Category: Holidays (Page 7 of 13)

Happy Halloween!

October 30, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Tomorrow is Halloween, so happy early Halloween! There will be lots of dressing up and candy eating at my house this weekend. (Okay, there’s already been some candy eating – I’m in the middle of big edit and need my chocolate – and I’m wearing my Gryffindor sweatpants as I type this, so let’s say there will be more than usual candy eating and dressing up this weekend!)

We’ll be heading to my sister’s house for trick-or-treating. She had two adorable kiddos close in age to mine, so that means twice the adorableness. The Boy is being a firefighter this year, and the Prince will be sporting a tiger costume. Leaving you with pics of the boys on their first Halloweens (looking startlingly similar) and asking how you all are celebrating.

The Prince last year!

The Boy on his first Halloween!

July Ripples in the Inkwell: Patriotism

July 13, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

It’s the second Monday of the month and that means a new Ripples in the Inkwell post! Even though here in the U.S. we’ve already celebrated Independence Day with fireworks and barbecues, it’s never a bad time to talk about patriotism. And that’s what Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and I talking about for our July theme. We’d love to read your posts on the theme; find out how to play along with the monthly meme HERE. And be sure to stop by Kai’s and Mary’s blogs to check out their posts.

I can’t say I’m a particularly patriotic person in the sense I think it has come to mean for some people. That is I don’t fly an American flag out in front of my house or on my car and I don’t dress myself and my kids in red, white, & blue or make themed desserts for flag day or the fourth of July. (Not that there’s anything wrong with doing these things!)

I do vote in every single election; I write letters to my elected officials (local and national) on matters that I feel strongly about; I pay attention to what is going on in my country and stay informed (from reliable sources); and I do love my country (even when I’m terribly frustrated by it). I believe in the principles my country was founded on, even if they were created by flawed people and even though they aren’t always executed in a manner in which I agree.

For me patriotism is about fighting for what you think is best for your country, even if that’s maybe not the popular sentiment. And no, I don’t fight like soldiers do for their country, but I try and stand for what I believe in and voice that opinion in my own small way.

What does patriotism mean to you? And do you consider yourself a patriot?

Happy Holidays From My Family to Yours

December 16, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

It’s a busy time of year for everyone, and that’s no exception for this gal! Between the decorating, cookie making, and holiday activities, a minute of spare time is just not to be found.

This past weekend we took a holiday train ride with Santa (and other fun characters) on the Essex Steam Train. And tomorrow we’re taking The Boy on his first ever trip to NYC. So that means another train ride (this time on the train we see from the cafe all of the time), seeing the big tree at Rockefeller Center, and probably a trip to the toy store.

I’ve also got some really exciting things going on with the writing career, but I’ll be gabbing about all that in the New Year. If you’re local, don’t forget to check out the launch party for The Great Connecticut Caper at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford on January 7, 2015. The countdown has already begun for the first chapter release on January 4, 2015. The official site for reading the chapters as they release is http://ctcaper.cthumanities.org/.

I’ve got one last guest post scheduled for Thursday (a cover reveal!) and then I’ll be taking next week off from blogging for Christmas. The Observation Desk will be back strong in the New Year with lots of guest posts from The Great Connecticut Caper contributors and the usual writing, parenting, blathering posts from me. 😉

With that, I wish all of you a happy and healthy holiday season and New Year!

Feeling Like Mary Poppins in My New Office

December 1, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. As you probably noticed, I took last week off from blogging, and from writing too, which was kind of a bummer because I had an awesomely productive writing week prior to Thanksgiving. Getting back on track this week, though, and thought I’d give you an update on the office attic space.

It has been coming along nicely (a bit slowly as well, but that’s life, I suppose) and I’ve been enjoying my new writing space. In fact, I’m there right now writing this blog post. The Prince is on his baby play mat behind me, and The Boy is outside playing with his grandma. I even have tea and leftover pumpkin pie to enjoy (devour!). All in all a pretty good deal.

The office isn’t finished finished…there are still boxes that need to be put away, storage units that need to be built, molding to be finished, a few doors to be installed, and we need to figure out where exactly we’re going to put my ficus tree, which I bought when I was 9 years old and has grown considerably larger since then. But it’s turning out to be a very functional space even with all the clutter.

My view isn’t the prettiest, but it kind of makes me feel like a suburban Mary Poppins. No chimney sweeps and certainly not as picturesque as London at twilight, but it’s mine and I love it all the same.

One of these days when the room is organized and clean (which may never happen with the kiddos playing up here), I’ll post some good before, during, and after photos. In the meantime, I’ll keep writing my WIP in my WIP of an office. 🙂

Spring 2014 in Pictures and Updates

May 28, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

Baby’s due date is fast approaching, so if I’m bit quiet on the blog over the next month or so, don’t fret. I’ll make sure to post a baby update when the time comes and I’ve got some great guest posts lined up. I might even go and grab a few old posts from the archives and rerun them. We’ll see!

Local peeps, be sure to check out Local Authors Day on June 11, 2014 in honor of the 375th anniversary of the founding of Milford, CT. I may be making an appearance (if baby’s arrival cooperates) and will post more details soon. In the meantime, here’s a quick and easy post of pictures from spring!

Fun with the cousins: