Seven Months

Well, I never meant to go that long without blogging.  Life is just so full right now.  And I'm really not that good at taking pictures of it.

Olive Oil Lime cake with Crystallized Ginger Glaze, for our housemate's birthday in January

It was Lent, and then I had a baby, and then I had four kids and was homeschooling, and now it's Summer and I was homeschooling but I think we're on vacation until September now.  Gotta have some semblance of Summer Break, right?

Had my first water birth! Definitely soothing "down there" after all the pushing.  Not sure if it was worth the extra money, though.  I didn't even have time to labor in it!

This morning, some sweet friends drove the older three to Vacation Church School, so Isaac and I are chilling at home.  It's so quiet!

Newborn Isaac

And I have so much to do!  This week was supposed to be The Great School Room Clean Out.  But as it takes too long to get downtown for VCS and come back here and then go back there, I haven't done anything yet.  And what better way to procrastinate than by writing a blog post?

We actually put one of our kids in a crib.  He's doing well with it!  Sometimes he reads in bed.

You know what having four kids has finally done for me?

This is about what I see when I'm nursing.  I had a cozy little spot set up next to our bed upstairs with my rocking chair, tables for beverages, trays for breakfast my Mom so sweetly brought up to me during the time I was supposed to limit my trips up and down the stairs.

It's made me realize just how much there is to do in a week to just live day to day.  Laundry, cooking, cleaning (even the very little I can manage), homeschooling, getting outside (once in awhile!!).  I think it's taken me this long to figure out that just because I'm home doesn't mean I kind of have a free day.  Not that I wouldn't have done things in the past or thought I could sit aroundwatch movies all day or anything like that.  I made meals, did laundry, attempted to clean, played with the kids, took them on outings.  But I didn't do it with any sense of urgency.  As in, I have to do the laundry right now, today, because if I don't, I won't be able to do all the other things I have to do this week.

Maggie's still baby-crazy.  John is following in her footsteps.

This one is rather head-over-heels herself.  Thing Two, here, puts up with it.

I literally sit down and plan out my hours lately.  Or half hours—but that usually makes me rush around too much from one thing to another and I am a little too slow for that!  Now, I don't always sit down and do this until around 10AM or around noon, after John's down for his midday nap.  And I don't usually even follow it very well.  I just need to know there is some kind of expectation for my time.  Seriously, it's taken me having four kids to get even the slightest bit organized.  Because if I can't be a little organized now, I wouldn't survive!

Pascha Baskets for four!

Pascha dresses and our family basket behind the girls.  They were off to the midnight service, once again without Mama.  I think I go about every other year these days!

So, if I'm not posting very often these days, that's why.  I have very little time I consider "free" any more, and frankly, blogging is not high on the list of things I want to do with that time.  Hanging out with my wonderful husband watching some Alfred Hitchcock or Deep Space Nine after the kids are (finally) in bed?  Yes.  Going out for coffee with him with probably just Isaac (and maybe not even him) while someone watches the rest?  Yes.  Sitting outside with the kids while they play in the kiddie pool in our backyard?  Yep.  It's Summer!  I'll have plenty of time to sit around in the house in a few months!

"Sling view" on one of our first outings to a launch party for Josiah and Julia Go to Church, written by a friend.

Looking more himself.

Well, that's a quick overview of 2012 so far.  There are tons of photos in my album that would lend themselves to posts, and if I get a chance, maybe I'll try to catch up a little.  With all that free time I have when I start homeschooling again this Fall.  Ha!

L'Oven

I love finding me a new, good blog.  It's almost like finding a new friend.  Or maybe like stalking a new friend, but whatever.  Something clicks.

Allow me to introduce to any of you who are unfamiliar, Oven Love!

I have to admit that I stumbled upon this particular blog when I searched for a recipe for Homemade Spaghetti O's.  I don't even remember having this much as a child, really.  And I didn't like tomato sauce that much, so why would I have had it?

