Spicy

I made my husband some Cajun-style spicy shrimp for dinner...mainly because I bought the shrimp when Lent began, and no longer wanted it in my freezer. Oh yeah, and because I promised him spicy shrimp weeks ago, and he remembered and reminded me. But anyway, we digress.

So the shrimp was so spicy that just cooking it completely cleared my sinuses, and I swear burned the top layer off my eyeballs.

The shrimp was also so spicy that it made Dn. John sweat.

Ah, sweet success.

Pictures

Megan got herself dressed for the first time yesterday. Note the socks. Apparently she had a hard time getting one of them on, so she just grabbed another. Farewell delightfully coordinated child....
I got the feeling that Nick was teaching her how to be a gangster.

I just wanted to show off Megan's super cute hair bow.
Yet another instance of getting herself dressed....she is not wearing pants.
Look at those baby blues!
"Helping" Nick study.
Some pretty serious concentration before going over the purple "rock" in tumbling.
I love this picture so much.
Marina terrorizes one of the other baby sisters who comes to tumbling.

New Picture

So I put up a new picture on our blog, taken on Christmas day (it was the most recent family picture that we have). I just wanted to point out the drunken angel on top of the tree. I could not get her straight for the life of me, and she leaned to the side like that through all of Christmas.

My husband would be proud

So, yesterday I went to work for a couple hours. My Dad wasn't there, and one of the employees mentioned that he'd gone home to watch a baseball game.

Well, for some reason, this statement has been bugging me all day, and I haven't been able to figure out why until just now. BASEBALL SEASON HASN'T STARTED YET. She must have meant basketball, since we're in the midst of March Madness.

This is ridiculous on a multitude of levels. For one, I have a really hard time believing that this bugged me for so long, and that in the back of my brain, somewhere, I knew that it was wrong.

Secondly, the fact that I KNOW that baseball season hasn't started yet, and that we're in the middle of college basketball insanity is beyond me. Actually, perhaps it just proves that I am married to a Rogers.

In any case, somewhere my husband is reading this and chuckling, because it proves--yet again--that he is in my head.

Good wisdom for Holy Week

An excerpt from an article in the Word Magazine. I think it's great!

Drawing on the wisdom of St. Anthony, the founder
of anchorite monasticism, she reminded us that
trying to pray as we are told to do “unceasingly” is
most difficult. Often we are “dry” when we try to
pray, and we just don’t know what to say or how to
say it. St Anthony encouraged praying some, then
doing work. Then return to prayer. To find our way in
prayer, she offered the counsel Fr. Roman Braga had
given the nuns at Transfiguration Monastery: each of
us must find our own words and way of prayer. That
means realizing that we can pray wherever we may
find ourselves: in the car, on the way to pick up kids,
cleaning, cooking – in the shower! Mother Christophora
even admitted to volunteering to wash dinner
dishes at the monastery because it gives her time for
some solitude and prayer. She suggested keeping a
small icon near the kitchen sink to help us in a similar
effort. Whatever the struggle to develop a prayer life,
we should never forget that God created us because
he wanted someone to converse with! God wants to
engage us in conversation. We must persevere. That
also means that we have to be quiet to listen in the
midst of the chaos that is life around us.

Tired

I am exhausted. Marina woke us up five times last night, and Megan once. Thankfully, Megan overlapped with one of Marina's, so we weren't up six times. But still. It stank.

The thing that is scaring me is that exhausted is not a good way to begin Holy Week. I always expect to end it that way. I'm just slightly concerned about precisely HOW extra exhausted I am going to be come Sunday. Ah well. All part and parcel with being Orthodox and having small children.

Speaking of small children, who's brilliant idea was it to basically give my kids sticks to play with in church today? I'm all for Palm Sunday, but four seconds into Liturgy, they were sword fighting. It would've been a lot worse if the kid in front of me wasn't sticking his palm up his nose. I was at least assured that mine aren't the only crazy ones. (Of course, I also heard stories of quite a few men--some grown, and some not so grown--goofing off with their palms during church....).

And, speaking of noses, I took the girls up to light candles in front of the icons the other day. Marina's candle wouldn't light, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Enter the next time we went to church. I handed Marina her candle, and she promptly stuck it up her nose. Evidently boogers are not flammable.

