The Fountains of Carrots Podcast

    We’re back today with another great book club conversation! This week’s selection is The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera. We both loved this story of a woman who finds herself in a small Spanish town and sees for the first time faith lived out in community, while falling in love with a mysterious, intriguing man. Miss Prim assumes she is seeking refuge in small town, but really her eyes are opened to a new world she didn’t know she was searching for. This book has a delightful way of exploring such great themes of faith, distributism, the real meaning of feminism, education and formation of children, the benefits of living in community and personal conversion (and pastries, a lot of pastries). We delve into all these topics and more in today’s book episode! Today’s book: The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera   Today’s episode is sponsored by audible.com, head on over for a free audiobook download and a free 30-day trail at audibletrial.com/FountainsofCarrots . And check out our previous book episodes! 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.      

  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.

  We’ve wanted to have Tommy Tighe on the show ever since Haley’s family met the Tighes on their road trip around the country last summer. Tommy is a husband, father, and marriage and family therapist in the Bay area. He writes for CatholicMom.com and Aleteia and co-hosts the Catholic Hipster Podcast with Sarah Vabulas. He is also king of Catholic Twitter (did you even know there’s such a thing?). His Catholic hipster book will be published by Ave Maria Press Fall 2017. We don’t remember an episode where we’ve laughed so hard as we did with Tommy. We cover Haley’s composting toilet, what the heck Canadians dip their french fries in, and the insanity of social media. But the conversation does get very serious when we discuss the death of Tommy’s newborn son, Luke, this past spring. Tommy was willing to share about the pain his family has been experiencing and how we all can do better to support families experiencing grief or crisis. He has some great wisdom to share about how to show up for your friends when they’re suffering and what to say and what not to say. We loved talking with Tommy we think this episode is going to be helpful and inspiring. It’s a great episode, so grab some coffee and listen in! Tommy’s article:  A Letter to the Lady Annoyed by my Kids at Mass How to connect with Tommy: * Tommy’s blog * Twitter * Instagram 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.

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 

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.  

  We are thrilled to welcome back Karen Edmisten as our first return guest on Fountains of Carrots! We’ve been fans of Karen’s writing for years and when we got our hands on her new book, You Can Share the Faith: Reaching Out One Person at a Time, we knew we needed to have her back on the show to talk about evangelization. Karen Edmisten is a Catholic convert from atheism and a homeschooling mom of three girls. She’s a freelance writer, a frequent guest on Catholic radio. and the author of several books. In this episode we chatted with Karen about sharing Christ through our relationships. As Catholics we can be afraid to come off as proselytizing and sometimes don’t speak up and share our faith when the time is right. Karen offered stories from her conversion (including when people tried to evangelize the wrong way) and talked about the people that authentically shared their Catholic faith with her. We also discussed complicated situations within families, such as spouses who don’t share the same faith or children who have left their faith. Karen has such wisdom to share about patient, prayerful hope for these difficult situations and offering love and respect in all our relationships. We loved chatting with Karen again and we think this episode is going to be a great inspiration and encouragement to you. It’s a great episode, so grab some coffee and listen in! Books we talked about: You Can Share the Faith: Reaching Out One Person at a Time by Karen Edmisten Deathbed Conversions: Finding Faith at the Finish Line by Karen Edmisten Other books by Karen: After Miscarriage by Karen Edmisten The Rosary: Keeping Company with Jesus and Mary by Karen Edmisten Through the Year with Mary: 365 Reflections by Karen Edmsiten Our previous podcast episode with Karen:   How to connect with Karen: * Karen’s blog * Twitter * Facebook

  Katie Sciba is a mom of four and the voice behind TheCatholicWife.net. She and her husband Andrew live in Louisiana and since Haley’s in nearby Texas, she actually got to meet Katie at a blogging weekend this Spring! Katie is also a a three-time Catholic Press Award-winning columnist for her diocesan magazine: Shreveport’s Catholic Connection as well as a speaker. We knew we wanted to have Katie on the podcast after reading a brave and wonderful post she wrote recently on struggling with anxiety. Since Christy and I and most of the women we know have struggled with anxiety at some point in their lives, we really wanted to dive deep into this rarely discussed topic and talk about how women can heal and find support. In this episode we asked Katie to share a bit of her story about facing anxiety and depression and then we pondered why this is such a common problem for women in our culture. We also covered some ideas for healing and how to get help and support when you feel like you’re drowning in anxiety. We hope that this episode will shed light on the unspoken suffering that comes with mental illness and encourage women to support each other, offer themselves some grace in the trenches, and seek help when they need it. It’s a great episode, so grab some coffee and listen in! Links for this episode: Katie’s The Blog Post About Anxiety Haley’s Unrealistic Expectations, Anxiety Attacks, and Rediscovering the Joy of Motherhood How to connect with Katie: * Katie’s blog: The Catholic Wife * Twitter * 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.

