Mother's Daybook

Outside my window

It is dark, quiet and rainy.  I like it like that....then I can pretend it is a "cool" night - which it is NOT.  But I have hopes that the Autumn season is around the corner.

I am thinking

that although I have been hesitating on this decision, that it is probably time to get my son a bed and move him out of his crib.  In one way, I am excited about this (milestone, sure...but honestly can't wait to get rid of that crib in there).  On the other hand, he is such a good sleeper (and very contained in that crib) that I worry what kind of trouble and excitement we will be dealing with when he realizes he doesn't have to STAY in bed anymore !  He is figuring out how to climb a bit and also the other night awoke with a blood-curdling scream because his leg was STUCK between the rails.  I ran in to find his poor body all twisted and trying to get his leg out.  I am SO happy that we don't let our children cry or scream alone...he could have really been hurt.  

Currently reading

Spiritual Counsels - Select passages from My Life in Christ -by Father John of Kronstadt

I am thankful

for being blessed with the most generous friends who have made it possible for us to be driving our family in a new-to-us minivan !  The extra room is amazing...and being able to actually fit a passenger with us is a luxury we have not had in a very long time !  Glory to God for all things. 

I am wearing

some new running shoes ! Nike Lunarglides+ 2 to be exact !  Thank you dad !!!  Can't wait to try my first long run in them ! 

I am listening to 

the sound of my son chanting "Ayiooooos Theoooooos" from his crib as he tries to put himself to sleep.  

A few plans for the rest of the week

We are enjoying somewhat of a routine these days...nothing rigid, but something that gives a flexible form to our day.  As I write this, we are at the end of our very busy week...looking forward to a great weekend filled with family time.  

Around the house

some MAJOR accomplishments in the decluttering area this past week or so !  Completely reorganized our bedroom closet ! Purchased some plastic bins and put all out-of-season clothing in the ATTIC, got rid of a ton of clothes and recycled some drawers to our kitchen area.  We can ALWAYS use more storage in our kitchen.  Soooo, that meant we had to re-do the kitchen cabinets and pantry too !  What fun !  While we were at it, we took out all the "baby" stuff from Demetri's nursery (except crib)...so he is left with only the crib and the toy storage.  Next, furnishing the little guys room !  

Sophia

is really enjoying the whole aspect of "learning".  Even though we have just started this whole process, she is asking to do more and more everyday.  I am not as organized with the plans as I would like to be, or with the materials...but we are taking it slowly and I am trying to be patient with myself. 

Poor little lady is still struggling so much with her sleeping at night.  God was merciful in making sure my son is a good sleeper because I don't know what I would do if I had 2 sleepers like her !  At this point, she will go to sleep in her room MOST of the time (with us sitting next to her bed)...but once she gets up a few hours later she is back in our room...it's a constant journey.  

Demetrios

is just into EVERYTHING at this point.  He is climbing on all the furniture, using everything he finds as a step-stool, experimenting with everything he can get his hands on !  He is a VERY active little boy !  He continues to chant constantly throughout the day, walks around with his icons in his hands, always looking for his cross.  He amazes me sometimes.  In the morning, I will often say "ok, come inside and let's say some prayers together".  He comes running with such excitement ! It is so cute to me !  

The domestic Church

Really enjoying the time spent reading with Sophia about the Saints, the Saint of the week, etc.  Establishing more of a regular routine with the children to include them in the morning prayers before they start their day and it is going well thus far.  

On my iPod

more of the same....I don't make many changes on that - probably going to delete this part of the daybook next time. 

From the kitchen

Tried out my belgian waffle maker tonight...breakfast for dinner.  It was fun and they came out pretty good. I am sure there are a lot of different recipes out there to try...I just tried a basic one I found and it was "ok".  

From the garden

I haven't posted much about it lately.  Our cucumber plant that was taking over our entire garden is gone.  It had started growing a LOT of cucs too...so I was actually sad to see it go.  We had an enormous amount of rain in short periods of time and our area doesn't get a lot of sun to begin with...I think they got waterlogged. They all went to mush, the leaves all looked rotted....we had to pull the whole plant.   We are starting to get a decent amount of peppers, enjoyed 1 eggplant so far and are getting some sweet potatoes too !  The herbs are doing well.  The tomatoes never got a good start (thanks to the cucs) because I don't think they ever got enough sun...we need to get rid of those too and start fresh I suppose. Probably have to move them to somewhere where they at least get a LITTLE more sun.  

A picture thought to share

School Bells Are Ringing

How is it that I can remember so vividly the day my firstborn came into this world...and yet it is already time to start thinking about her education???  How does that happen?  YIKES !

Well, the good news (for me) is that because of her "late" birthday...Sophia doesn't actually become of age to enter in Kindergarten for 2 more years.  The bad news (for me, again) is that the time is sure to pass by quickly.

We are keeping our options open for what will come at that time - private school? public school?  homeschool?  However, we have decided to start her off with a little bit of early education at home.  It seems the perfect match for us right now.

Most of her "friends", or kids she knows from other activities, have entered into preschool/daycare this year.  While we have decided not to enroll her at this particular time, I do feel there is great benefit to that path.

I am home with my children and willing to attempt this endeavor.  There are SO many other women before me that are so wonderful in sharing their resources, plans, ideas, etc. that I feel that I am not alone. (Mental note:  add some of the links to these resoures on my sidebar).   It's PRESCHOOL...so I can't really mess it up (right?).  It will at least give us a little experience with the unknown, so that next year we will know a little bit more about our options.  We both attended public schools.  I know how to research schools, interview schools, visit schools.  But I have never tried to teach my own child at home, so how could I possible draw from any experience in that area?  I think that this will be the perfect time to get our feet wet.  Will this work for our family?  Is her younger brother going to be too much of a distraction?  Can I organize our days well enough that this will be enjoyable?  Will my home fall apart?  Will it be fun?  Is our home conducive to learning?  All of these simple things are really unknown at this point. 

I had done lots of research (and continue to do so for possible future needs) and decided that for our first attempt at educating her at home, I was going to completely use the Letters of Grace curriculum.  Unfortunately, for a gazillion reasons that I need not go into here, the curriculum was taken off the web for a brief period of time and is only recently being pieced back together for the public to view and use.  I am so thankful for their efforts.  My little girl has just turned 4...following an EXACT agenda is not the most important part of this whole thing. (Right)?

We decided this would be our first week.  It's not exactly the beginning of the Liturgical year, but it worked for us (vacation and birthday parties included).  I loaded up the printer with ink, printed out our plans and it has been going well so far.  Aa is for Andrew (St. Andrew) is the theme of the week.
The Cross on the Hill is the spiritual book  and we've read it a few times already.  After reading it the first time in it's entirety, I found that it was a little easier for her to understand if I stopped along the way and paraphrased what was happening, asked her questions and answered hers as well.  Today she seemed to understand it much better. The book is geared for children a little older than she is, but easily adaptable. 

Sophia has been working on her writing of the letter, recognizing it everywhere (street signs, cereal boxes, etc), forming it out of her macaroni and cheerios, too !

Aa is also for Apple. So we have made some "apple" crafts.  Some of them I came up with myself (read: ultra simple) and others I copied from other bright and crafty moms. I saw THIS great apple craft on THIS blog and just had to do it.  EVEN I (uncrafty) made a few.  Sophia loves them and wants to make them for everyone.  I guess we can, since I will not have any other use for that entire roll of yarn (it's not called a "roll" is it?)  Oh well.

We had jotted down a bunch of books from the "recommended reading" list of the LOG site and found many of them at the library...she has really been enjoying reading time.  Luckily, my son still takes a pretty long afternoon nap - so we have been taking advantage of that. 

This week we also celebrated the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross - attended Vespers and Divine Liturgy.  We will also be celebrating the little lady's Nameday on Friday.  It has been a busy week !

Many Years to my little girl

Today we celebrate the Feast day for our daughter's patron Saint.  May she have many years. Xronia Polla!

We enjoyed a lovely day together today and tonight our family came over for some sweets after dinner to celebrate her special day.  We bought her a few new spiritual books that she had pointed out in a catalog and enjoyed reading them tonight before she fell asleep !  I think it's important to start family traditions when they are young -and learning the importance of your nameday and observing it in some special way  is an important thing for a child.

Many years to all those celebrating today !   

The Birthday Girl

Well, the little lady's birthday has come and gone....and was a lot of fun.  Nothing could make me happier than to see her smiling all day and talking all about it the next day!

It has also been very common to hear me say "Well,  you are 4 now sweetie...you have to (fill in the blank)"!  I figure I will try to use that one for as long as I can !

All finished setting up her ladybug picnic blanket

Sack Races - her favorite activity of the day 

Helping her brother play "pin the dot on the ladybug" !

So far, So good.....birthday preparations

I have to admit that I am fairly exhausted, but not very stressed - which is good (and very different from last year)!  Last year, Sophia asked for a "monkey" birthday cake and of course I took on the challenge.  The end result wasn't too awful, but the process was just TERRIBLE.  I started AFTER dinner the night before the party -and had my family over that night for a separate gathering.  I had NO idea what I was getting myself into or how much work (or mess) it would be.  I think my sweet husband cleaned the kitchen for two hours that night...shaking his head the whole time.

This year, I planned ahead and decided I would make it the day before - and I stuck to my plan.  Early this morning we made our ladybug cookies:

Then I baked the cake.  (I had made and tinted the frosting the day before - a great decision because it was so much easier).  

I was SO nervous about decorating it, but I think it came out pretty good!  Most importantly, Sophia LOVES it and can't wait for her little party.

We prepared our favor bags, made some ladybug "birthday hats" and covered all of the tables in red/white gingham.  We are having a "Ladybug" picnic theme party, per her request !  We got some adorable material to use as a picnic blanket so that her and her little friends can have a real picnic on the floor !

We decorated our own paper goods (stay away from party stores at all costs)!  

She is fast asleep now after such an exciting day...so I set up a little surprise for her when she wakes up.  A new tea set ! I put out two settings so that she can serve her little brother some tea in the morning !  Some felt birthday cake and cookies to set the mood for the day, too !

More updates after the party !  

One down - Eleven to go !

Weeks, that is.   Eleven more weeks of training.

As some of you know...I run.  I don't run a lot.  I don't run fast.  I don't even think I run well.  But, I run, nonetheless.  It's one of the things that I do to try to stay healthy and in shape.  You may also remember that I decided to run in  my first race a few months ago.  It was fun.  Honestly, it made whatever running I was doing seem to have more of a purpose.  Does that make sense?  Running is boring, it's lonely sometimes, monotonous, and HARD.  But I find that if there is a goal sitting in front of me - I tend to do it more regularly and I try to do it better.

I have decided that, God willing, I am going to register for THIS race and try to complete my very first HALF MARATHON !  Crazy?  Probably.  I don't even know if I can do it.  I figure that the worst that can happen is that I get in better shape - even if I never make it to raceday !  I have the Nike + iPod kit that I use for running and they have programs online that you can follow.  I chose the BEGINNER training for half-marathon.  They set up the days and mileage for you and you have to follow the routine for 12 weeks.

The first week was HARD.  It started out with 4 mile runs, which is more than I have been running.  Saturday it finished out the week with a 6 mile run and I thought my legs were going to give out.  But at the end of the day, I got to say "I ran 6 miles this morning" !   THAT wasn't so bad !

So..wish me luck.  Say a prayer for me.  Hopefully, this won't be my last post (which would mean it was the only week I completed)!!!