Summery Fashion Inspiration...

Chic Sunglasses

A Scarf to Ward off the Chill


A Variety of Tees

Summery Handbag

French Market Basket for Shopping, Beach Trips, and the Pool

Light Cotton Skirts

Flowery Sandals

Good Things...

Five Good Things About Today:

:: A Sunflower Stall on the Side of the Road - 3 for a Dollar!

:: Freshly Trimmed Bangs

:: Fajitas for Lunch

:: Mrs. Pig Gets Cross and Other Stories in the Library Bag

:: A Shoelace Strung with Wooden Spools Entertaining a Teething Babeshki

What are some good things in your life?

The Good and Faithful Priest, Parishioner and Parish...

Recently, Father John came across several podcasts by Father Alexander Atty and recommended that our parishioners spend some time listening to them. I think that you will enjoy them too!

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The Good and Faithful Priest
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

The Good and Faithful Parishioner

The Good and Faithful Parish

Learning Basket: Summer...

Catching (and Releasing!) Baby Crabs Last Summer

Books
Mama, is it Summer Yet?
Summer
Summertime in the Big Woods
Summer Story
Flower Fairies of the Summer
Summer: An Alphabet Acrostic

Activities
Play in Water (use the hose if all else fails!)
Enjoy Summer Fruits and Vegetables
Visit the Farmer's Market
Visit the Beach or Pool
Pack a Picnic or Dine in your Backyard
Take a Walk to Hunt for Treasures for Your Nature Table

Papa's Day in a Seaside Town...

Happy Father's Day!

Papa and Sugar Plum Catching (and Releasing!) Baby Crabs

To all of the fathers we love!

Learning Basket:: American Flag...

Books

The Flag We Love
Our Flag
Stars and Stripes:The Story of the American Flag
F is for Flag
I Pledge Allegiance

Activities
Make a Flag Cake
Hang a Flag Outside Your Home
Review Flag Etiquette
Sing Patriotic Songs (we like Wee Sing America!)
Learn the Pledge of Allegiance
Dress in Red, White, and Blue or Wear a Flag Tee Shirt

Evening Ocean...

We took an impromptu trip to the beach last night... the waves were rougher than usual, but the children has a good time building channels, pits, and dunes to block the waves from our towels. Since it was such a balmy evening, we ended the evening with ice cream and watched lightening through the car windows all the way home.

Feminine Friday: Decorate for Summer...

With the Summer Solstice just a few days away on June 21st, it is time to start freshening up your decor to reflect the warmer months of the year. Though I love to shop, it is always fun to see what you can come up with from what you already own. An easy way to get started is by looking through your favorite magazines and catalogs for inspiration. My favorites include: Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, Cottage Living (the British Edition), Victoria,, and Martha Stewart Living.

The next thing to do is to put away the decorations that don't evoke summery feeling to you. I've put our heavy throw blankets away and taken down a lot of my spring-y things (bunnies, bird's nests, eggs, etc.). On a side note, since I like decorating for the seasons so much, I have several large bins in the basement to keep my decorations organized, safe, and clean for the next time I need them.

Once you have a clean palette, consider these classic summer ideas for decorating your home:

• Seashells
• Wicker
• Lanterns
• Strings of fun twinkle lights
• All things patriotic
• Fresh flowers
• Baskets for storage AND decoration
• Butterflies and Fireflies
• Candles
  
• Books open to summery illustrations
  
• Fresh herbs in pots on the windowsill
• Geraniums
• Seasonal fruits and vegetables in a bowl
  
• Jars or baskets with favorite games like dominoes or Bananagram letters
• A favorite straw hat or bag hanging on a peg
• Jars of rocks collected on a nature walk
  

What are your favorite ideas for summer decorating?

A New Great Grandson!

My cousin, Phoebe, and her husband Andrew welcomed a little baby boy into their family this afternoon! Phoebe had to have a c-section, so please keep her in your prayers! The baby is perfectly healthy and the new dad says that everyone is doing well! We are so excited for them!

On the Farm...

Hello, Billy Goat!

Hens

Sweet Black Raspberries

Oink, Oink!

We spent the afternoon at a local organic farm in our area. One of our parishioners works there in the summer and he was excited to take our children on a tour! We loved seeing the crops and animals... it was especially exciting to take a walk into the woods to see the pigs! Before we headed home, we bought a sack of black raspberries, flat leaf and basil seedlings, and some porkchops (hurray for a fast free week!). The children shared a snack of the creamiest chocolate milk and homemade strawberry yogurt... it was the quietest ride in the car we have had in a long time!

Six Years...

Happy Anniversary, Father John! I love you!

Festal Learning Basket: Pentecost...

