On Prayer

This morning, I was reading my daily reading from St. Theophan the Recluse, and this part on prayer was so appropriately timed, not only for my life (when is it ever not beneficial to learn more about prayer?) but also because Great Lent, the time of prayer, is around the corner and beginning on Monday.

"For diminishing the straying of thought during prayer, it is necessary to make an effort to pray with warm feeling. To do this, it is necessary to warm the soul before prayer with meditation and with bows. Learn to pray with your own prayer. For example, the essence of evening prayer is to thank God for the day and for everything that one has met in the course of it, both good and bad. For the wrong which has been done, one must repent and ask forgiveness, promising to make amends the following day; then one prays to God for protection during sleep. Say all of this to God from  your mind and from your heart. The essence of morning prayer is to thank God for sleep and revitalizing, and to ask Him to help to do things throughout the day for His glory. Again, say this to Him with all your heart and mind. While you are at it, both in the morning and the evening, make known your vital needs to the Lord, both inner needs and outer ones, speaking to Him like a child: "See, Lord, my illness and weakness! Help me and heal me!" All this and similar things you may say to God in your own words, without using your prayer book. Maybe this will be better. Try this, and if it works, you may put aside your prayer book altogether; if it does not work, however, then you should pray with your prayer book, or else you may be left entirely without prayer."

Cleaning List for Great Lent

I cannot believe that we are just days away from Great Lent! It seems that every year, Great Lent creeps up on us, but this year especially, as it will be an early Pascha. 

I am always excited about the beginning of Great Lent, even though it always means extra temptations will arise. One of the things I am really trying to work on this year as we go into Great Lent, is prepare myself and give myself a list of things to work on so I can help myself stay on track throughout the Lenten period.

One of my favorite bloggers, Emily from Charming the Birds from the Trees, has always inspired me by her Lenten Cleaning lists. This year, I have looked at her list and taken her general idea, but adopted it to my own home. (Go to her blog and see her list, if you'd like). Every year her lists are very helpful, but what I love this year is her new idea of starting out on Cheesefare Week instead of on the first week of Great Lent. It is always challenging to throw myself into the Lenten period literally overnight, and trying to balance all aspects of home keeping, motherhood and spiritual life is hard for me personally. This idea of starting on Cheesefare Week is perfect for me, I think! It will be a nice way to transition into the first week of Great Lent. 

So, here is my plan. (This doesn't include much other than cleaning/organizing)...I'll share more about what we'll be up to during Great Lent in later posts.

Cheesefare Week

1.  Make sure that each room has an icon corner set up (especially the bedrooms)

2.  Update Lenten meal idea list, make meal plan for the first week of Lent, and make shopping list

3.  Shop for Lenten Staples (Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods)

4.  Prepare a few quiet-time activities for the kids for the first week (play-doh, stickers, crayons, paper)

5.  Dig into the Pascha tubs for plastic eggs and basket for our Countdown to Pascha Basket
6. Prepare music for Great Lent, finalize book selection for myself

Week One (Kitchen)

1.  Clean out fridge, freezer and pantry

2.  Clean out cabinets and drawers and get rid of ALL kitchen junk!

3.  Clean counters, appliances, and sink

4.  Wash out garbage can and scrub the floor

5.  Re-organize the kitchen command center/desk area

Week Two (Dining Room and Laundry Room)

1.  Dust the dining room

2.  Clean out unnecessary items from the buffet and china cabinet (re-organize as needed)

3. Have hubby hang up remaining wall decorations in dining room

4.  Laundry Room: Remove all old washing supplies and miscellaneous items/junk and clean shelves

5.  Re-organize the shelves above washer & dryer and replenish the supply of rags

Week Three (Playroom, Living Room, Entrance and Hallway)

1.  Sort through books, magazines, dvds, and cds

2.  Sort through puzzles, games, and toys

3.  Tidy art supplies and create a system for them

4.  Dust furniture and vacuum under cushions and under couch

5.  Organize coat closet
6. Hang wall decor as needed

Week Four (Bathrooms and Linen Closet)

1.  Clean out cabinets and drawers in bathrooms

2.  Purge bath toys and sort through bath soaps

3.  Clean tubs, showers, sinks, and toilets

4.  Wash bathroom floors

5.  Reorganize linen closet and towels

Week Five (Children's Rooms and Guest Room)

1.  Clean closets

2.  Go through books and toys

3.  Dust and make order throughout 

4.  Wash all bedding and curtains/flip mattresses

5.  Wash windows and floors, hang wall decor

                                             

Week Six (Master Bedroom)

1.  Clean out closets

2.  Tidy dresser, bedside tables, and chest of drawers

3.  Dust

4.  Wash all bedding and curtains/flip mattress  

5. Go through jewelry chest and miscellaneous items & re-organize

Great and Holy Week

1.  Paschal menu plan & shopping

2.  Clean car

3.  Wash glass doors and windows

4.  Tidy downstairs rooms

5.  Decorate the house for Pascha and spring 

New Routines...

