Glorious weekend!!!

Ok, this is supposed to be a blog about things that I make, but I couldn't help but post about the beautiful weekend that we had. It wasn't too warm, but it was sunny and for NEPA that is a really big deal. These days I think most people don't care how cool or breezy it is as long as it is sunny.

On Saturday, Therese participated in her first Easter egg hunt. It was held at our church. I took her there, Tom and Anna Mary stayed at home. Before we left Tom gave Therese a pep talk telling her to not talk to the other kids, but to stay focused and get as many eggs as possible without pushing or hurting the other children. Therese did her daddy proud. She took off so fast I had a hard time catching up! She was all over the place and made out really well. Here she is before the hunt,

during the hunt,


and after the hunt.


Sunday was just a sunny and beautiful as Saturday. After church we went out for lunch and then to the park. Anna Mary got to ride on a swing for the first time. She really enjoyed it. In the pictures her crinkled brow are because she is screaming with joy!


Anna Mary also had a good time seeing how many wood chips she could get in her hand and playing in the sand.



And here are just some other random cute pictures of the girls from the weekend. Here is Therese reading a book while hugging her baby Rosey. Poor Rosey, we have lost her clothes again!


And in this picture, Tom put Anna Mary on the stool. I just think she looks so cute!

Holy Saturday baking

Holy Saturday was a busy day of baking getting ready for Easter. I started in the morning with non-alcoholic grasshopper pie. Therese was a big help making the crust out of oreo cookies. At first I told her to use the rolling pin to roll over the cookies and crush them. She didn't find that too effective so she came up with her own method.

After the pie I made a rosewater pound cake as well. It is so delicious and makes the house smell *so* nice.

Later in the day, before we went to church, Therese and I made the Easter story cookies. Here she is crushing the pecans.

Here they are ready to go into the oven.

And here she is sampling the finished product while sitting next to her Easter basket.


I made some more Pascha bread and was more pleased with the taste. I will be giving these loaves away.

I am *still* finishing up the Wigglebunz longies. It is taking me a long time, mostly because my evenings are busier with Anna Mary not sleeping well. Once I get them finished I am going to start a pair of yellow capri pants for Anna Mary. I am going to embellish them with red and black lady bugs and perhaps some flowers. I also have some cute fabric to make her another pair of shoes that will go perfectly with these capris. I can't wait to get started. I will be following for the most part the Morning Glory pattern from Ladybugz. It will be a bit challenging as I need to figure out how to put a slit on the side, so it should be fun.

Christ is risen!

Just wanted to post Chrysostom's Easter sermon. It is read at Resurrection Matins. Unfortunately, we had to leave last night before it was read.

Saint John Chrysostom's Easter Sermon

Let every pious and God-loving soul enjoy this splendid and luminous feast; let every faithful servant enter joyfully into his Master's joy! Let the one who has borne the burden of fasting now receive his pay, and the one who has toiled since the first hour, let him obtain his due reward! If anyone came after the third hour, let him gratefully join in the feasting; and the one who tarried until the sixth hour, let him not be afraid of missing anything. If there is one who waited until the ninth hour, let him come unhesitatingly; and even the laborer of the eleventh hour, let him not fear for his sloth. For the Lord is generous and receives the last even as the first. He has pity on the last and serves the first; he rewards the first, and gives freely to the last. He receives the fruits of labor, and accepts good intentions; he honors the deed, and praises the effort.

And so, enter into your Master's joy: you the first and you the last will receive the bounty. Come together, you rich and you poor: abstinent or indulgent, honor this day. You who have kept the fast and you have not, be joyful now: the table is laden, take of it all of you without any scruple. There is enough of the fatted calf for all: let no one go away hungry. All of you, come and taste the banquet of faith; all of you enjoy the abundance of mercy. Let no one bemoan his poverty, for the Kingdom of us all has appeared to us; let no one complain about his sins, for pardon has risen from the tomb; let no one be afraid of death, the Lord's death has delivered us: He has destroyed it by enduring it; He went down into the Abyss and stripped the abyss; He made it bitter for having tasted of his flesh. That is what Isaiah had foretold: the Abyss he said, was made bitter when it met You beneath the ground; it was made bitter because it was reduced to naught; it was made bitter because it was fooled; it was made bitter because it was put to death; it was made bitter because it was annihilated. It seized a corpse, and lo! discovered God; it took hold of earth, and behold! encountered heaven! It captured the seen, and fell before the unseen.

O death, where is your sting. Abyss, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are cast down; Christ is risen, and the demons are crushed; Christ is risen, and the angels sing for joy; Christ is risen, and life has overcome; Christ is risen, and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ the Resurrection has become the first fruits of the dead. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Pascha Bread

Well, this is going to be a really picture heavy post. I made my Pascha bread yesterday. It was the first time I have ever done it and I am really pleased with how they turned out. Well, I should say I am pleased with how they look because we can't taste them until tomorrow. I must say it has been a tremendous sacrifice looking at and smelling these beautiful loaves of bread and not being able to taste them. I loved making this bread. It was really fun making the braids. I plan to make more in the next couple of days to give out to friends, so I am hoping to learn from my first experience. The one main thing I want to do differently is to put the braids around the top of the 2 loaves with the crosses instead of putting the braids along the sides. I still think they look nice, but the braid is supposed to resemble the crown of thorns and I think that is a little lost on my breads.

