Daffodils in January...

It seems wrong to have these bright little daffodils on our table in January, but I couldn't resist them! To me, they will always be a March flower. I hope they sell bunches and bunches of the tightly closed buds around my birthday. They seem so cheerful after the gray of winter and are a pick-me-up during Great Lent. I love that they are sometimes called the Lenten Lily.

Making Soup...

In direct defiance of the 60 degree weather we have been having, I made chicken stock today. Everything simmered on the stove from lunchtime to bathtime. I strained it and popped it in the fridge for Thursday's lunch. I think that we'll have chicken noodle soup and buttermilk drop biscuits topped with butter and strawberry jam. It will be a rainy day... and a bit more like how the winter should be!

Reading...

Home at last and now was the time she had been looking forward to all week: fire-escape-sitting time. She put a small rug on the fire-escape and got the pillow from her bed and propped it against the bars. Luckily there was ice in the icebox. She chipped off a small piece and put it in a glass of water. The pink-and-white peppermint wafers bought that morning were arranged in a little bowl, cracked, but of a pretty blue color. She arranged glass, bowl and book on the window sill and climbed out on the fire-escape. Once out there, she was living in a tree. No one upstairs, downstairs or across the way could see her. But she could look out through the leaves and see everything."

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Betty Smith

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More Quotable Sunday HERE

Children's Simple Spring Wardrobes...

I know this is early, but we have been having an unseasonably warm winter here! With some spring things starting to show up in the shops, I was inspired to work on our lists this evening.

We have been having great success with the pared down wardrobes that we have been using the past few seasons. Though we could probably eliminate one or two of the dresses/skirts/pants/shirts, I am comfortable with the amount that we have for each child... occasionally, we have days when laundry isn't done, and if we have a few extra things to wear that doesn't become a big deal. I think that babies need more, while big kids might need less. My children tend to like to wear the same things over and over, so this works for us!

Here is what our children's wardrobes will consist of this spring:

Sugar Plum

5 Dresses

2 Skirts

3 Tops

Little Man and Button

7 Bottoms (we really like roll up pants best)

7 Tops

Everyone Has:

1 Dressy Outfit (which we will get for Pascha [Easter]... will become our go-to Sunday outfit after Pascha)

Lots of leggings, tights, socks, undies, and undershirts (these are the hardest for me to keep up with!)

2 - 3 pairs of pajamas

2-3 sweaters and fleece jackets

1 rain coat

1 pair of rain boots

1 pair of sandals (we are going to try Salt-Water Sandals for everyone... I feel like they will eliminate the need for Sunday shoes and a casual sandal for everyday)

1 pair of slippers for chilly mornings and evenings

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Are you planning your warm weather wardrobes yet?

Fun in the Playroom...

Tired of my chores this morning, I decided to set up one of the walls in the playroom. I put up some wall cards I bought when I was expecting Sugar Plum. Next came favorite Christmas gifts: Button's little piano, a stack of bean bags handmade by my sister, a rolling pony, and our rocker board (so much fun for adults and children alike!). Then we played and played. Now it's back to the dishes!

The Playroom...

When we moved in, we knew that this large, airy room would be perfect as a playroom. Originally, it was a game room complete with a bar and built in cabinets for liquor and sports jerseys. We ended up removing the bar and removing and dry-walling the cabinets.

Next on the list was priming the red and black paint and painting the whole room.

One of our parishioners did all of the painting. It was very time intensive... he worked for nearly 40 hours!

We really, really like it! I've been slow to return the toys and books. It is nice to have all this open space. We may even end up turning this into more of a family room than exclusively a playroom!

The Heart of the Matter...

Frederica Mathewes-Green

Parenting, Dec 1991 - Jan 1992

In Edgar Allen Poe’s classic horror tale, "The Tell-Tale Heart", a murderer dismembers his victim and hides the pieces under the floorboards. When the police call to investigate, he prides himself on his cleverness—but gradually becomes unhinged, at last screaming out the location of the corpse. He was undone by the sound of his victim’s heartbeat, drumming in his ears.

Why, after so many years of legalization, does the abortion debate continue in America? Why haven’t we accepted it as matter-of-factly as we do any other surgical procedure? I believe that it has something to do with a tell-tale heart. Deep inside we know: someone dies in every abortion, a tiny growing child with hands and eyes and a face and a beating heart. Four thousand times a day that beating heart is stopped—but in our conscience it seems to go on.