Books
The Feast of Pentecost
Pentecost (The Children's Bible Reader, Pages 268 - 269)

Activities
Wear outfits in shades of green to liturgy
Bring flowers and greenery to church to hold during Kneeling Vespers.
Decorate family icon corners with greenery.
Sing the Troparion of the Feast for the prayer before meals.
Display the Pentecost Icon on your feastday shelf. If you don't have one, print a coloring page and color it in!
Serve green foods for lunch and dinner. I am thinking about Chicken Caesar Salad for lunch and Homemade Pizza with Alfredo Sauce, Broccoli, and Sausage for dinner.
Make a cake or cupcakes for dessert with strawberries and candles

Feminine Friday: Sunglasses...

One of my favorite summertime (or anytime) accessories are sunglasses. Normally, I believe in quality over quantity, but with three young children sunglasses don't survive very long in our house. My favorite pair is from Walgreens and was under $10. I have also gotten nice ones from Marshalls and big box stores like Target. I have heard that you can get fabulous sunglasses at thrift stores, goodwill, and garage sales, too!

I keep my sunglasses right in the cup holder of our car so that I can grab them the minute that I need them. I feel a little more sophisticated and a little more pulled together when I put them on... which si a great feature for a relatively cheap accessory in your wardrobe!

Queen Anne's Lace and Seashells...

It feels as if summer has already arrived... the days are truly hot here (upper nineties 101!), Queen Anne's Lace is blooming along the roads, and sandy seashells are finding their way into little pockets. My children are quite used to mama putting on the hazard lights and hopping out of the car to gather flowers on our forays around town. I am happy that I found lots of Queen Anne's Lace because our anniversary is on Sunday and I like to have our wedding flowers (Blue Delphinium and Queen Anne's Lace) in a vase on the table. What a blessing that it falls on Pentecost this year!

Summer Lunch...

.:Peanut Butter and Jam with Strawberry Hearts:.

Here are some of our favorite no-fuss summer lunches:

Fresh Fruit and Yogurt
Spinach Dip with Chunks of Crusty Bread for Dipping
Caesar Salad
Simple Sandwiches
Veggie Platter with Fresh Dip
Cheese, Sausage, and Crackers
Chef Salad
Tuna Fish Salad on Bread or a Plate of Greens
Chicken Salad on Bread or a Plate of Greens
Hot Dogs and Macaroni and Cheese
Falafel in Pita Bread
Homemade Bread, Ham, and Cheese
Freshly Baked Muffins with Butter
Pasta Salad
Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwiches
Pesto, Peas, and Pasta
Taco Salad
Chili Cheese Dip and Corn Chips

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What are your favorite summer lunch ideas?

Great Commercial...

Can you guess what is being advertised before the video finishes?

Lattice...

When we bought our house nearly two years ago, putting lattice up under the front porch and the screened-in porch were high on our list of things we wanted to do... however, there were other more pressing things that had to be done first. Yesterday, out of the blue, Father John suggested that we just do it already!

.:The Front Porch Before:.

.:The Screened-In Porch Before:.

.:After:.

.:After:.

.:After... But Before We Scrubbed Off the Moss Growing on the Siding:.

.:Ta Da! All Clean!:.

One!

Happy birthday to our sweet little boy!

A Peaceful Sunday...

We took some time to explore a State Park not too far from us this afternoon. It meant a later dinner and later bedtime, but it was so nice to walk along the beach, see interesting wildlife, and even climb an observation tower from World War II. Life seems to move more and more quickly as each day passes, so I treasure these moments with our family so much.

Afternoon Light...

Where the Green Grass Grows...

Our backyard was a long stretch of patchy dirt with little tufts of grass and weeds sprinkled throughout...

It was ugly, dirty, and rough on little bare feet.

Since Pascha, Father John has been working to make our yard a more habitable place to be. After several truckloads of dirt, lots of grass seed, and many, many hours of work, here is our backyard this afternoon:

And here it is as Father John mowed it for the first time:

It looks so great and the baby grass is so soft! Good work, Father John!

Next up, some big leafy trees!

Water Play!

We received a wonderful gift this week (in honor of Sugar Plum and Button's birthdays) from my best friend and her family. I have often wondered if a water table would be a good thing to have, and I must say that this toy is really great! It occupied my little ones for quite a long time and was perfect for the scorcher that we had today! I foresee this toy being a favorite for all of the children for a long time! Thank you, Courtney!

Festal Learning Basket: Ascension...

Books

The Ascension of Our Lord
Jesus Ascends into Heaven (The Children's Bible Reader, Pages 267)

Activities
Set up a Feastday Shelf
Fly a Kite
Picnic on a Hill
Wear the Color White
Go Cloud Watching
Use recipes for the feast of The Ascension from An Orthodox Kitchen
Add a vase of flowers to the icon corner and/or feast day table
Set out an icon of The Ascension
Color an icon of The Ascension
Sing the Festal Troparion Before Meals
Look for Icons depicting The Ascension in church
Listen to the Audio of The Ascension of Our Lord

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Going Up, Up, Up into Heaven

Going up, up, up into heaven
Going up, up, up into heaven
Gonna ride that cloud on up to heaven
From the Mount of Olives
He’s going up to heaven.

from Gigi Shadid’s CD, Celebrate the Feasts