Away and Home...

We returned home today after 3 weeks away visiting family on the east coast and having our family vacation together. It was a whirlwind of a trip, and while it was sad to leave and say goodbye to my hometown and my dear family, it is also nice to be back home and thinking about what is ahead in the remaining months of this year.

Here is a little peek into our trip.

Some roadtrip knitting... a shawl in the making 

A sunset dinner with great company

Evenings on the beach

Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY

Sunset in Sea Cliff, NY

New Icons

During Great Lent this year, I chose to read Wounded by Love, by Elder Porphyrios. It was a read that made a huge difference in my life so far, particularly the sections on parenting and on prayer. I find myself thinking of St. Porphyrios and his words often these days. I have been really hoping to get an icon of him, and luckily for me, my husband went to a Greek festival today and brought me back two beautiful icons, both of newly canonized saints - one of St. Porphyrios and another of St. Paisios. I can't wait to find a perfect spot for them in our home! 

A Timeless Treasure...

A sweet parishioner recently gave us a Barnes & Noble gift card. I love going to that store and browsing the shelves on my own, without little distractions that show me every Disney book they can possibly find ;-)...  I'm all about the classics!

So the other day, I had some time to myself in the afternoon thanks to my husband, and so I wandered into Barnes & Noble with the gift card. After browsing the children's section for a while, I came to the Bargain Books and found this treasure. The clerk made sure for me that it is unabridged,  and also told me that I am getting the second-to-lastcopy in the whole country!!! I cannot wait to read this classic series with the kiddos one of these years!

Williams-Sonoma haul...

We were at the mall today for a little walk on this gray day, and we popped into Williams-Sonoma, one of our favorite stores. Usually I am hesitant to hang out in there for long with all the kids in tow, but we ended up chancing upon a huge sale they had going on. It is an end-of-season clearance, with extra 20% off of the sale items. 

I stocked up on my favorite dish towels ever (and I mean ever!). Back when we were getting married, almost 7 years ago, I saw these towels at someone's house and decided to put them on my registry. My mom's cousin, Liza, got them for me for my bridal shower. (The ones she got me were white and green striped). I still have them today and other than slight fading after many washes, the towels are still good as new! They are so special to me because Liza ended up dying young, just before I had our first child. I will never throw those towels away! Since getting these WS towels though, I have tried many, many other kinds and I always find myself coming back for these. They are extremely absorbent and do not wrinkle a ton in the wash. Two wins right there if you ask me. I also find them to be eternally classy. I love mixing up the colors for different seasons! 

I also decided on a whim to try these wooden spoons out. I am always on the hunt for a perfect wooden spoon, and the shapes of these (and the uniformity of them) really appealed to me. I'll have to put some mineral oil on them before using them for the first time (as the clerk suggested). 

A finished knit...

I don't think I have posted about any finished knits before. I really love to knit so much, and it is really relaxing for me, but finding the time to do it is challenging. If I am lucky I get to knit in the evenings after the kids are asleep and my kitchen looks tidy again. Usually this is only after 9 PM and so I really do not get much done in an evening. I'm not on a time frame with most of my projects though, so that means I really can relax and wait patiently for the end of a project. 

A few days ago I completed a cream-colored throw for our home. It was my first successful attempt at a lacy pattern and I really am happy to have finished it and have it draping over our couch. I did make some mistakes, but I never really went back to fix them because in a lacy pattern it is not really noticeable when there is a mistake, to me. Anyway, here it is! 

I am excited to knit a different type of throw at some point, too. My next project is going to be a shawl, and I am going to use some of the famous MadelineTosh yarn for the first time for it! I am so excited!

Summertime...Almost

Well, here we are in the middle of June! Since my last post, we were so busy celebrating the Resurrection of Our Lord which included a spiritually eventful Bright Week, had a trip to New York with two of the kiddos, celebrated our big girl's 4th birthday, and flew to California for my brother's wedding. It has been a whirlwind for sure!

I wanted to share a few photos from the last few months real quick.

Some of our Easter eggs this year

My table setting for Pascha (for the adults). The kids had their own table which I sadly did not grab a photo of! The theme of their table was Peter Rabbit.

The table set and ready with appetizers 

My kids loved having a kulich picnic every day of Bright Week outside

The ever beautiful Sonoma County vineyards!

California Redwoods!!

The Holy Virgin Cathedral, Joy of All Who Sorrows in San Francisco (ROCOR) - in this church lie the relics of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco

Preparing for Pascha: An Easy Project for Preschoolers and Toddlers

This morning I told the kids we would do some kind of fun pre-Paschal project. So I pulled out Pinterest and started surfing for a quick and easy project with minimal clean-up (so no painting). I have a lot to do before Pascha, but they need to be kept busy so that I can get things done. As I perused Pinterest, I got an idea of my own and decided to go for it.

Unfortunately, I did not take step-by-step photos for this, but I really do not think that is necessary because this is such a simple project. Basically, I decided to make little Easter baskets out of construction paper and fill them with goodies. We worked backwards, and first I drew shapes for each kid to cut out a kulich. Then, I made a topper for the kulich (they are most often glazed with a white glaze on top), and after they were cut out, the kids glued them onto their kulich and decorated them. Next, I made a little cheese paskha shape for each of them, and we glued and decorated those. Then I took a template of easter eggs from the internet (I have lost the link by now, figures!) and printed that out. I cut the eggs out while they decorated a bunch of them. Next, it was time to make the basket. I took a full piece of construction paper and used most of it to make them each a basket in the color of their choice. Then, after they glued their goodies onto the basket, I made them each a handle that they glued on. This was so easy and SO mess-free! Of course, this project is easy to extend into other ideas, and other mediums like paint, pastels, and more complicated versions for older children. Enjoy!