The Hidden Garden...

It was with great excitement that we eagerly opened a package from Conciliar Press on Friday afternoon just minutes after our UPS man handed it over!  Inside was Jane G. Meyer's latest masterpiece, The Hidden Garden:  A Story of the Heart.  It is a book with a truly lovely message of hope, forgiveness, and redemption.  

Written as a parable, The Hidden Garden is an old man's exhortation to his little grandson to tend the spiritual garden in his heart with prayer, love, and good deeds.  The author's poetic writing weaves the old man's tale beautifully as he recalls a life living without Christ and then the change that comes over him as he asks for help from the Lord.  Masha Lobastov's illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to Jane Meyer's story.  They are bold and colorful and yet possess a dream-like quality that is captivating to young children.

As Great Lent quickly approaches, I can think of no other book to purchase this year to help children understand the benefit of drawing closer to the Lord.  They will receive gentle instruction on praying ceaselessly, loving one another, and helping those in need.  The Hidden Garden is a gem that you will enjoy reading with your child over and over again!

Meatballs...

Ingredients
1 lb. Ground Beef
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1 Onion, Diced
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
3/4 tsp. Oregano
1 1/2 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1/3 c. Milk
1/4 c. Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 c. Seasoned Bread Crumbs

Method
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until evenly blended.  Form into 1 1/2 inch meatballs and place in a baking sheet.  Bake in the pre-heated oven until no longer pink in the middle (20 -25 minutes).

Serve hot with your favorite pasta and sauce

Note:  I like sauteing the chopped onions for about 10 minutes prior to mixing them up with the other ingredients.

Edith Shawl...

 

The Edith Shawl is finished!  I began it November 29th and finished it February 22nd and so it is my longest project yet.  I think that it is also my favorite project.  I knit it with our friend Olga in mind the whole time and was able to give it to her on Saturday night.  It is very fulfilling to give something away that you have made with your own hands.  It is also humbling:  What if she doesn't like it?  What if she sees all the mistakes?  What if she washed it in hot water?  (just kidding!)

I made this shawl along with many others at our knitting shop as part of a knit along.  We were given the pattern, needles, yarn, and instruction for as long as it took to make it.  This was the first time I did this, and I would do it again!  It's lots of fun to see how others are progressing each week and it is great to have encouragement and help from experts.

Now that I have finished this shawl, I think that I would like to make another.  It was quite difficult for me to get the hang of the lace pattern at first, but with persistence and stitch markers, it became rather easy at the end!  Next time I will try a different yarn...  one that is a bit smoother.  The yarn that was used for this project was thick in some spots and thin in others.  I would like to see what the pattern looks like when using a more uniform yarn.

Next up:  A Finished Tiny Tea Leaves!

Sprouting...

I'm really not great at growing things (I always forget to water!), but when I saw As Cozy as Spring's post on Microgreens, I knew that I wanted to try planting greens with our little ones.  I found everything that we needed (though in the future, I think that I'll skip the little paper pots and opt for a container like Jennifer's), and we quickly re-hydrated the little dirt pellets and popped our seeds in.  We don't have growing lights (or even sun today), but I put a bit of plastic wrap over top of them and put the pots on the counter top under the lights we have beneath our cabinets.  I hope that they will be happy and that I can stick to a watering plan for two weeks...  somehow though, I have a feeling that these little seedlings will be well-watered by my little sprouts!

Reading...

Celeste began straightaway to clean and make order of her new home.  Now that the house was bright and cheery, and its contests easy to see, she could open drawers, explore cabinets, shake out linens, polish brass, shine crockery, and sweep floors.

And she did .  She made a small broom using feathers from the old mattresses and a rag from a bit of mattress ticking.  Soon the floors and walnut staircase glowed.  She dusted and polished the chandelier and glass cabinet doors.

An inventory of the dining-room cabinet revealed a lace tablecloth, four china plates with matching cups and saucers, and a china serving platter.  In one drawer Celeste found several tiny candles, partially melted from the summer heat in the attic."

A Nest for Celeste

Henry Cole

The Obedience: A Puzzling Command...

The Little Things...

