Circling Through This Life

Last week I had some not so random thoughts about Holy Week .  This week I’ve organized my random thoughts to fit into the last 5 letters of the alphabet so that I can say I actually completed a full round of Alphabet Blogging.  Next week, I plan on starting another round of Alphabet Blogging and I really hope to keep up with the hostess this time! V is for Vegetable Garden ~ It’s spring.  Time to think about yard work, flower beds, and vegetable gardens. Last year we had our first garden. It was my husband’s baby and it was wonderful!  Well the stuff that grew did wonderful. It was a learning experience and I’m excited to try again. Last year we grew peas, green beans, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers of some kind, some kind of squash, and tomatoes. The plan this year is to expand the garden. W is for Wasting Time ~ I feel like I do a lot of time wasters and then I get all grumpy and then I look around at all that I need to do, get overwhelmed and then waste more tim...

This past week was Holy Week.  It is my favorite week of the year . We joke in my family that Holy Week is the week that we live at church.  It is during Holy Week and Pascha that we experience the longest services. It can feel like unending church services. Palm Sunday begins the week long remembrance of Christ’s  last week or His Passion Week. Holy Week technically begins during the Vespers service on Palm Sunday.   Except that my parish doesn’t do that service. I  just happened to read in my Palm Sunday Service book that during Vespers the bright colored cloths are changed to black.  It reminds me of Forgiveness Vespers.  During that Sunday vesper service we enter into Great Lent.  The bright gold is exchanged for the purple of Lent. Starting with Lazarus Saturday, which is a foreshadowing of the Lord’s resurrection and a foreshadowing of our own future resurrection, and ending with the Agape Vespers service one could spend up to 38 hou...

If you are a regular reader of my blog,then you may know that although I like math, I do not like teaching math.  Supergirl’s needs require that I present concepts over and over again in as many different ways possible so I am always looking for something new and different for her to try. Tailorbear and Turtlegirl both enjoy using the computer for as much school work as I will let them and Turtlegirl needs geometry. CTC Math is an online math program with lessons from Kindergarten through Calculus. We received the 12 Month Family Plan . What is CTC Math? CTC Math is an online, interactive, video based math program. Each lesson begins with a video presentation by Australian math teacher Pat Murray. With CTC Math your student sets the pace. Your student will have access to all the levels and move backward and forward as needed. A little rusty with 4th grade skills? Complete those lessons and then move on to grade 5.  Grade 5 a little too easy in some areas? No problem, ...

Reading and analyzing literature is a required part of high school English here in my home school. I’m always looking for products that make it easy to develop those skills. Several months ago, I became aware of Home School Adventure Co. but did not know about The Wise Woman with Literary Analysis Questions until it was offered as one of four choices for review through the Schoolhouse Review Crew .   Description of The Wise Woman (from Turtlegirl): For each chapter, there are approximately 20 questions. Some have less, such as 15-19, others have more like 23-27. The questions range from helping you relate the story to yourself, simple “what prevents Agnes from coveting?” type questions, and deep analysis questions like "What did MacDonald imply by the statement, ‘ Prince did his best to let her know that until she could obey herself, she must obey him ?'” There is no need to purchase a separate copy of the book The Wise Woman by George Macdonald.  Mrs. Farrell has in...

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!

Today is Holy Friday.  The Western World knows it as Good Friday, but my children like to say “but what is good about it?  Jesus died and was buried!”  It is good because it fulfills scripture and by His death, burial and eventual resurrection, Death is destroyed.  I do prefer the Eastern term of Holy.  So this week,  I’m not going to be random.  In honor of Holy Week, I’m going to make a list of 5 things from Holy Week.   1.  This Troparion comes from the beginning of the Bridegroom Matins service: Behold, the Bridegroom coves at midnight, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching; and again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, lest you be given up to death and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse yourself crying: Holy holy, holy art Thou, O our God. Through the Theotokos, have mercy on us. 2.  This is also from the Bridegroom S...

I cannot claim to be the most organized person in the universe.  I cannot claim that being organized means you live in a clean and tidy house without clutter and chaos. Well, ok, I could claim those things but they wouldn’t be true.  It would be false advertising.  I can however give you Four Organizing Tips I am using to help keep my sanity as I work towards developing better routines and habits and tame that clutter monster. Tip 1  Pin Your Socks For a variety of reasons, not the least of which is “ew I don’t want to share socks”, we don’t do the “buy all the same girl socks and don’t worry about matching” thing.  Each of us has our own style and for at least one of my daughters, socks is just one way she expresses herself.  I refuse to fold socks.  I hate mating socks.  I hate having to dig through a drawer or a basket to find two socks that match.  I also hate “old maid socks.”  You know those lonely socks without mate that sit in ...