Icon Writing With Kids–The Annunciation

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end."
34 And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?"
35 And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing will be impossible."
38 And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)
I really need to start drawing the outline of the icons we will write before Alex sits down with me.  He is getting bored while I draw and sometimes wanders away.  Lately, he has only painted for a short while and becomes disinterested after waiting so long.  I think he would paint longer if his icons were prepared before we sat down.  Suffice it to say he painted very little of this icon.  I was sad.  The Annunciation is one of my most favorite feasts.  I am always very moved by the life of Mary.  I think it is because she was fully human and undefiled by sin.


This is a water-color painting of the Annuciation I did for my senior project in high school.  The book was, honestly, terrible.  If only I knew then what I know now.  I had a lot of trouble finding someone to help me with the text.  I should have stuck to scripture.  How FAR I have come and how FAR I have to go.  In any case, this painting was inspired by, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”

Pure Laundry

It turns out that today was a perfect day for the dryer to die, not that I wanted my dryer to die!  I am 100% sure that it can be fixed.  I am not in the least bit happy that I will have to pay to have it fixed.  But, I only had two loads of laundry to finish, so I pulled out the trusty clothesline.  I really like hanging things on the clothesline, I just was not at all prepared to do so.  I had A LOT to do today and I only completed half of my list.  What made this all so much harder was that the kids were really on their game today.  Every once in a while the kids do not mind at all.  Alex did not do anything I asked the first time.  Asking five times and then coercing him into order wears on me severely.  Right before nap Kristiana pooped on the floor in the playroom.  Yeah, real cute, K-dawg.  Then she did not nap, but she did stay in her room for an hour.  Then she joined Alex and I for the reading lesson.  All day long I kept repeating to myself “Come on, Renee, don’t give up.  You can do it.”  Yeah, I really wanted to throw in the towel today (uh, pardon the laundry pun); call a sitter; pour a drink; draw a bath; and sink in for a soak.

Speaking of throwing in the towel, I have been thinking a lot about Mother Teresa lately even though I have not been reading her book lately.  I have been thinking about how she did not give up on all the hard work she did, and how she did not give up on her vows to God.  It is hard to believe that a woman who was adamant about doing SMALL acts with great love, did so many great things.  To me her vows seem unfathomably difficult.  I fear making any vows outside those the Church beckons me to keep.  I fear that if I were to invent a vow for myself, I would not keep it.  Perhaps Mother Teresa did not invent these vows, but was hearkened by the Holy Spirit.  

7 Quick Takes - From Youngest to Oldest

1. Annie Loves Sunshine – Annie’s Godparents have a little song they made up called “Annie Loves Sushine.”  They sang it to her when we visited and now I sing it to her and she smiles and laughs.  It’s a sweet thing.  She is pushing up a lot these days. She also sits. She babbles at us a lot.  She is also smiling a bit more these days. She likes grabbing things and trying to get them to her mouth.  She likes music a lot.  Whenever she is crying in the car, I only have to put music on and she is quiet again.  Just a couple of weeks ago I lamented my little newborn was gone and she now grows too fast.  But now, she is becoming and fun little infant.

2. Kristiana Two Going on Twenty – Little Miss KK loves to talk to adults.  If any adults acknowledges her, she starts jabbering on.  No one knows what she is saying.  She must be saying something real, because I understand a word or two as she goes on.  She gestures wildly as though her gestures mean something.  She is such a head strong little girl.  She knows just what she wants and won’t accept any thing less.  Lately she has been telling me she is a princess; everything has to do with princess.  At dinner she told me she wanted a princess orange.  She is such a dainty and effeminate girl too.  I don’t know where she learned to act so girly.  This picture is typical Kristiana. 

3. Alex Learning Patience – As I have said before, Alex and I have been working on “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.”  Overall it has been going well.  He is now reading short sentences from the book.  However, he IS a typical boy in every way.  He always has been.  On Monday, it took more than an hour to get through our lesson.  He was wiggly and not doing what the instructions asked.  I kept asking him to put his finger on the words and make the sounds and he would just flop over.  I kept telling him that clearly he did not want to do the lesson today and we would work another day and I would close the book and walk away.  He kept begging me to come back.  I would sit back down, open the book, and he would look at the lesson and remember how hard it was and shut down and we would be back to square one.  But he wanted to finish it and I don’t know why.  By the end of the week the lessons only took the appropriate 15-20 minutes.  Perhaps he is learning patience and reading at the same time.