Regardless, recently, my brother recently moved in with us and brought a few bags of dry goods with him.  One little box contained Creamette "rings."  I actually sort of laughed.  Who buys rings?  What do you do with them?  But then I thought of Spaghetti O's.  So I added them to Beef and Slaw Soup.  And then I needed more.

I'm working on my Lenten Menu (can it be so close?), and one of the lunches I had down from last year was Quick Mac and Cheese (which is a genius recipe of my own creation), but unfortunately, my middle child has decided since then that she doesn't like cheese.  Well, she didn't really like cheese then either, but I don't think she realized that "Macaroniandcheese" had cheese in it.  Too bad.

Answer, Spaghetti O's!  (I hope.)

Here is the recipe that looks so simple and promising:


Oven Love's Homemade Spaghetti O's
(Caveat: above recipe has dairy, so may not fit your Lenten needs.)

That is one in a series of homemade convience foods:
Oven Love's Pre-Made Our Way Series

Here's a list of her upcoming posts for the year:
Oven Love's The Great Food Adventure 2011

And finally, some truly hunger-inducing photos and recipes:
Oven Love's Superbowl Friendly Recipes

Prepare to be hungry!  And inspired!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Our tree and front window with stockings hung by the windows (no chimney) with care.

A view from that window: Most definitely a white Christmas!

Our hodgepodge tree.  The kids and Dad decorated while I cooked the traditional Christmas coffee cake.  I don't think I have pictures of that, though!  Maybe on my phone?

[coffee cake photo here!!]

One of our Nativity scenes.  Baby Jesus has arrived!

Our Christmas card display. I know it sort of looks like a pile stuck to the wall, but this is where I display birthday and other seasonal or Thank You cards throughout the year, so I love to switch it over to Christmas at this time of year!  I used to dread Christmas cards because it reminded me that I never get around to sending them.  Thanks to my dear husband who now takes care of this, I can enjoy each card and know that we've reciprocated!  What would I do without you, My Dear?

My shy princess.

My boy.  With his new musical toy.

My not-so-shy-any-more princess.

There's that lovely smile.  :)

Finally, a use for the neglected Boppy pillow. (Opie is the orange kitty, and Faust is the Siamese or Himalayan or whatever he is.)

 

 

 

My first roast duck.  It was a success!

Some of the rest of the feast.

The girls at dinner—I think Maggie's going to eat that whole plate of potatoes.

Still sleeping, although they seem to have shifted positions.

A multi-generational Christmas trip downtown later in the week (included grandparents, kids, uncle, parents).  I think you can see my reflection taking the picture in the El window.

The Daley Plaza Christmas tree as seen through whatever that weird piece of Chicago art is.

Another view.  Some years they have piled many little trees, but this year it was a single giant tree!

Me and my boy in our favorite coat made to go around a baby in a carrier.  The monkey hat was a gift from his Aunt/godmamma.

This is the family photo where the average of the sum total of our expressions comes out at "fairly pleasant."  

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours from all of us!

I'm really going to do it!

Since Mat. Anna keeps making it look so darn easy, I went here and ordered a bunch of supplies.  I will start felt ornaments for my Jesse Tree!

I have felt, embroidery floss, needles, assorted ribbons and buttons in the mail and it was only around $60 for the whole shebang.  While I have sewing-machine phobia, I've always sort of enjoyed mending seams and sewing on buttons by hand.  I'd love to have a hand project going here and there.  Maybe by next year we'll have some real ornaments for our Jesse/Advent/Whatchamacallit Tree.

So excited!

Intercede for us, Holy Nicholas!

A friend of ours has recently found out that their unborn baby has passed away at just over 12 weeks gestation.  His wife will have surgery today.  If you are inclined to pray for them, the baby's name is Nicholas.  Pray for him and for his Mommy and Daddy.

Our Baby Constantine's grave, St. Tikhon's cemetery

I know I am incredibly blessed to have (now) three healthy children here with me.  When we miscarried a couple of years ago, I was comforted by the thought that if I only ever had my two baby girls, that I would still be blessed and happy with our little family.  And as any regular readers know, God continued to bless us with another baby this summer.

But my heart goes out to those families who have to endure the miscarriage or death of their first baby.  To have your innocence shattered by the loss of your first child would be one of the most difficult things I think a parent could go through.  And the questions!  Why didn't my baby live?  Did I do something wrong during my pregnancy?  Will I ever be able to carry a baby to term?  Why wasn't I allowed to meet my little one?  Why me?

Any time I hear of the passing of an unborn baby, I am reminded of what my sweet doctor told me after my own miscarriage.  He mentioned that some women, for every baby they are able to meet in this world, they have several babies praying for them in heaven. How comforting!

It is entirely possible that I, too, have several unborn children in heaven keeping Constantine company.  I have no way of knowing whether we've had just the one miscarriage or if I've had a few very early ones too.  It is possible that I may have more in coming years.

What a heart-swelling thought: All the unborn children I have had or may have in the future are a great cloud of children praying for me, my own personal army of tiny saints, perfected and taken before the temptations of this world.  How we ache to meet them, but how they rejoice with our Lord!

Icon of the children being brought to Christ, located in a rock outcropping at St. Tikhon's Monastery

I thought it especially joyful and appropriate that these parents chose the name Nicholas for their baby.  Of course, the timing is right, being that St. Nicholas's feast day was on Monday.  But don't some of the hymns and prayers to St. Nicholas refer to him as a special friend of children?  Imagine him surrounded by our lost little ones, their heavenly surrogate grandfather praising God with them and leading them in interceding for us.

Holy Saint Nicholas, special friend of children, pray to God for us!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

I have the troparion to St. Nicholas running through my head.  But not the one you might think.

It starts out all right.  And it's in the fourth tone.

O Holy Bishop Nicholas

You appeared to your flock as a rule of faith

But then it gets a little odd.

You give us lots of presents.

Hmm... I guess the final line, though unorthodox (pun intended?), may at least be factually correct:

You are the most famous Nicholas in the whole world.

Well.



As you might have guessed, we caught one of the kids (Maggie) singing this version (chanting it in the third tone would be more precise) a while back.  We died laughing.  I think we'll work on what he's really famous for when the girls wake up.

 

See the feast day boxes from Orthodox Christian Craft Supply nestled behind their shoes?  Those will help.  Oh, and don't worry: Mommy and Daddy will help John with the contents of his shoes.

In case you were wondering, the correct lines to our translation of the troparion are as follows:

O Holy Bishop Nicholas,
You appeared to your flock as a rule of faith.
An image of humility
And a teacher of abstinence.
Because of your lowliness, heaven was opened to you,
Because of your poverty, riches were granted to you.
Pray to Christ our God to save our souls.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Matushka Anna inspired and reminded me that I had wanted to create some kind of centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house.

She used things she had around the house, so I figured I could do something similar.  My parents have baskets and bowls of pine cones in every room.  It's their thing.

Are these called hurricanes?  Notice they don't match at the bottom.

 After locating two hurricanes, I found two raspberry-colored candles in a drawer.

A freezing brisk walk around the house produced some rose hips (the berries, I think) and some interesting purple green leaves.  My Mom had a stash of the smaller pine cones.

A few minutes and some twine produced this!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Deep Breath

Sitting.  Sitting is good.

This is the point before a holiday/vacation/deadline where I have a choice.  I must choose between going insane and being realistic.

Do I try to do-all-the-laundry-deep-clean-the-bedrooms-perfectly-organize-the-living-areas-stow-all-the-odd-bins-in-the-basement-make-a-pie-I've-never-made-before-mop-the-kitchen-floor-pick-cute-outfits-for-various-services-this-weekend all before Liturgy tonight?

Sounds real good when it's typed out like that, doesn't it?

What are my goals for the day?  The pie needs to be made.  The outfits need to be picked.  The house needs to be orderly enough to not cause my family stress.  And I'd like to have energy leftover to enjoy being at Liturgy tonight.

Really, that is all.

Running around at top speed trying to make up for a week plus of resting from being sick is not the way to that last goal, the one where I begin a secular holiday that is actually devoted to giving thanks with a service of thanksgiving, with Eucharist.

Here's to balance.  Here's to reality.  Here's to some darn good food tomorrow.  Cheers!

Pumpkin Pecan Scones with Orange Icing

I still have a Pumpkin Chiffon Pie to bake, bags to pack, a house to tidy, laundry to fold, and clothes to put on (maybe I should do that one first), but what the heck, I'll share this recipe now instead of later.  Maybe it would work for your Thanksgiving breakfast tomorrow morning?

Pumpkin Pecan Scones with Orange Icing

Scones
2 cups white flour (or you could throw in a little whole wheat if you're compulsive about that like I am sometimes, but I actually prefer all white here)
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon*
1/2 tsp ground ginger*
1/8 tsp nutmeg*
1/8 tsp cloves*
(*Or substitute equivalent amount of pumpkin pie spice or whatever spice combination you like for pumpkin things.... Side note, I'm realizing as I type this that I completely forgot to include these in my double batch of scones yesterday.  Sigh.  Maybe I can garnish the frosted scones with a sprinkle of cinnamon?)

7 TBSP cold butter or margarine, in pieces if using stick butter/margarine

3/4 cup pecans, chopped (but not minced, we want chunks here)

1 TBSP lemon juice or white vinegar
1/4 cup rice milk (or whatever non-milk you use)
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Orange Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 TBSP pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp milk substitute
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp orange extract


Method
Preheat oven to 400°F.  Grease a baking sheet with margarine.

Mix the dry ingredient (flour through spices) in a large bowl.  Mix completely.  Add margarine, wash your hands, then mix the margarine into the flour mixture by picking up flour and margarine together and rubbing between your fingers until it all resembles "course crumbs."  Stir in pecans.

In another bowl (or a pyrex measuring cup), mix thoroughly lemon juice, milk, pumpkin, and vanilla.  Add this to flour and margarine mixture.  Mix completely until flour mixture is completely moistened.  

This recipe always ends up looking like batter until I add a lot more flour.  Start with 1/4 cup or so (I want to say I may add up to as much as an entire cup more, but don't start with that) and keep adding until the batter is more of a dough and is something you can kneed a few times (less than 10).

Once the dough is dry enough (but not too dry), dump it out on the counter, kneed a few times, adding flour as necessary to keep it handle-able.  Pat and press the dough into a 7- to 8-inch circle.  Use a long, sharp knife to cut into 8 wedges.  Use a thin spatula to transfer wedges to rows on a baking sheet.  Keep an inch or two apart.  (Mainly, don't put it back on the sheet in a circle or they will all bake together and won't look as pretty.)


Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.  Remove when edges are golden brown and tops look done.  (You can stick a knife or a toothpick in and see if it comes out "clean"—as in not covered in wet batter—if you are unsure.)  Let cool on a wire rack.


To prepare the icing, measure sugar into a bowl (or pyrex measuring cup).  Add pumpkin, milk, vanilla, and orange extract.  It won't seem like enough liquid, but if you add more, the icing will run off and be more of a glaze.  Mix thoroughly.  Wait to frost the scones until they are pretty cool.  Otherwise, icing will melt.  Don't worry about getting the icing perfect—it will smooth out as it drys.


Note
I know this recipe looks ridiculously complicated and long, but it really comes together fast.  If you've made biscuits from scratch, you can do this.  ;)


Credit
I began with this recipe for Mocha Chip Scones and completely adulterated changed it.

Mary Dolls and Coming Series

Blessed Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos in the Temple!  (That's a mouthful!)

I have a friend who lives in a very small Orthodox community in a small town.  If memory serves, they can only afford to have a priest out for Liturgy once a month.  The other Sundays, she takes her children to Sunday School at a nearby protestant church.  We were catching up over Facebook and through the course of our emails, she asked if I have any particularly spectacular resources for creating an Orthodox home with small children in mind.  I've been wanting to do a post on that, but I think instead it will turn it into a series.  This won't quite be the first post because I'd like to organize it a bit better and suggest several resources for similar aspects of an Orthodox home.  This is mainly me gushing about a new favorite resource.

We learned about Sunday's feast last week with the help of Orthodox Christian Craft Supply.  I knew it would be a hit in our household because for any story my children hear, they instantly want to have dolls to act it out.  And they really do get excited about and love Mary.  Veneration for the Mother of God is hardly something I have to teach: it comes naturally to my children.

It's interesting for me to discover their love for the Theotokos and how they identify with her.  I was raised in churches that gave me the idea that devotion to Mary was "a Catholic thing" and probably wrong.  It could be because they are girls that they identify with the Theotokos—that is certainly the case with a feast like the Entrance.  Or possibly, they identify with the child Christ in Mary's arms, and their love of Mary comes from their love for me.  They are very connected to their own mother, and the Mother of Christ naturally attracts their devotion.  (If that doesn't instill the fear of God into a mother, I don't know what will!)

Incidentally, one of the first icons my children have really identified with is the icon I've had as my blog title banner for a long while.  Have you noticed that it's an icon of Mary nursing Christ?  When my kids (who have all been extended nursers) see that Jesus is having milk(!), their faces just light up.  Jesus has milk just like me!  I can't think of a more intimate and meaningful way to begin to communicate the mystery of the incarnation to a small child.

Back to dolls.  Let me heartily recommend the Feast Day Boxes at Orthodox Christian Craft Supply.  The only thing I had to supply for the project was a couple of kinds of glue.  I did most of the "crafting" because I wanted them to make something lovely and their little hands weren't ready for some of the detail work.  However, they helped paint pieces and assisted in gluing on jewels and ribbon.  Older children could probably handle most parts of the crafts themselves.

I'm adding a button on the side of my blog for this wonderful resource.  The boxes are inexpensive and nicely organized.  When completed, children have a box that teaches many lessons of the particular feast but that is also, essentially, a box of toys!  My kids love to take out the box, put Mary in a princess castle, pull her around in their princess carriages, and generally make her an intimate part of their imaginative worlds.  With all the secular toys, secular images, and secular music that my children encounter, any way to insert Christ and the Church into their world on a more regular basis gets my approval!

***Addendum to the post: the Feast Day boxes also come with a teaching guide.  Before doing each little craft, I read the accompanying short story from the simply worded guide to give the kids an idea of why each item was in the box.***

Celebrating Holy Transfiguration

We will be attempting our first evening liturgy tonight since John's birth.  I'll let you know how it goes!

For the hours leading up to our departure time (early enough to pick up Daddy and drive to our sister parish about an hour away—or more during rush hour), we are working through Matushka Emily's list of things to do to celebrate this feast with children.  I printed it off and put it in my Cycles of Grace (seasonal home management) Notebook #5.  I've got most of it checked off—what practical and doable ideas!

For an icon of Transfiguration to display on my rotating art wall, I wish I had something that matches my collection of icons generously given (once-upon-a-time) by Mary.  However, instead of just wishing, I created my own in a similar style using this icon from www.oca.org:

Then for an icon for the kids to color (or paint, as we like to do), I downloaded a line drawing of the icon for the Transfiguration (scroll down the page to select the appropriate icon) from the OCA's Department of Christian Education website:

I grabbed a couple of matching white wire baskets (one for each girl) that used to house bath toys and gave them a good wash.  Then I threaded some blue and white ribbon through the holes around the middle of the basket and made a little off-centered bow.   I resisted the urge to add any more decoration since they looked so simple and beautiful the way they were.  We'll stop at a grocery store for grapes to fill those baskets on the way to church this afternoon.  Maybe I'll even get a photo of them at some point.