On the docket for this week? Lots of baking and cooking in preparation for Pascha, some fun art stuff with Megan, and de-beaning my kitchen. Refried, black, dried, chili....if you are a bean, then I am tired of you, and you have to go. I need all the refrigerator/freezer/cupboard space for things that are dead, fried, and smothered in cheese. With a side of milk and sour cream. Mmmmm.....

Political Ramblings

So, I've been thinking a lot about the health bill lately (who hasn't?). Granted, most of my knowledge and interaction about it comes from Facebook. And, let me just say, there are a LOT of angry Republicans on Facebook these days. It has really gotten me thinking.

For one, I have had to acknowledge that my children and husband take up about 98% of my brain power. Having said this, I really had to decide if I wanted to spend the remaining 2% on politics. The answer is no. It's not that I don't care, it's just that I don't have room in my life for it right now, especially since my political leanings would probably cause me to be angry a lot.

I've also heard rumors about people threatening violence toward their pro-health care bill friends. WHAT THE HECK??? How in the world would this accomplish anything? Except, of course, that their injured friends would probably NEED the health care then. Go figure. Let's get a grip, crazy people! As Tevye says, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth will leave the whole world blind and toothless."

Secondly, I have friends on both sides of the issue, Orthodox and non. I also personally know of people that this bill is really going to help. Do I think that it is perfect? No. But I do acknowledge that there are a lot of people out there that do need help. I want them to be helped. I wish that they could be helped in a way that I could stomach a little more, but that is beside the issue.

Thirdly, and definitely most importantly, I have been reminded that our help is not in the government, at least not the government of this world. In the words of Isaiah, "The government will be upon His shoulders." Two Psalms have been brought to my attention that I have thought of a lot: "Do not trust in rules and sons of men, in whom their is no salvation." Also, "Some trust in horses, others in chariots; my help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." With Pascha approaching so quickly, I think that this is the most important issue. God is not unaware of the problems facing our country, health care bill and beyond. He is with our President as much as He is with me here, sitting at my computer. He hears the prayers that we pray in every service, for all those in civil authority. And He will not fail us. Perhaps this just plays into our struggle as Christians to simply trust Him at every juncture. He is just giving us a new reason to trust.

In any case, my point is that I do feel that I can see both sides of the issue. I know where I stand, but my sincere hope is not to offend or "write off" anyone who doesn't see eye to eye with me. Frankly, I might not have very many friends if I did that for ever issue that came up in life. So if I have offended, please forgive.

On a totally separate note (although still possibly related to health care), I just pulled four paper clips out of Marina's mouth. The worst part is that I know that there were five in the little pile she was evidently trying to consume.

New Meganisms

Megan has been spouting out some really interesting things lately. First words out of her mouth this morning? "I'm glad we're not going to die today." Um, okay. She went to her first funeral a month or so ago (Fr. Jack's) and she's been pretty curious about death. It's been interesting.

Yesterday, she sang the ABCs, and did a little Byzantine trill at the end of it. I was cracking up. Glad to see (hear) that she listens in church!

Everything is pretty same-ole, same-ole around here. We got a little bit of snow yesterday, but for the most part, the temperature has been in the 30s and 40s the last few days. It's been great! I know God never skips spring, but every March, I seem to forget that, and wonder if winter will ever be over. I'm daydreaming about flower beds and the 200 tulip and daffodil bulbs Megan and I planted last fall.

I've been knocking out some scrap booking lately, and that's been enjoyable. I'm caught up through March of 2009, and after this post I'm getting ready to go through the next couple months of pictures. I'm on a roll, so I figure if I'm going to do it, I had better DO it! I only get a few hours in a week, since the only safe time to scrapbook is when Marina is sleeping (Even then, safe is pretty relative since Megan likes to "help"). But I get a couple pages done a day, so I keep plugging along.

Looking forward to Holy Week and Pascha!!

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Bread (For Naomi!)

Naomi, here you go!

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Bread

1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 Tbsp. yeast
6 1/2 cups flour (2 lbs. 2 oz)
3 cups water, divided

On the stove, boil two cups water. Add oatmeal, butter, brown sugar and salt. Let sit until the oatmeal cooks and it cools somewhat.

In big bowl (I use my KitchenAid) add flour, yeast, remaining 1 cup water and oatmeal mixture. Knead for 10 minutes. The dough may look sticky, but it will be okay. Let rise until doubled. Form into loaves, let rise. Score the tops with a knife, bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes (in my oven, it takes about 37, actually). Pop immediately out of the bread pans and let cool on a wire rack.