Anyway, here are the beginning shots, right before they went in the oven. This first one was a long braid that I made into a spiral. I am pretty happy with it, but next time I will make the strands thinner so that the spiral is longer.

This one is just a ball of dough with a braided cross. I think it looks cool.

These next 2 are just round loaves with the braid around the loaf and the eastern three bar cross.


And here they are right out of the oven. My bread looks a little different than the traditional Pascha bread because I used whole wheat flour instead of white.





Today I will be making some desserts to take to Easter dinner tomorrow at my in-laws. In addition, Therese and I will be making these cookies, whose recipe I got from an online friend:

Easter Story Cookies Recipe
To be made the evening before Easter
You need:
1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300°F (this is important-don't wait til you're half
done with the recipe!)
Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the
wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was
arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar
to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave
His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and
brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty
tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read
Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1cup sugar.
Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because
He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Ps. 34:8 and
John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks
are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's
eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isa. 1:18
and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie
sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus'
body was laid. Read Matt. 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.
Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that
Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matt. 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the
oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was
sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the
cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first
Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.
Read Matt. 28:1-9

I will post some pictures of the making of the cookies and of the finished product.

Most importantly, today I will be getting to Confession and then tonight we will go to vespers, Divine Liturgy and Resurrection Matins. I think that Therese will really enjoy Matins if she isn't too tired once they get started.

The Easter outfit is complete

Yesterday afternoon I put the finishing touches on Anna Mary's Easter longies/skirty. This morning I weaved in the ends and took some pictures. I still have to wash and lanolize them, which I better get done soon so that they are ready for her to wear to church tomorrow night. Wow, that took alot of yarn. Originally I ordered 2 skeins of yarn, but I ended up having to get a third. I used all but a small amount. The skirt alone took over a skein. I used 2 skeins of the limey blimey colorway from
Beth at Doodlebirds, which is composed of violet and a lime green, and a skein of the violet (also from Doodlebirds). I am please with how they turned out. The pictures do not do justice to the colors, in my opinion. I also had Beth dye me 2 shirts to go with the yarn. I took pictures of Anna Mary in the violet shirt, but since she was not a very willing participant I held off on putting the green shirt on her. Here are the pictures of the finished product:


And I just had to include this picture of a very unhappy Anna Mary.

I think she looks so cute!

Yesterday Therese colored Easter eggs for the 4th time! She really gets into it and her hands show it:

That is a picture of her hands several hours and washings later. She also has streaks of dye on her forearms.

Yesterday afternoon we were all hanging out in the sunroom and Anna Mary was trying to climb all over the picnic table. She managed to get herself on top of it! I didn't get any pictures as we were all too busy trying to keep her safe. Tom ended up sitting next to her and sitting her at the table. After a few minutes she put herself in a little baby jail.

It seems to be a great way to keep her out of trouble! But, trying to get her out when she was no longer having fun was no picnic.

Today is Good Friday, the most solemn day in the Church calendar. We will be going to the Burial Service this afternoon at 3 at our church. It is a beautiful and moving service. Tomorrow evening we have vespers, Divine Liturgy, and Resurrection Matins. The Matins are so beautiful, but we probably won't be able to stay for long as our girls like to go to bed very early. Right now, my Pascha bread is on it's first rise. I will be making 4 loaves out of the dough. I will post pictures of them when they are done. I always imagined this to be a daunting task but since I make bread all the time anyway and have a Bosch it has been very easy. Next year I hope to get a basket together to take to our church's basket blessing. I have never done it before mainly because we are vegetarian (alot of the traditional things that go in the basket are meat) and I wasn't raised in the Byzantine church and so I was never taught this tradition. I really want to pass this tradition down to our children, so I will go to the blessing tomorrow to see what all the families have in their baskets. I also hope to cross stitch a basket cover before next Easter. I am hoping that someone at church can point me in the right direction for this project.

Easter Shoes

It has been a while since I posted anything. That is because it has been a while since I completed any projects. There has been alot of sickness in the house along with a complicated refinance of the house and a new car. I am working on Anna Mary's longies/skirty for Easter and hope to finish that today along with make Pascha bread and help Therese color eggs once again.

Yesterday I sewed up these Easter shoes for Anna Mary. This is the most complicated sewing project I have ever attempted. I am totally self taught with sewing, meaning I totally wing it. I used this tutorial from Michelle Quigley. My work is nowhere near as nice as hers, but Anna Mary moves too fast for anyone to notice. She tried them on last night and they are the right size and stay on well. They will come off her feet more than her other soft soled shoes because I used thin cotton for everything except the sole, which is suede. I bought some other fabric to make her a yellow pair with lady bugs and that too is thin. But in the future I will use something a little stiffer.

Here are the pictures of the shoes. I hope to be back later to post pictures of the skirty and maybe my Pascha bread if it turns out well. This is my first attempt at it.

This is crazy. I just looked at these pictures for the first time and noticed that I managed to get the same part of the pattern on the top of each shoe! How's that for beginners luck?!?