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Meet the Faith & Family bloggers. We invite you to join us in encouraging and helping the Faith & Family community grow in faith!

Danielle Bean

Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean, a mother of eight, is Editorial Director of Faith & Family. She is author of My Cup of Tea, Mom to Mom, Day to Day, and most recently Small Steps for Catholic Moms. Though she once struggled to separate her life and her work, the two …
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Rachel Balducci

Rachel Balducci
Rachel Balducci is married to Paul and they are the parents of five lively boys and one precious baby girl. She is the author of How Do You Tuck In A Superhero?, and is a newspaper columnist for the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. For the past four years, she has …
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Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey
Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com, a Catholic web site focusing on the Catholic faith, Catholic parenting and family life, and Catholic cultural topics. Most recently she has authored The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa is also employed as webmaster for her parish web sites. …
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Arwen Mosher

Arwen Mosher
Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their young children Camilla and Blaise. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site is ABC Family. …
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Rebecca Teti

Rebecca Teti
Rebecca Teti is married to Dennis and has four children (3 boys, 1 girl) who -- like yours no doubt -- are pious and kind, gorgeous, and can spin flax into gold. A Washington, DC, native, she converted to Catholicism while an undergrad at the U. Dallas, where she double-majored in …
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Robyn Lee

Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee is the managing editor of Faith & Family magazine. She is (yikes!) an almost 30 year-old, single lady, living in Connecticut with her two cousins in a small bungalow-style kit house built by her great uncle in the 1950s. She also conveniently lives next door to her sister, brother-in-law …
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Hallie Lord

Hallie Lord
Hallie Lord married her dashing husband, Dan, in the fall of 2001 (the same year, coincidentally, that she joyfully converted to the Catholic faith). They now happily reside in the deep South with their two energetic boys and two very sassy girls. In her *ample* spare time, Hallie enjoys cheap wine, …
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Fr. John Bartunek, LC

Fr. John Bartunek, LC

Fr John Bartunek, LC, STL, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and …
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Guest Bloggers

Kate Lloyd

Kate Lloyd
Kate Lloyd is a rising senior, and a political science major at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire. While not in school, she lives in Whitehall PA, with her mom, dad, five sisters and little brother. She needs someone to write a piece about how it's possible to …
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Elizabeth Foss

Elizabeth Foss
Elizabeth Foss, an award winning columnist for the Arlington Catholic Herald, published her first book, Real Learning: Education in the Heart of My Home in 2003. The book is now in its third printing. Her popular blog, In the Heart of My Home is a source of inspiration and support for Catholic women …
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How Do You Celebrate?

tell us about Independence Day at your house
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/American-Flag-Berry-Pie

Rachel showed us her yummy ol’ flag.

Arwen loves fireworks.

We have family traditions and political traditions. On the nerdy side, we usually attend a potluck cook-out with other political philosophy grads who’ve ended up in official Washington.

It’s nice to see that policy wonks have families and eat hot dogs like everyone else.

But it bores the stuffing out of the kids, to be honest—it’s usually too hot to make full use of playground equipment, so for them, it’s standing around listening to grown-ups debating what Aristotle would say about Judge Sotomayor and figuring out how to recover the Western philosophical tradition.

At some point in the afternoon we cut the philosophizing short and head to my parents’ place, where there is a pool, often the first corn on the cob of the season, and sparklers. (Although this year, literal Uncle Sam—my brother—has promised a more fantastical display—I’ll let you know.)

Someday I plan to start taking the kids to the NSO concert and national fireworks display on the Mall ( a favorite memory from when I was a kid). I think it’s important to mark our national day with some form of participation in the larger community and I want my kids to be with their fellow Americans on 4th of July. But small child bladder control is an issue at present. Maybe next year.

At some point in the evening we’ll read the Declaration of Independence aloud, praise God for the gift of liberty and pray for our nation, her people and her leaders.

And you? Do you have a traditional menu for Independence Day?

Do you mark the day with special readings or prayers? Do you take part in parades or other community activities?

Do tell! And if you took pictures or blogged about it, leave a link to that post in Mr. Linky, below.


Comments

Page 1 of 1 pages

 

We aren’t doing much, unfortunately.  Just wanted to pop in and say I LOVE the idea of reading the Declaration of Independence aloud!  I’m thinking we’ll have to incorporate that as the little one gets older!

 

Here’s a dramatic reading of it from a bunch of stars. Somewhat Hollywood-ized, but it’s still nice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYyttEu_NLU . I like Morgan Freeman’s intro.

 

We always have cherries (I’m not sure how that got started)and we always make a flag cake. Our favorite memories are of watching the national fireworks in DC from the roof of the Army-Navy Country Club. Some years, though, it’s just sparklers at home.

 

We live in a “small town” outside of DC that still has the hometown feel.  This morning we joined in the parade - older daughter with the softball all stars, younger two in the bike brigade.  There are more people IN the parade than watching it but it is always a blast.  The local sports teams -fire trucks - bikes and strollers - horses - dogs - and a whole bunch of neat cars. 

For part 2 of the day we head to a picnic in our neighborhood - it has been going on since the first house was built in the late 1970s and most of the original owners come back to join their friends and all of us “new” families.  It’s always fun.

Love the Declaration of Independence idea - might add that tonight.

 

We stayed up for live fireworks last night so today is about resting, hot dogs, making firework pictures, chicken salad, patriotic colors, star shaped jigglers and other fun desserts in all shades of red, white and blue. Happy Fourth everyone!

 

Every 4th for the past few years is spent down the Jersey Shore.  Usually my son brings a few of his friends, and we spend the day at the beach.  We have BBQ chicken, corn on the cob and potato salad.  For dessert I make a Fun Fetti 4th of July cake.  When it gets dark, we usually meet up with my cousin and watch fireworks on the beach.  It’s a wonderful way to spend the 4th. Best part is, we stay at the beach for a week or two!!

 

Wow reading the declaration of independence is a very cool idea as is the notion that being with fellow Americans and not just family is important.


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