IF YOU HAVE A KITCHENAID:

I microwave the water until it boils, then chuck all the oatmeal ingredients right into my kitchenaid, and let it cook in there (saves me from washing the extra pot). When I add the last cup of water, I usually use ice cold water so that it helps the oatmeal cook (because I have no patience). I use the dough hook and set the timer so it kneads for 10 minutes, let it rise right in the bowl, and then make loaves (I loathe doing dishes, so I streamline a lot of baking these days to use less!).

This bread is slightly sweet, and nice and moist. We love it. Best French toast I've ever had in my life. Also amazing grilled cheese...

Warning--it makes terrible stuffing (because it is sweet).

Shout out to Grammy and Papa!

New camera

I went to Fred Meyer the other day to test a camera that they had in the ad--it looked nice, we liked all the specs online, and I wanted to see how it worked in real life. Well, the Eagle River Fred Meyer had apparently blown out their power source that all the display cameras are plugged into, so none of them turn on. So, I decided to hit the Wasilla Fred Meyer while I was at work on Wednesday. They were all sold out of the camera I wanted to get.

Argh.

After a discussion with the employee, and a long conversation about return policies, I went ahead and bought it today, figuring if we hate it, we can take it back. So, long story short, we have a new camera! It looks nice and fancy, but all I've done is take it out of the box and say to my sister, "Look at my new camera!" Of course, five seconds later, Megan did something incredibly cute, but my camera wasn't set up! Kali captured the moment on hers; she will have to email me that picture. (Megan was eating brownie batter--she had a nice chocolate mustache AND beard going).

I figure it's the best gift I can give my husband too--a new fancy piece of electronics that he can play with and figure out. Hopefully we'll have lots of great pics and videos to post with our awesome new camera!!

Fun in the Snow (and Star Wars!)

All bundled up!
Dn. John dug a hole down to the ground to illustrate how much snow we have. Marina is up to her shoulders!

I know it's a lot of pictures of Marina, but they're all so stinking cute, I couldn't decide between them. :)

Our museum has a Star Wars exhibit right now, and we took Roman (our Godson) to see it last Friday. I would've loved to have taken more pictures, but I was accosted by security and told to stop. Ah well. We did get Darth Dn. John, and Roman with a Storm Trooper. Both are actual costumes used in the original trilogy.

The Little Things

I have come to the conclusion that it's the little things in life that matter (most of the time!). Deep, I know. But, when thinking about today, I came up with a huge list of small things that really matter. On the list...

--The blessing of an unexpectedly cooperative teenager
--Clean sheets
--Finding cheap orzo with which to make soup supper on Wednesday
--Megan saying, "Okay Mama, I'll listen!" and giving me a kiss when asked to do something
--Marina climbing up into my lap to snuggle


It's been a great day.

Videos and Marina's lauguage faux-pas

Marina has some fun ways of saying things lately....she likes to say "Suck!" for sock, and when she says "Sit" she uses an "sh" for the "s." Let your imagination run wild....she also leaves the "r" out of "shirt."

The best has been having to teach her that "duck" starts with a d, not an f.

At long last, pictures!

Taken just this morning....the girls all dolled up in their dress-ups.

Marina put the hat and gloves on herself; Daddy was outside shoveling and she wanted to help.
We love Jell-O!
Chasing a kitten at the Monastery.
Using a vase to pretend to be an elephant. This vase later met a tragic death when dropped by little hands onto the tile floor.

Dad at Bob's Red Mill in Portland
Four generations! Great-Grandma Barbara (Megan's namesake), my Dad, me, and my girls.
In my Grandma's (yes, my Grandma's) yellow Corvette
January in sunny Las Vegas!
Swimming in Great-Grandma's pool--see the steam? It was like bathwater....so lovely....

She listened!

I asked Marina a few minutes ago to come upstairs. Her response? "Okay Mommy." I about fell out of my chair! For one, she LISTENED. And two, she used two words together! My baby is growing up. I am unsure which of these I am most impressed with...although, given further thought, I'm pretty happy she listened. :) We've been working on that a lot lately.

Megan is currently running around in a pair of pajama shorts. This would be completely unremarkable if not for the fact that she put both legs through one leg hole, so the shorts are up around her waist, and her buns are hanging out. On top of it, she has an apron tied around her waist. It's pretty stinking cute.

