We have a Godson!

On May 16th, we became Godparents. We were very happy to do so. It is a commitment to pray for the child throughout our lives and to give guidance when needed. There are several things need for the sacrament of Baptism and Chrismation: olive oil, white towels, soap, a cross, decorated candle, and icon. These things serve duty for anointing, baptizing, representing the new man in Christ, the newly illumined soul, and the icon of course, to teach the child of the body of Christ, most specificly, its namesake. Our James' s parents chose James the Brother of Christ as his Saint's name, so we got him this icon.

It was a wonderful service, and is the same throughout the Orthodox service. I highly recommend all believers of any denomination witness this historical sacrament. The prayers and petitions and commitments are just so heartfelt and moving. Who can say that tradition is dead? It is living, breathing, just as much as the Church itself is alive. Tradition holds to what is true and is not swayed by changing times an opinions.

After a wonderful service, through which James cried and fussed, we came back here to our home and celebrated. It was a fun day, encouraging and overall great blessing. May God grant you many years, dear James! We love you!

Insert prayer of my heart early in the morning, and bring forth righteousness throughout the coming day;

"Grant unto me, my Lord,

that with peace in mind I may face all that this new day is to bring.
Grant unto me grace to surrender myself completely to Thy holy will. Instruct and
prepare me in all things for every hour of the day. Whatsoever tidings I may
receive during the day, teach me to accept them calmly, in the firm conviction
that all eventualities fulfill Thy holy will. Govern my thoughts and feelings in
all I do and say. When things unforseen occur, let me not forget that all comes
down from Thee. Teach me to behave sincerely and reasonably toward every member
of my family and all other human beings, that I may not cause confusion and
sorrow to anyone. Bestow upon me, my Lord, strength to endure the fatigue of the
day and to bear my share in all its passing events. Guide my will and teach me
to pray, to believe, to hope, to suffer, to forgive, and to love. Amen. "

It is truly good to bless the Lord. And indeed it is good to restrain our passions, focusing our eyes on Christ once more. Lord, as we celebrate the gift of your Holy Spirit this week, we are also preparing to enter a season of fasting. We remember your command to go into all the world, make disciples of them and baptizing them in the Name of the of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Give us the courage to follow this command, be it at the grocery store, in our neighborhoods, at our churches, in the streets or in our families. Your Holy Spirit empowers us to wisely use our time and efforts for the glory of your kingdom; help us to listen and obey. Have mercy upon us and save us oh Mighty God. May your love shine to all people through us, your servants, Amen.

Month of May...

... is nearly over. I can hardly believe it! May is one of my favorite months, as flowers and trees fully bloom into summer, the end of the school year approaches and the anticipation of a new season keeps me motivated to get things done. I am happy to say that there is only 2 weeks left of school before the kids are done! Then they will be home with me. I am excited!

I will start putting together my project ideas for summer activites this week. We're gonna learn about the ten commandments, Albania, work on handwriting, math facts, telling time, learn to ride bikes (yeah, they're behind), and Nathaniel has to learn phone numbers and address, 911, fire drills, and of course all the fun stuff like gathering friends numbers for playdates and planning Ariel's birthday party. She's gonna be 8 in less than 3 weeks! It'll be her first sleepover and she is so excited! I'm limiting it to 3 guests and I think that'll be enough excitement for her. Playing hostess can be a hard thing to do, and I don't want to overwhelm her. I just got her list together for that and we have to make up invitations and party favors, activities, dinner, breakfast, etc. Fun stuff!

Let's see what I've missed blogging about this past month. Well, most notably, Silas ran away. It was a couple weeks ago- Dustan and I were staying up late, fiddling around on our computers. I was sitting here on the couch, and he in his big chair. The cats were playing chase with the moths that had gotten in the house. I was musing that "we never stay up this late, we should go to bed", and then all of a sudden Dustan turns around and exclaims, "Floyd is outside!" "WHAT?" How could that happen? Well, the sliding door had been open as it was a great night out, but the screen WAS closed-- aparently not well enough.

By the time I got outside, Floyd was at the corner of the house with Silas underneath of him. He had that happy, playful look on his face. In my stern voice I said, "floyd, COME HERE!" At which point he pounced the cat instead. I caught him at the front of the house, Dustan came out with the leash and I took him back inside... however Silas ran off and would not come. This behavior is actually quite normal for him- he does NOT like to be approached at all, but I thought that maybe with flashlights we could catch his eyes gleaming in the light and find him. Nope. The only thing we accomplished was scaring the neighbor lady and losing our kitty.

The kids are saddened, though not as bad as they could have been. Chester seems to be a little lost, but now that it's 3 weeks today since Silas left, Chester has gotten into a new swing of things and is settling down little. He's definately more friendly and even picks fights with the dog again for some entertainment.

Other things I have worked on throughout the month... planning Ariel's room project and my landscaping project (well, that technically will never be done- as a true gardener, I can't commit to anything and love just about everything! lol). I just can't decide what to put out front under the windows, and so I had to plan out the whole yard to determine what would go with the tress I want, etc, and now I have to go price everything to see what I will actually get, even though I'm not getting it til next spring. The thing is my birthday present 2 yrs ago was that my in-laws were going to buy whatever I wanted to put under the windows, and my mother-in-law has been on me to choose. :P So, I thought I'd get my list together, and I like whats on my list, but I have to see it in person before I commit to what I want to place where and if I can afford my selections or not-- some of them are more rare (which is half the draw), and therefore more expensive.

I have put homeschool research on hold for the past couple of weeks, excepting to say that we ARE homeschooling next year! And we decided that we need to do it as free as possible-- it's just too late in the year to adjust the budget. However, many people do it free, and with all the homeschoolers at our church and several teachers with lots of resources, and the library, we should be good! I will be picking up my homeschool research next week as we have a couple of meetings with friends that are helping us, so all is rolling along nicely.

I think that sums up the month of May for this year... we are looking forward to this Memorial Day weekend; we shall see what it brings! And oh yeah, here's the kids new haircuts!

Who needs sleep?

It smells like Grandma's house. Every morning this spring I have walked out of my bedroom and into the hall, and that is the frst thought that flashes thru my mind. I don't know why it reminds me of Grandma-- it's not like we have the smells of coffee, hairspray and cremes floating through very often. Maybe it's because we sleep with the windows open at night, and that somehow coming out from the fresh air into the enclosed air somehow traps a timeless, comforting smell of home. Who knows?

But, this being Saturday and I have a busy day ahead of me, I cannot sleep any longer. I woke up about an hour ago, and finally gave it up to sleep anymore. So, I left the room so as to let Dustan sleep in. He deserves it. He's a hard worker and doesn't rest enough.

I have had Ariel's room on my brain for a few days now, working on putting ideas together for decorating it, as I had promised to do so for her 8th birthday that is coming up. We wanted a story book atmosphere, conducive for play-acting, writing and reading books-- an all around fun room. That meant I wanted vintage classic, and she wanted bright, fun patterns and colors. So we are blending the two together. I found this pattern online, which she really likes. I am trying to incorporate other fabrics, something similar to these. I just have to find something local, as the prices are better- so far anyway. Looking at all these patterns makes me wish I was savvy on the sewing machine. Ariel is adorable in about everything she wears, it's just now coming up with appropriate clothing for her age. It can be a hard thing to come by. Maybe I'll just get Aunty Monica to do it for me. Yeah, that's a good plan!

Be Thou My Vision

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
be all else but naught to me, save that thou art;
be thou my best thought in the day and the night,
both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word,
be thou ever with me, and I with thee Lord;
be thou my great Father, and I thy true son;
be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
be thou my whole armor, be thou my true might;
be thou my soul's shelter, be thou my strong tower:
O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise:
be thou mine inheritance now and always;
be thou and thou only the first in my heart;
O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, thou heaven's bright sun,
O grant me its joys after victory is won;
great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.

To hear the hymn sung by Fernando Ortega, click here.