When we began homeschooling in earnest this past year, I knew that I wanted to keep things simple.  I wanted each child's school books to fit into one basket and all of our daily supplies (not counting picture and chapter books of course!) to fit onto one bookshelf. 

As the year has progressed, I have found a few things that have made our way into our little school nook or our routine that have been very helpful for our family and have made it easier for me.

1.  A Wastepaper Basket:  This sounds very silly and obvious, I know.  I did not have a garbage can in our school area and I noticed that things got chaotic and messy without one.  Once I put one next to our work area, it eliminated the numerous trips we were taking to toss a piece of paper, dump, pencil shavings, and empty the dustpan.

2.  A Binder:  I have been using a binder to collect all of the bits and pieces of paper that are associated with learning at home and it has been nice to have everything in one place to refer to and use through our lessons and especially in preparation for our homeschooling review that takes place twice a year.

3.  An Electric Pencil Sharpener:  This is something that I hemmed and hawed about for a long time.  It seemed to frivolous and unnecessary when we had two little sharpeners that are twisted with one's hands.  This electric one has made things a lot easier.  We were forever loosing the little sharpeners (or one of the two parts), the shavings were dumped all over the place, and it took a lot longer to sharpen pencils (and we seem to need to sharpen a lot).

4.  A Daily and Weekly Tidy:  This was a big help!  The children and I tidy up the playroom on a daily basis (usually!) to keep everything in order.  Sugar Plum and I try to keep our school books and supplies organized as we use them.  Each week (usually Thursday), we dust, sweep, empty the wastepaper basket, etc. as we listen to some classical music.  It is actually pretty enjoyable!

5.  An iPod dock:  Not too long ago, we realized that it would be easier to have a way to listen to music and audio books in the playroom.  Our little ones like to listen to music and stories while they play and having everything in one place was a huge help.  We already had this dock in our master bedroom (where it sat unused mostly) and I wish that I had thought to move it to the playroom much sooner!

I know that none of this is rocket science, and likely all of you have thought of these things before!  I feel a little foolish for even taking the time to write a post about such things, but I think that it will be nice to look back and see how things evolve for us as a homeschooling family.

Favorite Things: Cloth Napkins...

For a few years now, I have been using washcloths in our kitchen to wipe up spills, clean faces, wash dishes, and clean the counters every evening.  We go through quite a few each day and I have noticed that it has helped us to keep our use of paper towels down to a minimum (we haven't eliminated them completely).  Typically, I throw dirty washcloths into the laundry room throughout the day so that they can go into the next load of wash that I do.

Despite my positive experience with reusable cloths in the kitchen, I have been resistant to using cloth napkins.  I think that it has something to do with thinking deep down that they are for fancy meals and shouldn't be used everyday lest they be ruined.  Isn't that silly?

We have begun to use a set of chocolate brown hemstitch napkins that I bought years ago for Thanksgiving dinner fairly regularly and despite being rather messy eaters, we have not ruined a napkin yet.  Feeling brave, I recently purchased five (I'd like to buy more as the budget allows...  I haven't decided if it is better to have 8 or 12) red and white gingham napkins with  dear little red picot trim.  We broke them in last night with a dinner of ravioli, meatballs, and lots of spaghetti sauce.  I simply tossed them into the washer before bath-time and voila!  They were ready for breakfast with nary a mark on them!  I am not very fussy about how they look, so I simply smooth them a bit as I fold them and don't worry about the creases in the least!  In fact, I think they look better if they are a little rumpled.

Do you use cloth napkins?  How do you care for them?  How many do you find you need for your family?

Yarn Along: Cheerful...

The Edith Shawl is making it's final appearance in a Yarn Along post (I hope!)!  This Sunday is Olga's wedding party at church and I hope to present it to her then.  I have to just finish up a few more rows with this last bit of wool, block it, blog it, and then it is hers!

We're reading another mouse story:  Cheerful.  It is a sweet picture book about a city mouse that longs for the country.  Cheerful is a boy mouse, so that makes my little men very happy!

Happy Anniversary!

 

Happy Second Anniversary to my sister Kate and her husband Peter!  May God Grant You Many Years!