It's February already! I can't believe it. This last month was so crazy, I'm glad to say goodbye to it.

We are slowly settling in more and more to our home. It's a great feeling! Along with the home organization and decor though, I have been trying to make new routines for the kids and I, too. I was nervous how things would go on days that Tata is home, because the kids tend to be a little more bouncy when he's around, but so far we have managed fine with keeping to a routine (especially because Fr. is busy blessing homes most days these days, so we don't see much of him, anyway).

I am really liking our new after-lunch routine. Once everyone has finished eating, I set the timer for 20 minutes and send the older kids to the couch (they each take a couch) for some quiet resting time. The rule is they can either sit quietly, read, or play with a quiet toy on the couch. No music, no noise, no talking. I turn off our morning music then, too (I love to keep Pandora playing classical or gypsy music all morning long), so it is quiet. While they rest, I clear the table from lunch and catch up with dishes. Normally, this does take me the whole 20 minutes. (Hopefully as they grow, I can change the time to longer lengths!) If I finish quickly in the kitchen, I join them on the couch and do a silent activity myself (reading, usually). If the timer goes off and the kids did a nice job staying on the couch (usually they do pretty well), I give them a little treat (like a hershey kiss) and then turn on the TV for a little while. While they watch TV, I have a cup of tea or a latte and catch up with my favorite blogs, email, etc. The TV time is limited, and I set a timer for that, as well (usually I let them watch for an hour. Usually, they watch a Serbian or Russian cartoon). Just as easily as they can watch TV all afternoon without a timer, I'd be able to sit on the computer all day, too, and I want to avoid that. :)

This rejuvenation time for me is crucial in order to have a successful and calm day with the kids. I find that the days that go off of routine, it's harder for me to stay patient in the afternoon, and the kids also have a more difficult time getting along and cooperating with our family rules. One of the major bonuses of couch time and silence (other than water running or clanking dishes), is that on some days one or both kids fall asleep for a nap!

A Coffee Station...

For months, and after searching Pinterest for many different ideas, I have been dreaming of setting up a little coffee and tea station in our new home. I have played with many different options...and voila! Here we have it!

What do you think? I absolutely love it! The best part about this little station, is how easily and inexpensively it came about. It started with a trip to Home Goods, where I picked up a lovely (and perfect) tray for $10 on clearance, as well as a canister that says "coffee" on it.

Here is what the tray looks like. 

As soon as I got home, I put my necessities on it: the electric kettle, french press, and coffee canister. Originally, I had this little "station" on my kitchen counter. However, it proved to be a bit cluttered all in all, and I wasn't 100% happy with the lost counter space, either. 

So, my husband and I together decided that the best place for this station would be in our dining room on an empty buffet top. The best part was, yesterday I took a trip to Burlington Coat Factory, where I found this beautiful picture hanging above the station, on clearance!!! I love clearance sections! It was in perfect shape with nothing wrong with it. I love how this all came together! Now, drinking my morning or afternoon coffee or tea feels so much nicer because it begins with the dining room. And, I have my counter space back. Hooray!

Breakfast and an Act of Kindness...

Happy Monday!

After a very exhausting week, our family started out this morning with some homemade french toast with maple syrup. 

And speaking of breakfast...

