{pretty, happy, funny, real} Holy Week, Pascha, Etc.

{pretty}

I bought a couple of potted plants, intending to take one of them to church for our Pascha flower display.  This little stalk of lily of the valley broke off, so it briefly adorned my kitchen icons.  Incidentally, I forgot to take a potted plant to church.  A lot going on that week, no?

{happy}

The rest (I apologize) are going to have my kids in them.  But these two have a special bond, and their happiness makes me happy. 

{funny}

This guy loves the cat.  And surprisingly, the cat loves him back.  Opie (the cat) has been recently deprived of his partner in shedding, as we had to put down our other cat Faust.  Faust used to sort of manhandle Opie quite a bit, which perfectly prepared him for John's expressions of love.  Here we have John trying to crawl into the shelf (which used to store my wok) to be with his cat-friend.  According to my five-year-old either of them (when in this position) is "pretending a pot."

{real}

My children fell asleep quickly at the Pascha Vigil.  We didn't even make it outside for the procession.

I think next year, I'll do my best to keep them awake for that and then allow them to pass out at will.  This one, at least, was rouse-able for communion.

Not a great shot, but a little perspective on their "church beds."  At least I got to go this year!

{Joining up at Like Mother, Like Daughter}

Ordination

 

Dear friends, we learned recently that my husband Dn. Andrew will be ordained to the priesthood of the Orthodox Church!  On May 29 at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, we will enter this new stage of ministry, the culmination of much preparation and prayer, with both trepidation and joy.  After a Lent full of revelations of my inadequacies, I ask for prayers for both of us as we become a Father and Khouria.

Should anyone wish to attend, please email me at perelandracbc [at] yahoo [dot] com (replace the words in brackets with the appropriate symbols) for details.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

I love the photography over at Like Mother Like Daughter.  It has seriously helped me to stop lusting (seriously) over magazine photos and decorating blogs full of looks I like but can never have (or at least, not for a while).  It's good to get ideas.  It's not good to despair because my home will never, ever, look like that. 

Leila's photography is filled with little corners of her beautiful things.  Not designer things, just beauty in the form of little bowls, filled vases, flowers, food being prepared. 

An old insulator from those ubiquitous electrical and telephone wire poles in the alleys of Chicago made into a candle holder by my father-in-law.

Yesterday, she invited us to join her.  Tomorrow is the first day.  Thursday.  Plenty of time to figure out what to post.  None of this Monday nonsense.  ;)

So, as an explanation of why this blog has been so quiet lately...

I offer a few shots from our dining room window sill.

Q Day in our home school

I know my shots aren't that clear.  The camera attached to my hand-me-down iPhone goes only so far.  But it's what I've got.  It's quite convenient, since every time I need to charge it, I plug it into my computer, and it magically automatically syncs my photos. (Yes!)

Plus, our real camera was stolen.  Sigh.

I'd like this blog to coexist with me living life, rather than be an escape from it.  I have so many things to write about, but the reality of homeschooling with three children five-and-under means any posts must be short to fit in all that they require. (Which is mainly eating and cleaning up, right?)

This is totally something I can do.

Prayers please

A dear friend has lost her baby at 12 weeks gestation. Her family would be greatly comforted by your prayers. It is in the times of death and grief where I most want to defiantly cry,

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!