4. Renee the Way – I have been meandering my way through Great Fast.  It seems like two steps forward and one and half steps back.  It seems the harder I fight to pray and fast, the harder evil fights back at me.  It seems every day I see evil running through my life like a freight train I am powerless to stop.  All I can do is hope that the Lord will push me out of the way when the train comes too near.

I am just juggling all the house hold duties and more—paying bills, cleaning, dog walking, cooking, diaper changing, laundry (Oh, woe is the never ending laundry!); and breastfeeding is a job on it’s own; reading lessons, play dates, among other morning activities—then there’s my mom’s book study and retreat planning, and learning about home schooling, and icons.  Then I must have an hour of leisure each night.  It’s a busy life and there hardly seems time for it all.  I look forward to the day when the children can help more with the chores.  Obviously, this will be essential to becoming a homeschool family.

5. Andrew of Joy and Madness – Andrew seems to have had a good week.  Early in the week, he had a student mouth off in class about the impending college basketball tournament.  He saw that the student was showing his youth and ignorance.  He challenged him to put something on his mouthy exclamations.  The student thought about it and it was decided that if Gonzaga lost to St. John’s Andrew would shave his head.  We now know Andrew does not have to shave his head.  Oh how I wish he would not make such wagers.  But, March Madness makes Andrew both joyful and mad.

6. Friends and Family Focus – It seems so many of our friends and family are facing trials and tribulations at the moment.  It is hard to know how best to be charitable towards them.  It is hard to do anything at all without making their troubles greater.  All I know to do is to pray for now.

7. The Living House – No one ever told me that houses have lives of their own.  I knew there was going to be expenses and maintenance with owning a home, but it seems as though this house has a life of it’s own.  We have to plant a garden bed now.  We have a big ugly, empty garden bed right in front of our house.  All the rest of the landscaping can wait, but this needs to be done.  Anyway I slice it, to make it look halfway decent is going to cost $200.  Andrew and I would much rather spend that $200 on other things, but this house has a life of it’s own.

Icon Writing With Kids: St. Patrick’s Day

It’s been way too long since we have written an icon.  It’s been six weeks.  I think it would be enlightening to write the icon from last Sunday’s Gospel: The Temptation of Christ.

Anyhow, I am happy we were able to celebrate one of the great saints in history—St. Patrick of Ireland.

Alex wanted our icon of St. Patrick to look like the one drawn by Tomie De Paola in his book, Patrick of Ireland.  But I modified it, because I still wanted it to be our own creation.  After we wrote this icon, we read the book.  I highly recommend checking it out from the library, even if you are grown up. I also recommend Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato, by the same author (the story begs you to speak in an Irish accent).

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Because Childhood Should be Magical

Here are the murals in the girls room.  I imagined it more elaborate with green vine borders and flowers around the doors and window, but this took forever and was difficult because we have a lot of texture on our walls.  As it is, I still have some highlighting to do.  But, I am all burnt out now and I don’t think I can be an attentive parent if I do anymore for now.  (This is the color my kitchen was supposed to be.)

This is Kristiana’s side of the room.  She’s my tinker princess.

This this is Annie’s side of the room (that is when she finally moves in). 
She’s the beautiful humble princess.

Tot Talk: Just Ask Kristiana

So we lost a credit card the other day.  We knew it was in the house.  I had borrowed the credit card from Andrew to purchase some books on the Amazon website.  Then I handed to Alex and asked him to take it back to Daddy.  That is the last time the adults saw the credit card.  The next day we asked Alex where the credit card was and he confidently exclaimed that he had put it on the high counter for Daddy.  This was a plausible answer.  I remember seeing it there.  But, where was the card now.  We looked in all the likely places—the office, the playroom, in the sofa cushions—nothing. 

Today, when Andrew came home from work, he asked if we had found the card.  “No Honey, and Alex is insistent that he put it on the high counter. So we will have to cancel it to be safe.”  Then Andrew asked if I had questioned Kristiana. 

“Oh well, I guess I could. Maybe she knows where it is.”

I was not feeling too hopeful.  I have been having trouble understanding her lately as her vocabulary expands, but her enunciation does not.

“Kristiana, do you know where the blue credit card is?”

“It in da t.d.”

“Uh, okay?”

So, I walked over to the t.v. and started shifting the t.v. pedestal around.  No card yet.  Then I got down on my knees and low and behold, shoved underneath the pedestal between the cabinet door latches was the card.

No, we were not angry with her at all for shoving it in there.  We were happy she told us where it was.  She was just precious when she told us.  The irresponsible adults need to put important things away properly.  It’s funny how little kids seem so out of it at times, yet they are totally on top of their game at other times.

Deep Thoughts–“Harden Not You Hearts”

For a Christian, our struggles and imperfections give us even greater depth of soul and fervor for the Lord, because we have worked so hard to seek the Lord despite that which corrupts us.  The Lord cannot remove the desire to sin.  He cannot remove temptations so that sin is impossible.  Because we have chosen these afflictions for ourselves.  Removing temptation would remove all that there is, because the heart of man can turn any substance into a vice.

‘til Pascha

Today, I was thinking that I do not keep up on this blog often enough.  However, on any given day my life is so full of things to do.  It is a wonderful blessing to have such a life that is so full that it can hardly all be done.  When my mind is full of thoughts to share there isn’t a moment to sit down and share it; and when there is a moment to sit and share, I am too exhausted to remember the things worth sharing.

Perhaps, during Great Lent I ought to devote some time pondering great and Holy things.  Then spend a little time sharing great and Holy things.  My fellow blogger friend, Kayleen (http://whenkayleengrowsup.blogspot.com/), shared about her Lenten journeys and that she was reading Great Lent: Journey to Pascha by Alexander Schmemann.  This excited me because my husband recently read Schmemann’s book For the Life of the World and shared some enlightening notions with me.  I purchased the book on Amazon this weekend and hopefully in a week, we will be joining in the Schmemann “journey to Pascha.”

In the same vain, I wish to share some significant Lenten sacrifices that took me down new avenues in life…

Freshmen year of high school I “gave up” soda pop.  I was surely addicted.  I drank at least three a day.  This sacrifice was great for me, but did not remind me to pray and be holy near as much as it ought.  I was only just discovering responsibility for my own faith.  I never went back to drinking soda pop and this gave me confidence to seek other goods in life.

Freshman year of college I gave up looking in the mirror for Lent.  This was to squelch my vanity. I found myself falling to peer pressure, often desiring more beautiful physical appearance.  It was hard.  Especially when I had an interview and had to put on makeup without a mirror.  In any case, the fruits were great. I only had the beauty of my inner-most parts to reflect upon people as I had no idea what my outer-most parts were reflecting.  Do not misunderstand, I cared for my appearance as usual.  But, I spent less time on my overall appearance by not spending any time in the mirror judging whether it was good enough.  This loss of vanity remains almost as strong today as I brush aside my gray hairs knowing vanity will never cover them.

The first year I fully participated in the Eastern tradition of Great Fast, I was astonished at all the deprivations of the East.  The reminders to be Holy were almost every moment.  This filled my soul so greatly with life.  This was the first time in my life I felt I could truly be selfless and be a true servant.  Again, the fruits were great.  By Easter these fruits were tangible as we learned we would have a child.  This is something neither my husband nor I could not have fathomed at the beginning of the Fast.  How great is the Holy Spirit.

Since then, I have been pregnant or nursing each Lenten season and have done my best to partake in Great Fast in whatever ways I can.  However, I have come to find that nothing moves the soul like great deprivation.  It is harder to deprive oneself when food is so vital to sustain the lives of infants.  Hopefully, this Great Fast will be as fruitful as those of the past.

It is amazing how much we missed meat and dairy after just one week.  We indulged in our Sunday feast today.  The meal of sausage and veggies with cream sauce tasted very luxurious.  Every morsel tasted of blessings.  How fortunate we felt to partake.  We felt far removed from those who truly suffer.  What a terrifying earthquake and tsunami that occurred a couple of days ago.  Our little deprivations hardly seem enough and now we hope with baited breath that no more tragedy befalls the nation of Japan.

What journey will the Holy Spirit send us on this fasting season?

…’til Pascha.

Ashes for Annie

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  From ashes you have come and to ashes you will return.”

A Simple Woman’s Daybook

Outside my window… there is a slight spring chill. The sun is shining brightly as it could only in Texas.  I see lots of construction of houses in my neighborhood and I hope everyday for more houses to be built for nice, holy folks.  So that our neighborhood may be finished soon.

I am thinking… the kids might watch a little extra T.V. today so that I can do some painting.

I am thankful for… all of these marvelous things the Lord has provided.  And if not for these marvelous things, then for the faith to sustain me all the days of my life.

From the kitchen… Chickpeas soaking in the pot for chickpea masala tonight.

I am wearing… a peach top and flowery pajama bottoms. I haven’t gotten dressed yet today, because I wanted to catch up on blogs—foolishly.

I am creating… a mural of Tinkerbell’s pixie garden in my daughter’s room.

I am going… to plant a garden in the garden bed outside our front door.  I am feeling very intimidated by it, because I am not a green thumb. But I have planted seeds. Lavender, stevia, rosemary, basil, cilantro and baby’s breath.

I am reading…. Full of Grace, Come Be My Light, Another Brush with God

I am hoping…a baby girl may get to go home with a wonderful family toward the end of the month.

I am hearing… the jingle of change being picked up off the floor.  Alex just spilled a few hundred pennies…oh wait, the baby is screaming because Kristiana pushed her over just to hear her cry.

Around the house… please no more little improvements to make the house hospitable. I am sure we can live as is for a while. It’s hard not to want to do it all at once.

One of my favorite things… is eating an avocado sandwich first thing in the morning, washed down with coffee.  I get really selfish when Kristiana wants to eat my sandwich too. I have started to make her own avocado sandwich.  Now Annie is eating my avocado too.  “Girls, just back off my avocado.”

A few plans for the rest of the week: I am going to Boston to visit good friends!!!

Here is picture I thought of sharing…. My seedlings—green and flesh.

God Be With You – Last Judgment (Meat Fare) Sunday

Today marks the last day Eastern Christians can have meat until after Easter.  We’ve already begun our preparations in the pantry.  The only meat we have in the house will be consumed today.  The rest of this week we will dine on dairy.  The following week, no meat, no dairy.  Next shopping trip at the end of the week, I will acquire a little bit of meat for the kids.  “Oh meat, how we love you.  But out faith in God transcends you.  See you on the other side of Great Fast.”

(Last Great Fast I did not give up coffeemate in my coffee.  Our priest always tells us it’s not the quantity of the fast but the quality.  So every time I fail at giving up coffee creamer I remember what he said and say extra prayers.  But, I will do my best at giving up creamer this year. I have every intention of doing this.  Hopefully saying this aloud will keep me honest. OH GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER).

Matthew 25:31-46 - "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' Then he will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

“To Infinity and Beyond…”

This is what happens when your mommy likes to play with paintbrushes.  When we decided to paint our kitchen, Alex started picking paint swatches for his room.  I hadn’t planned on painting any room.  But, Alex talked about painting his room everyday for a full month until we painted his room.  As a child’s room it did need a durable coat of paint.  We painted the kitchen, then Kristiana’s room (pictures to come) and now we have totally finished Alex’s room.  We still need to touch up the trim in the kitchen and decorate.  I need to finish the mural in Kristiana’s room.  The problem is the time I have to paint is during her nap and she is usually sleeping in her room.  But, Alex’s room is done. 

HE just happened to pick a swatch that said “Buzz Blaster Blue,” which was just perfect because he had decided he wanted his room to look like Andy’s room from “Toy Story 2.”  When we first painted the room, we were stunned at how blue it was. We did not know if we were going to be able to live with it.  Then we painted the stars and we think it is very cozy now.  We have probably made mistakes with such bold colors in our house, but it is our cozy, little house in which to make mistakes.

Just Laying in the Sun like Cats

7 Quick Takes–Lessons from Saints and More

Sit back, pour yourself a glass of wine and grab your Bible.  This one is going to take a while to read.

1. "These Beautiful Things” This week in my book study, Full of Grace, the chapter was about Eucharist.  I am going to share a few things from this chapter.  It is not that I did not know these things, or that I do not remember them daily.  It is in reading these Catholic practices and beliefs in black and white in such simple terms that I sat in awe as my whole Catholic identity came flooding at me.  I remembered vividly my own first communion and preparation and other special days I received the Eucharist.

St. Justin Martyr gave this simple description of the Christian Liturgy in 155 A.D.  I paused on this line, “When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.”

On the day well the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place.  The memoirs of the Apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits. When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things. Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves…and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.

When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss. Then someone brings the bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.  He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the Son and the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.  When he had concluded the prayers of thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying, “Amen.”

2. “Whoever Eats of This Body…” John 6:53-59

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

3. Cannibalism?! One of my friend’s said that she was asked this question once in regard to the Eucharist.  Of course she said her only response was a stunned silence.  To a Catholic this sort of question can hardly be dignified with an answer.  However, if, as a Catholic, you should ever find your tongue in time to give response here is what Pope Paul VI said of Transubstantion:

[the bread and wine] are no longer common bread and common drink…For beneath these appearances there is no longer what was there before but something quite different..since on the conversion of the bread and wine’s substance, or nature, into Body and Blood of Christ, nothing is left of the bread and wine but the appearances alone. Beneath these appearances Christ is present whole and entire, bodily present too, in his physical “reality,” although not in the manner in which bodies are present in a place.

This is what Catholics believe.

…Those were not such quick takes, but a blessed spiritual journey and witness to the faith. 

4. “Suffer and Laugh”  I am still reading about Mother Teresa in Adoration.  So here is a short quote from a letter she wrote that stuck with me, “Sister Gabriella…She has learned to serve the Lord in such a way that she suffers and laughs at the same time.”

5. Sitting Pretty – Annie can sit now.  It is not for long, but she improves everyday.  She cannot get into this position herself.  Her favorite/default position is laying on her back, grabbing her toes and rocking from side to side.  To me Annie seems older than 4 1/2 months.  The other kids could not sit as confidently as early.  Although they did sit and walk earlier than “average.”  Annie also grasps for objects very well.  She is now eating rice cereal everyday.  We did not start the other kids on rice cereal so early, but Annie has an interest and desire in food that the other kids never did.  She grabbed my pizza one evening and tried to gum it down.  She takes after her mommy. FGC ;-)

6. Reading Railroad – Andrew has been exploring reading programs for Alex.  My friend told me about “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.”  This appealed to me because when I learned to read it was not via any elaborate or expensive phonics program like the ones advertised on the T.V.  No it was simple lessons each day in my first grade class.  There were no flashcards.  I remember it was simple and easy. I kept looking for simple and easy reading programs for Alex.  I am not ready to throw hundreds of dollars at any program.  So we bought the aforementioned book.  The lessons are fifteen minutes each day.  We have done three lessons and so far so good. It usually takes me 5 – 15 minutes to settle Alex enough to give attention to the lesson.  I will be excited to see where this little journey in reading will take us.  I cannot stop Alex now, because he keeps figuring out words on his own and I think a little formal training would be beneficial.

7. Don’t ever grow up!  The previous two “takes” brings me to my next.  Why do these kids have to grow up? Just stay cute, little and funny forever.

“We and Our Children–The Need for Perseverance”

Modern mothers have been relying on psychology books to interpret child behavior for so long now that if all the psychology books were burned to a crisp, few mothers could relax with the conviction that God’s love, the maternal instinct, and Divine Grace could take their place.  I am not minimizing the work of child psychologists.  They have taught us many new insights into the needs and behavior of our children.  But God can teach us even more, because children’s willfulness, their disobedience, their tantrums, speak just as eloquently for their own search for God and perfection as our sins do for ours.  What we all – little or big – want is God; if we do not realize it, however, we choose many ignoble things in His place.  And if we want to teach children to be good with a goodness that is lasting, we must teach them to be good for the love of God.

The Claytonian Prayer Corner – Hopefully if we keep gathering here more and more as the years pass by, perhaps the children will learn of That Lasting Goodness.

