Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

I was struck by something this morning. I am very thankful that we, as Orthodox Christians, have 12 days of feasting and celebrating ahead of us! After the 40 day fast, we just can't celebrate Christ's birth for one day. This morning I had to take my 3 to an early morning doctor's visit (Youngest has a double ear infection). A local Christian radio station has played 'round the clock Christmas music since Thanksgiving. We have kept our car radio on this station. When I turned on the car this morning I was jolted out of my "Christmas high" with a regular old song coming out of the speakers. How quickly we forget!

This year we started a new tradition of a 52 day Jesse Tree during our Advent prayers every night. I am so glad that these ornaments go through January 6th. We are heading down to Disney World with my family tomorrow, and our Jesse Tree is going with us. We're not ready to stop celebrating yet! Here's wishing you another 11 days of joyfully celebrating Christ's birth!

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

My Blog Has a New Sister!

Just wanted to let you know that I now have a 2nd blog that documents my family's home school journey. We are formally starting home school in January, but I've started posting today! Come visit at www.startemiusacademy.blogspot.com See you there!

Another Fasting Meal, Super-quick and REALLY good!

One of the meals I had planned for last week was postponed, because we attended a wonderful St. Barbara's Day Bonfire last Wednesday night. You can read about it here.

I was able to make that meal last night, and I have to say it is hands-down my new favorite fasting meal! It even has a vegetable in it that the kids didn't complain about. The best part is that you only need the time it takes to boil pasta! (Sorry to those with peanut allergies, but this is a dish with nuts.)

Spirals with Peanut Sauce

12 oz. uncooked spiral pasta (rotini)
water for boiling
2/3 c. natural creamy peanut butter (no sugar added)
3/4 c. water
3-4 T. soy sauce
2 T. white vinegar
1 green onion, coarsely chopped
1 T. honey or rice syrup
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 1/2 c. frozen green peas, thawed to room temperature

Prepare pasta in boiling water according to package directions. Meanwhile, combine all remaining ingredients, except peas, in food processor or blender. Process until smooth. When pasta is done, drain well and place in large serving bowl. Add peas and sauce. Stir to thoroughly combine. Serve hot.

Recipe Note: The sauce thickens as it stands. If it sits too long, mix in more water before serving, or before serving leftovers. Serve with hot pepper sauce, if desired.

This served all 5 of us, and there was enough left over for my lunch today!

The Intercessions of Saint Seraphim

I love animals...probably too much. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy eating them, but I still have a HUGE soft spot. This started at a very early age. I was traumatized by Lassie, I got nervous every time I watched Flipper, and don't even get me started on E.T. Needless to say, my pets have always been very special to me. My empathy for animals was only dulled by the birth of my own human children!

I have always had animals, and from the age of 5, I've always had a cat. Misty was a Christmas present. She lived until I was 20. I grieved for her like I would a family member. A month after she died, I got married. A month after that my husband and I adopted Toby. Toby lived until the age 0f 7, when he got very sick and we had to put him to sleep. After that loss, I decided I was done with cats! Of course, that feeling didn't stick, and two Christmases ago, my husband gave me Goliath. He was a tiny fur-ball. He's a Himalayan Persian with big blue eyes. I fell in love. At the time, I was pregnant with my 3rd child. I had almost 5 months left in my pregnancy, and so I had time to really bond with my new "baby" and he definitely loved sleeping on my pregnant belly!

After the birth of my baby girl, he reacted typically. But things really changed when the baby became a crawler. The cat decided that my new baby was an intrusion and that he was not going to take it anymore. That's when the real trouble started. He turned our house into his litter box! The couch, the playpen, the kitchen counters, the older kids backpacks, MY BED!! You name it, he peed on it. I was horrified. I took him to the vet, but there was nothing medically wrong. We tried everything, buying another litter box, using the cleaner that guarantees it will stop a pet from marking, nothing worked. Sadly, the cat was eventually banned to the laundry room. At first, he yowled day and night. It was awful, and my prayers to Saint Seraphim were numerous. My husband was not so sad, and was already plotting the cat's demise. So for the past 3 months, the cat has been under quarantine. Then about a month ago, he started using the laundry room as his litter box. This was the last straw for my husband. I was actually accepting the fact that my fur-ball was not going to be with us much longer. I asked Saint Seraphim to guide us in finding a family that would take care of him. Then the miraculous happened. A few days ago, my husband called in the middle of the day and asked me who the Patron Saint of animals was. I told him about St. Seraphim. He said he had been feeling like we should try to help the cat one more time, and he had gotten some advice from a local pet shop.

