055 If I Ran the Zoo: Our Decision to Homeschool
Intro:
- Quick update on building our house
- Getting back into family meetings (here’s our family meeting agenda)
- Using the word “romance” for inspiration this Lent
Today’s Topic: If I Ran the Zoo: Our Decision to Homeschool
- Why (and it’s not because we stopped liking our great Catholic school)
- Why we’re excited
- My *rough* plans
- Current favorite homeschooling resources
Next time: A Mother’s Rule of Life: 4th P, Parent
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
or
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
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054 A Mother’s Rule of Life – Partner
Philip came down to the recording studio to talk all about marriage (the 3rd “P” from a Mother’s Rule of Life — Partner).
Links/Resources Mentioned This Week:
- Nick Barber’s album, Stations, on Apple Music
- Nick Barber’s website
- Our Family Meeting Agenda
- The 5 Love Languages
Questions for you:
- Have you had any lightbulb moments revolving around communication in marriage?
- What’s one specific thing you are doing as a couple that’s helping your marriage?
- Date night: What does it look like for you? Do you do anything unique that’s making it more successful?
- Challenge: Plan a date night this month for you and your husband. Don’t do the same thing you usually do. Take care of ALL of the details!
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
or
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
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053 An Update and 3 Favorite Things
This week:
- Recapping our trip to Jamaica
- Cultural observations about emotional expression/repression and mental health
- Helping friends with invisible crosses (a conversation about my diagnosis with Sjögren’s Syndrome and a friend asking how she can help)
Today’s Topic: 3 favorite things
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- Snack: Salt and Pepper Pistachios and Lindt dark chocolate bars (Intense Orange and Roasted Hazelnut)
- Music: Breezy summer classics playlist on Amazon Music.
- Podcast: Janet Lansbury Unruffled
Questions for you to chew on until next time:
- Any thoughts on my cultural observations about expressing or repressing emotion and emotional health? Do you think it matters?
- Do you have any invisible crosses? How can a friend help you?
- What are your favorite things?
Next time: Talking about the 3rd P: Partner (Marriage) with my husband, Philip!
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
or
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
052: A Mother’s Rule of Life – Person
This week, I’m continuing the conversation based on Holly Pierlot’s book, A Mother’s Rule of Life: How to bring order to your home and peace to your soul. I’m talking about the 2nd “P”: Person–the importance of caring for yourself (mind, body, and soul).
Links/resources mentioned this episode:
- Unbound Ministry
- Our family schedule (Don’t compare! This is just to show what’s working for our family *now* as an example.)
- Working out your essentials to create your routines:
- Daily Routines (move items to weekly or monthly routines as needed)
- Rest (sleep, naps)
- Hygiene/grooming, allotting time to help kids
- Nutrition (meal prep, meal planning, meal clean-up)
- Exercise (where, when, how)
- Socializing
- Hobbies or recreation
- Work
- Weekly/Monthly Routines
- Daily Routines (move items to weekly or monthly routines as needed)
Questions for you to chew on until next time:
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- Sleep: How many hours of sleep do I really need to be at my best? What’s my new bedtime based on that number? Are naps a good idea for me?
- Exercise: Am I getting enough physical movement? Do I go outside on a regular basis? What part of my day would work for me to incorporate physical movement?
- Nutrition: Am I eating in a way that helps our hurts my body? What’s one change I can implement this week?
- Friendship: Do I have at least one good girlfriend? If not, how can I be that kind of friend to someone this week? What kinds of connection with friends are recharging for me? What works for my season?
- Hobbies: When was the last time
- Work: How is my work schedule working with my family’s schedule? Do I need to make any adjustments (if I can)? Do I need to take on a job to help supplement the family income? How can we make that work?
Next time: Talking about the 3rd P: Partner (Marriage) with my husband, Philip!
