Reposted from October 23rd, 2009

Today is the Feast of St. James, and thus the name’s day of our little James (who is named for his great-grandpa James, his grandpa Gary James, his uncle Philip James, and of course after St. James). We took a long time in deciding on James’ name. We had settled on a name should he be a girl (being due on Dormition, a girl would have been named for the Virgin Mary (a variation) and her mother - go ahead and guess :) I hope there will be a girl to use it one of these days!), but I was in early labor before we hashed out a boy’s name. I finally got up in the middle of the night, since I certainly wasn’t going to be able to sleep through the contractions anyway, sat on my birth ball and pulled out Eusebius (an early Church historian) and read the story of St. James. After that I came back to bed and told Paul I agreed the baby should be named James. We decided just in time! His middle name, Benedict, is of course after St. Benedict of Nursia, and means “blessed.” Below is the story of St. James the Just.

James was a “brother of the Lord” by virtue of being the son of the elderly St. Joseph by his first wife, or, as some speculate, a cousin of the Lord. He is generally considered to be the author of the Epistle of James in the New Testament. Eusebuis quotes Clement regarding St. James being appointed to the episcopacy, saying, “Peter, and James [another James], and John, after the ascension of our Savior, though they had been preferred by our Lord, did not contend for the honor, but chose James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem…the Lord imparted the gift of knowledge to James the Just, to John and Peter after his resurrection, these delivered it to the rest of the apostles, and they to the seventy.”

St. James’ episcople judgement is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 15. He presided over the First Council of Jerusalem, issuing the decree against the heresy of the Judaizers who insisted that Christians must follow Jewish law and be circumcised. In his authority as bishop, he decreed that the new converts need not be circumcised but need only abstain from food sacrifies to idols, from strangled animals, from blood, and from sexual immorality.

Eusebuis recounts the martyrdom of St. James by quoting St. Hegesippus, an early Church chronicler born about 110 AD: “James, the brother of the Lord, who, as there were many of this name, was surnamed the Just by all, from the days of our Lord until now, received the government of the church with the apostles. This apostle was consecrated from his mother’s womb. He drank neither wine nor fermented liquors, and abstained from animal food. A razor never came upon his head, he never anointed with oil, and never used a bath. He alone was allowed to enter the sanctuary. He never wore woolen, but linen garments. He was in the habit of entering the temple alone and was often found upon bended knees, and interceding for the forgiveness of the people; so that his knees became as hard as camel’s, in consequence of his habitual supplication and kneeling before God. And indeed, on account of his exceeding great piety, he was called Just, and Oblias (or Zaddick and Ozleam) which signifies justice and protection of the people; as the prophets declare concerning him. Some of the seven sects, therefore, of the people asked him what was the door to Jesus? and he answered, ‘that he was the Savior.’

“From which, some believed that Jesus is the Christ. But the aforementioned heresies did not believe either a resurrection, or that he was coming to give to every one according to his works; as many, however, as did believe did so on acount of James. As there were many therefore of the rulers that believed, there arose a tumult among the Jews, Scribes, and Pharisees, saying that there was danger, that the people would now expect Jesus as the Messiah. They came therefore together, and said to James, ‘We entreat thee, restrain the people, who are led astray after Jesus, as if he were the Christ. We entreat thee to persuade all that are coming to the feast of the Passover rightly concerning Jesus; for we all have confidence in thee. For we and all the people bear thee testimony that thou art just, and thou respectest not persons. Persuade therefore the people not to be led astray by Jesus, for we and all the people have great confidence in thee. Stand therefore upon a wing of the temple, that thou mayest be conspicuous on high, and thy words may be easily heard by all the people; for all the tribes have come together on account of the Passover, with some of the Gentiles also.’ The aforesaid Scribes and Pharisees, therefore, placed James upon a wing of the temple, and cried out to him, ‘ O though just man, whom we ought all to believe, since the people are led astray after Jesus that was crucified, declare to us what is the door to Jesus that was crucified.’ And he answered with a loud voice, ‘Why do ye ask me respecting Jesus the Son of Man? He is now sitting in the heavens, on the right hand of great Power, and is about to come on the clouds of heaven.’ And, as many were confirmed, and gloried in this testimony of James, and said, ‘Hosanna to the son of David,’ these same priests and Pharisses said to one another, ‘We have done badly in affording such testimony to Jesus, but let us go up and cast him down, that they may dread to believe in him.’ And they cried out, ‘Oh, oh, Justus himself is deceived,’ and they fulfilled that which is written in Isaiah, ‘Let us take away the just, because he is offensive to us; wherefore they shall eat the fruit of their doings.’ Going up therefore they cast down the just man, saying to one another, ‘Let us stone James the Just.’ And they began to stone him, as he did not die immediately when cast down but turning round, he knelt down saying, ‘I entreat thee, O Lord God and Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ Thus they were stoning him, when one of the priests of the sons of Rechab, a son of the Rechabites, spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet, cried ou saying, ‘Cease, what are you doing? Justus is praying for you.’ And one of them, a fuller, beat out the brains of Justus with the club that he used to beat out clothes. Thus he suffered martyrdom, and they buried him on the spot where his tombstone is still remaining, by the temple. He became a faithful witness, both to the Jews and Greeks, that Jesus is the Christ.”

Eusebius adds that “so admirable a man indeed was James and so celebrated among all for his justice that even the wiser part of the Jews were of opinion that this was the cause of the immediate siege of Jerusalem, which happened to them for no other reason than the crime against him.” He also quotes Josephus as saying, “These things [the subsequent seige of Jerusalem by Vespasian] happened to the Jews to avenge James the Just, who was the brother of him that is called Christ, and whom the Jews had slain, notwithstanding his pre-eminent justice.”

Troparion

As the Lord’s disciple you received the Gospel, O righteous James;

As a martyr you have unfailing courage;

As God’s brother, you have boldness;

As a hierarch, you have the power to intercede.

Pray to Christ God that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion

When God the Word, the Only-begotten of the Father,

Came to live among us in these last days,

He declared you, venerable James, to be the first shepherd and teacher of Jerusalem

And a faithful steward of the spiritual Mysteries.

Therefore, we all honor you, O Apostle.

Outside my window…

I am so glad it’s fall. I was explaining to Paul the other day that in Washington, people don’t look forward to fall like we do here. Summer is the best season of the year in Washington, and fall means the rain and cold is beginning again and will last until…April? May? Sometimes June? Here, however, summer is something to be endured and hidden from, so fall means we’re finally free! I’m wearing jeans today! And a sweater! It’s still in the 70s, but compared to 95 and humid, it’s downright chilly.

I am thankful…

For my husband who is working very, very hard this semester.

I am hoping and praying…

For strength for Paul for the rest of this year.

For Katherine, a blogger who has inspired me many times, as she and her family make a big transition.

For a healthy little chickpea.

For patience and wisdom as James reaches the stage where he needs more correction from his parents, and for the discernment to know when these times are.

From the kitchen…

I spent two months not wanting to eat anything but bread, cheese, and fruit and yogurt smoothies, so I’m trying to get back to some healthier meal planning these days.

Towards rhythm and beauty…

Our days could use a rhythm, ANY kind of rhythm. Now that the weather is so much nicer, I think being outside every day would be a good start.

I am reading…

See the previous post!

Also clicking around Elizabeth’s many posts on Advent and Christmas.

I am pondering…

The words of the Paraklesis

I’m creating…

A pink blanket. It’s taking a looooong time. I am a very slow knitter. Maybe posting progress photos every so often will inspire me to work on it more. I wish I could show you one now, but our camera appears to be irrevocably broken. Not sure what to do about that.

I’m hoping to make James a Christmas stocking this year. I’ve gotten as far as buying new needles for the sewing machine, but that’s it. It’s a little daunting since I’ve never sewn anything without my mother sitting there telling me what to do. I even intend to embroider his name on it. No idea how that will go.

I am listening to…

Rachmaninov’s Vespers, trying to tune out the very loud coffee shop. It’s not really working, but I never get tired of this music.

On keeping home…

Along with not wanting to eat anything, I’ve also spent the last two months feeling like doing the dishes will totally wipe me out and I’ll need a nap afterward. My house is suffering. This week I’m going to make an effort to get back on my housecleaning schedule and start trying to organize a bit.

Around the house…

We’re planning on staying home for Christmas for the first time, so I’m determined to decorate this year! I have to start planning now or it will never happen.

In the garden…

Um, I don’t think I’ve even seen the garden since August. I better go put it to bed for the winter soon.

This week in the Church…

Saturday is the Feast of St. James the Brother of the Lord, and therefore the Name Day of our little James. I’m still thinking of how we’ll celebrate Name Days here. I think we’ll read an abbreviated version of his life and learn the kontakia. I’m sure a special dessert will be in order. And our icon of St. James will have a place of honor at the table.

A few plans for the rest of the week…

Not a lot. catching up with housework and celebrating the Feast of St. James are all I can think of.

James Benedict this week…

He’s become a very picky eater. I have little patience for picky eaters, so we are butting heads. I think he’s about to pop several teeth, so we’ll see if his aversion to chewing gets any better after that. Otherwise, he’s still our sweet happy baby! And he LOVES books. For some reason he became very attached to The Abbot and I and I would find him reading it many times a day. When he brought us a book to read, it was always that one. He still never gets tired of it. But he’s added Where the Wild Things Are, Hippos Go Berserk, and Caps for Sale to the list of books he wants to read over and over again. He’s a good listener. He sits quietly and listens very intently and turns the pages. I think we’re going to have to add to the library soon. We love that he loves books. I plan on reading aloud every day for many, many years.

Cicero this week…

Yes, there is a chickpea! We expect our second baby in early May. We called James Lentil before he was born, so we’re sticking with the legumes, although we usually call him or her Cicero, which happens to mean chickpea :) It’s a Latin baby!

Apparently Cicero is about the size of a fig, 1 1/2 inches from head to bottom and “is now almost fully formed. His or her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under the gums, and some  bones are beginning to harden.” (from babycenter.com)
A picture to share…

Again, broken camera. Sorry :(

Recently, in one of the several books on the Charlotte Mason method of education I’ve been reading, I read the admonition to always have three different books going: a “stiff” book, a moderately difficult book, and a novel. I like this advice, since when I read a “stiff” book, I can get bogged down and want something to read at nine o’clock at night that doesn’t take too much brain power. But since I know that if I just chose three books and let myself read whatever I wanted, the “stiff” book would often get left behind while I only read the page-turner, I think I am going to choose two or three books a month, with the goal of finishing them within that month so I can choose new ones. I plan to write about my monthly selections here, and maybe I’ll make a separate page to archive previous months. Now, I reserve the right to blur the edges of the categories. For instance, the first month I tried this, August, I considered F. A. Hayak’s The Road to Serfdom as my stiff book, several homeschooling books together as my “moderate book” and a detailed biography of one of my favorite saints, St. Elizabeth the Grand Duchess, as my “novel.” Obviously, the life of St. Elizabeth the Grand Duchess is not a novel, but it was a page-turner that I was compelled to keep reading, so it counted for the category’s sake. The homeschooling books weren’t even moderately hard to read, but they weren’t a novel either. So I’ll choose books that fit the general idea of the category.

I reserve the right to only choose two books, since I know I won’t always be able to get through three. I might decide to always choose just two in order to focus if I find three too distracting. And I make no apologies for what I consider a “stiff” book. My husband would probably only consider a book a “stiff” book if it were in a dead language and was written in a year ending in “B.C.” I figure most of my stiff books will be some of the many theology books we have around here that I’ve been meaning to read. Moderate books will probably be history or biographies that I’m interested in, and if I’m going to be reading novels, I plan to make them good ones. At least most of the time.