I also hunted around on the Antiochian Archdiocese website and found our collection of hymns (mostly byzantine style).   I located the Major Feasts page and scrolled down to the Transfiguration Series to download a PDF of music including the troparion for the Feast of Transfiguration.  We sang this at lunch time with our meal prayers.  We've also been playing our copy of Kh. Gigi Shadid's Celebrate the Feasts CD, paying special attention to the song about the Transfiguration.  (I love her CDs!)

Wow!  I feel like I'm back!  I in no way planned to be this proactive about finding ways to celebrate the Transfiguration with my girls today.  Matushka Emily just made it so darn easy and I just jumped in!  It's been fun, and we'll finish it up tomorrow with a special evening meal and lots of blessed grapes!

A Blessed Feast to you all!

Photos from Holy Week (and More)

So of course, as soon as I commit to updating my blogs, I end up getting a writing assignment, so that will take up much of the time I thought I would use for blogging. Maybe I can do this when I get bored. In the mean time, if you'd like to see some photos of our kids (and other people's) at the church we are assigned to in PA, go to their lovely website: http://www.stmaryorthodox.com/photo-gallery. And for more recent photos, go to their home page (http://www.stmaryorthodox.com/) and click on "Recent Photos" in the bottom right hand corner or "Photos of Parish Life" on the left.

Pascha Banquet

I don't know if anyone has any pictures of our family actually at our Pascha (Easter) service. We did attend. Both Maggie and Susannah slept through a good part of it. Our friend and the kids' babysitter, Rebecca took several nice photos at the brunch party after the service, however. I stole them from her Snapfish account. Is that legal?

Maggie and her Becca, who might be as excited as Maggie is when they get to hang out. She has as much energy as Maggie does too.

Beneath this adorable smile is another child. A child who is not necessarily agreeable. A child who refuses to don an Easter dress that was talked up all day. Ok, granted, it was a little scratchy and made out of polyester... and I probably wouldn't have wanted to wear it either. But it was so cute. Little pink flowers, big poofy white skirt, a gift from friends at St. George. Oh well. Anyone need a size 3T Easter Dress? Like new. Never been worn.

The kids had plenty of energy even though this was probably taken around 3:30AM. Maggie felt particularly comfortable, obvious from the fact that she has removed her shoes.

I put Susannah in the wrap so I could get some food from the buffet. By the time I returned to the table from the fairly short line, she was out. It was also this evening that we discovered the mythical cheering powers of "Sue-nanna's George" as Maggie calls him. If you look closely, you can see her clutching it in her sleep. Actually, this one is Maggie's -- he's wearing a red shirt, not yellow.

Maggie looking fairly pleasant. I think there's a pizza smudge on her face. For brunch, we had the usual breakfast fare, with the interesting addition of cheese pizzas on every table. It was an Italian restaurant, so I suppose it fits.

Eventually, Susannah roused herself to join in the festivities.

One of the All Saints traditions we all look forward to is Joseph's Vodka. Doesn't go with scrambled eggs, and isn't especially appetizing at 4AM, but it's tradition and we are Orthodox. Christ is risen!

Uncle Hal and the college table consuming theirs. I'm sure Joseph checked all their IDs. I'm sure he did the same for the high school table as well....

Maggie loves her Uncle Hal. Mommy loves her coffee.

At some point, Maggie procured one of the large balloons from the table centerpieces. Of course she wanted the pink one.

And she was off!

She ran around with that thing for a long while -- circling tables, full speed ahead with the balloon bouncing along behind/above her.

She was quite attached to it. And I attached it to one of her shoes (she wasn't using it) so we wouldn't have to explain to her why we couldn't retrieve the balloon from the ceiling. I think the balloon followed us home and hovered around the house for several days during Bright Week.

Here's the whole family: kids, Mommy, Daddy, and Hal. (Totally unrelated to Pascha: we were at the zoo recently and Maggie was looking at some fish. She said, "There's a Mommy fish. There's a Daddy fish. There's a Hal fish." Every family has a Hal, right? Where's your Hal?)

Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!