Circling Through This Life

Today is December 6.  Many people around the world celebrate December 6 as St. Nicholas Day.   I don't ever remember not knowing that December 6 is Saint Nicholas Day.  I knew that our American Santa Claus has its roots in the very real St. Nicholas of Myra.  Growing up we didn't have a fireplace, so my sister and I didn't hang traditional stockings or put out our shoes on December 6th.  We did, however, lay out our own socks on December 24th.  Real socks. Not Christmas Stockings. That means they were little girl socks so not very big.  My other always put an orange in them and sometimes chocolate.  I didn't realize at the time that oranges and chocolate were very traditional St. Nicholas gifts. Are you familiar with the stories and legends surrounding St. Nicholas of Myra?  St. Nicholas of Myra was a real historical figure though not much is known about him.  One story is about how he gave coins to a poor widower for daughters' do...

I know I’ve been super quiet on my blog for December and then wham I post on Thursday and Friday!  I have posts planned for Saturday and Sunday too.  I plan to post the Letter E and the Letter F so I will be caught up with the Blogging through the Alphabet link. Wow I haven’t done a Random Five on Friday since November 20th! 1. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was just the six of us. Tailorbear baked a pumpkin pie and an apple pie.  I made a Trim Healthy Mama S style No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake. I need to tweak the recipe I created a bit and maybe I can share it in time for Christmas baking. Tailorbear also took care of cooking the turkey. It was wonderful to have someone else do so much of the cooking! 2. We played games on Thanksgiving Day.  That is our tradition and we played more games on Friday and on Saturday! We were really into Scattergories and Trivial Pursuit. We also played several games of Apples to Apples which is always fun with Su...

Yes, yes I know it is Saturday. I’m back to my old habits of posting Friday’s post on Saturday but I have good excuse.  No really.  I wanted to include a picture so I had to wait until I could get Boobear to email me the pictures I wanted! See, it’s her fault. So here’s this week’s Random Five thoughts! 1.  A "conversation" I overheard between George, the cat, and Supergirl, the human.  She was getting ready to feed him and he was pestering her. "Meow. Meow." "You have to wait Georgie.  Waiting is hard. I know."   She is a little parrot mimicking what she hears. I just hope that it starting to sink in. She hates waiting. Waiting is very hard for her but I think knowing she isn't the only one who has wait sometimes really helps. Even if it is just the cat. 2. Supergirl had a special Halloween treat. She got to with BooBear up to Boo's campus and participate in "Countdown to Candy" and then go trick or treating at the residence halls!  ...

Somehow I have lost track of time. I just realized this morning that this Saturday is the 14th of February.  Say what?!!  Valentine’s Day.  Or Chrismation Anniversary as we think of it now. 5 years ago Valentine’s Day fell on Forgiveness Sunday, the day before Great Lent started. Pascha is a week later this year than that year so Forgiveness Sunday is next week. But but but but that means that this Sunday, the day after Valentine's Day is Meatfare Sunday. Meatfare Sunday is the last day that meat like beef, chicken, pork, and lamb, or really anything other than fish or shellfish, is eaten until Pascha.  I made Salisbury Steak the other night. I’m making something with hamburger tomorrow night, maybe stuffed cabbage rolls. We tried a roast recipe from Build a Menu a few weeks ago.  It calls for a beef chuck roast but I used a pork tenderloin roast.  We loved it so much that I am making that same roast again. It’s not the healthiest of roasts with a packet...

I rarely put up guest posts on my blog but when I found out that my daughter was the first person to read aloud Catherine’s Pascha to a young child I just had to get my daughter to talk about it.  The author, Charlotte Riggle, a dear friend, loved the idea of Tailorbear sharing her experience.  Here is Tailorbear’s blog post: Catherine's Pascha is a wonderful new children's book written by Charlotte Riggle and Illustrated R.J. Huges . I had the pleasure of reading it aloud to a child I was babysitting while her mother and brother baked cookies with Mrs. Riggle. The story was sweet and enjoyable. I love how Catherine seems so very eager to stay awake for the service and how she and her best friend Elizabeth are allowed to sit next to each other. I love how the service is very accurate! I loved how things were described and even though there were words I couldn't pronounce it was still really easy to understand! I think it showed a lot about culture as well. I also lov...

A new year means a new beginning.  Or rather that’s how I like to think of it.  A new year is the chance to start over. But it’s also bittersweet for me. I don’t like endings. I don’t like change, really and I don’t like the reminders that time moves so swiftly and our lives are but a blink in the cosmic realm of eternity. I’m still pondering what my goals and dreams are for 2015.  I haven’t chosen a focus word. I don’t know that I will.  Mostly I’m still reeling from the unexpected diagnosis that my husband received: Type 2 Diabetes.  Here’s to a healthier 2015!

Food plays an enormous role in our Christmas celebrations. We don’t just eat special foods on Christmas Eve or Christmas but we spread out special foods from December 24th through January 6th.  We don’t always eat the same foods on the same day each year but we do eat the same foods or this year a variation of the same foods. Every year we have Buffalo Style Chicken Wings . I think these are the best chicken wings in the universe and the only ones that come close are the ones from Buffalo Wild Wings.  Seriously, these are good.  Crispy, flavorful, and you make it as hot or mild as you like. We started out making these for Christmas Eve and then switched it over to New Year’s Eve. They’re great for Super Bowl Parties, if you do those kinds of things.  They’re also wonderful as a special movie night “junk food” dinner meal. I had to modify the 8 Minute Cheesecake this year to make it work for my husband and I. Same basic idea *but* I used heavy cream and whipped it ...

Celebrating the 12 days of Christmas is more of a Western tradition than an Eastern Tradition; however, many American Orthodox Christians view the time from December 25th through (and including) January 5th as the 12 Days of Christmas. January 6th is the Feast of Theophany. In the West, January 6th is Epiphany. Epiphany is the visit of the Magi or Wise Men and some view it as the 12th day of Christmas ( Dec 26 would then be day 1).  Theophany is the celebration of the Lord’s baptism in the Jordan river and the revealing of Jesus as the Son of God. Liturgically the Orthodox church does not celebrate 12 Days. I think I read it is 6 Days.  I think the “Leaving Taking of the Nativity” is Dec 29 or Dec 30?  January 1st is celebrated as the Circumcision of our Lord and it is also St. Basil’s Day. For my family we love that celebrating the Incarnation of God can be stretched out.  Without the Incarnation, there could be no redemption but that is a meaty topic for another...

I’m not sure and I’m too lazy too look it up but I think this is the first edition that I’ve done for month of December. 1.  One of the things I always look forward to in late November/early December is a delivery of a box of citrus fruit from Texas. Every year my husband’s parents order oranges, grapefruits and tangelos from Texas.  These are the *best* I have ever tasted. I’ve already eaten two tangelos today! 2.  We started making some dietary changes for health reasons in June 2013 when Honeybear had a mild heart attack. Now, we’ve got another unexpected health diagnosis and have to radically change the way we eat. Honeybear got blood drawn for cardiology follow-up and ended up with a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes. We’ve been watching *my* sugars for quite some time but his diagnosis seemed to come out of nowhere. The doctor joked that now we have his and her glucose meters. 3. We have a lovely but quiet Thanksgiving here with just the six of us. We played the 50th...

Two weeks ago both East and West celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Eastern Orthodox Christians use the term Pascha which means Passover. But whatever it is called it is my favorite holiday of the year! 4 1/2 years ago someone said to me that Pascha was his children’s favorite holiday.  The children even liked it more than Christmas. Yes, I was skeptical. Children who like Easter more than Christmas?  Really?  I could not, at that time, even imagine that I would like Easter better than Christmas and I’m an adult. Ha! Guess what?  My whole family declares Pascha to be the best and most favorite holiday of the year. I think that part of the reason we love the Pascha celebration so much is directly related to the fact that we spend so much time during Great Lent and Holy Week preparing, remembering and focusing (at least in theory) on our spiritual walk.  Though we celebrate with an awesome Easter Treat Hunt and a huge Agape Fe...

Today on this Great Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may you be blessed! This is the day of resurrection. Let us be illumined by the  feast. Let us embrace each other. Let us call “Brothers” even those that hate us, and forgive all by the resurrection and so let us cry: Christ is Risen from the dead, Trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tomb bestowing life. Happy Pascha!  or for my Western friends Happy Easter!

As I think about saying hello to the new year, I can’t help but think about what goals I want to accomplish.  There are no major life events planned.  We’ve not been invited to any weddings, nor have the girls been asked to be part of the weddings. (We had flower girl in 2013.) None of my girls are set to graduate in 2014. (We had one in 2013 and we’ll have one in 2015.)  So what am I looking forward to? Using my 2014 Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog Planner ~  I tried a bit to use a blog planner for 2013 but couldn’t really find one that I really liked.  There are parts of this specially designed for 2014 Schoolhouse Review Crew Team Members planner that I don’t need and won’t use but I’ve printed out and bound the pages that I want. Keeping my blog real.  Blogging from my heart about what’s on my mind, about what’s happening in my life and my thoughts and reactions to issues of faith, family and home education. Using a new simplified check off system f...

I can’t say that I remember much of the first half of 2013, but the second half? Especially the summer? That was a stressful and busy time! I’ve decided to take a photo tour of the year! Sharing pictures as highlights from 2013. But first I’m going to start with some blog post highlights though: I chose my focus word for 2013 BooBear was accepted to her first choice college and received an academic merit scholarship ! I posted my most popular ever post in February of 2013.  It was a recipe  for “Stir Fry” in a Crockpot! I wrote a post about Better Butter ! Now for a few pictures! From January to May we experienced a Recital, Every Day School Life, a Birthday and Pascha! June through December we experienced another recital, a heart attack, a graduation, a wedding, and more birthdays. Other 2013 Highlights include:  Honeybear reading the Epistle for the first time, growing a garden, and I became an Orthodox Godmother for the first time. My friend Susan has ...

We are a game loving family and part of our Christmas holiday tradition is playing games during the 12 days of Christmas. Dad takes time off from work and we have lovely days of sitting around munching food and playing games.  We do something similar at Thanksgiving as well. It’s also become a tradition that there is a least one new game under the tree. With Christmas coming up fast [in just a few days!!] I thought I would share a list of games that we love, some of which have been Christmas presents. Wits-n-Wagers Family Edition ~  We reviewed this one crew year and it quickly became a family favorite.  Say Anything Family Edition ~ Like Wits-n-Wagers, this game is from NorthStar Games and we had the privilege of reviewing it for the crew. We can all play this as a family as well but we did have to modify it a bit in order to include Supergirl. 10 Days Games  from Out of the Box: Engaging Games ~  We purchased these years ago, there are several. We ha...

It’s that time of year again; the time of year when some Christians get all up in arms and their undies in a bundle and declare that there is a war on Christmas.  Why?  Because they object to the phrase Happy Holidays. They get mad because the sales clerk, telemarketer, friendly stranger on the street failed to say Merry Christmas and instead wished them well by saying Happy Holidays. I love the phrase Happy Holidays . I don’t mind if you say it to me.  I’ll be happy that you want me to have happy holidays. Notice the plural.  Not a Happy Holiday.  But *holidays*.  More than one.  I do celebrate more than one holiday between November 15 and January 6.  During this season Orthodox Christians will celebrate 3 of the 12 Great Feasts of the year.  THREE.  That means HOLIDAYS.  Plural.  That means more than one.  More than one Christian Holiday: Entrance (or Presentation )of the Theotokos (Nov 21), Nativity of Christ (Dec...

A large number of retail stores have announced that they will open on Thanksgiving. I think I read that Kmart plans to stay open for something like 41 hours straight for their Black Friday sales.  Really?  Seriously?  41 hours? I won’t be shopping on Thanksgiving .  I highly doubt that I’ll go shopping at all over the weekend.  I’ve never been a fan of Black Friday sales.  Maybe it’s because my first job was in retail?  Maybe it’s because I don’t really like shopping?  It isn’t because I don’t like saving money and it certainly isn’t because I don’t like buying gifts. I could blame it on not having any money to spend but some years I have had money to spend and still didn’t participate in Black Friday sales (and those were in the days when stores were actually closed on Thanksgiving and didn’t open until Friday morning, you know, after sunrise). But this post isn’t about Black Friday sales on Friday.  This post is about shopping on Thanksgiv...

This giveaway has ended. Book Title: The First Christmas Author: Keith Christopher Illustrator: Christine Kornacki Publisher: Ideals Children’s Books Format: Hardcover, 32 pages Price: $16.99 Recommended Ages: Kids ages 4-8 but in my opinion enjoyable for all ages! As soon as I pulled the book out of the packaging, I was in love!  This beautiful, hardcover book, written in rhyme captures the attention of both adult and child. It can be a quick easy read or you can slow down and savor each page. About The First Christmas Night The First Christmas Night is a beautiful retelling of the birth of Jesus on that joyous night in Bethlehem so long ago. The poem begins with the arrival of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem and winds though Christ’s birth, the angels’ appearance to the shepherds, and the visit by the Wise Men.  The simple, yet elegant, verses will appeal to little ones and are accompanied by the rich acrylic illustrations of Christine Kornacki. About the Aut...

Today in the van we started discussing our Thanksgiving menu. It seems like I make the same things every year. I thought maybe we could change things up a bit.  Try something new or different.  Nope.  There are certain food traditions that must be adhered to or else apparently it just isn’t Thanksgiving at our house. I guess I can relate to my children.  There were certain foods that my mom always served on Thanksgiving and if those foods were not on the table then it couldn’t really be Thanksgiving, right? Right! My mom always served turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, brown and serve rolls, this candied yam with marshmallow thing [it was so not my favorite but it was my sister’s favorite], cool whip with fruit cocktail salad thing [always a big hit with children] and pie, usually pumpkin.  Some years she baked the pie and some years she bought the pie but we always had pie. We also always had a “relish tray” with different kinds of pickles and olive...

The week seems so short because Honeybear had the 4th off and he took the 5th off.  It feels like Saturday to me right now. 1. For the most part the garden is doing well. Ok, so the tomato plants do not have nearly as many blossoms as I want them to have and the pepper plants don’t seem to be doing anything. The zucchini’s haven’t been taking off the way I was warned either but the crookneck squash has beautiful blossoms so at least I should get several of those. 2. In more garden related news the peas are doing really really well and we actually picked a few this week. It will be a few more days before we have enough of a picking to really enjoy but it was fun to have a taste of fresh picked peas. I love raw fresh just picked from the garden sweet peas. 3. I didn’t ever think that I would reach a point where I thought French Fries were too salty. Baby step (or giant leap) that we’ve been working on for the last 30 days: reducing sodium in our diet. I went to lunch with friend...

Earlier today one of my friends posted about her granddaughter on Facebook.  The lovely, little 6 year old girl had defined Memorial Day as a day to remember our freedom.  She went on to write “freedom to play outside.” This struck a chord deep within me and inspired this hastily put together blog post. I do not know if young S has any idea of what a profound concept she touched.  Freedom to play outside.  On the surface the statement brings a smile.  It’s a beautiful testimony to the simplicity to play outside. I dug a little deeper though and brought tears to my own eyes. Freedom to play outside means freedom from fear.  My children are free to play outside without fear that they will be shot by enemy rifles or caught in the crossfire of “friendly” gunman.  My children are free to play outside without the constant fear that they will be snatched to be sold as part of the human trade. There are children around the world who live in fear.  They...