I didn’t always feel this way. I was an abortion advocate in college, and before the Roe v. Wade decision my car sported a bumper sticker that read "Don’t Labor Under a Misconception—Legalize Abortion." But that was when I thought that abortion merely discarded a "glob of tissue". I didn’t know that that tissue was shaped remarkably like a baby, and that it was alive. I didn’t know that the crude process of abortion sucks the child out, piece by piece, through a narrow tube and into a bloody bag.

But once I learned, my stand against violence had to include abortion as well. I simply could do no other. For the tell-tale hearts are our own as well; we cannot deny the beat of compassion that wells from within, that urges us that something is terribly wrong in our land.

The abortion business makes at least $500 million dollars a year in this country, performing over a million and a half abortions. Only a tiny fraction of these are done for reasons of health, rape or incest. Half of all abortion customers were using no form of birth control; nearly half are coming back for a second (or third or fourth…) abortion.

Are these women callous, contemptuous of the lives they have begun? Yet who would choose abortion if she had any other choice? The procedure itself is ugly and degrading, a mechanical vacuuming of the womb’s interior; she must pay for this privilege several hundred dollars in cash, and knows, at some level, that its only purpose is to destroy her child. In the process she runs risks from puncture and infection to colostomy, paralysis, or death; abortion is an unnatural invasion to reverse a healthy process, so even legal abortion will always have its risks. Then there is the psychological trauma, sometimes delayed for years, which accounts for the number of grief-stricken post-abortion women flooding into the pro-life movement.

It seems clear that no woman would have an abortion if her alternatives did not appear even more forbidding. Like an animal caught in a trap, trying to gnaw off its own leg, the aborting woman can see no other escape except this route of violence and despair.

In defending the path of abortion, Supreme Court Justice Blackmun wrote, "Millions of women…have ordered their lives around [access to abortion], and…this right has become vital to the full participation of women in…American life." We recoil to think that something so hideous could have become necessary to our lives. How can it be that we must sacrifice our children to succeed? Is such a sacrifice laid on men? Is any other oppressed or marginalized group required to have surgery in order to participate in American life?

Abortion may not have helped women, but it has helped those who would be inconvenienced by her pregnancy and her child. It is easier for a sexually irresponsible man to pay for a woman’s abortion than to marry her, or to pay child support for eighteen years. It is not out of concern for women’s welfare and dignity that Playboy so enthusiastically supports abortion on demand.

The relentless demands of careerism also have little patience with parenting. It is easier for an employee to abort her child, than for management to worry about providing maternity leave, health insurance, child care, and time off for Mom to go to the school play. She is expected to conform to the male model of worker—never pregnant, with a wife at home to take care of the kids. It’s easier on everyone if the woman has an abortion—easier on everyone, that is, except her and her child. No wonder our hearts are uneasy. Abortion is cruel to children, and it is not much kinder to the women on whom it feeds.

For these reasons, many pro-lifers have turned their time, not toward politics, but to practical aid in the abortion dilemma. There are approximately 3000 pregnancy care centers in America, where a woman can receive many kinds of help ranging from housing, medical care, legal aid, food and clothing, to job and budget planning for the years ahead. All these services are offered free, donated by volunteers who are for the most part women just like her—mothers who care about other mothers in need. No matter how one feels about abortion laws, we can all consider lending our aid to these woman-helping agencies by volunteering time, or laundering donated baby clothes, or opening a guest room to a woman whose family has rejected her. Sometimes all a woman needs is the knowledge that someone cares, that they will stand by her as she tackles a challenging and courageous path.

I have faced this path myself—not as vast a crisis as some women must endure, but still daunting to me. My husband had just lost his job when we found I was pregnant; we knew we would have to move cross-country, but had no idea where. We already had two children under five. Gary and I walked around the block in the late afternoon, choked and fearful. I thought about the tiny, trusting heart already growing beneath my own. Our lives felt out of control; what could we offer this child?

But we did find a job, and we did move, and Stephen was born in our new home, a joyous day among midwife and friends. Nine years later he’s the portrait of boyhood, bold and busy, full of plans and projects. But for all his Ninja-Turtle posturing, Stephen has a tender streak that betrays him when he spots a stuffed animal or sees a sentimental show. Of all the hearts that love me, his is the one that loves me with the most unfettered, blind devotion; to him, Mom is perfection on earth.

