Greek Lentil Soup

Need an idea for supper tomorrow evening?


It's souper easy!


I confess, I don't always rinse and sort all my beans,


but I always rinse and sort lentils!
yuck - what is that?



The easy part - dump everything in the pan and add water!



We served this soup with cornbread last week, but next time I'll have warmed pitas or arabic flat bread.


Little Builder doesn't like the visible onions, and had to be bribed with no more cornbread until you eat some soup. The toddler, however, gobbled it up.

Happy Fall eatings to you and your family!

Sunday Afternoon "Gift"

Sitting down with a warm slice of zuchinni bread, topped with cream cheese, and a glass of milk... thinking of my Nana & Pawpaw who always kept loaves in the freezer to pull out for snacks.

New Cards from Mimi

Want to open my mail with me?


What a pretty bundle.


Mimi, you are so talented. In fact, all you card makers and scrap-booking bloggers out there, I admire you very much.



Thank You, Mimi, for my first ever blog prize!


And to everyone else, may you enjoy celebrating the Lord's day tomorrow.

Please Pray

For the first OCF meeting at the local university next Tuesday evening.

Lenten Lunch Box

This will be Friday's Fare:

Banana Bread (I'll post the eggless recipe if anyone wants it)
Refried Bean, Corn & Spinach in a Flour Tortilla

What will you have?

Purple Gifts from God

My toddler and I went on a walk to notice the many manifestations of purple God has given us in our yard this month.


Queenette Basil Seed Pods



Sweet Pea-ish Mini-Weed



Liriope


I have no idea...

but so nice speckling the ground near this log.

Beauty-berry

Plum tree leaves

Home Education via Public School: Math Fun

At first I was a little miffed that my kindergartner had homework every night. However, it is usually fun to do together, and like I said before, I am grateful for the structured opportunity to be a part of my child's education.

So, we start with his math book,


and find some leaves to sort


into a chart. Note: we named the groups according to Little Builder's imagination.


To complete the activity, Little Builder dictates some sentences for me to write in his math journal about what we did, then he draws a picture to go with them.

Lenten Lunch Box

I know I usually post these on Wednesdays, but I couldn't help it. Today's lunch box was so much more interesting, really demonstrating those strange and exotic combinations Orthodox pilgrims turn to on their fasting journey. I suppose having leftovers from Wednesday meals and Thursday side dishes helps...

Cocunut Tofu & Pineapple
Spanish Rice
slice of Zuchinni Bread


Note: no peanut butter indclued.

Your turn! What is the strangest combination you've ever put together?

Praying on the Road

Arggg... I forgot to turn off NPR on the way to school this morning, so I could pray. I needed to pray in the car because we hadn't prayed yet when I left, a little earlier than usual, this morning.

So I'll pray now. Wanna join me?

O heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
Who are everywhere and fill all things,
Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life,

Come Abide in us

cleansing us from every impurity,
and save our souls, oh Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal,

HAVE MERCY ON US!

Lenten Lunch Box

We're having:

steamed green beans
apples w/ peanut butter for dipping
crackers


What are you having Wednesday?

Lost, Yesterday

Lost, yesterday, somewhere between Sunrise and Sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever.

-Horace Mann


Lord, may I not lose golden moments with my family.

Oh, if only....

I have been lamenting over not being able to homeschool our kids or put them in an Orthodox school. A few nights ago, Little Builder was sitting in the bathtub, filling an old shampoo bottle with water and bubbles then dumping it out, singing to himself some song about robots. It was cute but made me sad.

Later, laying in bed next to my husband, I whispered:

If he were homeschooling or in an Orthodox school, he would be singing troparions instead of robot songs. His mind would be on "things above" instead of temporal earthly things. Right?

Over the weekend, I had plenty of time to spend with my kids, rubbing off on them.


On Saturday afternoon, after a whole day of my influence, as LB was building train tracks, he was humming to himself, not a troparion, not Hagios O Theos, not a psalm. No, he was singing...




"Dancing Queen" by ABBA, from my Mamma Mia soundtrack.


So my husband leans over to whisper, tounge-in-cheek, in my ear as we're doing dishes:

Too bad he's not homeschooling, so he could be singing troparia.


We laugh. I decide I better be thankful for what I have instead of wishing for something else. It is hard.


For Little Builder's Kindergarten, Thank You

* that his teacher loves teaching

* that his teacher has been teaching for 30 years and has great ideas

* that his school provides intense opportunities for me to be involved in his education, even if I can't homeschool. It actually forces me to sit down and do it, provides me with a schedule and accountability, lest I forget in the midst of my own students.

* for the laughter in LB's eyes as he hunches over, arm dramatically sweeping across the living room, telling me about "Going on a Bearhunt."

* for "being forced" to make 2 dozen cookies tonight for Grandparents Day tomorrow; LB and I love to cook together, but haven't done it so much recently.

As I force myself to be thankful, I feel my shoulders relaxing and the peace inching it's way in.

Gifts from God: Flowers

Surprise Spider-lilies (my mom & gramdmother call them "naked ladies") standing tall in the flower bed; I had forgotten that I sprinkled those bulbs around the edge of the bed last spring.

Neglected Althea, posing in front of a tree in the back of the house one evening.


Crepe Mrytle, providing a much appreciated splash of color all around town against the brown, yellow, and muted green colors of August heat.



When we moved here, I cleared out this front bed and started new with lilies and irises, but I am so thankful that these little Butterfly Wings dogmatically dug in their roots. Every summer they spread and spring up in new places. The 3 purple leaves make me think of the Trinity and of the Vesperal "The Lord is King, he is clothed in glorious apperal."





Having known and loved the Maker, he was touched at heart by the things He had made.

"There is something mystical in this magnificent creation," Fr. Seraphim Rose once wrote. "Being the good creation of the All-good God, it can raise our minds to Him"

(from Heiromonk Damascene's biography, Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works)