Sunday, September 29, 2013
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Weekend
Well it's beginning to feel like fall finally. We had a nice weekend and Friday night BB graciously agreed to babysit to Marc and I could go to the gala and silent auction at our church. We had a wonderful time!
Tucker and Charlie played in the leaves for a long time this morning.
And we found Tucker high in the fig tree later. :) And by the way, I have noticed that Tuck Tuck is always in that Tucker shirt. It's his favorite and he dresses himself a lot now. Today he said, "I wore my striped shorts to match my striped shirt!" :)
Tucker and Charlie played in the leaves for a long time this morning.
And we found Tucker high in the fig tree later. :) And by the way, I have noticed that Tuck Tuck is always in that Tucker shirt. It's his favorite and he dresses himself a lot now. Today he said, "I wore my striped shorts to match my striped shirt!" :)
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Storytime
We have been trying to go to storytime on Wednesdays when we can. The boys absolutely love it. Four children down and not an introvert to be seen. They all jump right in. :)
To say I am enjoying my time with my two baby boys is such an understatement. They are a delight!
I found this in Julia's school notebook. She wrote a little story about her first sleepover. :)
To say I am enjoying my time with my two baby boys is such an understatement. They are a delight!
I found this in Julia's school notebook. She wrote a little story about her first sleepover. :)
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Tuesday
Nothing special to report today. Just wanted to get these pics off the camera. Charliebear LOVES to get his teeth brushed. Every night after his bath he runs to the bathroom and Marc stands him on the counter- he says "Bwush teef YAY!!!"
On the way to school this morning-
By the way- today was picture day at school. The photographer apparently gave every single kid a nickname. Marky said, "Mine was Tom Cruise" (ha- he doesn't even know who that is) and Julia said, "That's great- my name was Chubby Cheeks." :)
On the way to school this morning-
By the way- today was picture day at school. The photographer apparently gave every single kid a nickname. Marky said, "Mine was Tom Cruise" (ha- he doesn't even know who that is) and Julia said, "That's great- my name was Chubby Cheeks." :)
Monday, September 23, 2013
Monday play dough and loving :)
This morning the boys and I made homemade playdough and played-
They also had popsicle while we worked, which ended up leaving us with great popsicle stick sculpting tools. :)
ALL DAY LONG Julia writes little love notes. They usually say "I love Mommy, Daddy, Marky, Tucker and Charlie, but most of all I love Jesus." I found one the other day that said "I love BB and Tucker, but most of all I love Jesus." They are so sweet. This morning she wrote this one and left it on Tucker's breakfast spot so he'd see it-
She made this one of the four of them and then added Marc and I on the ends-
She even remembers her baby brother in heaven-
Sweetest little lovebug. Thank you Sissy for the sunshine you spread.
They also had popsicle while we worked, which ended up leaving us with great popsicle stick sculpting tools. :)
ALL DAY LONG Julia writes little love notes. They usually say "I love Mommy, Daddy, Marky, Tucker and Charlie, but most of all I love Jesus." I found one the other day that said "I love BB and Tucker, but most of all I love Jesus." They are so sweet. This morning she wrote this one and left it on Tucker's breakfast spot so he'd see it-
She made this one of the four of them and then added Marc and I on the ends-
She even remembers her baby brother in heaven-
Sweetest little lovebug. Thank you Sissy for the sunshine you spread.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Sunday pics, Sunday fun
Today Daddy taught adult Sunday school so I got all four babies dressed by myself and met him at Mass. After I'd dressed them all I went to get dressed myself. I came out and saw Tucker on the floor in my room reading his book and it warmed my heart. :)
I'm sorry Buddy, am I bothering you? :)
I've decided the key to good Sunday pics is having Daddy doing his funny dance in the background- they just don't light up when it's only me behind a camera-
I started dancing and whooping to get a reaction-
This afternoon Frick and Frack were so excited to see it was finally leaf raking time!
Sweet Daddy always lets them ruin the pile he makes!
Happy Fall, ya'll!
I'm sorry Buddy, am I bothering you? :)
I've decided the key to good Sunday pics is having Daddy doing his funny dance in the background- they just don't light up when it's only me behind a camera-
I started dancing and whooping to get a reaction-
This afternoon Frick and Frack were so excited to see it was finally leaf raking time!
Sweet Daddy always lets them ruin the pile he makes!
Happy Fall, ya'll!
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Greek Food Festival, Tannehill State Park
Today was the best family day. This is the first time in about 6 years that we haven't been playing any sports in the fall. We didn't want Marky to play sports as he transitioned into school (and homework), and we are waiting until spring for Tucker to play soccer- so all of our Saturdays are blissfully OPEN for fun! We are having the best time. Today we had two special trips. We started off our morning by going to the St. George Melkite Greek Catholic Church's food festival. :)
St. George's is in communion with the Catholic Church and under Papal authority, but it's also in communion with the Orthodox Church and is similar to the Orthodox church in the liturgy and icons. Right when we got there a docent gave us a very long, detailed tour which opened our eyes even more as to how beautiful and sacred the space was. EVERYTHING means something. She explained the church is three parts- the narthex (in front) is "the world", the church itself is "heaven" and behind the screen is "the Holy of Holies." Two sacraments are done in the narthex- 1) marriage- you get married civilly there and then process as man and wife into the church for blessing in a Melkite church. And 2) you are baptized in the narthex because you are still "of the world" until baptism.
The baptismal font has 8 sides because (they said) the woman's womb has eight sides and baptism is a rebirth. Also- creation was made in 7 days and the 8th day is "out of time" and we are baptized into "eternity- eternal fellowship with God".
A shot from the church into the baptismal area-
Gorgeous candelabra with the 12 apostles- They also have a decanter for insense that they use that has 12 bells to make a praising sound when it's swung- one bell is always silent to symbolize Judas.