To catch up on my book choices so far:

August:
The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayak. A book by an economist from just after WWII on the relationship between a “planned economy” and socialism.
Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home by Elizabeth Foss. Loved this book and I’m sure it will make it’s way to our homeschooling library eventually.
For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola - I didn’t finish all of this by the time the library wanted it back, but I’m sure it will also join the homeschooling library eventually.
Elizabeth the Grand Duchess of Russia by Lubov Millar. I love St. Elizabeth enough that I hope I’ll name a daughter after her someday, so I think everyone should read about her :) She was a German Lutheran and granddaughter of Queen Victoria who became a Grand Duchess of Russia, an Orthodox nun, a national heroine and eventually a martyr.

For September, my books were:
Golden Mouth: The Life of John Chrysostom, Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop - this took me until yesterday to finish, so apparently my month deadline is not working very well. It was really good, though.
The Lives of the Spiritual Mothers - this isn’t really a book to read cover to cover, but I took September to read a good bit of it and will continue to read it throughout the year.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell – I made an executive decision to abandon this one after nearly 500 pages. It was a fun concept, but I wasn’t sure if a plot was ever going to develop if it hadn’t by page 500. Some books just aren’t worth the time investment.

For October:

For the Life of the World by Fr. Alexander Schmemann - Since I took half of October to finish last month’s stiff book, we’ll see if I get this done by the 31st. Don’t laugh; I’m a slow reader! (It’s not a very long book.) Scratch that. I forgot I already started Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt. Fr. Alexander will have to wait until next month.

I haven’t chosen a moderate book this month; maybe I won’t have one since I’m already late.

I read two novels already this month - The Friday Night Knitting Club and the short Nathan Coulter by Wendell Berry. The Friday Night Knitting Club was pure fluff and not that great, but nice to read on the nights Paul had to work until 10 or 11 pm and I didn’t have a lot of brain cells working. Nathan Coulter was pretty good. Paul is reading Jayber Crow from the same series, so maybe I’ll read that one if Paul likes it. It’s much longer and presumably has more of a story line.

It’s kind of fun to intentionally choose two or three new books for a new month, rather than just finishing a book at some point and wandering around the bookshelves looking for what’s next.

Almost ten years ago, I was working in a little daycare on Queen Anne hill in Seattle. We had a red, 100% cashmere sweater left behind, and it went in the lost and found. It stayed in the lost and found for probably more than a year, and we checked with everyone to see if it was theirs. One day, it was finally going to be donated, so I took it home. I’ve had it in various closets for all these years, waiting for someone to put it on.

Today I pulled it out of the closet while I was going through James’ clothes and looked at the tag. 12-18 months! James is 12 months! It’s time for him to wear the red cashmere sweater!

He loves it. He knows he’s wearing something soft and cozy. And there’s a zipper to play with!

Don’t anyone tell me I can’t put a red cashmere sweater on a boy, because I can too.

I know, I’ve been missing for an awfully long time. I’ll be surprised if anyone still comes here. But I have an excuse! My MacBook’s screen went black. We weren’t sure it was worth it to fix, so I went without it for several weeks, but then we decided to go ahead and fix it. Now it works just like new! I have a hard time sitting down and writing up posts and updates these days, but it is my intention to update at least once a week or so.

For now, I’ll leave you with the stories of two saints I read about this morning. Before morning prayers, I try to always read the lives of the saints for the day, either from the Horologian or the Daily Lives, Miracles, and Wisdome of the Saints (a very helpful little book by godmother has given me two different years (it’s different every year). Here are the two from the Horologian for today:

Saint Eutyches was a disciple of Saint John the Theologian [the author of the Gospel of St. John] and a fellow labourer of the holy Apostle Paul. He preached the Gospel in many places, pulled down the idols’ temples, and suffered imprisonments and many torments at the hands of the idolaters. He finally reposed in peace in deep old age in his native city of Sebastia, near Tarsus.

