Great News and A Little Word on Motherwork

We're expecting number seven!  This blessing is due in March.  Please keep us in your prayers.  As always this comes as a joyful surprise. 

I'm certain that in the coming weeks and months I will encounter the polite, incredulous, and the occasional awe-full statement.  It is frequently the subject of mothers and fathers of large families, how to respond to such comments.  Several years ago, I decided that the best response was to be polite and honest or deaf, if necessary.  

A Beautiful Tribute from a Son to His Father

"At home Father Alexander never told us to “go to church,” or that “you must fast,” or “do it this way,” never. Simply, he did what he had to and we found ourselves drawn to those things which were important to him. I can’t say we spent as much time in church as he did, but our joy in the services came entirely from him. In our house the guiding principle of churchly life was the example of my father. My father is fasting quietly, without insisting that anyone else does so, and instinctively we begin fasting as well, after all, we can’t let him fast alone! It was important for him, and thus it became important for us... With him everything was cozy, he was always extremely joyous. If we arose in the morning in foul spirits and saw that he was happy and energetic – with him each day began this way – then his attitude infected us all... He always fought against the reduction of Christianity simply to forms and rules. It, in fact, liberates man from the narrowness of forms and rules and Father Alexander saw in Christianity the freedom of the person and love, and in his lectures, writings, sermons, always sought to reveal the deeper meaning of all things occurring in the Church. He never oversimplified, seeking in each person the very complex arena of struggle between good and evil... [H]is theology was marked above all by the element of freedom. His Christianity is that of Christ, for precisely He gave us freedom. All church rules, after all, can acquire a certain independent life of their own, totally detached from God. Father Alexander knew this all too well, which is why he never began from rules. For him all things begin with faith in God, which leads to an order of life, and not the other way around." 


-Serge Schmemann on his father, Alexander. 


h/t Ora et Labora

Time Weighs In on Name

The Twilight Effect: Why Do So Many Parents Choose the Same Baby Names?

By CLAIRE SUDDATH – 2 hrs 57 mins ago

People are naming their children after vampires. The Social Security Administration has released its list of 2009's most popular baby names, and the leading choices were Isabella and Jacob. Both names just happen to belong to main characters in the Twilight book series. True, Isabella has been trending steadily upward since the 1990s, and Jacob has been in the top spot for 10 years in a row (thus predating 2005's Twilight). But one of the rising names is almost certainly the result of Stephenie Meyer's blood-sucking romance: Cullen. The last name of Meyer's sexy main vampire jumped 297 spots in one year and is now the 485th most popular first name for a baby boy. (See TIME's Q&A with Twilight star Kristen Stewart.)

Cullen is also part of a larger trend: two-syllable male names that end in the sound en. Aiden is another example (12th most popular name). So is Jayden (No. 8), Logan (No. 17), Nathan (No. 24), Kevin (No. 44), Justin (No. 46) and a name I'd never heard of before: Brayden. At No. 47, it means I'll probably start meeting a number of Braydens in about 20 years. Likewise, nearly half of the 50 most popular girl names end in the letter a, like Isabella. Why does this happen? Why do parents so often choose the same names for their newborns?

Read the rest here.

N. Unscripted

N.'s school had it's field day last week. Although he sprayed himself with sunscreen on his legs and arms, he missed a lot of his face and neck.

N.: Daddy, I'm sunburned from field day.

Mr. Flavius: N., you're a redhead. You need to be careful with the sun.

N.: No! I'm. A. Red. Neck!

me and Mr. Flavius: [laughter]

A Wednesday and a Challenge!

Today is B.'s first birthday.  I am trying to figure out what to do about Lenten and fasting birthdays because we have 4 lucky winners at our house.  I adapted Martha Stewart's Darkest Crepe Cake for your fasting enjoyment. 


B. said his first phrase today: happy birthday!  It was amazing the girls were singing to him over and over to him, so he joined in.  Very the cute.


N. proposed a Challenge to his brother D.  


D. at 7 has tremendous anxiety where loose teeth are concerned.  For the past month his tooth has remained loose, but in place.  Yesterday, he whacked it on the slide at school (yowch!) and it became substantially looser, but still well attached.  So N. talked D. into biting a cover or a pillow (this is blurry) and began to pull the opposite side away and Voila!  The tooth is out.  Unfortunately, D. misplaced the tooth almost immediately and now the Tooth Fairy has a hunt.  Well, if she can stay awake, she has a hunt.

Hello, I Think My Son Bartered Your Son's Jacket Away

Today my son came home sporting a 'new-to-him' slightly too tiny jacket and an announcement.

Something along the lines of: "Hey, look what I got for a candy bar and a handful of smarties."

In my husband's family, the men have historically either found careers in technical fields or sales. I believe, I know which field D. will naturally excel in.