It seems like every month or two, I become very busy and have a hard time keeping up with this whole blogging thing.  I schedule a bunch of posts on a day when I have some free time, but I rarely write about our lives.

Our lives have been busy.

Right now, I am typing on my *new to me* laptop: a refurbished Acer Aspire One.  You may remember my darling hubby bought me one about a year and a half ago.  Unfortuantely, Punky knocked it to the ground and shattered it.  My hubby tried to fix it, but could not (that’s when you know that something is really broken). Since then, I’ve had several different computers that my hubby has given to me, but I’ve always missed having a laptop.  Then, just last week, my hubby found this netbook on sale for $219!  Now I have a cute, little laptop, which I am still getting used to, but love.

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I’m beginning to worry that Bunky has a cold again.

I know he is slowly cutting a tooth, but he seems much fussier than normal (and he is pretty fussy on a daily basis).  He has also been coughing and pulling at his ears.

Bunky can now clap.  He says “dada”, “mama”, a version of his brother’s name, and he has said both “yea” and “bye” once.  He is finally sleeping better through the night, but he does still wake up.  He doesn’t eat much food yet, but is beginning to enjoy apples, bananas and little bits of table food.  He is very strong-willed and spits food out and refuses the spoon if he does not like something.

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Spunky has started doing a lot of imaginative play.

She will take two toys and have them talk to one another. Usually the conversation goes something like this: “I love you!” “I love you!” I caught her doing that with two large airplanes the other day.

Spunky has also started drawing people.  She does a great job!

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Punky has been saying a lot of really creative things recently.

Here is how he described the workings of a CD player:

Inside this thing, there are little people.  Out come their voices.  If you break this and open it up, you’ll see the people.  Five blue people.  There are some houses.  Two houses they can live in and two beds that they can sleep in.  One other house has steps so people can go down and they have one bed for two people.  They don’t actually eat because the store is locked and the road is closed, too.  If it opens up, they can go there and eat. And there’s a playground in there.  And that’s the truth.

I asked him how he knew all of that, and he said, “I got that question all the way up to my head.”

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My hubby and I have been doing a low GL (glycemic load) diet for the past two and a half weeks.  At our two week weigh-in, I had lost six pounds and my hubby has lost 5 1/2.

We cannot eat anything processed or anything with sugars and carbs.  We eat a lot of veggies, fruits, dairy, meat and poultry.  Protein is really important.

If you are looking to lose some weight, I think it is a great, healthy, balanced way to do just that.  Send me an email or leave a comment if you are interested in knowing more.

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My hubby, Bunky and I were going to take an impromtu trip to Europe (with his job) while the big kids stayed with my parents, but that trip has been postponed until after the World Cup.  Hopefully, we’ll still be able to go.  We were going to travel through Italy, Switzerland, Frace and then up to London.  With the timing, we would have been able to see the Shroud of Turin, which won’t be on display again until 2025, so my hubby is disappointed that we aren’t leaving next week.

Hopefully we’ll be able to go mid-summer.

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The big kids are WILD today, so I think it is time for them to run outside until lunch.  Bunky is finally happy and content for the first time today.  Now I am going to stop typing and finish the laundry (ick!).

Have a great day!

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Who was Valentine?

According to Eastern Orthodoxy, Valentine was martyred in Rome in the year 269 under Emperor Claudius Flavius. He had been put under the charge of General Asterius, who was supposed to persuade him to deny Christ. Instead, St. Valentine healed the general’s daughter from the blindness that had afflicted her for two years. He then baptised Asterius and his whole household. The Emperor in his foolish rage had them all tortured and killed. (Here is more).

St. Valentine knew that he might get caught in his Christian activities, but because he loved Christ with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and he loved his neighbor as himself, he was willing to risk his life to free the prisoners and spread the Gospel of Christ to those who needed to hear it.

The Bible Says: “No one has greater love than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”(John 15:13)

In the Orthodox Church, we celebrate Saint Valentine on July 6th.

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The feast of St. Valentine was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those “… whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.” As Gelasius implied, nothing was known, even then, about the lives of any of these martyrs. The Saint Valentine that appears in various martyrologies in connection with February 14 is described either as:

• A priest in Rome,
• A bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), or
• A martyr in the Roman province of Africa.

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The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle, (1493); alongside the woodcut portrait of Valentine the text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome.

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In Roman times, February 15th was the date for the celebration of Lupercalia. This was a festival of eroticism that honored Juno Februata, the goddess of “feverish” love. Men and woman would pull names out of a hat to be paired for the festivities of sexual game playing. At that time, the Church tried to change it into a “ritual of romance.” One angle they took was to adopt St. Valentine as a spiritual role model and to change the date from the 15th to the 14th, which is St. Valentine’s feast day (according to the Roman calendar).

After that, men and women drew names to find their “valentine,” who they would exchange gifts with. The tradition and importance of the holiday took off from there. Valentine’s Day grew in popularity throughout the centuries. Purchasing Valentine’s Day cards became the most popular way to declare your love in the eighteenth century and the tradition of candy and flowers emerged later in the nineteenth.

adapted from here, here, and here.

The Cabin and the Living Room

Our Room (with a little kid’s nook for Bunky) and the Game Room

My parents are staying with the big kids while we are away.  I am sure they are going to have a blast!

See you when we get back!

Your Nativity, O Christ our God,
Has shone to the world the Light of wisdom!
For by it, those who worshipped the stars,
Were taught by a Star to adore You,
The Sun of Righteousness,
And to know You, the Orient from on High.
O Lord, glory to You!

Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One,
And the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One!
Angels with shepherds glorify Him!
The wise men journey with a star!
Since for our sake the Eternal God was born as a Little Child!

The line is incredibly faint because I took the test when I was only two-three weeks pregnant.
And the tests say you can’t tell this early.  Ha!  I proved them wrong.

And this year we get to celebrate Bunky’s 1st Nativity of Our Lord!

He’s really looking forward to it- can’t you tell?

Where is the time go?!

Even though I feel like Christmas came very quickly this year, I am glad that my in-laws are here to celebrate with us and I am looking forward to my parents’ arrival on Monday.

• Cleaning my house
• Grocery shopping- I have a lot to buy!
• Preparing a meal for an elderly couple that lives in our town
• Laundry
• The Mom-N-Kids group is coming over to my house on Tuesday morning
• Preparing ornaments for the children from the Moms-N-Kids group to make
• My in-laws will be in town on Wednesday
• Lots of church!
• Cooking… Baking….
• CHRISTMAS!
• Our first annual (hopefully) Dessert and Wine Christmas Party
• My dear friend, Audrey, who I haven’t seen in months will be staying with us as soon as my in-laws leave on Saturday
• Packing…
• My parents will be arriving right after Audrey leaves on Monday
• CHRISTMAS #2!
• Celebrating SIX YEARS of marriage to my wonderful husband on Tuesday
• Leaving on a trip with my hubby (and Bunky) to Gatlinburg for four days
• Celebrating my hubby’s birthday on the 31st
• Enjoying New Year’s Eve in Gatlinburg
• Coming home to finish putting together our Parish Cookbook so that I can submit it by the deadline
• Unpacking
• Resting… resting??  What’s that?!

Take time to enjoy this week as we prepare for our Savior’s birth!

Spunky had taken the figurines and set them up somewhere else in the house.

I think she did a pretty good job.

Here are few snapshots of the kids from the photo shoot: