Guns and boys (and girls, too)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18214871/site/newsweek/

The above article is about kids and guns. After having just finished reading Raising Cain, and with my almost five year old constantly talking about who is a bad guy and who is a good guy AND with this recent attack at VT, we need to not restrict normal, children's play. My brother had GI Joe's and Transformers and a plastic gun or two and he is a total pacifist. My husband grew up in rural Michigan. He spent many weeks of his life hunting. He is not a violent person by any means. It doesn't have to do with kids playing cops and robbers, it has to do with how you raise your child. What is right or wrong. And, anyway, this young man that attacked his fellow students was mentally ill! Even the best of parents cannot/may not be able to combat urges in a young person who is mentally ill! I hope there isn't a backlash against normal child's play...

Travelling...

Dad is flying to Greece tomorrow for 2 weeks. Please pray for safe travels. He is only going to go to Athens and Ios (and possibly Aegina to visit an old friend ;) This trip is just to spend time with my pappous! Kalo Taxidi!!!

(note: I tried uploading pictures, but blogger won't let me for some reason. I will try later!!!)

Second NOTE: blogger let me upload pics! That is my pappous with Pavlos (Pavlos was one) when we were in Greece 4 years ago. The other is a picture of the sunset on the village where my family is from:)

Yardwork

Christos Anesti! Ok, as you can see I'm terrible about posting pictures to blogger. I think I need to start with the "after" pictures and then post the before pictures. Ok, so the top three pictures (behind the swingset) is the back of our yard. Paul put up a retaining wall and, yes, that's Pavlos in a hole:) So that is a "new" garden plot for us. We are thinking potatoes or transferring our lettuce there. Anyway, the bottom pictures are shots of the side of our house. Paul built a raised bed (the first of, hopefully, three or four... depending on how the first one does this year) and a new little garden shed. Our yard is finally coming together:) I have tons of seeds to plant (flowers and veggies). And I just planted two planter boxes of geraniums (one of my favorite flowers... geraniums, pansies, and hydrangeas are my top favorite flowers) for our front porch railing. I also bought a clematis to plant in the front, on one side of the porch. Very exciting things going on. Now, if only it weren't so cold and rainy outside I could get all this work done:)

Finished Reading:

Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard

Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert (whew, only one more left)

Currently Reading:

Genesis, Creation, and Early Man by Fr. Seraphim Rose (almost done)

Zoli by Colum McCann

Holy Week and Icons

Go here to read about Pavlos and The Bridegroom Icon/Holy Week from last year. Needless to say, nothing has changed in Pavlos' love of this icon. Forty days ago (well, today it will be 41 days ago), Rob/Paul bought the icon of the Bridegroom, we had Fr. place it back in the altar so that on Palm Sunday, we could pick it up in time for Holy Week. Pavlos' new favorite icon is the Crucifixion. He gets fixated on some small detail of the icon and stares at it, talks about it, etc.
We are all well. I know that I do not post often enough and this post has to be short as I need to make prosphora to take to church tonight for service tomorrow morning. Not a big deal, it's only one loaf:)
Have a blessed Holy Week!

Petition for Cyprus...

Another petition... this one regarding the Cyprus Issue. I did my college thesis on the US Governments involvement (or lack thereof) in the Cyprus issue. If Cyprus only had oil, maybe it would not still (32 years later) be half under Turkish control. A control that the UN and many, many nations around the world condemns but DO NOTHING ABOUT!
Thanks,
christina (I was not a politics major for nothing:)

The Global Campaign for the Return of Varosha/Famagusta/Cyprus, to its Lawful Inhabitants is underway here.
Sign the petition and forward the campaign to everyone you know!


Please also sign the petitions to Tony Blair on the illegal Turkish occupation of Cyprus if you have not done so already and are a UK national
Here
Here and
Here

First Flower....

I planted over 100 bulbs last fall and the fruits of my labor are coming forth:) We moved into a new home (brand new, we are the first owners) and so there aren't surprise daffodils in the spring from any previous home owner (we are the "previous" homeowner). We are also working on the side of our house... we have built a little shed and Paul has put in a raised bed for me to plant our garden (we will see how one raised bed does this year and if I can live up to my dreams, maybe we will put in another raised bed next year). Here is our first flower for the spring. And I have a before picture of the side of the house but have yet to take the after picture (with shed and raised bed) so I will wait to post those at a later date!

Finished reading:

Einstein's Dreams- Alan Lightman

God Emperor of Dune- Frank Herbert

Currently reading:

Genesis, Creation, and Early Man- Fr. Seraphim Rose

Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys- Dan Kindlon & Michael Thompson

"if you really want a tour of your own dark impulses, have children; it, too, will put you in touch with all of your most uncontrolled and regrettable impulses."

NPR, Boys with Sticks, etc....