Our holy Father Cosmas was from the town of Mega Dendron of Aetolia. At the age of twenty, he went to study at the school of the Monastery of Vatopedi on the Holy Mountain [the monastic republic off of Greece]. Later, he came to the Athonite Monastery of Philotheou where he was tonsured [a monk]. With the blessing of this abbot, he departed for Constantinople where he learned the art of rhetoric, and thereafter, he began to preach throughout all the regions of northern Greece, the Ionian Islands, but especially in Albania, for the Christian people there were in great ignorance because of the oppression and cruelty of the Moslems. Finally, in 1776, after having greatly strengthened and enlightened the faithful, working many signs and wonders all the while, he was falsely accused by the leaders of the Jewish people and was executed by strangulation by the Moslem Turks in Albania.

I find it interesting that St. Cosmas was martyred in Albania the year we signed the Declaration of Independence. Albania became the world’s most militant atheist state, and when Archbishop Anastasios arrived after the collapse of communism, the Church, long underground, had nearly collapsed. He has followed in St. Cosmas’ footsteps and assisted in the miraculous resurrection of the Church of Albania.

Outside my window…

It has been REALLY hot here the last couple of weeks. Days of 90 and very humid going on for what seems like EVER. And it’s only the beginning of June! We started getting hot weather in April. At least I’m not pregnant this summer like last one!

I am thankful…

For a nice evening that we actually wanted to go outside in! And for our very productive garden. We just got back from our near-nightly trip to the garden to water and weed (well, I water, and Paul weeds), and it was nice and breezy. James hung out on his blanket and tried his darndest to eat rocks, which Mama and Papa kept taking away from him. If you look very closely, you can see his two new teeth on the bottom!

From the kitchen…

We are trying to keep up with the amount of greens coming from the garden. We can hardly eat all the lettuce, spinach, kale, and basil we’re growing. Last night Paul grilled salmon and the best eggplant ever, and I had him set it on a giant platter of spinach right off the grill, so it would wilt, and garnished it with edible nasturtium blossoms. We ate it with a side of steamed kale with balsamic vinegar. Tonight we had fish tacos with lettuce and cilantro from the garden, and tomorrow will be pasta with as much spinach and basil as I can fit, along with tomatoes, kalamata olives, garlic, and pine nuts.

Here are last night’s pickings, which we repeat about every other day. It turned out kind of blurry, but there are several varieties of lettuce, some young kale, mint, basil, spinach, nasturtiums, and some rosemary in the vase.

Towards rhythm and beauty…

I have gotten very attached to my schedule. I find myself kind of lost and frustrated without it. For the month of June, I’m working three days a week instead of two, and that small difference threw my housekeeping schedule into a loop. So I sat down with iCal yesterday and revamped everything, including what I want to accomplish during James’ morning and afternoon naps when we’re home. I also scheduled in time to only spend time with James, since I think I sometimes take advantage of the fact that he’s such an easy-going baby and keep too busy to take him to the park, read books, or just sit on the floor and play with him. It makes me feel much better to know that everthing that needs to be done every week has a reasonable and doable time to do it. Otherwise the bathroom gets gross and Mama gets cranky :)

If my iCal schedule looks this complicated while I have ONE baby in a little apartment, I can’t imagine what it will look like if and when I’m homeschooling multiple children.

I am reading…

I’m nearing the end of a wonderful book on applying Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy to the Christian homeschooling parent, For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School. Now Paul is reading it. We both love it, as it describes much of what we already want for our children’s education and home life. While there are a few minor points that a Charlotte Mason education includes (as I understand it) that we would quibble with (this article is interesting reading in that respect), we certainly wouldn’t argue too much with an education that is so respectful of children as unique persons, that teaches children to love learning and nurtures their curiosity, and relies on really good literature rather than textbooks and workbooks.

I’m also reading The Road to Serfdom by Austrian economist F. A. Hayak, written just after World War II. It’s my layman’s Austrian economics, as Paul is reading some giant four volume tome of another Austrian economist.

I am listening to…

My mom on the radio! My mom and her good friend Joan Konzelman were recently interviewed by another family friend, Carrie Abbott, about homeschooling and specifically about their work implementing Carrie’s relationships and sexuality curriculum in the Tacoma homeschool community. You can listen to the interview here. (It’s the latest program currently listed, and aired 6/2/10.)

