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We are so thrilled to have the wonderful Lisa Hendey, founder of CatholicMom.com with us for this episode! Lisa is the bestselling author of the Chime Travelers children’s fiction series, The Grace of Yes, The Handbook for Catholic Moms and A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms. Her work is all over the Catholic internet! She currently lives in Los Angeles with her family and we’re jealous that she lives in Bishop Barron’s diocese.

In this episode we talked about spiritually guiding our kids during those sweet sacramental years when they receive First Holy Communion and nurturing the ownership they begin to have in their faith as older children. We love that Lisa’s Chime Traveler fictional series about time traveling into the lives of the saints is written for that age range because there’s not enough good stuff for kids between the picture book stage and the middle school stage! Introducing our kids to the stories of the saints is such a great way to help them get engaged with their faith.

It’s been a few episodes since we got deep into “mom stuff” so we took the opportunity to ask for Lisa’s wisdom on loving our kids, keeping our own dreams alive, and modeling faith for our kids.

We know you’ll be inspired by all that Lisa has to share so grab a pile of laundry and a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Links to what we mentioned in today’s episode:

Catholic Mom

Chime Traveler’s series at Amazon

ChimeTravelerKids.com

UnBound

Connect with Lisa:

• Lisa’s blog: CatholicMom.com
• Twitter
• Facebook

Next Book Club Episode:

And remember — we’re reading Lucy Maud Montgomery’s The Blue Castle for our next book club episode coming up in two weeks. If you’d like to read along get your copy today!

Come hang out with us!

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

 

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Nell O’Leary of the Whole Parenting Family blog is just one of our favorite people in the universe. She is a mom of four, a former lawyer, an Etsy shop owner, and she works for the ministry Blessed Is She as an editor. We’ve both had the treat of visiting her beautiful historic home in St. Paul, MN that she and her husband Anthony bought from her parents. So she’s raising her family in the house she grew up in, how cool is that?!

Anyone who has experienced Nell’s positivity knows that after 20 minutes on the phone with her, you feel so encouraged and loved. In dreary February with Lent looming, we definitely needed some inspiration from Nell and thought you might, too. We’re thrilled that she agreed to join us on the podcast to talk Lent!

In this episode we shared about preparing for Lent and talked about the practical plans we have for making the most of this special liturgical season. We also discussed dealing with discouragement in that mid-Lent slump and reflected on the big picture of what this season can help us achieve in our pursuit of spiritual growth and holiness.

So grab a pile of laundry and a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Links to what we mentioned in today’s episode:

Blessed Is She ministry

The Blessed Is She Lenten Journal (as a digital download–the print journals are sold out!)

The Passion of the Christ (film)

Our episode Taking the “Womp Womp” Out of Lent with Bonnie Engstrom 

Our episode Get Inspired for Lent with Meg Hunter-Kilmer

 

Connect with Nell:

• Nell’s’s blog: Whole Parenting Family
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Nell’s Etsy Shop: Whole Parenting Goods

Next Book Club Episode:

And remember — we’re reading Lucy Maud Montgomery’s The Blue Castle for our next book club episode coming up in March. If you’d like to read along get your copy today!

Come hang out with us!

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

 

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We’re delighted to have with us Shannon Evans of the blog, We, A Great Parade. We have a wonderful conversation today with Shannon as she shares with us her family’s story of international adoption and how her son has transformed not only her faith but how she sees the world.

Shannon speaks with passion and honesty when it comes to both the joys and challenges of adoption, and in turn, how all of us can contribute to a society that supports life and those who suffer in our own communities.

We are so happy to have such an inspiring but also practical conversation on these very important topics, we hope that it’s an episode full of food for thought.

Links to what we mentioned in today’s episode:

Holly Fish

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

FoC 060: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Mom Jeans with Blythe Fike

Safe Families

Young Lives

Adoption from Foster Care (US)

Shannan Martin

Connect with Shannon:

• Shannon’s blog: We, A Great Parade
• Instagram
• Facebook
•  Upside Down Podcast 

Next Book Club Episode:

And remember — we’re reading Lucy Maud Montgomery’s The Blue Castle for our next book club episode coming up in March. If you’d like to read along get your copy today!