That night, we spent about 2 hours thoroughly cleaning the laundry room, and my husband brought home a few things to try to help. He even bought the cat a toy, which in my opinion was a huge gesture! We prayed that our efforts would help. I am so happy to report that overnight my cat has completely changed!! He is using the litter box, and ONLY the litter box, he's happy, and I'm ecstatic! I've let him out during the day for "supervised visits" and he's been great. I just had to share his story. Thank you, Saint Seraphim!

Tuesday's Menu

Kids' Breakfast: cold cereal, fruit, milk

Kids' Lunch: turkey/cheese sandwich, apples, cucumber slices, roasted edamame (my kids love edamame, and these sort of look like peanuts but with 40% more protein!) juice

Family Dinner: Veggie Sandwiches, baked chips, carrot sticks
(Tuesday night is our "easy dinner" night since the 5 year-old has gymnastics)

Veggie Sandwiches

Ingredients:
Sourdough bread slices
Avocado slices
Tomato slices
Lettuce (optional)
Cucumber slices (optional)
Mustard (optional)
Tofu mayonnaise (optional)

Toast sourdough bread. Mash avocado slices and spread on toast. Top with tomato slices and any other veggie slices and lettuce if you like.

Monday's Menus

My previous post admitted to the world that I am severely lacking in the menu planning department. Several of you have given me great ideas! I know there have to be others out there like me, so I've decided to share one week's worth of menus from my household, and if you can get anything from it, yay! I will preface Monday's menus by saying that my children are 8, 5, and 1. I don't require them to keep a strict fast all the time, especially the baby. My older two also pack school lunches, so we do the best we can. They do consume cheese and meat a few times a week, but we eat the same fasting dinners. I will share my children's breakfast and lunches from today, and our family dinner.

Kid's breakfast: Brown Sugar Oatmeal
piece of fruit (8 and 1 year-old chose banana, 5 year-old chose clementine)
milk

Kid's lunch: PBJ sandwich (using a cookie cutter to cut sandwiches magically makes
them taste better)
Baked chips
baby carrots
apples (1 year-old had pears, softer on the gums)
juice

Family Dinner: Haystacks

Ingredients: 1 onion, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
Lettuce, chopped or torn
Jalapeno peppers, sliced (optional)
1 lg. can fat-free refried beans
1 lg. bag Frit*s corn chips
1/2 bag tvp crumbles (optional)
1 lg. can tomato sauce
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can sliced black olives (optional)
Salsa of choice

Directions: Chop vegetables. Warm beans on stove or microwave. Warm tomato sauce and stir in taco seasoning. Warm tvp crumbles. Place each ingredient in bowls on table. The "Haystacks" are assembled by first placing a stack of Frit*os on plate, topping with refried beans, tomato sauce, tvp, veggies and salsa as desired.

My Weak Link

Everyone has a weak link in their lives. I will admit to several! In my responsibilities as a wife and mother, I feel my greatest weakness in the service of my family is providing nutritious meals. It has become more apparent as the fast has started. (Isn't it funny how quickly fasting shows us our weaknesses?)

I woke up early this morning, and this subject was on my mind and in my heart. I feel the one thing needful in my duties is to start providing more nutritious meals for my family. This is where you come in! I need help! I am one of those perfectionists who likes to jump in with two feet, then quickly becomes overwhelmed and quits. Since I'm trying to be aware of this, I want to start small. My first goal is to make sure my family is served fruit at all three meals of the day, and vegetables twice. Second, I'd like my children's breakfasts and lunches to be healthier, without relying so much on "convenience foods". My third goal will be to tackle dinners.