After Haley discovered Connie Rossini’s wonderful books about spiritual growth plans for children’s temperaments, we knew we needed to have an episode dedicated to the four temperaments! We were thrilled that Connie could join us to share some of her wisdom. Connie Rossini is an author of four books and a Catholic homeschooling mom of four boys. She gives whole families practical help to grow in holiness. Connie writes a spirituality column for The Prairie Catholic of the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota and is a columnist for SpiritualDirection.com. Her family lives in Minnesota and each of her sons has a different one of the primary temperaments! In this episode we asked Connie to give us an introduction to the four temperaments and share some of the challenges we might face as parents, spouses, or friends with each temperament. We had a blast chatting about how the temperaments play into our families and lives. Connie also shared some great resources to consider if you’re interested in diving deeper into the temperaments! It’s a great episode, so grab some coffee and listen in! Links for this episode: Determining Your Child’s Temperament: A Free Quiz Haley’s Learning to Embrace My Strong-Willed Child’s Temperament Books we talked about: A Spiritual Growth Plan for Your Choleric Child by Connie Rossini A Spiritual Growth Plan for Your Choleric Child by Connie Rossini The Temperament God Gave Your Kids by Art and Laraine Bennett The Temperament God Gave You by Art and Laraine Bennett The Temperament God Gave Your Spouse by Art and Laraine Bennett

  Today we’re back talking tv! After our first tv episode proved to be a popular one we thought it would be the perfect excuse to talk about our new favourite shows together. We also chat about the binge-watching phenomenon and why we don’t feel too guilty about it as busy moms.  And if binge watching doesn’t make us feel bad, we take it a step further and explore how television has become an art medium that rivals movies and even novels in a big way when it comes to storytelling. We discuss Poldark, the final season of Downton Abbey, and more new shows you may want to check out soon! We hope you enjoy chatting about some great tv, we hope you laugh along with us. Links to shows we talked about in today’s episode:   Poldark Home Fires Foyle’s War: The Complete Saga   The Bletchley Circle   Downton Abbey Season 6 Upstairs, Downstairs  

Sometimes the internet is a great place! Haley’s husband Daniel became Twitter friends with Dr. Gregory Hillis and then Haley met the Hillis family during last summer’s big road trip and visited the Abbey of Gethsemani (where Thomas Merton lived) with them. One minute you’re driving through beautiful Kentucky, and the next you’re eating dinner at a hermitage with monks and somebody you’re husband knows from Twitter. It’s like magic. Dr. Hillis is our first of Christy’s fellow Canadians to join us on the podcast.  He is a historical theologian with particular expertise in patristics and joined Bellarmine’s faculty in August 2008.  In addition to  Christian spirituality, ecclesiology, sacramental theology, 19th and 20th century Roman Catholic theology, and Eastern Christian history and theology, Dr. Hillis studies Thomas Merton and we thought he would have some great insights into Merton’s work to share with you (we were right!) In this episode we talked about Merton’s conversion, which of his writings Merton newbies should read first, why people are scared of Merton, and his emphasis on dialogue with other faith traditions. We also chatted about Wendell Berry, how the vocation of marriage is a call to generous love, how we are sacramentally connected to other Christians through baptism, and advice from Dr. Hillis about the beauty and complexities of interfaith marriage. It’s a great episode, so grab some coffee and listen in! Links for this episode: Getting Started with Thomas Merton: A Reading Guide: My Unquiet Heart Haley’s Why You Should Take Your Kids to Caves, Monasteries, and Fancy Hotels Books we talked about: Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry Thomas Merton: Spiritual Master, The Essential Writings Thomas Merton: Essential Writings The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton The Intimate Merton: His Life from Journals How to connect with Dr. Greg Hillis: * Greg’s blog: My Unquiet Heart * Twitter Come hang out with us! * The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial ...

