Today CatholicExchange.com published my article on charter schools -- a topic that can be rather controversial in some circles.

The decision about where to educate children -- whether in the public schools (traditional or charter), parish schools, or at home -- is an important issue. I know several friends who have agonized over it, many of whom decided to go the homeschool route.

The subtle (and sometimes not-so-subt… Continue

It was the biggest cemetery I'd ever been in ... Miles and miles of headstones. The stone for Mark Twain was clearly marked -- but none of the other paths. I had a map, but even on the best of days I'm not a great map-reader.

And this was a terrible, awful, no good, very bad day. I was there to say goodbye to a dear friend, whose funeral I had been unable to attend two months before. And I had two wired kids in my back seat.

Finally, I got out and spotted a white-haired gentleman mowing a sect… Continue

Today at "Reading and Rambling Moms" I posted a discussion about going home after a long absence. In my case, 25 years had passed since I'd last set eyes on my childhood home -- the green stucco siding, the screened-in porch, the little "Tervetuola" popsicle stick under the mailbox that had been nailed there to welcome our Finnish exchange student's parents.

It was all gone. The house that was there bore no resemblance to the one I remembered.

I also had a chance to see a high-school friend, w… Continue

Are you looking to buy some beautiful -- and inexpensive -- notecards for holidays, birthdays, or general correspondence? I'd like to recommend that you check out this site, which is run by the Carmelite Sisters of Reno. One of their sisters, Sister Marie Celeste Fadden, created most of the images on these cards.

Here is one of my particular favorites, of St. Mary and Martha of Bethany.

… Continue

Recently at "Extraordinary Moms Network" I posted this short article in response to a discussion entitled… Continue