So, please send me your ideas! Whether it's your own ideas or links to websites or other blogs, I could really use some advice!

I do ask that you be gentle with me! I am not a gourmet cook, and get easily scared in the kitchen! I am willing to work on this, but need to take baby steps.

I can't wait to see what ideas you have. I and my family thanks you!

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

I wish everyone a Blessed Advent Season! I have spent the last hour and a half wrapping books (see my previous post) and dragging out my indoor decorations from the attic. I was hopeful that tonight and tomorrow were going to be relaxed with tree and house decorating, but that's not the case! We usually put our tree up after the kids go to bed, and then spend the next day decorating the tree and house. Tonight, however, my husband and I have to attend a clergy/parish council dinner with our Diocesan Bishop. We have promised each other to leave early and get the tree up tonight! Tomorrow my two oldest have their final soccer games and parties. We also have Vespers and a parish-wide dinner with our Bishop. So I'm guessing that decorating will not get very far tomorrow. I'm hoping we can get in a couple hours tomorrow afternoon, and finish up Sunday afternoon. We don't decorate the outside of our house until after Thanksgiving (which we are hosting this year!!)

Though it sounds stressful, I am really VERY excited about tomorrow! I can't wait to light that first candle tomorrow night!

Advent Activities

My very favorite time of year is coming up. Advent!! Since childhood, I have loved this time of year! Now that I'm a Mom, I'm able to share my excitement with my own family. I've shared how I try to prepare for the Nativity fast, and I want to share some of the activities we do on a nightly basis with the kids.

Tree - the night before Advent ( a Friday this year!) my husband and I put our Christmas tree up after the kids go to bed. (Yes, we have an artificial tree.) We don't decorate it, just put it up with the lights. The next morning the kids wake up and see the big tree all lit up, and they know what day it is! That day, (or night if it's a week day) we decorate the tree and the rest of the house. At the suggestion of a friend we're going to wait to put up our stockings until the night before St. Nicholas Day.

Calendar - You can find a paper calendar with 40 doors at many websites, but I have made my own permanent calendar. It has been wonderful to use this every year! If you haven't seen one, here are the instructions If you need any more help I'd be happy to send you pictures of mine.

Every night we light our candles. We have 6 this year (since Advent starts on a Saturday). I personally use all purple candles, except for the one used during the week of the Presentation of the Theotokos. That week I use a blue candle. My parish provides readings for each night, so we also use those. Again, I'd be happy to share.

Nativity Scene - This is a tradition that my parents started, and it really helps my kids understand the journey to Christ's birth. We set up our Nativity scene and place the shepherd and animals in the cave. We place the Theotokos and St. Joseph far away from the cave ( we have ours on a long counter. I cut out 39 "stones" out of brown construction paper. These lead up to the cave. Each night one of the kids move Mary and Joseph up one step towards the Nativity scene. On Christmas Eve, before our service, we place Mary and Joseph in the cave. After the kids go to the car for church I sneak baby Jesus into the cave (He stays hidden during Advent) and when we get home, He is in the cave! We add the Wise Men at Theophany.

Christmas Books - I keep my Christmas books put away during the year, and during our evening Advent time I let one of the kids "unwrap" a book to read. I keep these books wrapped under the tree. Once they've opened a book, it's added to our book basket and they can continue to look at it throughout Advent.

Last year, at the suggestion of a friend, I purchased the Playm*bil Nativity Set. My older two loved playing with this set! This year, I'm going to have to be a little more careful with it since my 18 month old could easily pop any of the pieces into her mouth!

So, as you can see, Advent is a very special time for our family! Needless to say, I am so excited that we only have a week and a half before it all begins!

Saturday's Snapshot

I had to share this. Last Saturday my new niece was baptized. I was trying to keep my youngest quiet so I could actually participate, and my Mom handed her (locked) cell phone. My purpose for the photo was to capture her in her heirloom "innocence". Oh, well!

Great Way to Get Rid of Clutter!