I think of all the thousands of women today whose children will be pulled out of them bit by bit, children who are as much like them as any mother and child can be. At some point, that tiny, new heart will beat its last. Who can say whether that would have been the heart that, in all her lifetime, would have loved her best?

Stephen comes in, flushed and grimy from running in the afternoon sun. He interrupts me as I sit at my desk, impulsively flinging his arms around me in a baby-bear hug. My head rests against his slender chest. I can hear in there his tender heart, beating faster now than the wings of a bird.

Broadcast of the March for Life...

The March for Life will be broadcast today on EWTN at 11:00 am EST. Metropolitan Jonah will be a speaker at the rally! You can view live streaming on the EWTN website if you don't have the channel on your television.

Reading...

The young people had put things in apple-pie order as far as they had gone. A fire was laid in the big stone fireplace, all ready for touching off, and gave a homelike, cleared-up look to the whole place as if it were getting ready for some event. On each side of the chimney stood a simple set of bookshelves filled with well-worn volumes that ha a look of being beloved and in daily intimate association with the family. On the top of the shelves Carol had placed some bits of bric-a-brac, and in the center of each a tall vase. Beside them were a few photographs in simple frames, a strong faced man with eyes that reminded one of Shirley and a brow like George's; a delicate-featured, refined woman with sweet, sensitive mouth and eye's like Carol's; a lovely little child with a cloud of fair curls.

The old couch was at one side of the fireplace, as a convenient angle to watch the firelight, and yet not hiding the bookshelves. On the other side, with its back toward the first landing of the rude staircase, stood an old upright piano with a pile of shabby music on the top and a book of songs open on the rack. On the floor in the space between was spread a worn and faded ingrain rug, its original colors and pattern long since blended into neutral grays and browns, which strangely harmonized with the rustic surroundings. A few comfortable but shabby chairs were scattered about in a homelike way, and a few pictures in plain frames were hung on the clean new partitions. Under one stood a small oak desk and a few writing materials. A little further on a plain library table held a few magazines and papers and a cherished book or two."

The Enchanted Barn
Grace Livingston Hill

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More Quotable Sunday HERE

Famous Rapper Sings About Abortion...

Flipsyde is a group that has toured with Fort Minor, The Black Eyed Peas, Snoop Dogg and on the Anger Management Tour. Two of their songs have been the theme songs for the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. It is good to see young and very talented artists standing up for the unborn.

Reposted from last January.

445 Babies Saved From Abortion...

445 babies saved from abortion thanks to free ‘Bella’ movie, popcorn

By Peter Baklinski

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin, January 12, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-life organization has a novel strategy to reach out to a woman who is thinking of aborting her baby. The plan consists in handing out a ‘night at the movies’ that includes free popcorn, candy, and yes, a free DVD. The strategy has already saved the lives of 445 babies, says the group.

Bella HERO, a non-profit organization, views it as their mission to provide for free what they call the “powerful life-changing” film Bella to any pregnancy care centre that wants it. The program, launched in 2008 by Jason Jones, the producer of the awarding winning film Bella, has as its goal to give the pro-life movie to any woman with an unplanned pregnancy so as to help her in making what the pro-life organization calls “the most important decision in her life.”

The film Bella, released in 2007, is a story about how reaching out in a loving way to someone in a difficult situation can give them hope.

“What the movie does is touch the women where we can’t,” said Tracy Reynolds, program director of Bella HERO in an interview today with LifeSiteNews. “It really shows her what her opportunity would be either to be a ‘mom’ or to ‘choose adoption’ and give that child a home.”

Reynolds compared the film to a “mega ultrasound” which allows a troubled pregnant mother to really see the possibilities in choosing life.

Over 700 pregnancy centres across the USA, Canada, and Australia are now using the Bella film strategy to change hearts and save lives.

Counselors receive training how to use the film with pregnant women who are undecided about the fate of their baby and even considering abortion. Some centres have found that the “movie night in a bag” concept, which includes the “DVD, popcorn, candy, and other creative items,” is practically impossible for someone to turn down.

Heartwarming success stories leave no doubt that the strategy is effective.

Abortion minded 16-year-old Anna (name changed) received counseling over the phone from one centre. She was sent a packet which included Bella. Soon afterwards, Anna called the centre back saying, “Bella is the best movie I have ever seen! It helped me decide to keep my baby.”

Another woman, Tina, and her boyfriend came into one centre and discovered that she was pregnant. Not only was Tina in college at that time, but she was also far away from home. She did not think that she was ready or able to bring a child into the world. The abortion-bound couple was given a copy of Bella.