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
or
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
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051: A Mother’s Rule of Life – Prayer
Today’s Topic: Continuing the conversation based on Holly Pierlot’s book, A Mother’s Rule of Life: How to bring order to your home and peace to your soul. Today, we’re talking about the First “P” of a Mother’s Rule of Life: Prayer.
I hope it’s an encouragement to take the time to make your personal prayer life a priority!
Links/references mentioned this episode:
- Dom Hubert Van Zeller’s Holiness for Housewives (and other working women)
- The Little Oratory: A Beginner’s Guide to Praying in the Home
- Spousal Prayer: A Way to Marital Happiness
- My Prayer Practices (Note: Don’t compare! This is just what’s working for *me* right now.)
- Daily/Ongoing Prayer Practices
- Morning Offering before my feet hit the floor
- Morning prayer by myself 30 min.
- M/W: Day’s Gospel and journal
- T/TR: read Bible study group book and journal
- F: Catechism read and journal
- Angelus at lunch with the kids
- Re-commit Morning Offering before greeting kids after naptime/from school
- Gratitude sharing around the dinner table
- Family bedtime prayers
- Evening examen (3 ways I saw God working, biggest win against temptation, 1 specific way I’m asking for grace to do better tomorrow). Share with Philip, write them in journal, close in prayer together.
- On days that I don’t nap: spiritual reading 30 min. (consult list of books to read)
- Create little oratory
- Consult “Under Construction” list
- Weekly Spiritual Practices
- Holy hour (alternate weeks with the kids)
- Sunday Mass
- Monthly Spiritual Practices
- Spiritual direction and confession
- Daily/Ongoing Prayer Practices
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- Annual Spiritual Practices
- Personal retreat at Cloisters on the Platte
- Mine: First weekend of September, Thursday – Sunday
- Philip’s: Second weekend of September, Thursday – Sunday
- Marriage retreat
- Personal retreat at Cloisters on the Platte
- Annual Spiritual Practices
Questions to chew on until next time:
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- What are some basic prayer practices I’d like to implement into my daily routine?
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- How can I make them happen?
- What are my potential obstacles?
- What materials do I need?
- Where will it happen and when?
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- What distractions are stopping me from connecting with God in prayer?
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- Do I need to eliminate something from my schedule?
- Do I need to seek healing from a priest or Catholic therapist?
-
- What are some basic prayer practices I’d like to implement into my daily routine?
-
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
or
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
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050 Organizing My Attitude Before My Closets
Episode 50!!! Woo-hoo!
Resources and recommendations from listeners after last week’s episode: 049 January Potpourri:
- Jordan Page’s Kitchen tour + Kitchen remodel
- Anna over at In Honor of Design
- The Home Edit: A Guide to Realizing and Organizing Your House Goals
- “Religion and Spirituality” Artwork from Art.com
- The Inspired Room by Melissa Michaels
Today’s Topic: Organizing My Attitude Before My Closets
- Drawing information from Holly Pierlot’s book, A Mother’s Rule of Life: How to bring order to your home and peace to your soul
- “A Rule is an organization of everything that has to do with your vocation, based on a hierarchy of the priorities that define the vocation and done with the intent to please God. It deals with the essential responsibilities of your state of life, organized to ensure their fulfillment.”
- Important note: My friend Courtney told me if you have a formed.org account, the digital version of the book is on there for free!
- 2 resources (recommended by Amy Zeleny (guest on Episode 04)
- Mystie Winckler, from Simply Convivial
- No more boom and bust!
- “Repent. Rejoice. Repeat.”
- Simply Convivial Podcast #119: Make a home: it’s your job.
- Being atmospheres in our homes
- “A lot of the work that we do as homemakers is just hitting the reset button.”
- “Our end goal isn’t making everything the way we think it should be. Our end goal is glorifying God and enjoying Him forever–starting now. And whatever effort does not do that is effort spent in vain. So get organized first by knowing that organization is about self-control and walking in faithfulness, not about organizing your closets, and it’s not about making things go your way.” DANG!!!