On keeping home…

I think I have to clean all the floors just about every day, because James eats EVERY SPECK HE FINDS.

This week in the Church…

We are in the second week of the Fast of the Holy Apostles. This fast is often so short (it changes in length depending on the date of Pascha) that I pay little attention to it. Since it’s an entire MONTH this year, I’m trying to think more deeply about the work of the apostles in spreading the Gospel in those early days, and how we are to go about continuing to share the light of Christ today as members of the Church.

A few plans for the rest of the week…

The family I nanny for has kindly invited us up to a cabin they rented in the Pocanos this weekend. So we’ll go hang out in the mountains for a few days, and since we’ll be so close to St. Tikhon’s, where Paul went to seminary for a year, we’ll drive up there for Liturgy on Sunday.

We also started getting out of the house extra early on the days James and I are home and going walking along the river for an hour or so before we go drop Paul off at school. We like it so much I think we’ll keep it up all summer, especially since it’s nice to be outside early before it gets too hot (although it’s often 75 and humid when we leave the house before 7:30 am).

In the garden this week…

The beans have grown so tall I had Paul tie string high up on the fence bordering the tennis court for them to climb up. I hope they’ll cooperate and grow slightly sideways instead of straight up.

Herbs and strawberries:

Cherry tomatoes:

My intrepid weeder weeding out the greens:

Nasturtiums:

James Benedict this week…

James has had a big couple of weeks! His Auntie Alyssa and cousin Canyon were here for a week (for another post, once Alyssa sends me the pictures…ahem), and on their last day here, he cut his first tooth. He cut a second one a few days ago. And he started crawling! His crawl is very cute, since he concentrates very hard and is still a bit hesitant. But if he wants something badly enough, he can just crawl himself over and get it. (Often, this is lint off the floor that he intends to eat.) He also plays “throw” with Papa (we can’t really call it “catch,” since there is not a lot of catching involved), and if I can figure out how to do it, I’ll post a video of a very intense game of throw.

Here’s a few recent pictures:

Outside my window…

We’re in the middle of spring. Our neighborhood is in full bloom and it looks like fairyland when we go out, with pink and white petals floating through the air. It’s causing us some sneezy, itchy eye, runny nose distress, but it sure is pretty!

I am thankful…

For my husband and son. Pretty much every second.

I am hoping and praying…

Still for my cousin Jenny Rose, now on the ground in Yushu, helping the victims of the earthquake. Please pray for her and for all those affected my this devastating earthquake in Western China.

From the Kitchen…

Baby food! My ideal had been to hold off on solid food until he was able to just eat mashed up versions of what we eat. But since we decided it was prudent to start some food for our little tiny dude, I’ve been cooking up some food just for him. So far he chows down pureed liver mixed with mashed sweet potato, about half an avocado a day, pureed cooked prunes mixed with yogurt, mashed bananas, mangos (just like candy…or baby crack), and an egg yolk a day.

Cooked prunes, mangos, and soft boiled eggs for James

I am reading…

Same as last week: the biography of St. John Chrysostom. Still neglecting my Bible reading program.

I am listening to…

Lectures on philosophy and the history of music, and a lot of Jennifer Knapp. I forgot how much I liked her back in the day.

On keeping home…

Everything’s fallen apart a bit since I haven’t felt well. Yet another perk of having a weekly schedule - if you fall off of it, you just pick it back up on whatever day it is, and within a week all is right back to normal.

Around the house…

I’ve had James’ name in wooden blocks written out on the shelf by his bed for a while.

But when I got up this morning (after my dear husband got up with the baby to let me sleep in), it looked like this:

One of my favorite things…

My cute geeky husband that spells things in Greek with wooden blocks.

This week in the Church…

We didn’t go to church this morning because I woke up feeling terrible, and Paul and James weren’t a whole lot better. But today we remembered the Myrrhbearing Woman and Friday is the Feast of St. George. I might have to think of something to do for St. George’s day. Let me know if you have any brilliant ideas.