This was one of my favorite things- a wooden panel that they process in with at the beginning of every service where Christ is pulling Adam from his tomb. Old Adam meet New Adam (again). :)
High above all is an icon of Christ as Judge with the seraphim- around the image are the words, "The Lord looks from heaven; He sees the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks upon all those who live on earth. He fashions their hearts alike. He considers all their works." It's Psalm 33:13-15.
She taught us so much about icons. If an image has only one eye shown in an icon it's evil- like the devil or Judas. In their icons all the humans have the face of Christ to show that humanity is made in God's image. The Holy Spirit is represented only by a dove or tongue of fire. God the Father is represented by three rays of light or a Hand coming from heaven- never by a face. Windows and doors in the backgrounds always lead to "black" because they lead into the world, which is fallen. They purposely look two-dimensional and put events together that may have occurred years apart to show that you are not looking at an earthly reality, but a spiritual one. Icons are "written" after fasting and prayer- they are not "painted." She said that in their church icons, Jesus wears the color red, which is the color of divinity and is wrapped in blue, which is the color of humanity to show His dual nature. Mary, is always in light blue which represents purity (white did not traditionally represent purity) and humanity and is covered in a red- the divine color or purple- the royal color.
All that to say- I learned a lot today and the children did too. We loved the music and the food was amazing. After the festival we decided to head out to Tannehill State Park. Once a month they have "trade days" which is like a giant flea market. We bought a few neat things including a Matryohka nesting doll with ten icons similar to this for $20. The park actually has a blacksmith shop that offers instruction. The children, of course, always love watching the blacksmiths.
At one point while I was shopping, Daddy took all the children to the jumpy thing.
We paid for Tucker to do it, but he got scared. So little Charliebear did it instead! :)
Charlie, Bubba and Sissy all flying high-
They have an extra large collection of log cabins built in the 1800s-
We had enough time to go to the Alabama Iron and Steel Museum on the grounds and learn about how iron is made and the history of it in our area.
They gave the children a scavenger hunt to do at the museum that they really enjoyed.
We learned that before cast iron pipe, cities used wooden pipes. Chicago had a wooden pipe water system in the beginning.
After the museum was a quick trip to the sweet shoppe that was also inside a log cabin built by a man for his bride in 1856 and then he died in the civil war in 1861.
Such a fun day with my favorite people.
St. George's is in communion with the Catholic Church and under Papal authority, but it's also in communion with the Orthodox Church and is similar to the Orthodox church in the liturgy and icons. Right when we got there a docent gave us a very long, detailed tour which opened our eyes even more as to how beautiful and sacred the space was. EVERYTHING means something. She explained the church is three parts- the narthex (in front) is "the world", the church itself is "heaven" and behind the screen is "the Holy of Holies." Two sacraments are done in the narthex- 1) marriage- you get married civilly there and then process as man and wife into the church for blessing in a Melkite church. And 2) you are baptized in the narthex because you are still "of the world" until baptism.
The baptismal font has 8 sides because (they said) the woman's womb has eight sides and baptism is a rebirth. Also- creation was made in 7 days and the 8th day is "out of time" and we are baptized into "eternity- eternal fellowship with God".
A shot from the church into the baptismal area-
Gorgeous candelabra with the 12 apostles- They also have a decanter for insense that they use that has 12 bells to make a praising sound when it's swung- one bell is always silent to symbolize Judas.
This was one of my favorite things- a wooden panel that they process in with at the beginning of every service where Christ is pulling Adam from his tomb. Old Adam meet New Adam (again). :)
High above all is an icon of Christ as Judge with the seraphim- around the image are the words, "The Lord looks from heaven; He sees the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks upon all those who live on earth. He fashions their hearts alike. He considers all their works." It's Psalm 33:13-15.
She taught us so much about icons. If an image has only one eye shown in an icon it's evil- like the devil or Judas. In their icons all the humans have the face of Christ to show that humanity is made in God's image. The Holy Spirit is represented only by a dove or tongue of fire. God the Father is represented by three rays of light or a Hand coming from heaven- never by a face. Windows and doors in the backgrounds always lead to "black" because they lead into the world, which is fallen. They purposely look two-dimensional and put events together that may have occurred years apart to show that you are not looking at an earthly reality, but a spiritual one. Icons are "written" after fasting and prayer- they are not "painted." She said that in their church icons, Jesus wears the color red, which is the color of divinity and is wrapped in blue, which is the color of humanity to show His dual nature. Mary, is always in light blue which represents purity (white did not traditionally represent purity) and humanity and is covered in a red- the divine color or purple- the royal color.
All that to say- I learned a lot today and the children did too. We loved the music and the food was amazing. After the festival we decided to head out to Tannehill State Park. Once a month they have "trade days" which is like a giant flea market. We bought a few neat things including a Matryohka nesting doll with ten icons similar to this for $20. The park actually has a blacksmith shop that offers instruction. The children, of course, always love watching the blacksmiths.
At one point while I was shopping, Daddy took all the children to the jumpy thing.
We paid for Tucker to do it, but he got scared. So little Charliebear did it instead! :)
Charlie, Bubba and Sissy all flying high-
They have an extra large collection of log cabins built in the 1800s-
We had enough time to go to the Alabama Iron and Steel Museum on the grounds and learn about how iron is made and the history of it in our area.
They gave the children a scavenger hunt to do at the museum that they really enjoyed.
We learned that before cast iron pipe, cities used wooden pipes. Chicago had a wooden pipe water system in the beginning.
After the museum was a quick trip to the sweet shoppe that was also inside a log cabin built by a man for his bride in 1856 and then he died in the civil war in 1861.
Such a fun day with my favorite people.
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