- Dom Hubert Van Zeller’s book, Holiness for Housewives (and other working women)
- Mystie Winckler, from Simply Convivial
Your Prayer Prompts:
- What are the duties You want me to do? Why do You want me to do them?
- Do I have the appropriate respect for this vocation You’ve given me? If not, why not? Can You heal the areas of woundedness I have involving my vocation?
- Do I do the “boom and bust” cycle on repeat in my homemaking? Have I stopped to consider it might not have anything to do with my organization system and everything to do with my own attitude?
Challenge for the week:
- What’s ONE shift in attitude I’m going to resolve to make toward my vocation as homemaker?
- Example: My children’s speed is not too slow; I am too fast. I need to live life at their speed.
- How will I know when my attitude is changing?
- Example: Fewer tears, more spontaneous affection, less nagging from me, mental prayer for patience, better time management and planning appropriately for their abilities.
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
or
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
049 January Potpourri
Links/Resources Mentioned This Episode:
- After-School Restraint Collapse
- Unruffled (Janet Lansbury’s parenting podcast)
- Helen Keller’s The Story of My Life
- Favorite quote: “Is it not true, then, that my life with all its limitations touches at many points, the life of the world beautiful? Everything has its wonders–even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein, to be content. Sometimes it is true, a sense of isolation enfolds me like a cold mist as I sit alone and wait at life’s shut gate. Beyond, there is light and music and sweet companionship, but I may not enter. Fate, silence, pitiless, bars the way. Feign would I question his imperious decree. For my heart is still undisciplined and passionate. But my tongue will not utter the bitter, futile words that rise to my lips. And they fall back into my heart like unshed tears. Silence sits immense upon my soul. Then comes hope with a smile and whispers, ‘There is joy in self-forgetfulness.’ So, I try to make the light in others’ eyes my sun. The music in others’ ears my symphony. The smile on others’ lips my happiness.”
- Anne Lamott’s Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope, and Repair
- Favorite quote: “This is all that restoration requires most of the time: that one person not give up. For instance, when I was in school, there were a few teachers along the way who must have seen in me a hummingbird of charming achievement–all eyes, bird bones, frizzly hair, and a desperation to please and impress. They knew that there was power and beauty deep inside me, but that I was afraid of this, and I was in fragments. Men and women alike, old and new at teaching, were like aunties or grandparents in their firm patience with me, in their conviction of my worth. They had a divine curiosity about me. ‘Hey, who’s in there? Are you willing to talk straight and find out who you actually are, if I keep you company? Do you want to make friends with your heart? Here, start with this poem.’ This is who I want to be in the world. This is who I think we are supposed to be–people who help call forth human beings from deep inside hopelessness.”
- Add me on Goodreads to start swapping book titles!
- HOUZZ
- Theology of Home
- Fountains of Carrots Episode 123: Bringing Beauty to the World Through the Beauty of Home
- Millet’s The Angelus
Join the Conversation!
- Is your house experiencing after school restraint collapse 2.0? What’s easing the transition back to school?
- What are you reading lately?
- How do you track what you’ve read and what you want to read?
- Tasteful religious art–where do I go to find it?
- Do you have a tip for a way to make specific areas of your home more functional for family life?
- Lastly, go and find a copy of Holly Pierlot’s A Mother’s Rule of Life so that we can do a deep dive on the book next week!
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
or
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
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048 Word of the Year: Home
I’m so happy to be back! I’ll be releasing weekly episodes of While You Were Folding in 2020 every Wednesday.
After getting all caught up since my last podcast release, I shared about the why behind my Word of the Year: Home!
- Find you word of the year (Jen Fulwiler’s Word of the Year Generator)
- Find your Patron Saint of the Year (or create a Saint Board of Directors if you can’t limit yourself to just one!)