A few plans for the rest of the week…

I’m just hoping to get over this cold. Anything else will be a bonus. We’ll still go take care of our friend Mel on Tuesday and Thursday.

This week in the garden…

Sprouts are coming up! Still not much to show, but I’m still going to post a progress photo each week. Here are a few lettuce sprouts just peeking through:

James Benedict this week…

Look! He’s reading!

He also thinks playing in his pack ‘n’ play is a terrific novelty:

He is still the happiest baby I’ve ever known. I know you all love your babies, but we’re pretty convinced we got the very best one.

Outside my window…

It is bright and sunny and the tree outside is getting green and leafy.

I am thankful…

For a chance to plant a garden! More details below.

I am hoping and praying…

For the people in Yushu, near Xining, China, and for my dear cousin Jenny Rose who lives in Xining. They just suffered a 6.9 magnitude earthquake, and Jenny Rose, a nurse, is hoping to leave soon to help the earthquake victims. Will you join us in praying for Jenny Rose and all those affected by this earthquake?

On a lesser note, that the cold James seems to coming down with (again!) and which kept him and his mama up all night, will be short lived.

From the Kitchen…

I’m feeling less inclined to spend so many hours in the kitchen lately. Trying to simplify. I’m not very good at that.  I really liked having my rotating weekly menu for Lent, so now I’m making one for the spring. Except it may not be “rotating,” seeing as it is already seven weeks long. See above about not being very good at simplifying.

Towards rhythm and beauty…

I’ve been reading and writing (privately) a lot about how to cultivate rhythm and beauty in our home and family. Rhythm of the seasons, of the Church year, of ordinary daily life. Making daily life beautiful, holy, and peaceful, sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I think of the rhythm of life I’d like our family to have “someday.” But I have a family now! Habits and traditions take time to form. There are rhythms, habits, and traditions that I want James to believe have been there since time immemorial. So I’m working on cultivating these traditions, rhythms, and habits now, so as we (God willing!) add to our family and we all grow together, a life of rhythm and beauty is something we experience as everyday life.

I am reading…

I just finished a favorite book for the third or fourth time - My Name is Asher Lev as well as the beautiful, heartbreaking Father Arseny 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father. I have a feeling that stories from Father Arseny, a beloved Russian spiritual father imprisoned under horrific conditions for decades by the Soviets, will be read aloud as a family for many years to come. Also reading Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom - Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop, a biography of one of my favorite saints. I have totally fallen off the wagon with my Bible reading project, so I need to catch up on that as well.

I am listening to…

I flipped through a Teaching Company catalog, turning down the pages of all the courses I would like to listen to someday. They record series of lectures from some of the best professors in the country which you can then buy on CD or DVD. I came home and told Paul this and he said, “I’ve done that before too. But why don’t you just start with the ones I already have?” I though he only had one series (“How to Listen to and Understand Great Music”), but it turns out he has several series I had wanted, and I had no idea he had them all this time! So I’ve started the series “Great Ideas of Philosophy” on the history of philosophy, by Professor Daniel Robinson at Georgetown University. So far it’s great.

Of course, we’re still listening to a lot of Pascha music around here too.

On keeping home…

There’s no getting around it. Having a housekeeping schedule and sticking to it religiously is the only way to go for me. This way everything gets done, nothing gets missed because I don’t feel like it that particular day, and I also don’t drive myself crazy trying to do everything in one day. It’s very calming to know that I don’t have to worry about that dust, because everything gets dusted every Wednesday without fail. (Well, actually, quite often there is a fail. Like today, for instance.) I made myself a cute chart for my schedule and stuck it above the sink, and as long as I DO it, all is well.

Click here to see a PDF of my cleaning schedule. Mostly just because it’s cute.

I don’t list anything for Tuesdays and Thursdays since I work those days, nor Sunday because I try and keep the Lord’s Day chore free, with a simple dinner. And this chart is only for weekly chores. I have a list of daily chores as well (dishes, sweep, bed made, nightly pickup, etc.)

Around the house…

Does this prompt seem redundant to you?