The couple surprisingly returned to the centre for an ultrasound. The staff were delighted to learn that they had decided to keep their baby and parent the child themselves. The father wanted to name his child ‘Bella’ if she was a girl. The couple’s choice did not swerve when the ultrasound revealed twin daughters. They are now the proud parents of Bella and Millie.

Cindy (name changed) visited a pregnancy centre very “confused and scared.” The 25 year-old woman was already the mother of a young son. She did not want to abort, but felt she had no choice since she “felt she loved her boyfriend too much to interrupt his college plans”. She went home with the film Bella, but not before agreeing to return for an ultrasound.

A few days later, Cindy returned to the centre crying. The staff heard that she had not slept for the last few days. The counsellor learned that Cindy had watched Bella and not only decided to keep her baby, but had broken off her relationship with her boyfriend and turned her life over to God. Just like the star in the film, Cindy chose adoption for her baby.

Peggy Hartshorn, President of Heartbeat International, a pro-life organization that works to make “abortion unwanted today and unthinkable for future generations,” endorsed the Bella HERO initiative, saying that many women who feel “pressured to abort an untimely pregnancy need someone to say that it is okay to have a baby.” She believes that the film is a lesson in “compassion, self-sacrifice and the unconditional love of family” and that it will give pregnant woman a “positive message.”

Cindy Collins, Director of a Crisis Pregnancy Center in Louisiana encourages pregnancy centres to put the film to use. “It has been received with enthusiasm at my center, and we already have 5 mothers who chose life after watching the movie,” she said.

Reynolds is convinced that all an abortion-minded woman needs to know so that they will cherish the life within them that there is that “there is hope, that they are not alone, and that somebody is out there who will help them”.

Many staff at pregnancy centres believe that the film captures the heart of their ministry. They look forward to more babies being saved as the story of Bella continues to reach troubled pregnant women with a powerful message of hope.

9:30...

Every day at 9:30, we start brewing coffee for the men. Lessons are wrapping up, laundry is whirring in the machine, dishes are washed, and we are ready for a little break. The children help insert the coffee, add the water, dip the spoon into the sugar (twice!), and pour in the cream (or usually, milk). Once each cup is made, I tip it into travel mugs while the children put on their boots and coats. They happily deliver the warm mugs to the guys, who stop work for just a few minutes to rest. We go into our cozy house and settle down with some books, blankets, and mugs of tea, listening for the sound that work has begun again. I love this routine and the smell of coffee brewing. What will we do when the work is over?

Painting Mailboxes...

Bathroom Window...

Father John put window film into the master bathroom window tonight. We have had it in all but one of the bathrooms that we have lived in and really like it! We still have to paint the window frame and I have to iron the shade and trim the ties, but I love airy it looks!

Paperwhites...

The Blessing of the Atlantic...

This past Saturday, we had the pleasure of joining the local Greek Orthodox Church for their annual blessing of the Atlantic Ocean. They decided to hold the service on the pier this year (last year's was on the beach), which was really quite perfect for getting to see the kids jumping into the freezing water to retrieve the cross. Our little ones had a wonderful time and especially loved seeing the two doves they released fly over the water!

Reading...

But I love snow," Irene insisted. She coaxed her mother into bed, covered her with two quilts, and added a blanket for her feet. Then she fixed her some tea with lemon and honey and put more wood in the stove.

With great care, Irene took the splendid gown down from the dummy and packed it in a big box with plenty of tissue paper.

Dress warmly, pudding," her mother called in a weak voice, "and don't forget to button up. It's cold out there, and windy."

Brave Irene
William Stieg

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More Quotable Sunday HERE

The Standard of Christian Stewardship...

By The Very Reverend Thomas Hopko

The norm for non-monastic Christians is to be moderate in our possessions, to have only what is absolutely necessary, to give away more than we need in concrete acts of mercy, and thereby to be godly and spiritually free. The question, of course, is about what and how much are truly necessary. What do we really need? How much is enough? Each of us will have to decide for ourselves and our families, as well as our churches and nations. We can do this only by the Holy Spirit’s power, with the guidance of Scripture, participation in the Church’s liturgical and sacramental life, the reading of the lives of the saints, and the counsel of wise and loving pastors and elders in the faith.

A Door for Papa's Office...

Father John needed a home office in our new house. The perfect room for a study is right off the foyer, but it had no door. After trying to do without for a few weeks, it became clear that a barrier was needed to keep noise to a minimum and little people out of mischief. Though we still need to add a handle, the door is helping Papa get some work accomplished during the day!

Tea Time...

Tea, a bit of chocolate, Theophany roses, and the January issue of Britan's Country Living... a little

calm amid the chaos!

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What little treats perk you up on a rough day?

Little Man and Button's Room...

The boy's room was literally painted neon green!

We stayed with green, but toned it down a bit.

It is a little hard to see in the larger picture, but here is a tiny portion of the different greens before some nail holes were patched.

Sugar Plum's Room...

Originally, Sugar Plum's room was painted a very vibrant pink! It was so bright that a pink glow could be seen from down the hall!

We toned it down to a lovely pale violet. I admit that this is shaping up to be my favorite room in the house.

Being Close to God by Going to Church - Why do We Stress Church Attendance?

By Hieromonk John (Anderson)

The Church is literally the Body of Christ. This means that corporately, not individually, we are Christ Himself still incarnate in the world doing His work. If a person desires with their whole heart one can unite to Christ and become a member of His Body. Ideally, this is motivated by a simple desire to know God and to be where He is. Out of this love for God comes the desire to follow his commands and to worship Him. However, this happens in a context which is not our own.

Orthodoxy maintains the ancient Jewish belief that God is manifest in the temple. We believe that the same glorious presence of God, the Shekinah Glory, that dwelt on the Ark of the Covenant now resides on each altar in every Orthodoxy Temple. “God is with us, understand all ye nations.” Isaiah 8:10, as the hymn from Great Compline says. If we truly understood what this means -- that the God “who is a consuming fire” is literally present in the Church -- we would strive to worship before Him frequently.

Church attendance is not merely about obligation, guilt, or nostalgia. It is about being where the beloved is and worshipping Him simply because we love Him. It is about being the Body of Christ in oneness. By going to Church we learn to lay aside ego, we learn to love, we learn to live, and we learn how to be truly human. Christ Himself told us to make God the absolute center of our lives and to make all else secondary. Eternal life begins at the altar where we remain in His Presence without distractions, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matt 6:21.

Reading...

Deep in the dark roots of Brambly Hedge tiny lights appeared as lamps were lit in the windows. More little lights could be seen leaving the Store Stump, moving hastily along the hedgerow, and disappearing into holes hidden in the twisty roots. The mice had smelled snow in the air, and were all hurrying home to a nice hot supper by the fire.

Mr Apple, warden of Store Stump, was the last to leave for home. By the time he reached Crabapple Cottage, the first flakes were beginning to fall.

"Is that you dear?" called Mrs. Apple as he left himself in through the front door. Delicious smells wafted down from the kitchen. Mrs. Apple had spent the afternoon baking pies, cakes, and pudding for the cold days to come. She drew two armchairs up to the fire, and brought in their supper on a tray."

Brambly Hedge
Winter Story
Jill Barklem

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More Quotable Sunday HERE

Revival of Orthodoxy in Russia...

What happens when technology and big money work together for God's Glory? Just watch this great presentation of Moscow Exhibition Rebirth of Orthodoxy!

I think that it is especially important to view the images of the persecution that the Orthodox Church of Russia endured during Communism that are towards the middle of this video. I don't think that we can comprehend how horrific that time was for Christianity without seeing footage like that.

Spice Jars...

I finally couldn't take of the multitude of different-sized plastic spice jars that littered our cabinet any more. I decided to use some jam jars that I have been collecting as a substitute. I love that the mouths are wide enough for my measuring spoons! The labels are from Martha Stewart's line at Michaels. This was a quick and extremely satisfying project yesterday afternoon. I keep getting a thrill every time I open my seasonings cupboard! Now to organize the art supplies!

Festal Learning Basket: Theophay...

Books

The Theophany of Our Lord
The Baptism of Jesus (The Children's Bible Reader, Pages 178 - 179)


Activities
Schedule your house blessing

Clean your home to prepare for your home to be blessed

Decorate glass bottles with tight fitting lids to bring Holy Water home in

Wear white to Liturgy. If you don't have an entire white outfit (we don't!), don a white sweater, shirt, or even a hair bow!

Serve a special meal... perhaps a dinner like the one you had for Christmas?

Sing the Troparion of the Feast for the prayer before meals.

Display the Theophany Icon on your feastday shelf or table. If you don't have one, print a coloring page and color it in!