Today I’m linking up with Hallie’s Five Favorites and Fave #4-5 is linked to Jessica’s What We’re Reading Wednesday. Enjoy!

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Movie Nights – Catching Fire

Last year I finished reading The Hunger Games a couple weeks before the movie was coming out. I was so excited to see the movie that although I was getting a fever and (unknowingly) coming down with the flu, I was there in the theater during the opening weekend. I purposely did not read the second book Catching Fire until closer to the movie release so I would would be completely hyped up for the movie. Well, I finished the book last night at 1:30 AM and just purchased tickets to tomorrow night’s showing. Now I just have to figure out a way to get all the kids in bed and Brian okay with me sneaking out for a couple hours.  😉

NOTE: Technically, Catching Fire is what I have also been reading, but I didn’t include it since I didn’t review it. Others have done that better than I could. 🙂

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Chevron Print Sash Bag

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The website Jane.com has so many cute etsy finds on sale and I particularly love this Chevron print sash bag that is 50% off ($24.95)  for the next 12 hours. I am really, really tempted to buy it but it is not in the budget right now, especially with our Disneyland trip coming up next week. I don’t know…I may have to hint to Brian that it would make a great Christmas gift but he has to act now. LOL.

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ABFOL’s The Holiday Planner

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You know how much I love a cute planner and A Bowl Full of Lemons is one of my favorite organizing sources so I was excited to see Toni’s new Holiday Planner. The downloadable sheets are great for keeping track of (and budgeting for) Christmas.

What We’re Reading

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The Advent Christmas Planner

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Speaking of planners, to also keep track of the spiritual aspect of Advent and Christmas, I downloaded and have been reading Catholic Icing’s e-book The Advent Christmas Planner. Anyone who has browsed Laci’s website knows that it is ground zero for any kind of Catholic craft you may have in mind. This is what Laci says about her book:

“This whole ebook has been designed to help the average mother actually execute living the liturgical year at home during the Advent and Christmas seasons rather than just dreaming, filling Pinterest boards, and then becoming overwhelmed.This ebook was written to help you actually accomplish the things you’ve always wanted to by integrating it into your life.

This ebook integrates all the religious aspects of celebrating Christmas with all the practical stuff us mothers also have to take care of this time of year. From stocking stuffers to Jesse Trees, from Advent Saint celebrations to gift budgeting, from meal planning to Epiphany door blessings- it’s all in one easy place for you. No searching all over the internet, or picking from this book and that book…

Love that! I was a little leery at first because some Catholic books frown on any kind of Christmas fun before the actual Christmas day. Whereas I am one of those people that officially listens to Christmas music every day since the day after Halloween. So  not decorating or not putting up our tree until Christmas was not going to work in our house. However, I knew this e-book would be good for me when Lacy says:

“If you really want to celebrate Advent and then Christmas, Advent is a time of waiting and preparation. But you don’t want to look like a scrooge, or make your kids hate being Catholic because the Advent season is not fun and festive. What you want to do is replace all the empty stuff this time of year with feast day celebrations and rich traditions that the whole family can enjoy!”

Well, I can certainly can do a better job at incorporating the Catholic feast days into our Advent/Christmas activities and Laci’s suggestions are just the motivation I need to make it happen. I won’t be doing everything at once but I’ll be picking just a couple things we can do to start new family traditions. Lastly, the book also has a number of printable organizer pages (which will go great in my Christmas planner from above). 🙂

The e-book is normally $12 but right now it is on sale for $10 if you order before Advent starts. 🙂

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The Parish Picnic

The other day someone ordered the book The Parish Picnic from our old website and I had completely forgotten we had it!  So I took out my copy and gave it to Brian to read to the boys during their nightly bedtime stories. The boys were intrigued with the story of Caleb and his two best friends and how he would solve his dilemma at the parish picnic. I heard groans of “Awww”  when Brian shut the book half way through and said, “To be continued tomorrow night.”

The Parish Picnic (Book One of the New Illustrated Catholic Children’s Series) is a heartwarming story about friendship, self-sacrifice and the love of Christ. It was written by Carmen Marcoux (Catholic wife, mother of nine and author of Arms of Love and Surrender) with her husband James. Together they have authored the first of a series of books aimed at the younger reader. The book is beautifully  illustrated by their daughter Rebekah.

The Parish Picnic is a celebration of our Catholic heritage and the life we share as the family of God. 🙂

You can see a preview of the book here.

I still have a few copies left of the book so if you’ d like a copy, you can place an order here. They cost $16.95 but I’ll mark it down to $14.95 and include shipping. 🙂

 BONUS FAVE – FREE  BOOKS!

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I just saw that the new novel by Erin McCole Cupp called Don’t You Forget about Me is free on Amazon (Kindle) until Nov 21, 2013. It is listed as a “Catholic thriller.” I just downloaded a copy. 🙂

Okay, that’s it for now! Thanks to Hallie and Jessica for hosting!

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