Sunday of Orthodoxy

Today, being the first Sunday of Great Lent, we celebrate Sunday of Orthodoxy.  Sophia participated in the procession around the Church holding the icon of her patron saint, Saint Sophia.

Bikes, Scooters and Skates....oh my !!!

Mama....can we ride my bike today?

...and skate ?

...and scooter ? 

We can never do JUST ONE thing...she likes to do all three, all the time!  Which of course means the skates go on, the skates go off, the bike helmet goes on, the bike helmet goes off, the pads, etc etc etc. But she has SO much fun and it is such a joy to watch.  She loves to let her little brother stand on the scooter with her and let me guide them down a little hill....what fun!

Broken houses and Boo-boos

Jorge Silva / Reuters  Photo from MSNBC.com

So, my little girl has a cold.  This means that she starts the night laying in the middle of our bed, propped up on some pillows so that she can fall asleep.  Her sweet Baba lays with her until she fades off into sleep.  Usually, I would be in the living room anticipating Demetri's next wakeup - but I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I crawled into bed with them, but couldn't fall asleep.  She was laying on top of the covers, so I couldn't pull them up to my neck the way I like to.  They had the pillows in some mini-mountain position, so I couldn't fix them "just right" under my head.  I was hanging off the bed.  I had tons of complaints running through my very exhausted head.

What was I thinking?  I stopped to think of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

The suffering and pain being endured by the people in Haiti at this very moment was completely inconceivable to me.  During this, and any disaster of such magnitude...is it even POSSIBLE to imagine how those affected are feeling?  The pains of their everyday existence. Their struggle for some sort of normalcy.  I thanked God for my family, prayed that He would have mercy on those struggling there, and snuggled with my little angel to sleep.

When we woke up the next morning, I sat with Sophia at the computer.  I showed her some pictures of what was happening in Haiti (selective photos I should add).  But as simple as they were, I wanted her to see that in some way....somewhere far away, there were people like her and I that needed love.   I also want her to know the joy and Blessing of giving.  We decided that when we went shopping today we would get some supplies to send to them.  I can't say enough about the IOCC  (International Orthodox Christian Charities) and all that they do.  We decided to pack up some hygiene kits.  They have so many ways you can help - and I am thankful that they provide this information to those looking for a way to help.

I can honestly say that I often feel that what I am able to offer to those in such dire need is so meager, perhaps even insignificant.  There are millionaires, business, teams, etc...that give so much monetary assistance. But,  I didn't want to stand by and do "nothing". I didn't want to wait and rely on everyone else to help those poor families.  I didn't want my daughter to grow up not knowing what it is like to give back and to reach out to those truly in need.   We decided to do something as a family. Something that we could labor together and do for our fellow brothers and sisters.  A labor of love.

While we were shopping today, Sophia picked up something that she thought a little girl would like and said "Can we send this to the people with the broken houses and boo-boos?".

Lord, have mercy.

Merry Christmas! Christ is Born - Glorify Him!

Merry Christmas!  Christ is Born !  We have had a very enjoyable Feast day and some great quality time as a family!  After we returned from our spiritually renewing trip to Marietta, we had a few things to do to prepare for Nativity.  As the time drew near, we continued to read to Sophia about the Birth of Christ and have really tried to emphasize the true meaning of Christmas.

We had waited until the last minute to put up our tree.  We usually put it up much earlier, but the Little Man of the house can be quite inquisitive and we envisioned him not only taking off the ornaments but perhaps knocking down the whole tree.  Sophia helped us to decorate it and put up our stockings...and lo and behold, Demetri has not ruined ONE thing !  Thanks to my brother-in-law, we were even able to hang lights outside for the first time! We had never had an electrical outlet on the exterior of the house...until now!

We had a few days to prepare our ornaments for the Ornament Exchange that we signed up for over at Orthodox Mom (thank you so much to Sylvia for organizing it)!  I am not overly "crafty" or creative, but I did find a great idea HERE and we made some Apple Cinnamon scented ornaments.  Sophia really enjoyed the whole process.  She helped measure the ingredients, mixed them with her hands, helped to roll them out and cut the shapes. She especially enjoyed decorating them!  We used the star-shaped cookie cutter and once they were baked and dried, Sophia decorated them with glitter-glue and then pasted an icon onto each ornament.

Getting ready to roll out the dough for the first time!

The finished ornaments!  

She made homemade Christmas cards and signed her own name.  She was SO independent and excited when we started making the cards, but once we did the first 3 or 4, she said "This is hard work"!  We brought them to the post office together and off they went!  We sent out 7 ornaments - which meant she would be getting 7 packages in the mail herself!  She was so excited each day as a box arrived in mail for her.  They are all on the tree, but I will take a picture of the ornaments collectively and hopefully post them soon!  Many thanks for all the work that went into these precious ornaments!

Well, she enjoyed the whole process of making these ornaments so much that I decided I would let her make some Christmas sugar cookies.  Again, her favorite part was putting on the sprinkles!  (mine too, I did a few of my own)!

We attended services of the Blessed Nativity of our Lord and then enjoyed the fellowship of our Church family.

Demetri venerating the Icon of the Nativity, with the help of his Nouna

family snapshot after the Divine Liturgy

Christmas Morning we spent at home enjoying some family time, opened a few gifts and played with the kids.  We spent the rest of the day at my sister's house with our family for a wonderful day of laughs, fun, and a delicious festal dinner !

Christmas morning

Working on her new "cube" puzzle, while Demetri plots to steal a piece!

Loved the skates that Yiayia got for her, wore them all day!

(even while playing with Demetri's new BeBop Band)!

Definitely posting this without permission....but I love how silly we 

can be when we're together!

I hope and pray that everyone enjoyed their Christmas!  Christ is Born - Glorify Him !

A little road trip

We recently returned from a wonderful, spiritually renewing and fun trip to Marietta.  We were very blessed to have some dear friends of ours lend us their mini-van...which made the trip so much easier and more enjoyable!!  The kids were real troopers!  After going through the long drive, they came with us to Bible Study that night, an agrypnia (all-night vigil) the next night, Holy Unction the next, then Divine Liturgy and an evening prayer service that same night !  We had a wonderful and uplifting time, perfect for this time of year as we prepare for the Nativity of our Lord !

Catching a few zzzz's during Bible Study

our faithful teacher and Spiritual Father

With Olympia's help, she got to do her FIRST Gingerbread house too !!

On the Feast of St. Nicholas

We have been reading about St. Nicholas in some new books that we purchased for Sophia.  The Life of Saint Nicholas The Wonderworker (St. Nectarios Press) and Saint Nicholas - The Real Story of the Christmas Legend are 2 of our new book acquisitions.  The little lady has really been enjoying reading them at night at learning about this beloved Saint of our Church.  Thanks to Sylvia I have a list of a few additional books we'll be getting as well.  


Before going to bed last night, we had the children put out their shoes in anticipation of St. Nicholas bringing them some "goodies".  Although we never took part in this tradition as children, I really think it's a wonderful idea to do with our young ones and I am so glad that we have started to do it in our own little family.  Sophia was so excited when I reminded her this morning to go check her shoes.  They got some gold/chocolate coins, Orthodox icon flash cards (goarch.org), and a book as well.  I wasn't sure if she would actually connect the coins to the stories that we had been reading - but when she saw them she said "like the girls who wanted to get married"!  


Oh....and as you can see, she couldn't decide whether to leave her shoes or her boots - so she left both ! 

She taught me a(nother) lesson !

Last week I was changing Demetri's diaper and talking to him throughout the process (trying to keep him on the table)!  In my babbling, I said "uh-oh, looks like we have to make some more wipes for the little man".  We cloth diaper - and use cloth wipes.  Sophia has watched me whip up a quick batch of "wipe solution" more times than I count.  I was preoccupied so I hadn't noticed that she had gone into the bathroom across the hall.  When I came out of my son's room, there she was... mixing and shaking the little jar.  I noticed my little bag of "stuff" on the counter and the bottle of lavendar oil looked almost empty.  (I've had this same bottle of oil since Sophia was born and we began our cloth-diapering journey).  "HUH (gasping), SoPHIAAAA, what did you DOOOO?" I said behind my gritted teeth.  She calmly got off her footstool and said "Mama, you didn't say Thank You"...and she carried her wet wipes to the changing table.  Choking back a tear, I followed her to the room, gave her a hug and told her how thankful I was that she was such a "big helper" to me!

Since that day, I have noticed so many more times that she is "helping" me.  I've really tried to make it a point to show her my appreciation and let her know what a great job she is doing.  I can see the joy in her little eyes when I take notice and make a big deal out of something she has done for me.  It is precious.