 

Come hang out with us!

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

 

 

 

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It’s a Q&A episode! Every so often we gather questions from listeners in the Facebook group and answer them (between tangents, of course).

This particular episode we focused on the questions we got about organizing our lives and homes as well as what’s working for us spiritually. We cover everything from schedules to meal planning (or lack thereof) to our prayer lives. So grab a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy!

Things we talked about:

The Buy Nothing Project

Magnificat

Laudate app

Blessed Is She journals

Catholic Woman’s Companion Planner

Haley post: How I’m Organizing My Life Right Now

Other Q&A episodes:

Episode 26: Fountains of Carrots Answer Your Questions

Episode 40: How Small Can We Go and Other Questions Answered

Episodes that answer other questions asked in the FB group:

How we find time to read: Episode 8.

How we deal with social media: Our interview with Kendra Tierney.

Next book club episode:

We’re reading L.M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle for our next FoC book club episode so grab a copy so you can read along!

Come hang out with us!

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

 

 

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Blythe Fike has been on our list of folks we’d love to interview for ages! She’s basically one of our favorite people and as Haley discovered when hanging out with Blythe in real life, she’s a top notch storyteller. As in, you’ll be laughing so hard you’re crying kind of storyteller. We’re so thrilled that she was able to join us on the podcast this week!

Blythe is a blogger at The Fike Life, wife to Kirby, and mom to seven kids. She lives in sunny LA in a fantastic mid-century home. Blythe has a great conversion story and is full of love for her Catholic faith. She’s also the person everyone should be following on SnapChat and Instagram.

In this episode Blythe shares about converting to Catholicism after growing up in the Baptist church as a pastor’s kid. It’s a great story! We covered some pretty deep theology, but we also covered some light and hilarious topics. We were crying with mirth at her stories about her former life in a early 2000’s pop group. Blythe is such a joyful person that it can’t help but rub off on you!  So if you’re ready to laugh, grab your cup of coffee and enjoy.

Links for this episode:

The YouTube video about Catholicism featuring Blythe and her family by SoulPancake

Blythe’s brother’s band: The Head and the Heart

Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire Ministries

Scott Hahn’s books

How to connect with Blythe:

• Blythe’s blog
• Instagram
• Facebook

Come hang out with us!

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

 

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It’s Advent! Since it’s a favorite season of ours, we just had to devote a whole episode to Advent chat.  It’s such a lovely time of year, but if we’re not careful we can take on a whole load of stress instead of enjoy a season of refreshment and renewal. We wanted to talk about the Advent struggle and what we’ve learned over the years about being nourished by observing Advent and avoiding the pressure of making Christmas perfect.

In this episode we share about how we observe Advent with our families, how we bring quiet into our homes (and into our own whirring brains!), the importance of self-care so we don’t get burnt out before Christmas, and (of course) what we like reading during this season.

So grab a cup of holiday tea and enjoy!

Music for Advent we talked about:

• Advent Playlist: Wonder: Carrots for Michaelmas
• Advent Playlist: Sleepers, Wake!: Carrots for Michaelmas

Advent at Ephesus by the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

Book Suggestions for Advent we talked about:

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas

The Reed of God by Carryl Houselander

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI

Blessed is She Advent Journal by Elizabeth Foss

Comfort & Joy: Living the Liturgy Through the Advent Season by  Elizabeth Foss

The Little Oratory: A Beginner’s Guide to Praying in the Home by Leila Lawler

The Catholic Woman’s Companion (Planner by Nancy Bandzuch that Haley loves)  And here’s a discount code for it (not sure when it expires, though) NIGEL35 for 35% off.

Movies we talked about in this episode:

Miracle on 34th Street

Little Women

Links we talked about in this episode:

Advent: Preparation for Preparation: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Names for a Christmas Baby and More Christmas Names: Sancta Nomina

Christy’s Little Traditions, Big Reward: Living Liturgically to Grow Faith

Christy’s Choosing Peace This Advent When You’re the Mom to Littles

Christy’s A Relaxed but Intentional Advent; or The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Advent

Christy’s G.K. Chesterton on How To Celebrate Christmas

Haley’s Advent: Nourish Your Spiritual Life and Avoid the Holiday Burnout

Haley’s 27 Picture Books for Advent and Christmas

Previous podcast episode:

Advent Music is a Thing

Episode Sponsor:

 

This post is sponsored by Monica at Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families. Her blog is packed with Catholic crafts and family traditions as well as a shoppe of Catholic craft kits, books and quizzing cards packed with Saints and Sacraments through the Liturgical Seasons.

The Super Saints quizzing cards feature the original artwork of her 16 year old daughter.  They’re packed with quick facts and formatted into cards your family can play real card games with! And this bundle is perfect for St. Nick’s Day coming up on December 6th.

Monica also has a brand new line of Prayer Impressions Journal Stamps that will transform your Prayer Journal, Catholic Planner or Sunday Mass Missal, changing how you pray and focusing your spiritual habits.

To find these lovely products, check out www.ArmaDei.com. Use the code Carrots20 for 20% off cards and craft kits until December 15th (on purchase of $20 or more).

Come hang out with us!

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Links to Amazon are affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, sales made through these links will support this podcast.

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We’ve been reading Anna Liesemeyer’s blog In Honor of Design for years and years. In addition to creating a beautiful and inspiring online presence, we have always admired how Anna balances her vocation to marriage and motherhood with owning her own business.

Anna is a mom of five lovely children and wife to Gabe living in in Atlanta area. Her blog is downright stunning, but so relatable and authentic. We were overjoyed that she agreed to chat with us and share about her family life, her business path, and so much wisdom about work/life balance.

In this episode we ask Anna how she got started with running her own business and how she structures her work life around what is best for her family. We talk about putting our families first in every situation, how to balance work and creative life with our vocations, and how to make the difficult decisions about discerning what to take on and what to say “no” to.

Anna is such a delight and we know you’ll be inspired by our conversation with her. So grab a cup of tea and enjoy a great episode!

How to connect with Anna:

• Anna’s blog
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook

Come hang out with us!

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

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Girls need good books. Everyone needs good books, of course, but since we have both been girls who benefited from friendships with some formative classics we get all fired up about books for girls!

In this episode we realize we could talk for a week just about the Anne books and we discuss why young girls need these authors beside them as they grow up.  These are some of the books at the top of our must read list that we will be sharing with our daughters (and sons, but especially our daughters).

So grab a cup of tea or a pile of laundry to fold and enjoy!

Books We Talk About in This Episode:

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing film directed by Kenneth Branagh

Shakespeare Stories for Young Readers by E. Nesbit

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Links for This Episode:

10 Books You Must Read to Your Daughter by Haley

Thanks to Ignatius Press for sponsoring today’s episode. Here are the three excellent books on Mother Teresa we mentioned in the podcast, follow the links below to purchase and use the coupon code MTERESA16 to get a 20% discount! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mother Teresa: The Smile of Calcutta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works of Love Are Works of Peace

Come hang out with us!

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

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Before our little summer podcasting break, we wanted to touch on a topic all couples face and many struggle with: how to work together to make big life decisions.

Haley recently wrote an ebook on this topic, so we thought it was the perfect time to have a chat about it! We discussed struggles couples often face when confronting a big decision, ways to minimize conflict, remembering not to take a spouse’s unhappiness personally, and discerning big changes.

Books we talked about:

 

Making Big Life Changes Together: Pursuing Your Dreams as a Couple by Haley Stewart

You can order Haley’s 20 page ebook for $3.99 by clicking the button below:

Come hang out with us!

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.