We’ve been fans of Ginny Sheller’s blog, Small Things, for ages and were so thrilled to meet her in real life last summer.  Ginny is a Catholic homeschooling mom to seven (almost eight!) and her family lives in a 200-year-old farm house on six acres. She’s just fantastic and we know you’re going to love this conversation with her. We keep it real in this episode! Ginny shared her conversion story and we talked about young children in Mass, what it’s like having a large family, and the power of the sacraments in today’s episode. So grab a cup of tea and join us! Links for this episode: Ginny’s conversion story from Small Things Christy’s Survival Skills for Mass with Kids Christy’s post: Sometimes the Sacraments Are All a Mom Has Haley’s 27 Books for Your Mass Bag and How My Kids Didn’t Ruin Mass  Books we talked about: By What Authority: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition by Mark Shea A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken How to connect with Ginny: * Ginny’s blog * Facebook * Instagram Today’s podcast is sponsored by Zelie&Co, a collaboration of Catholic Artisan Mamas. Zelie&Co hosts a weekly auction on Instagram every Tuesday! Bidding opens at 10am CST and runs through 10am Weds. Bids always start at 50-25% off retail prices. Lots of beautiful and one-of-a-kind items for yourself or for a unique gift perfect for First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Graduation or just because. Visit them on Instagram! 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 

  For our latest book club selection we chose the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See. It’s an amazing tale of World War II interweaving the lives of  a blind French girl and a brilliant German boy who grows up within the Nazi regime. In circumstances of survival we see beauty, love, and grace shine through. We talk about redemption, sacrifice, standing up for one’s conscience, and the hidden workings of grace in our lives. We had a great time discussing this novel that really sinks into your soul and stays with you. Links discussed in today’s episode: All the Light We Cannot See Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World Wait Until Dark Bishop Barron’s article on All The Light We Cannot See     Today’s podcast is sponsored by Whole Parenting Goods. Beautiful handmade textiles for the babies in your life, made by at home mom to three, Nell.   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.

This week we have a treat for you because the lovely Rachel Balducci, mother of six,  joined us on the podcast. Rachel is the co-host of The Gist on Catholic TV, author, speaker, newspaper columnist, blogger at Testosterhome, and this year began teaching in the classroom. She’s an inspiring and encouraging lady and full of fun! We were excited to chat with Rachel because her kids are a bit older than ours and we wanted to pick her brain about what it’s like to have big kids and how life changes as your kids grow up. She has so much wisdom to share about raising a family, how to do discipline, and all that we have to look forward to (the good and the bad). We also laughed a lot and talked about the plight of the Catholic mom who enjoys an occasional cigar. It’s a great conversation and we hope you love it!       Links in this episode: The New Dare to Discipline by Dr. James Dobson Rachel’s book: How Do You Tuck In a Superhero?: And Other Delightful Mysteries of Raising Boys How to connect with Rachel: * Rachel’s blog * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram 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.

    Our first Q&A episode was a blast so we thought we’d ask listeners for more great questions so we could do a whole new Q&A in the new year. We couldn’t get to all the questions, but we enjoyed answering the ones we could! In this episode we cover living in small spaces with lots of kids and how we deal with storage. We also discussed the big question of to save or not to save kids clothes and we dived into our daily routines and how they help us keep our sanity. So grab a cup of coffee or tea and a pile of laundry and enjoy! Things we discussed in this episode: Christy’s post about great games for little people. Related posts: How a Family of Five Got Rid of Half Their Stuff (about Haley’s family) Large Families in Small Homes (about Christy’s family)   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.

    We cannot wait for you to hear this episode with the lovely Meg Hunter-Kilmer because it is all about Lent and we know it will get you  excited to begin this important season of the Christian Year! Meg is, in her words,  a “hobo missionary.” Trained in theology at Notre Dame, she travels all over the world as a Catholic speaker and evangelizer. In this episode we got back to basics and asked Meg all the big questions about observing Lent. Why does the Church have Lent before the Easter season? How do newbies to Lent start out in practicing it? How do we decide what to give up? What are some resources and books to help us focus spiritually in this season? And more! We were so inspired after talking to Meg that we are ready to jump in and really give Lent our all. We know you’ll love this episode, too! In this episode we talked about: Meg’s Lenten Boot Camp 100 Things to Do for Lent Lenten Spiritual Reading: The Way of the Cross by Caryll Houselander Wood of the Cradle, Wood of the Cross: The Little Way of the Infant Jesus by Caryll Houselander The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander The Way of the Cross by St. Alphonsus Ligouri The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ by Alphonso Liguori The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden My Sisters the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir by Colleen Caroll Campbell Modern Saints: Their Lives and Faces, Book 1 by Ann Ball Follow Meg: * her blog