On Saturday morning, our family went out to breakfast. A couple we are friends with gave us a gift certificate to a local breakfast joint when we moved here. We have not been out to breakfast since we moved because it was the fast. So on Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the free morning for my hubby, and the gift card from our friends, and over to Crispy Waffle we headed. We took our time ordering and eating, and were really enjoying our family time together. About half way through our meal, the waitress walked up to us and said, "I just wanted you to know that your bill has been taken care of, so you can leave whenever you'd like." We just stared at her in amazement and asked, "what do you mean our bill has been taken care of?" She explained that some other people were sitting having breakfast, eyed our family and enjoyed watching how we interact, and also loved seeing that we were not sitting on any types of devices while out, so they chose to pay for our meal. We were so touched and incredibly shocked! What an act of kindness from a group of complete strangers! We felt bad that the people had already left and we couldn't thank them. We sat there and thought about this beautiful random act of kindness. It inspired us, and we also decided to pay for a group of people before walking out the door. We looked around and chose a family that looked like they were also very much enjoying their time together, and used our gift card to pay for that family. It really felt like the right thing to do. What these other people did for us made us feel so amazing, we wanted to do it to someone else, too! Who knows? Maybe those people we chose to pay for also decided to do it for another family. Wouldn't that be cool??

Our Slava

Our family celebrated our slava this week (ours is St. John the Baptist). As a little background, each Serbian family has a patron saint for their family, and this saint is their slava saint. On the day of the year when this saint's feast day is celebrated, the family celebrates their slava. It is the most important day of the year for the Serbian family (and most celebrate not just one day, but three). So much work goes into preparing for your slava! Each family bakes a kolac, which is the traditional slava bread, and is used to remember and commemorate the living members of the family. You also make a bowl of wheat (usually it is ground with nuts and sugar mixed in), and decorate it with a cross on top. This wheat is used to commemorate and remember the members of the family who have died. In addition to these two things, a lot of Serbian traditional foods are prepared, and it is never just a one-day affair!

Now, on to the day of slava itself. It is nice for at least a few members of the family to go to church on the morning of their slava (sometimes the housewife stays behind to prepare for the feast at home), and that is just how we started our day...by going to liturgy. Immediately after liturgy, the children and I came home and I prepared for a few parishioners to come over for coffee and lunch. My husband had to go visit the homes of people who did not make it to church that morning, in order to bless their home and serve the slava service, which includes blessing the kolac and zito (the wheat, pronounced zhee-to). He was home only later on in the evening, just after 7. Our evening guests, mostly whom were parishioners, arrived at 7 PM. There were about 25 guests in total that night. It is intimidating to host so many people for a fancy, sit-down meal (at least for this housewife, it was!) Thankfully, everything went pretty smoothly (aside from me burning the soup as I reheated it...which resulted in no soup for the guests. Thank God there was so much other food, though!) 

On the morning after our slava, we woke up with completely sore bodies, from head to toe! That's what happens when you host a slava, but I am pretty sure it means you hosted it properly :) Round 2 was last night, but it was a breeze because I served the same food from Tuesday night that was leftover, and it was a group of friends, so it was less overwhelming. 

Until next year, slava!

Here are some photos from slava, from prep to go time!  

Preparing our kolac

Ready to go into the oven! This is the moment you hope for the best!

Sarma. Serbian cabbage rolls...for non-lenten slavas, they are stuffed with meat and rice...for lenten slavas, they are stuffed with rice and vegetables. This was my first time making sarma, ever!

This is what is put on the table first....little finger foods (called "meza")

More meza

After the kolac was cut by the bishop. Now it's time for the guests to sit down and start eating!

Back...

Boy, has it been quite a few weeks! We have moved in to our new home, but then came a slew of new year celebrations, Christmas, Christmas parties, more feast days, and lastly, our family's slava. I have taken a break from just about everything other than housework and prep of all sorts. I'm back, and hope to stay back without any prolonged breaks from here on.

Though we are having company tonight for 3rd day of our slava, and I have lots to do in the kitchen, I  wanted to share this quote that I have now printed and posted on my refrigerator for a daily reminder.


"What saves and makes for good children is the life of the parents in the home. The parents need to become saints in their relations to their children through their mildness, patience, and love. They need to make a new start every day, with a fresh outlook, renewed enthusiasm and love for their children. And the joy that will come to them, the holiness that will visit them, will shower grace on their children. Generally, the parents are to blame for the bad behavior of the children. And their behavior is not improved by reprimands, disciplining, or strictness. If the parents do not pursue a life of holiness and if they don't engage in spiritual struggle, they make great mistakes and transmit the faults they have within them. If the parents do not live a holy life and do not display love towards each other, the devil torments the parents with the reactions of the children. Love, harmony and understanding between parents are what are required for the children. This provides a great sense of security and certainty."

-St. Porphyrios