The garden this week…

That’s right, a garden! We have a community garden just around the corner from our house, and someone has offered to share his plot with me. It’s a small space, but better than the pots on my windowsill I had previously. On Monday I went with James and weeded out my half and amended the soil. Paul came and helped out later that day, and now there are two cherry tomato plants and an eggplant seedling, and we sowed green beans, nastursiums, kale, a lettuce mix, spinach, marigolds, tarragon, basil, and parsely. There are three existing strawberry plants. I hope to post a picture every week, so here’s the first. Obviously not much to show yet :)

One of my favorite things…

Seeing my baby playing in the weeds by my new garden.

This week in the Church…

Still in the midst of celebrating the Resurrection. Last Sunday we remembered St. Thomas who proclaimed the risen Christ as “Lord and God,” and this coming Sunday we remember the Myrrhbearing Women.

James Benedict this week…

Despite his little cold, I can’t imagine a more delightful baby. He is just unbelievably sweet and happy. I lay him down for his naps and he just rolls right over, puts his thumb in his mouth, and goes to sleep (most days:)). He is my little buddy and just tags along with me everywhere. He doesn’t seem anywhere close to crawling, but can get across the room on his tummy…backwards. He also started eating solid foods recently. It’s a little sooner than I expected to start him on solid food (just shy of eight months) but he is an awfully tiny little guy and seems to be quite interested in big people food. Because our goal in introducing solids is to get extra calories and nutrition into him while not displacing any breastmilk, we’re focusing on very nutrient-dense foods, and he chomps down all of the ones we’ve introduced like a pro. So far he loves avocados, yogurt mixed with cooked, pureed dried prunes, the occasional mashed banana, and sweet potatoes mixed with pureed liver. Yes, liver! He was unsure about it the first time, but has munched down tons of the stuff since then. Perfect early baby food!

A picture to share…

James covered in avocado, liver, and sweet potato

James was a trooper for his very first Pascha. We left the house at about 10 pm, and the service started at 11:30 pm and went until about 3 am. He was awake and entranced the WHOLE TIME. He watched the candles and processed around the church at midnight. He especially seemed entranced by all the flowers and the many, many altar boys :) He even made it through some of the feast afterward. This is what he looked like at 3 am (in his Pascha suit! With a seersucker jacket! And a tie!)

Mmmmm, can I have some of that chocolate?

He stayed awake long enough for a family picture (but still on the prowl for some chocolate):

But by 4 am . . .

He did ok the next day. Here he is doing his wake-up happy dance after his nap the day after Pascha:

And taking a picnic to the park afterwards (he can’t actually bite that apple, don’t worry):

But he took some awfully long naps in the next few days. It was 87 degrees.

Here are a couple bonus shots from playing trains with Papa:

My sister asked me for pictures of our apartment, since she’s never seen it, so I’ll put a few here:

I’ll post them as if you’re standing in the middle of the main room, turning clockwise. Here’s the shelf when you enter:

“Dining room”

Icon corner:

Going around to the right:

“Nursery” (haha)

The Chair. I keep a little icon, a prayer book, and a prayer rope by it since that’s where I nurse the baby and I liked having it there in the middle of the night. The icon is quite appropriate, since it is an icon of the Theotokos nursing the infant Jesus. Can you tell what the table is? It’s a box of disposable diapers. Someone gave them to us and I figured they might come in handy, you know, someday. But I’ve never had a use for them so far, so I put a cloth and a doily on it, and it serves quite nicely as my side table.

James’ toy basket:

Then, after the piano is the door to the bedroom. Here are the icons near the window:

The ladies at my home church (St. Paul’s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Brier, WA) made this quilt for us when we got married. There’s also a cute baby about to take his nap :)

This is getting prettied up a bit with some more color, but I don’t have a picture yet. Baby is now looking less pleased with the nap idea.

Dresser:

I don’t have a good picture of the kitchen, but here’s an old one from when I was making bread:

I don’t have a picture of my bathroom, but I’m sure you’re all ok with that :) Thats all! All 450 square feet or so. I kind of like my small space. It will come in very handy when James starts crawling - I can always see where he is!