come up with something to give up or take on that seems meaningful. To help us to stay ahead of the game a bit, I compiled this list of 100+ things for kids to give up (or take up) for Lent. I hope you find this list helpful! What Is Lent? First, let's cover what Lent is. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states, "Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fa ..read more

Happy New Year friends! You all showed up in a big way last year and I have loved having you here! Here is a quick review of your top five favorite blog posts of 2023! Top 5 Favorite Blog Posts 1. Scriptural Advent Calendar: How-to & Free Printable Cards Your favorite blog post is my step-by-step on how we made our beloved Advent calendar. My children love getting this out each year! These plans include a free set of printable Advent cards that include scripture and a fun activity. Far and away a favorite among readers! 2. 7 Great Saints for Mothers This favorite blog post is a list of som ..read more

Our family tradition for the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas (December 6) is we have our children write up their Christmas list to leave in their stocking for St. Nicholas to take with him when he comes through the night. This is the activity for the December 5th Advent calendar card and this year I created this free St. Nicholas letter printable that they can fill out to make it easier and fun for them. Check it out! St. Nicholas Letter Printable Unlike most letters to Santa, this one is directed to St. Nicholas himself. It asks St. Nick to pray for them and their family and to thank God for ..read more

Each year the feast of St. Nicholas seems to sneak right up on us after the Thanksgiving holiday! That leaves me scrambling for stocking stuffer ideas that my children will love! My children enjoy celebrating this feast day in part because it makes it really begin to feel like Christmas is approaching! Our St. Nicholas tradition has always been to lay out our stockings the night before his feast (Dec. 5) and slip in our Christmas Lists. Then, on the morning of his feast (Dec. 6) the kids awake to their lists being gone and sweet little prizes left (enter: great stocking stuffers)! We typically ..read more

Lately, I've found myself longing for a deeper, more consistent and meaningful prayer life. It felt impossible with the hours available in the day and I found myself at the end of the day, disappointed that I hadn’t prayed like I’d hoped.  Improving Personal Prayer Our gracious Lord understands our struggles. He sees us trying, He knows our hearts and desires and I believe he is content in knowing our intentions.  But I don’t want to be content. I want to be full of faith and fire. So I prayed for help, guidance and direction, I brought my desires to the Lord and he showed me the way ..read more

I read a long post the other day written by a woman, shared and liked by women, all about how they view their bodies. It really struck me. This post went into details of body image anxiety, body changes they essentially hate themselves for, and how they can’t get past it. I read the post and comments and instantly felt sorrow for these woman. I didn't feel sorrow because I can relate…of course I can! I am in my late thirties, I have dealt with acne since adolescence, I have given birth & nursed six children, plus a number of other contributing factors. I know the struggle woman go through ..read more

Humility is something I truly strive towards for myself & for my children. But striving is just a nice way of saying I keep trying and failing. We all do... but sainthood happens because we KEEP trying. Are you unsure of what true humility looks like? Here are St. Josemaria’s 17 Signs…signs you too may be lacking in humility. Prayerfully reflect on these with me: 17 Signs of Lacking Humility > Thinking that what you do or say is better than what others do or say > Always wanting to get your own way > Arguing when you are not right or—when you are—insisting stubbornly or with bad ..read more

Recently got the idea to create a small space for our younger children to pray throughout the day. They needed a comfortable space to just be with the Lord. So with that in mind, gathered a few things from around our home & created a kid's prayer corner! Our playroom prayer corner turned out just perfect and our little ones love it! Playroom Prayer Corner for Kids When imaging this space for my children, I envisioned it right in the middle of 'life'. Our home altar is out in the open and in the center of our home. It serves as a constant reminder of Christ and I wanted this kid-friendly pr ..read more