.:All Photos from Holy Trinity Monastery's Website:.

Stacking Wood...

Stacking Wood from Olive Us on Vimeo.

Olive Us is a weekly video series that was created by Ben and Gabrielle Blair and features their six little ones.  These short videos are very well done and show such interesting things!  I think that this one is my favorite (followed closely by Betty in Paris)!

Monday...

 

Reading...

The way Mama could peel apples!  A few turns of the knife and there the apple was, all skinned!  Jane could not take her eyes from her mother's hands.  They had a way of doing things, peeling apples, sprinkling salt, counting pennies that fascinated her.  Jane sighed.  Her mother's peelings fell off in lovely long curls, while, for the life of her, Jane couldn't do any better than these thick little chunks which she popped into her mouth.  Moreover, it took her as long to peel one apple as for Mama to do five or six.  Would she ever get so she could do as well?"

The Moffats

Eleanor Estes

Tutorial for Learning the Eight Tones...

The OCA Website has just launched a tutorial for learning the eight Obikhod and Kievan tones (there are only four up so far).  It has long been my desire to learn the tones (they are sung on an eight week rotation in the Orthodox Church) and since I don't read music (another thing to learn someday), this tutorial is perfect for me!  I hope that anyone who wishes to learn or perfect their knowledge of the tones will be able to use this terrific feature on the OCA Website!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Yarn Along: A Nest for Celeste...

I am chugging right along on Sugar Plum's cardigan...  I am a few hours away from finishing the sleeves.  I will to try to do the button bands on my own, but I may have to wait until Thursday to get a little help during knit night.  


We picked up a copy of A Nest for Celeste while we were running errands last week.  It is a huge hit with Sugar Plum and Little Man and has inspired a lot of drawing and sketching!

Axios!

To our dear brother-in-law Subdeacon Peter!  We wish that we could have come to your ordination today!  We were there in spirit!

Living and Learning: February...

Faith
The Meeting of the Lord
Saints Simeon and Anna
Zacchaeus Sunday
The Publican and the Pharisee
Saint Raphael of Brooklyn

Homemaking
Remove the last few Christmas decorations
Reorganize Seasonal Decorations in the attic
Enjoy Forced Bulbs (Hyacinth, Tulips, and Daffodils)
Hang Family Photographs in Our Bedroom
Purge Boy Clothes Bins in the Attic
Book Hair Appointments for Sugar Plum and Me
Make Dental Appointments for Father John and Me
Clean the Car
Start a Winter Planting Project:  Microgreens?
Valentine's Day:  Menu, Small Trinkets, Cards, Decorations
Knit Sugar Plum's Tiny Tea Leaves
Finish Knitting Olga's Edith Shawl
Read Everyday Saints
 
Themes
Candles
Hearts and Valentines
Red
Museums
 
Special Days
Groundhog Day (2nd)
+Gege (1st)
Baba's 90th Birthday (4th)
Valentine’s Day (14th)
Aunt Susan (17th)
Grandma (17th)
Auntie Kate and Uncle Pete's Wedding Anniversary (20th)
Full Snow Moon (25th)

Learning
Practice being still and quiet during services and prayers

Practice patience and love towards one another

Learn to Sing "Beneath Thy Compassion"
Souper Bowl Sunday
The Sign of the Cross for Button Listen to The Carnival of the Animals  Tidying up Toys after Play
Clearing the Table after Meals
Read A Nest for Celeste
Read Mrs Piggle-Wiggle
Complete the Ramona Series
Nature Table Scene
Winter Book Basket
Watercolor Pencils
Learn How to Cut Out Hearts
Feed birds
Polish wooden toys together Weaving with Sugar Plum
Knitting Fork with Little Man

Reading...

 

There is one certain way to cheer yourself up, on January days, when Christmas is quite over, and the spring is still far ahead, when outside it is grey and cold, windy or wet or snow-bound - make marmalade...  Even the word marmalade is ripe and pleasing to the mouth."

Through the Kitchen Window

Susan Hill

The Brethern...

My father-in-law told me about this interesting documentary which is about the world's nothern-most Orthodox monastery.  It has English subtitles!