About

This website is primarily a repository. And it's just getting started so please consider it a WIP (work in progress).

For more than a decade, there have been a handful of like-minded moms (Sue, Mary, Kristen, Sharry, Leah, Marion, Theresa, Anna, Bridget, Marie, Mickie, et al) from families in and around Glencoe, Minnesota, who have gathered once a month at St. Pius X Church, to pray together and to share and exchange ideas about how to purposely live out our Catholic “mother and wife” vocation to the best of our ability.  We continue to do so.  We truly desire to build a 'domestic church' in our homes. God has been faithful and we have experienced much fruit and even miracles.

Most of the information shared on this site is the collection of our group's efforts. It was initially an answer to yearly questions like,  “Where did I put that Ash Wednesday coloring page?" and "What are you doing for Advent?" and has grown to become a repository for many more reusable resources which any Catholic mom may find useful. We try to only post what we've tried and what has worked. Free, cheap +/or easy has always been very important as many of us have big families and live on a single income.

The Big Christian Family has three axioms, which serve as a 'mantra' of sorts:
(1) Do the next 'right thing' (Follow God's will one thing at a time)
 One thing is do-able.  As moms we often have too much going on. But...if we can hone in on just the NEXT decision or thing... that's doable.  And note sometimes God's will means being unkind  (note this is always in the context of saying NO to a lesser good in order to say (or continue to say) YES to a greater good. Never to be unkind outright.
(2) Replace Judgement with Curiosity. 
Though there are big "T"s - the biggies when it comes to Truth - the non-negotiables., God is calling us each on our own path. My path isn't yours.  Yours isn't mine. Trust that others are doing the very best they can with the light they've been given Love now, irregardelss. We are all saints-in-progress.
(3) "Float" - St. Francis de Sales said, "Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." I envision this as "floating" because of an image I once saw associated to this quote. I pray we can translate this beautiful image into reality in our homes.

About Me. aballalatak@yahoo.com
My name is Annie Ballalatak and I type really fast. As a 'retired' techie (having been called home to raise my family), I have taken this role to collect these amazing things and save them for posterity and beyond because good things like these should be 'filed' for quick recall. I am married to the love of my life, Tom, and the mother of our nine (ages 4-21) and have homeschooled all grades. When it comes down to what we're up to here, it's that we want to win souls for Christ-as many as possible, as soon as possible-starting at home.

Mary.  marykora@yahoo.com
We have a corresponding Facebook Page maintained by Mary Koralewski.  You should consider following.  She is a homeschooling mom of nine as well and has been the benefactor of much wisdom (the eldest of 11-all of her siblings are still practicing Catholics-amazing statistic). She has been edifying me for over a decade and the things she shares are wise and beautiful, as well as pragmatic.