I am TWO PAGES AWAY from finishing my 2008 photo album! I have to put in the Weiss's Chrismation photos, then it is done. That's only taken me a year and a half...but now I'm on a roll, so I'll be going through January and February of '09 photos this afternoon to start last year's album. Dn. John and I had a nice trip down memory lane looking through all the pictures last night...our girls have grown so much!

Speaking of pictures, I know it's been awhile since I've posted any. I'll try to be less lame and get on that in the next day or so. Come to think of it, I better do it today, since Dn. John has a homily to write tomorrow and will be monopolizing the computer all day. He's so selfish that way. HA.

Oh, and a friend of mine told me that the airlines are having a sale on travel through November right now. So, I got on travelocity to see what I could see. What a load of crap-ola that sale is! Tickets to see my brother and sister-in-law in Louisiana were $800 a pop, tickets to South Carolina were almost $650. There are times (they are few and far between, but they exist) when I hate living in Alaska. The other times usually involve buying produce at the grocery store, but we digress. It's really a bummer, since after talking with Fr. Philip yesterday, I am wishing (extra hard!) for a chance to go see them. We've only been to Louisiana once, and that was when Megan was 9 months old! So, if there is anyone out there with 80,000 airline miles just floating through space that they have no use for, hook me up. I also take cash, in case anyone is wondering.

I spoke too soon

Marina was up screaming last night. AGAIN. Aaaaargh.......

This afternoon's project of note involves converting one of my Dad's giant bakery recipes down to a size that can be prepared in my kitchen, preferably only feeding the four of us, not 60 people. We'll see how it goes. I love these dinner rolls that he makes, and Efpraxia taught me a cool way to twist them into knots that is really pretty. So, we're giving it a shot. Dad's notes start with 15 pounds of flour, and all the egg measurements and such are all in ounces. I have a scale that I use for baking all the time, I'm just not sure about the egg measurements, when you're starting with whole eggs. I suspect I will be just chucking an egg into the dough and seeing how it works. Wish me luck!

Anywho....

Major weekend highlight for me? Grocery shopping yesterday. My original total was $122.01. After coupons? $73.41!! Yeah baby! What is that, fifty bucks? It was way fun.

Dn. John and I had our second parenting class today. My Mom came and stayed with the kids (she is still dozing on the couch actually). Dn. John has to head to a clergy meeting in an hour, and I'm going to make apple crisp and watch the Oscars. Inspiring, isn't it?

This week is spring break, which really means nothing to my daily schedule, except for the fact that I might go do some cool stuff with my sister and nephews. Kali and I threw around the idea of taking all the kids to H2Oasis (our local indoor water park), and/or bowling. Oh, and I'm also going to Target tomorrow to buy cheap diapers.

We have had two consecutive night of sleep success at our house! Thank God. We were both starting to stumble around like zombies. Marina'd been so sick, and then got used to sleeping with us, so when we put her back in her bed she screamed and screamed and screamed....and screamed. It was AWFUL. We were up three or four times a night for about a week. I don't mind it when I have a newborn--you expect to get up all the time then! Plus, it's easy to doze while nursing. But a screaming 18 month old who is just plain pissed off and screeching your name in a voice so loud and high that only dogs should be able to hear it...not cool. Needless to say, we are glad to have gotten a nice weekend's worth of sleep.

Well, those apples aren't going to peel themselves, so I'd best run. Matthew and Stasia, making apple crisp always makes me think of you (I don't really know why, but whatever). Rest assured that you are all missed terribly!! Can't wait for the summer. Stasia, we're really going to get a workout chasing four kids in four different directions across the church lawn this year. Won't it be awesome? :) Love to all four of you from all four of us.

Parenting

So I started taking a parenting class yesterday. (Dn. John is supposed to go with me, but he stayed home with sick-o Marina so I could go). It's so inspiring! I am totally ready to crack down--with love!--on some serious behavior problems we've got going on. This week's project? Teaching Megan that telling me no is not going to fly. (This week? This year? This lifetime?)

On a funnier note, both my kids are running through the house scantily clad right now. Megan's only wearing a shirt (and a backpack), and Marina is in a diaper only. They're having a blast and playing really well together, so I hate to interrupt to get them dressed!