- My Patron Saints of the Year: Sts. Anne and Joachim
- Books I’m (re)reading to work on our Family’s Rule of Life:
- Holly Pierlot’s A Mother’s Rule of Life
- The Little Oratory
- Theology of Home
Join the Conversation!
- Can you help me to figure out my decorating style? Where can I go to figure this out? What books, websites, etc. do you recommend?
- How is your physical home helping (or hindering?) your family to meet its needs and help you to meet your big picture goals?
- Is it time for your family to re-evaluate your routines and rhythms? Is your physical home helping you to draw closer to one another and to God?
- Do you have a word of the year? How about a patron saint?
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
or
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
047 Wholehearted Parenting
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with the women from Seward MOPS about Wholehearted Parenting. I thought I’d share the talk as a podcast episode. I hope you’ll find it helpful!
Before you listen, download and print off my handout from the talk. It has a lot of questions and tables that I think you’ll find helpful.
The gist of my Wholehearted Parenting Talk:
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- Fear in parenting is normal and it looks really different in each of us
- Getting curious about our fear – why it’s there
- Strategies for moving through the fear response
- Inviting Christ in
- Inviting others to move through fear with us and sharing the victories with them
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Helpful Resources:
- The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings on Authenticity, Connection, and Courage by Brené Brown
- Take Control of Your Life by Mel Robbins
- Fearless: Conquer Your Demons With Love and Abandon by Sonja Corbitt
Join the Conversation!
What does your fear response look like? What parts of the day are usually your pain points? Do you tend toward OVER- or UNDER-functioning when you’re in fear? Get curious: Why do you think you’re having the fear response during this time of day? Which strategy are you going to start using to get through the fear response? How are you going to start inviting Christ in to your fear? What victory against fear do you hope to share in 6 months? After listening to this podcast, were you able to identify fear in your parenting in a way you hadn’t recognized before? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this huge topic!
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
or
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
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046 Live Big, Love Bigger with Kathryn Whitaker
This week, I’m finally releasing a great conversation with Kathryn Whitaker! I asked Kathryn come on the show to talk about her new book, Live Big, Love Bigger: Getting Real with BBQ, Sweet Tea, and a Whole Lotta Jesus. We had a great conversation about how how to live a “hell yes” kinda life centered on Christ. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed chatting with her!
Our talking points:
- Acute stress of NICU life sending a good marriage to counseling
- The grace of God giving you more than you can handle
- The blessing of authentic friendship through social media during times of crisis
- Finding a good marriage counselor
- The Whitaker family’s 6-month moratorium on activities
- Learning to have an identity outside of doing
- Family discernment of commitments
- Letting kids fail
- Connecting with kids individually
- Owning your mama strengths instead of comparing and living in mama guilt
- Mom prayer life. Make it about intention, not time
- Why bringing up the gifts is one of the most beautiful parts of the Mass
Links/Resources from this episode:
- For couples considering marital counseling, Kathryn recommends Dr. John Gottman’s The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work
- Kathryn’s Live Big, Love Bigger Book Tour dates and locations!
- Team Whitaker (Kathryn’s blog where you can access all of her social media accounts)
- Kathryn’s Blog Post: HDYDI: Sort, File, & Keep Kids’ School Papers
Join the Conversation!
Do you struggle with living a hell yes kind of life? Has God given you more than you can handle and blessed you in the process? How has your family navigated your calendar commitments and not getting overextended? Did you feel as much relief as I did when Kathryn talked about her approach to connecting with her kids individually or her prayer life? What’s working for you in those areas?
Get in touch!
E-mail me at podcast@catherineboucher.com or
or
Send me a voicemail on Voxer, the free walkie talkie app, so that I can feature your voice on a future episode! (I’m “catherineboucher” on there.)
If you liked the show, please consider leaving a positive rating and a review in iTunes! That will help the show to get in front of as many listeners as possible. How to rate and review podcasts in iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