They Makeup Their Own Minds

I have been driving myself crazy about my children’s behavior. Recently, I reflected back to when I was a child. I was not a bad child, but I do remember that if I wanted to do something, I would just go ahead and do it regardless of what my parents said. They could council me, teach me, discipline me, and if I wanted to listen, or thought their input was helpful or good, I would comply. But, I decided what I did. I used to think as a kid that you really cannot blame the parents when kids screw up, because kids make up their own minds in what they do. I definitely viewed myself as an individual capable of making my own decisions.  Then as a young adult, having made some good choices in my life, I thought that when kids screw up it’s largely the parents at fault for not disciplining and monitoring their children. If you raise your kids with the right morals and values, they will become virtuous people. Now that I am a little further into parenting, obviously it is both. When I was a kid and I was trying to determine whether to act badly or not, I did remember the lessons my parents taught me. The final decision was all my own, but the lessons advising me were from my parents, teachers and mentors. This is what I am trying to remember as I get stressed to tears over my kids not listening. They may be choosing to not to act right, but they are listening. Perhaps someday, they will choose to act virtuously.

My Little Texans in the Snow

Disclaimer: This video is probably only interesting to Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles.  It is literally a video of my kids walking through the snow.  If you are not close family, may want to skip this one.  All I have to say is that you can tell these kids are from Texas and not used to the snow. It does not help that they do not have appropriate snow gear.

 

Icon Writing With Kids - Presentation of Our Lord Into the Temple

What a busy day.  Alex and I barely managed to squeeze in our Icon for today’s feast.  This is not something I would like to repeat.  One should take the time one needs to prayerfully relish the time writing an Icon.  Nonetheless, we found just enough time to complete the Icon for today’s feast.

It was revealed to the prophet Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would see Christ, the Savior, in his lifetime.  When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple to make their offering on his behalf, Simeon took the Child in his arms and said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel." Luke 2:22-40

Part of our rush today was that we had our regular morning activities followed by Liturgy at noon.  We had to run back to our house to pick up my husband and then hit the road to church.  But, I forgot our candles to be blessed!  As is the custom for this feast—Christ is the Light of the World.  I had even written myself a note not to forget them.  I was a little distracted by the –10^o F weather, having to wait for Andrew to get ready, and the kids demanding juice and the like. Oi vey.  But, I guess I knew I was going to forget them and that’s why I wrote the note.  I also did not have time to go get bee’s wax and make our candles.  So here they are, our candles, unblessed.  Oh well, perhaps next year.

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Now if you are really astute, you will have noticed the color of our kitchen wall above.  The color is called “Oolong Tea.”  Andrew and I like to call it “English Country House Green.”  But, in the wrong light Andrew and I teased each other that we had just painted our entire kitchen 1970’s avocado green.  To prove it is no where near avocado, I took a picture of this ripe avocado.

The kitchen was almost yellow.  I started painting it yellow.  But then decided it was not right with the rest of our décor and the kitchen opens to the main room.  Kristiana will be getting a yellow bedroom whether she likes it or not.  I think she will like it, because I am going to paint a mural.  I will post more pictures of the kitchen when we finish all the decorating.  Until then…

Sleep When You’re Dead and Other Wisdom

We have taken a week long break from home school, because Alex and Mommy were frustrated.  Alex was frustrated and that caused mommy to be frustrated.  I do not know what happened, but last Wednesday Alex could not sit still, lost focus and scribbled all over his work book even though he had been happily working moments before.  Then the whole afternoon turned into a smack-down, drag-out, Alex Vs. Mommy power struggle.  Anyhow, I decided we would just focus on Alex following instructions, having a good attitude and being respectful.  Plus there were better things to do, like painting the kitchen and playing.

So here are some of Alex’s adorable playtime.  Those trains have not been played with in months!

Everyone has an annoying little sister.  This is Alex’s.  We are trying to teach Alex to be respectful when she is annoying and not hit her or take her toys.

Alex made the whole family dinner in the play kitchen a couple of times this week.  Here is our family enjoying our play dinner.  We even said the blessing before our meal.  And guess what, we discovered Alex knows how to say the blessing when given the opportunity in his own kitchen.

Why yes, Annie Bear was there too.

And what color did we end up painting that kitchen?  I guess you will just have to wait and see. I want to wait to post pictures until we have completed all the design features.  We are going to put up a chair rail and new curtains and I think I am going to compose a new painting for the kitchen.