The Tree of Jesse for Little Ones: Week Four...

Day Twenty Two the Psalmist David

Day Twenty Three Crown

Day Twenty Four Burning Rock

Day Twenty Fivewhale

Day Twenty Six Fish

Day Twenty Seven Emmanuel Banner

Day Twenty Eight Thone

Flower Girl and Ring Bearer...

My sister, Kate, is getting married in February and today was the day that we bought Sugar Plum's dress and shoes and Little Man's bow tie and vest! Now onto the tricky part... Mama's dress! I am the matron of honor and I need a tea length dress in blue. Any suggestions?

A Dad for Christmas...

I am a sucker for sweet Christmas movies... and this one was no exception!

Where Babies Come From...

This was a conversation my sister had with our two oldest:

Auntie: Where do babies come from?

Sugar Plum: The Lord flies out of heaven, tiptoes into the house, makes the baby, puts it in the Mama's belly and then it's borned.

Little Man: The Lord comes down chimney.

Sugar Plum: No, you wrong. He comes through the front door.

Little Man: My story. He comes down chimney with baby.

Happy Namesday, Little Man!

.:The table with a photo of Little Man's patron saint and a little gift - a wolf cub:.

Learning Basket: Saint Nicholas...

Books
The Secret of Saint Nicholas
The Miracle of Saint Nicholas
The Baker's Dozen
The Legend of Saint Nicholas
Santa Who?

Activities
Create a Window Decoration
Make Cookies for Saint Nicholas Day using Saint Nicholas Cookie Cutter
Leave Shoes Out for Saint Nicholas Treats on the Evening of December 5th
Secretly Leave Presents for Neighbors

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Hymn to Saint Nicholas
(to hear the tune, click HERE)

O who love Nicholas the saintly,
O who serve Nicholas the saintly,
Him will Nicholas receive,
And give help in time of need:
Holy Father Nicholas!

He who dwells in God's holy mansions,
Is our help on the land and oceans,
He will guard us from all ills,
Keep us pure and free from sins
Holy Father Nicholas!

Holy Saint, hearken to our prayer,
Let not life drive us to despair,
All our efforts shall not wane,
Singing praises to your name:
Holy Father Nicholas!

Living and Learning: December...

Faith
Saint Alexander
Saint Nicholas
Saint Herman of Alaska
Saint Lucia
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Homemaking
Finalize Plans for Little Man's Namesday and Birthday
Christmas Planning, Shopping, and Wrapping Gifts
Christmas Decorating
Christmas Tree
Nativity Preparations with Children
Perfect Stovetop Popcorn Recipe
Perfect Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe
Follow Cleaning Plan in Preparation for Nativity
Solidify Plans for the Twelve Days of Christmas
Baby
Rolling from Back to Front
Keeping Baby Warm despite the Colder Temperatures

Themes
Saint Nicholas
Gingerbread
Winter
Nativity and 12 Days of Christmas

Rituals
Keep to the Bedtime Routine
Redouble Efforts to Turn Off the Television and Computer Before Bed and Focus on the Little Ones

Special Days
Uncle Gregory's Birthday - 3rd
Little Man's Namesday - 4th
Auntie Kate's Namesday - 8th
Little Man's 3rd Birthday - 12th
Uncle Nicolas' Namesday - 19th
Full Cold Moon - 21st
Auntie Anna's Birthday and Namesday - 22nd
Little Man's Hospital Homecoming Anniversary - 31st

Learning
Practice Being Still and Quiet during Prayers and Services
Learning the Trisagion Prayers - "In the Name..., O Heavenly King, Holy God..."
The Sign of the Cross for Little Man
Tidying up Toys after Play
Clearing the Table after Meals
Nature table scene
Christmas book basket
Watercoloring
Gingerbread House Party at the Bookstore
Christmas Parade
Winter Wonderland of Lights Display
Living Nativity
Children’s Christmas Party with Our Local Mom’s Group
Lacing Cards
Memory Game and Puzzles
The Tree of Jesse – Christmas Preparation and Nativity Celebration
Decorating the Children’s Christmas Tree
Children’s Nativity Play Set
Encourage imaginative play by not over-scheduling our days
Take the children to the nearby state park for nature walks
Polish wooden toys together

Preparing for Nativity...

Grace recently posted her list of Advent Calendar Activities and I thought that it would be good to write down the things was we have planned (so I feel less overwhelmed and also so I can remember what we did this year, next year!). We don't do an Advent Calendar (though I would love to... when will they come up with a cute one for 40 days instead of 25?), but we do fun things through the month of December. Our family loves the 12 Days of Christmas and I plan to make that a special time for us again this year! I hope to post about that later in the month...

Without further ado, our list of Preparations for Nativity:

1. Put out the Christmas books
2. The Christmas Parade
3. Purchase this year's ornament frame
4. Little Man's Namesday
5. Order the baby's stocking
6. Saint Nicholas Day
7. Hang snowflake decorations from dining room chandelier
8. Create birdseed decorations for the tree in the front yard
9. Purchase a new Christmas book for our family collection
10. Gingerbread House Party at the local bookstore
11. Hang garland around front door
12. Little Man's birthday
13. Saint Lucia Day
14. Winter Wonderland of Lights Festival
15. Watch a Christmas movie as a family with popcorn and hot cocoa
16. Decorate the mantle
17. The Living Nativity
18. Hang winter wreath on front door
19. Plan Christmas menu
20. Hang stockings on the mantle
21. Put out Christmas and winter decorations
22. Bring home the Christmas tree and decorate it
23. Christmas Wrapping
24. Put out Nativity sets
25. Christmas Day!!

The Secret of Saint Nicholas...

Just before Thanksgiving, we received a copy of The Secret of Saint Nicholas to review. What a wonderful book! The children and I have read the story of Saint Nicholas secretly tossing gold coins into the stockings of three girls about to be sold into slavery several times and the little ones are just as enthralled with it as they were the first time that they heard it. Ellen Nibali writes the tale well, using a style that is easy for children to understand and yet pleasurable for the adult who is reading it to them. The illustrations by Lon Eric Craven are beautifully detailed and the colors are magnificent.

I was thankful that the author took the time to write a note to teachers and parents mentioning the fact that the story told in this book is inspired by an event in the life of Saint Nicholas. It is important to point out that Saint Nicholas was already a bishop when he performed the good deed of dropping the coins into the stockings and not a teenager as the story portrays.

If you are looking for a good book to give to your children in honor of Saint Nicholas, this is it! The Secret of Saint Nicholas will be a treasured read in our home for many Decembers to come!

The Tree of Jesse for Little Ones: Week Three...

Day Fifteen Staff

Day Sixteen Ten Commandments

Day Seventeen Shock of Wheat

Day Eighteen Horn

Day Nineteen Candle Lamp

Day Twenty Slingshot

Day Twenty One Sheep

Orthodox Coffee Shop...

Healing the Brokenhearted...

By The Very Reverend Vladimir Berzonsky

How does the Lord heal the brokenhearted and bind up our wounds? He uses the healing myrrh with which the Holy Spirit sealed us at the sacrament of Anointment following baptism. Christ Himself wipes away our tears. Then He mystically snips pieces from our pure and precious baptismal garments, fashioning tourniquets in order to staunch the bleeding. He ties invisible strips of bandages and wraps them around our sores. We too are the agents of the Lord. He expects the same spiritual treatment from us. Our task is to assuage the pains of those in misery, to put together the cracks in broken hearts, and to comfort the weeping and grieving brought about by a world that inflicts suffering upon the children of God.

We celebrate the advances in medical science and praise the Lord Almighty for the bounties that technology has made possible. We live longer, healthier and more productive lives, especially when we obey our physicians and take advantage of the breakthroughs in conquering diseases that have afflicted past generations and shortened life spans of those who went before us. It is the emotional traumas, the mental afflictions, and the ignorance of a civilization that for the most part has rejected faith in God. Now it finds itself lost on the way to His Kingdom. The advances in spiritual progress won by those blessed pioneers of union with the Holy Trinity are rejected, ignored or ridiculed in the present post-Christian era. There are no spiritual breakthroughs that conquer rampant acts of aggression such as spousal abuse, random shooting sprees, and even serial killings. Sexual liberation bringing about such aberrant behavior as rape, pedophilia and other forms of physical gratification through exploitation of the innocent and weak has no permanent cures.

The first stage in the process of healing should be the simplest -- where do we find them? The injured are everywhere. The maimed are endemic. One need only to go out from oneself and listen, look and sense with a heart that pumps with love for a sign of people in anguish. Those most likely to do so are the ones who themselves have been wounded. The fortunate few who aren't sure just what they should be seeking are those who have somehow escaped suffering. How can I help, they say. What can they contribute to the one who is in anguish, other than a platitude: "It will be alright, just have faith"? The response from the afflicted: "Easy for you to speak of faith. Have you ever been tested yourself? Have you ever found yourself abandoned, without hope, wallowing in darkness alone and lost? If not, better be silent -- you don't know what you are talking about. Do you know the feeling of life without meaning? Can you understand what Jesus was feeling when He said, 'My God, why have You forsaken Me'"?

Despite all the wonders of medical science conquering the many diseases, they cannot "heal the brokenhearted." That phrase describes the anguish, grief, self-pity and suffering that is both spiritual and psychological. What medication can be prescribed for a tormented soul? What is the pill that offers bliss to the miserable? Who but God alone can bring joy to a wounded heart, and how does He do that other than to convey it through us? And when you find such a heart overwhelmed with joy, laughing when there's nothing funny, just from sheer delight, sensing love and returning that love, when such a heart is filled with serenity, the peace of God that passes beyond all understanding, at one with God and all others, such is one who had been healed with the balsam of the Spirit and bound with the spotless baptismal garment's strips. The broken heart has been repaired -- in a better state than it had been before the trauma that required healing. It confirms the faith that believes all is well, all will be well with the one who goes on affirming the presence of the Lord. The one healed from a spiritual illness has the trust in God strengthened. Her faith had been tested, and with the trial ended, she is set free to continue the journey through this world and time, and onward to the Kingdom of God.

Paper Bag Town Fun...

My mother and father have given us the wonderful gift of a subscription to High Five Magazine for Sugar Plum's birthday the past few years. This month's issue had such a great activity for little ones... two pages of drawings of doors, windows, signs, and plants to glue to paper lunch bags to create Paper Bag Town. We stuffed each bag with pages from a catalog and I stapled them together to create the buildings at varying heights once Sugar Plum finished cutting the pictures and gluing them down the way that she wanted. Little Man got in on the action by setting up his train tracks, trains, and road signs add to the scene. This activity has made the afternoon fly by! I think that this little town could be created easily by drawing doors, windows, and signs directly on the bags... how about a Gingerbread House??

Someone's Rolling Over...

Though I've known that he can do it for awhile now, today Button proved that he could roll over at just a little over five and a half months old!

In Thanksgiving...

O Lord, how lovely it is to be Thy guest. Breeze full of scents; mountains reaching to the skies; waters like boundless mirrors, reflecting the sun's golden rays and the scudding clouds. All nature murmurs mysteriously, breathing the depth of tenderness. Birds and beasts of the forest bear the imprint of Thy love. Blessed art thou, mother earth, in thy fleeting loveliness, which wakens our yearning for happiness that will last for ever, in the land where, amid beauty that grows not old, the cry rings out: Alleluia!

Thou hast brought me into life as into an enchanted paradise. We have seen the sky like a chalice of deepest blue, where in the azure heights the birds are singing. We have listened to the soothing murmur of the forest and the melodious music of the streams. We have tasted fruit of fine flavor and the sweet-scented honey. We can live very well on Thine earth. It is a pleasure to be Thy guest.

Glory to Thee for the Feast Day of life
Glory to Thee for the perfume of lilies and roses
Glory to Thee for each different taste of berry and fruit
Glory to Thee for the sparkling silver of early morning dew
Glory to Thee for the joy of dawn's awakening
Glory to Thee for the new life each day brings
Glory to Thee, O God, from age to age!

-Excerpt from The Glory to God for All Things Akathist

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A Brief History:

"This Akathist, also called the Akathist of Thanksgiving, was composed by Protopresbyter Gregory Petrov in a Soviet prison camp shortly before his death in 1940. The title is taken from the words of St. John Chrysostom as he was dying in exile after being forcefully and unjustly removed as Patriarch of Constantinople.

Fr. Gregory's work is a comprehensive celebration of God's glory as found throughout a broad examination of life, in the smallest of things, and most basic circumstances. It is a celebration as understood by someone from whom all beauty was seemingly denied, but who was given the gift to see the beauty of God's work in all things. It is a song of praise and gratitude from amidst the most terrible sufferings.

Fr. Gregory could have reflected on how evil the Communists were who caused his exile and imprisonment. Instead, he rejoiced in Christ, Who was within him and would never leave him. He could have reflected on his misery, on how the rulers had deprived him of his priestly duties and the ability to ministration to his flock, and on the pain that his captors inflicted upon him daily. Yet, the text speaks from someone with the knowledge that everything that happens to those who love God is for their benefit. It is a song of joy emanating from the heart of a man whose physical eyes could not not see the beautiful things which are described so vividly, but through Our Lord, was given a superior vision."

-Taken from: http://yya.oca.org

Macho Salad: A New Lenten Dish...

Willfulmina MacStubborn...

One of my beautiful sisters, Kate, has decided to return to posting at Bluestocking, her blog from awhile ago. She will be writing about her current reads, knitting projects, teaching adventures, and her latest endeavor... being engaged a seminarian. Since the wedding is in February, there should be lots of juicy details on the ceremony and reception. I am really looking forward to her posts on setting up house! Enjoy!

Learning Basket: Thanksgiving...

Books

The Very First Thanksgiving Day
This is the Feast
The Thanksgiving Door
The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving
In November

Activities
Create a Thanksgiving Tree with leaves that list what we are thankful for
Donate money towards Thanksgiving dinner at a soup kitchen (only $2 feeds one person dinner on Thanksgiving!)
Mayflower Centerpiece or Paper Boat Place Cards
Enjoy family!!

The Tree of Jesse for Little Ones: Week Two...

Day Eight Coat of Many Colors

Day Nine Cow Coloring Page

Day Ten Lion Coloring Page

Day Eleven Baby Moses Coloring Page

Day Twelve Unburnt Bush Coloring Page

Day Thirteen Frog

Day Fourteen Parting the Red Sea Coloring Page

Traveling...

It was November--the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines. Anne roamed through the pineland alleys in the park and, as she said, let that great sweeping wind blow the fogs out of her soul."

-L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables

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Tonight, I am packing up for a week-long trip to visit family. This little ones could hardly drift off to dreamland, they are so excited!