A few days ago, I posted about "preparing for preparation". I am on a mission to rid our home of clutter and excess "stuff" before the Advent season. This weekend I decluttered our bonus room (which will hopefully and eventually become our schoolroom), and then my son and I cleaned out his closet.

The one thing that usually holds me back from decluttering is, "What do I do with all these toys, clothes, tupperware?" In my case they tend to go into a box and get dumped into my basement. This is not decluttering, it's moving stuff around! I never get around to packing it all up and driving it to a donation drop-off. Knowing that it's my tendancy, I have put off decluttering, because I don't want to just move stuff around anymore.

I have found a WONDERFUL way of getting rid of the stuff! It's called Freecycle! Just visit the website, enter your city and state, and you're sent to a yahoo group that helps you easily get rid of ANYTHING. Today I filled a huge box with old toys, and filled a 55 gallon trash bag with 70 stuffed animals. At 5pm I posted them on my local freecycle group and by 7:15pm the lucky new owner picked it all up and drove away with it. All I had to do was decide who I wanted to give the stuff to! They come get everything, and I'm free of a whole room of clutter within a couple of hours.

So now my goal is to see how much stuff I can give away before November 15th!

It's the Simple Things!

I love simple little ideas. This one has been around, but I first saw it at Sycamore Stirrings so she gets the credit! She calls it "Muffin Tin Mondays", but it works any day of the week! Simply grab a muffin tin and fill it with different foods. This has been great for my toddler. Small children tend to compartmentalize everything, and she eats so much better when I present her meals this way. It works just as well for my 5 and 8 year-olds, and we do it often for dinner on soccer nights when we don't have much time (and we're trying to avoid fast food!).

In case your wondering what's in her muffin tin meal, she had turkey, mozzarella cheese, small R*tz crackers, peas, grapes and G*ldfish.

Time to Balance the Scales!

Calmness and order come and go in waves in my household. There are always seasons when the scales tip the wrong way. Things are definately getting out of balance in my house! The signs are all there: messy pantry and closets, trashed out car, no clean underwear. Can anyone relate? When I see the signs in my house, it usually signals a problem.

As I was putting away laundry today (the first of many loads!), I tried to analyze the causes. Here in the south, school has been underway for almost 2 months. Teachers have ended their "easing in" period. Homework has started coming home, tests are being given, and projects are already underway.

We are now out 3 nights a week for sports: 2 soccer practices and a gymnastics class.

To top it off, my 16 month-old has recently decided to give up her morning nap (otherwise known as 2 hours of precious clean-up time).

All this adds up to chaos! Right around the corner are the upcoming seasons of Advent, Christmas, a trip to Disney World and my two older children's birthdays. Within the next several weeks, things are going to get crazy! There will be an influx of church services, parties, and a HUGE influx of "stuff" into our lives.

It's time to change my routine! I have gotten spoiled over the past few months. With the kids home, nights free and two naps a day to get chores done, I've put off adjusting to our new schedule.

Before it gets any more chaotic I need to take the time to make a plan. The first step is to make a list of tasks that need to be done inside the home. Before November 15th, I need to rid our home of clutter. This especially applies to toys! We have a tradition in our home that we have to give away a large number of our older toys before we can receive any Christmas or birthday gifts. My older two have birthdays in the first two weeks of January. This is our "pre-Advent" tradition, and serves as a reminder for the upcoming season.

So if you're starting to see the red flags in your own household, make a plan now! Before you know it, Advent will be upon us. Do the work and planning now, so that you can enjoy your Nativity traditions without distractions.

Saint Thekla

Tonight I went to a Supplicatory Service for St. Thekla. Our teens hosted this service, and it was a small gathering. It touched me, though, because all those present seemed to have a personal relationship with St. Thekla. Her day of commemoration is on September 24th.

She is special to me for so many reasons. She is one of the patron saints of Antiochian Village, the camp I attended for many years. It was there that I met my husband, at age 16. Our diocesan camp, Camp St. Thekla, is also named after her. I have always considered St. Thekla a major influence on my marriage. I often ask her to intercede on my behalf, and I believe her intercessions helped bring us together.

I went to the service tonight to honor her, and ended up sharing the story of her intercessions with the teens who were gathered there. It was a blessing for me, because my parents were in attendance, and were able to hear the story for the first time.

If you are unfamiliar with St. Thekla, I encourage you to learn more about her. She is considered equal-to-the apostles.

Troparion to St. Thekla

O glorious Thekla, companion of Paul the divine, you were enflamed with the love of your Creator, by the teaching of the divine preacher. You despised the passing earthly pleasures, and offered yourself to God as an acceptable and pleasing sacrifice, disregarding all suffering. Intercede with Christ your Groom to grant us His great mercy.

We wore St. Helen out!

I love being in a multi-generational Orthodox family. This is a rare thing in the part of the country I live in, where most of "us" are converts to the faith. I happen to have parents who converted to Orthodoxy when I was a few months old, and my husband is "cradle" and has honestly never been inside any church except an Orthodox Church ever!!

I digress...there's a point to this. This past week has been very stressful. My youngest has been battling an awful urinary tract infection. She has a chronic problem that was diagnosed at 2 months, and because of that she's been on preventative antibiotics for over a year. Unfortunately, the antibiotics weren't enough to stop an infection this week, and she was VERY ill.

On Sunday night, her fever spiked so high she was shaking, which freaked me out. My husband was holding her, quietly mumbling prayers into her ear. My older two were surrounding him, my oldest crying, trying to say the prayers with him. At that point, I was pacing, pleading St. Helen, her patron, for help and intercessions. My parents had come over, in case we had to take her to the ER, and they were silently praying as well. As the night went on, her fever actually came down. My mother-in-law called and said she'd be praying for her during the night.

I am so thankful to be surrounded by family of the same faith! We all came together in common prayer. I know St. Helen is interceding on her behalf. God has truly granted healing mercies. The next morning my Mom called to check on the baby. As we said ended our call, she stated something that summed it all up. She said, "We sure wore St. Helen out last night!"

Happy Saint's Day!

Today is my Name Day. I share this special day with my 5 year-old. We share the same middle name, and I love sharing this special day with her. In years past, we would visit our church and place flowers at St. Elizabeth's icon. (Our church has a full-figure icon of St. Elizabeth holding St. John the Forerunner). This morning, my sweet-one woke up like it was Christmas! "It's my name day!" Then as the morning went on, and school-time neared, I reminded her to put her shoes on. "But why do I have to wear school shoes?" I replied, "So you can go to school." My princess: "But it's my Name Day." I sadly realized that she has always been home for this special day, and she assumed we would be visiting church. She ended up going to school with a smile, but more often I'm questioning my decisions in my children's education.

I contemplated visiting the church without her today, but it's just too sad. So I think we're going to make a special "night visit" tonight. (I'm fortunate that our priest is also my Dad, so I can get the key from him!) In our family, on our name day, we go out to dinner and the Name Day child gets to pick the place. Tonight, it will be a local Mexican restaurant, and my daughter's Godmother is joining us. Then we'll make our special visit.

Happy Name Day to all you Elizabeths out there! May she intercede on our behalf!

Pride Before the Fall

I just read my previous post about my routines, and how they have become my way of life. I have spent the past few days wondering why I am feeling sad, bored, and at times desperate. I had an ah-ha moment just now!

The past week has been very busy for me! My 5 year-old Princess Pea started Kindergarten, and my oldest child, and only boy, started third grade a few weeks ago. Three days ago my sister gave birth to her third child. I spent all day Monday at the hospital, and Tuesday night I actually spent the night with her to give her husband some time with the older two. (If you ever think you're ready for another baby, spend the night with someone's newborn. You'll know for sure if you really are ready!) We've also started fall gymnastics for Princess Pea, and soccer for our older two.

So in a nutshell the past few weeks have been hectic and filled with activity! The last few days have been calmer, but I have found myself, after sending the older two off to school, feeling extremely sad and have even begun to dread my days with my toddler! I've been trying to figure it out, "Am I sad because I'm left with just one? Am I missing my older two? Do I need to fill my schedule with more stuff to do?" I've even fleetingly contemplated that maybe I am feeling this way because I need to go out and do something for me, like get a job!!

This morning I was sitting with my sweet baby, and she was having a morning snack. I kept glancing up at the clock, wondering how much longer it would be until she takes her morning nap. Shame on me! Why am I feeling this way?!

It hit me. After all my talk of routines, and how they are what keeps my life running smoothly, I realized I have no schedule or routine for just my baby and I! It has been a few months since the two of us have had our days alone, and even then it was only 3 days a week for a few hours while older sister was in preschool. She was also less than a year old then. Now, at 15 months, she's a different child, with much different needs. I need to establish our daily routine, plain and simple. Now that I've identified the problem, I feel my whole outlook changing! I was looking for some outside activity or lifestyle change, when it was a simple shift in focus. How quickly my pride in my routines is squashed!

So today's one thing needful will be to establish a daily routine for baby and I. I'll share it when the kinks are worked out. As always, I'd love you to share what you do!

Establishing Routines for Prayer

I love routines. I've only come to realize this in the past few years. As a child, I was always very disorganized and I procrastinated a lot. As a young adult, my habits caused a lot of chaos in my own little world. Then, when I got married, the chaos encroached on my husband's life. I remember in our first year of marriage the arguments that would arise over the messy closets, the unbalanced checkbooks, etc. Looking back, I realize that it was because I never learned to put any routines in place. When my first child was born I quickly learned that I HAD to have routines with him in order to survive. Without realizing it my little schedules and routines spread to my household chores, my calender, my whole life! Now, almost 9 years later, I thrive on routines, look forward to checking off my lists. I realize that my children have given me that gift!

I have been yearning, over the past few months, to extend my routines to my prayer life and the prayer life of my family in general. My prayer life is definately lacking. My children are prayed for nightly, and we pray before meals, the easy stuff. But my husband and I rarely pray together, and we are awful at getting morning and evening prayers into our day as a family. So, I'm hoping that establishing a routine for this will make it a habit. Where to start? I'd love to hear any ideas you may have. I'll share what comes of it!

Oh, and in case your wondering, our first day of Kindergarten went great. She did fine, I cried all the way home!

Wednesday's One Thing

Today I was walking my 15 month-old around the house, her little hands grasping my fingers. Her older sister came into the room, and the youngest immediately thought this was a game of chase. Her squeals and laughter caught on, and soon the three of us were engaged in a game of tag. This evolved into an impromptu game of hide-and-seek. As the youngest and I were toddling around the house, looking for big sister, it dawned on me. Today is my last day with two. Tomorrow, my 5 year-old goes to Kindergarten. In that moment I was whipped back in time, remembering her firsts. How had this happened? Now, I have been through this before, my oldest is now a 3rd grader. But somehow this was different. Maybe it was because my 5 year-old was the baby for 4 years. I don't know. But as we ran around the house, in our last day of her smallness, I realized that today, this game of hide-and-seek was the one thing needful.

The One Thing Needful

I am constantly in search of "the one thing needful": as an Orthodox Christian, a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend. Sometimes I feel like I'm under a pinata. One of the new-fangled ones with all the strings. Which one should I pull?

I struggle daily with this, and sometimes feel like I'm running after my own tail. I often beat myself up at the end of the day, regretting all the distractions that I let take over my life. I find myself running around, doing the things I feel are important, but all too often forgetting The One Thing Needful.

Colette Jonopulos writes "As women we have so many responsibilities. It seems our time is not our own. With our homes, families, churches, and jobs we are constantly trying to accomplish more than seems humanly possible...It is easy to convince ourselves that we don't have the time to devote our spiritual life, but that is where the paradox lies. We must attend first to that unseen life, then we will be better able to organize the material areas of our lives." (The One Thing Needful: Meditations for the Busy Orthodox Woman)

This is my daily struggle. I am trying my best to put God first in my life, but find that I am often more like Martha than Mary. "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing." (Luke 10:41)

So today, I may pull the wrong string on the pinata. I can only pray that I'll eventually find the string that opens the door!