St. Barbara's Day Bonfire

This post is a bit late - I was hoping for a few good photos to include - but they are all smoke filled and blurry! This is the first time I have done one of these, but my old parish used to have a lovely St. Barbara's Day celebration, so this year I decided to make it happen here! Next year I will be better prepared, but things turned out okay. We had a huge bonfire - St. Barbara is often commemorated with a bonfire since when she was martyred at the hands of her father, he was struck down by lightning. We had boiled wheat, a traditional Orthodox food often used to commemorate the departed, and I served vegetarian chili, spiced tea, and s'mores. We read the story of St. Barbara, and the kids had a blast running around playing with sparklers. Since the eve of her feast day fell on Wednesday this year, we started early in the afternoon, and headed to Vespers at 7:00. It was so meaningful to celebrate together, then go to church and get to hear all the hymns and readings about her (though I am not sure our priest appreciated the smoke smell that clung to all of our clothing!). We ran out of time to plant wheat - but next year we will do that!

Lost and Found

Over and over I read about how we should keep our children's crosses on them always, when they sleep, when they play, when they bathe. Well, that doesn't work with my four year old. All I can say is - right now, I owe a lot of bread to St. Phanourios! The queen first lost her baptismal cross six or eight months ago. I said prayers to St. Phanourios, and we searched the house, but as she is in the habit of removing it at random, I gave up hope of ever finding it. Then, two months ago, I was looking for something in my purse, turned it upside down, and out dropped her cross. Now, I promise you, I searched that purse many times in the preceding months, and never found it. I was so thankful, but honestly, I forgot to bake bread. Then, just 3 weeks after finding it, suddenly it was gone again. This time, I knew she had taken it off at home, and had an approximate time frame, so I had hope of finding it, and sure enough after a prayer to St. Phanourios and a good search through her room, we found it in the floor in a corner - she had taken it off after church and just dropped it on the floor. After that close call, the cross went into my jewelry drawer and I did not let her wear it for a few weeks. I also forgot to make bread. Last week she asked to wear it, and promised not to take it off herself. I relented, and she successfully wore it all week. On Friday after Thanksgiving our niece was here playing, and the girls went outside, played in the creek, jumped in piles of leaves and played dress up all day. The queen came in at one point to have me help her with her bike helmet, and there was the cross staring at me from around her neck. That little voice we rarely listen to and really should told me to take it off, but I was busy and did not want to bother with putting it away, so I left it around her neck. Sure enough, 2 hours later she came running to me - Mom, my cross is gone! I promise I didn't take it off, it fell off! Sure enough, the chain and loop were still around her neck - but no cross. Believe me, I will listen to the little voice next time! I was so upset, I made everyone stop and help search for the cross. The ground they covered that day was immense, and I just knew the cross was sitting at the bottom of a pile of fall leaves. I cried over it, and whispered a half-hearted prayer to St. Phanourios. Then, on Sunday the little princess came home from church and asked me did I know there was a saint to pray to when you lost something? I laughed and said I did. Her Sunday School teacher had lost something the previous week, and shared her experience of prayers to St. Phanourios. The little princess asked me if I had prayed to the saint, I said yes, many times! At that moment, I said another little prayer. Monday morning, while cleaning the little princess' bedroom, I was trying to close her closet doors (they are bi-fold and run on a track that does not always work well). The doors kept sticking, and I kept forcing. Finally, I leaned down to see if there was something caught in the track - there at the bottom of the track was the cross! So, thank you to St. Phanourios, for guiding me each time to the cross. Now I am off to bake bread!

what is wrong with our country ...

This news article gives a good glimpse at the human condition today - and what is important to most Americans. A good deal on electronics is valued over human life any day.

I am thankful

I am thankful to have a family that lives close together, so we can spend holidays together.

I am thankful for the four beautiful children God has given me.

I am thankful for a husband who provides for us, and works hard so I can stay home with our children.

I am thankful for the beautiful home God has blessed us with, and all the opportunities and possibilities it holds.

I am thankful that my husband finally shot himself a "good" deer - after 40+ hours of hunting this week!

I am thankful for deep fried turkey :)

I am thankful for the true friends I have, who ignore my many faults and are there to help when I need it.

I am thankful for my parents, who led me in my faith as a child, and in their search for truth led me to the true church.

I am thankful for my priest, who cares for our parish every day in ways that few know or understand.

I am thankful for those like my brother-in-law, who selflessly serve this great country and protect our freedom.

In the words of my son - I am thankful for everything!

The Nativity Fast

I have once again been reworking my fasting menu, so I am posting our cycle of meals for those who might be interested. It is easier to me to have a fixed plan to follow, which removes the last minute decision making and therefore much of the stress of cooking during a long fast. I have listed two options for most days, and plan to alternate the dishes every other week. Other ways I keep it simple - soup stock is made ahead and frozen, the burritos are made ahead and frozen, and I purchase all non-perishable items in one big grocery trip before the fast begins. Then I can just make my list of produce items each week, making our grocery trips much quicker. Since most of these recipes involve beans, canned goods or frozen foods, it is easy to do the majority of the shopping ahead.

Sunday: lentil burgers/lentils and rice
Monday: taco soup/hay stacks
Tuesday: fish or shrimp with rice and veggies/ stir fried shrimp or tofu & vegetables
Wednesday: spaghetti and salad
Thursday: burritos/ Lenten cabbage rolls
Friday - vegetable soup/tomato soup/bean soup
Saturday: spring rolls/pancakes

Tuesday is the night I have the most time to cook, and it is also the night my husband is most likely to be home for dinner, so that night has my most "elaborate" dishes. The other "fancy" dish I traditionally have done is spring rolls on Saturday nights. This year after looking over a friend's fasting meal plan I decided we would also try doing fasting pancakes as a treat on Saturdays. And of course, I stock up on the all important back up meal when things go crazy, which also serves as "the babysitter meal", the one I make for the kids when we go out - frozen breaded popcorn shrimp.
Breakfast tends to be oatmeal or cereal for the kids and eggs for the baby, and oatmeal or toast for me. Lunches usually consist of peanut butter and jelly (or banana :) sandwiches, hummus, fruit, raw vegetables, leftovers and soups.
For great recipes and ideas on fasting, be sure to check out Erin's blog dedicated to fasting.

"Thus if there is such value and grace in fasting that it makes us into habitations of God, then ought we to greet it with great rejoicing and gladness, and not despond because of the meagerness of the food, knowing that when our Lord Jesus Christ blessed the five loaves in the wilderness He fed five thousand people with bread and water. He could, if He so desired, command all sorts of manifestations to appear; but He gave us an example of restraint, so that we might be concerned only for that which is necessary."

St. Theodore the Studite

St. Nicholas Day

Since someone asked about ideas for St. Nicholas - I will go ahead and post that first. Our family tradition is quite simple. On December 5th our church typically has liturgy for St. Nicholas (though it varies, some years it is that evening, on others it is on the morning of the 6th). After liturgy that night, the children take their shoes and place them outside our front door. The younger ones like to add a little hay in their shoes for St. Nicholas' horse. That evening we read stories about St. Nicholas, focusing on the character trait of giving unselfishly. The kids then go around the house and find several items they are willing to give up. We put these items in a bag and leave it on the front porch, so St. Nicholas can take it to children who are not as fortunate. Then they crawl into bed to await the arrival of St. Nicholas. In the morning, the bag of toys is gone, and inside their shoes, they find a small sack of chocolate coins (just like St. Nicholas left for the daughters' dowries) and a little gift. The gift is usually a book or some small trinket - when possible it has something to do with St. Nicholas or the season of Advent. Since part of the point of this exercise is to eliminate some junk from the house, I try to not then add to the junk the next morning! Finally, St. Nicholas leaves a letter for each child, telling the children how he has seen them grow in their faith that year, and mentioning any particular positive character traits they may have been developing. We save the letters to go into a scrapbook so they can go back and read them later. We do not put gifts in their stocking for St. Nicholas Day, because we have another tradition for our stockings that comes from my husband's family. I'll share that one a little later!

Resources for St. Nicholas Day Ideas

The St. Nicholas Center - a site with stories, crafts and ideas for creating your own traditions
Paidea Classics - a made in USA source for chocolate coins - they even say St. Nicholas on them!
The Real St. Nicholas - a collection of stories about St. Nicholas
St. Nicholas Life - an Orthodox source for the life of St. Nicholas

Advent Traditions

I am going to post parts of a talk I gave at our church women's retreat a few years back on celebrating Advent with your children. While some of this is a bit late, there are many things you can still implement, and you can use this Advent to prepare certain projects for next year.

1. Make the 15th an event. (I realize this one is a bit late, but perhaps something to think about for next year - you know the rule, "live first, blog later!") Unlike the beginning of Great Lent, which is marked by several weeks of preparation and a week full of services, the beginning of Advent has no special service, and can get lost in the chaos of school and Thanksgiving Day preparations. So take this day to establish a family routine for the rest of the season. If you do not have a family altar already, set one up - an area where your family can come together for prayers, lighting candles and Advent readings. If you have a piece of furniture, shelf or table, drape it with a special cloth. I have purchased table runners which we change out according to the liturgical seasons, so the colors match the altar cloth and priests vestments of the Church. Wal M*rt is a great source for cheap table runners in lots of colors, especially this time of year. Place your Advent wreath here, prayer book, Bible and list of readings for the season.

2. The 15th is also the day in our house when I pull out the Christmas tree (well trees really, we have 3!) and set up the lights, and the kids all help decorate the tree. Then it is ready for all of our Advent books to be tucked underneath (due to allergies we use artifical trees, which makes it possible to decorate this early - and for me, to enjoy the beauty of Christmas for 2 months is something I look forward to every year - our tree does not come down until Theophany). Another idea for the tree if you don't care to deal with it before Thanksgiving, is to follow Erin's lead and set it up on December 13th in honor of St. Herman. This would be perfect timing for those who use a real tree.

3. Keep certain things special just for Advent. Many years ago the crocodile hunter's godmother sent him one of the Playm*bil Nativity sets. That has been such a treasure to my kids, and last year I got a second one for the little princess. The set is boxed up, and does not come down until November 15th. The kids get so excited about playing with it, as I begin taking decorations out they all start asking, can you get the Nativity set out for us? They often spend most of the next few days with just that toy. Again, it goes back in the box on January 6th in spite of protests to leave it out just a little longer, so they can look forward to it again next Advent. As I already posted, we do the same with Nativity books, and I follow this rule with Christmas music and a few classic Christmas movies on DVD I allow them to watch. The air of anticipation this creates is amazing, and it makes these things all the more special for those two months. It also means that they tend to spend much of their free time reading those stories, or playing with the Nativity set, a wonderful way to help the kids remain focused on the Church and Christ's birth in a world where most kids can think of nothing but what "Santa" will bring them.

Well, there are a few ideas to get you started. Hopefully they will inspire you to create things in your home that are not only "hidden art", but will become treasured memories for your children and help them to walk daily in the life of the Church. I will follow with more on the Jesse tree and Advent calendar ideas, and our special St. Nicholas traditions.