NPR had a nice report on boys and toy guns. Are we overly reactionary with some of our zero tolerance policies (such as when a boy turned a stick into a gun and pretended to shoot at his friend and then was suspended from school). This report was interesting to me as my son has, in the past five or six months, begun to turn everything into a sword or a gun. It doesn't help that he has the playmobile knight set and they have swords. Or that we let him pick out fake/plastic armor for himself. Or that all the other boys his age (and older) are doing the same thing. As in the report, someone called in (from Hillsboro, OR no less) and mentioned that their son played with sticks as guns, etc. and why wouldn't he? We are in the middle of a war and have been involved in some type of conflict for decades. Pavlos doesn't watch TV or the news, but maybe he picks up on it from children around him who are watching TV or the news. And maybe it's just that he is a boy (I'm also reading Raising Cain right now and they are writing about boys tendency towards violence). I do believe that their is a healthy violence and an unhealthy violence. As was noted in the NPR piece, boys playing war will, many times, go through the "we have to rescue our men who have been hit" and that is a values teaching tool (in a boys way)... values like courage, sacrifice for someone else, etc. Our only rule with Pavlos is he can't "shoot" people. I hope we are doing what's right!

Here is a link to a blog that I lurk around... this blog post regarding boys with sticks (not used as guns in this case) prompted me to write this blog based on hearing that NPR story. BTW... Pavlos is an avid collector of sticks. Everywhere we go he finds a new stick and wants to bring it home. He is also an avid collector of flower petals, too:)

Happy First Birthday, Petros!

May God grant you many, many years:)

Petition (or a note from my father)...

No Independence for Kosovo. Do whatever you feel is right:)

VOTE NO ON HOUSE RESOLUTION 36We, the signatories of this petition urge members of Congress to vote no on House Resolution 36. We do not support the United States position that Kosovo-Metohija, 15% of Serbia's territory should be taken away from her to appease Muslim insurgents who support Al-Qaeda and a thriving criminal element that imports illegal drugs and which also engages in human trafficking.CONSEQUENCESSuch a position will most definitely contribute to instability in the area and in those regions in Europe and Asia that are watching the Kosovo debate very closely. To continue to flagrantly disregard International Law which provides for the respect of the sovereignty of nations and for the right of such nations to non-interference in internal affairs will usher in an era of unprecedented lawlessness between nations states. Therefore, we urge you to respect the constitution of Serbia which the people of Serbia recently approved and which reflects the will of those who voted for it: that Kosovo-Metohija is an integral part of Serbia.HISTORYWe urge you to be mindful of the historical integrity of the Balkan region and the legacy of Josef Tito. Tito encouraged, during and after WWII, state sanctioned oppression of the Serbian peoples. He sought to displace Serbians in 1944 and in 1974 in an effort to create an Greater Albania at the expense of the Serbian peoples. He encourage illegal land grabs, disenfranchising the native Serbian peoples from their homes and their livelihood. It is telling that one of Tito's first acts after becoming the President of Serbia was to execute the Allied Forces greatest supporter against the Nazi regime, Draza Mihailovich. We urge you not to continue Josef Tito's legacy of oppression against the Serbian people with House Resolution 36.COMMIT TO A PRINCIPLED SOLUTIONWe urge you to commit to supporting a principled solution to Kosovo which would be acceptable to both sides. DO NOT RECOGNISE KOSOVO INDEPENDENCEWe urge you to respect the United States commitment to promoting peace in the world. We urge you, therefore to respect the United Nations Security Council votes on Kosovo-Metohija. We expect the United States to behave honourably in behalf of its citizens in this regard and to respect the legacy of both Theodore Roosevelt the first American to win the Nobel Peace prize for his efforts in the Portsmouth Treaty, and Eleanor Roosevelt one of the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The rights of the 100,000 remaining Serbian population is at stake. As a member of the United Nations, you have pledged to be a supporter of the rights of all humans not only of some. Any acts outside of this will mark the United States as a violator of human rights.SUPPORT PRINCIPLED SOLUTION ONLYTherefore, we urge you to support a principled solution that is aligned with International Law and aligned with due respect of Nation Sovereignty.We the signatories therefore urge members of Congress to vote no on House Resolution 36.

Random Tuesday Morning...

So this is one of those rare mornings when I didn't shower until 10:30am. Yes, I am one of those people that sets their alarm clock to get up before her children in order to get in a shower and get dressed (and, on a good day, make coffee, check email, etc. BEFORE kiddos wake up). But, not this morning. Alarm went off, and, rather than hitting snooze, I turned it off. Pavlos woke me up at 8:30 (Mom, may I please have some oatmeal and hot chocolate? My carrots are still there (referring to his pull up... if the carrots disappear, that means he peepeed in his pull up... we are working on having him not pee at night... the reward: hot chocolate with breakfast... but I digress). Petros woke up soon after that. By the time I had breakfast ready, Pavlos and Petros dressed, and had done a few things around the kitchen it was 10:30am and I was unshowered. Today is an easy day for us... no school, just Pavlos' speech for one hour this afternoon. OH, and I am going out to dinner tonight, minus kiddos, with one of my very best friends (she's my other sister). Very happy!!! OK, the above pictures (which I totally suck at posting pics on blogger, by the way) were taken this morning... sorry, no pics of me in my pink flannel:) Have a happy Tuesday!!!

Finished reading: The Historian and Hannibal Rising (which I just realized they have already made into a movie to release this month or next month)

Kudos to you, mommy...

So without going into lots of details (blogs are so public and some things I just don't want to talk about with the WHOLE WORLD... but if an individual really wants to know what's going on, let me know and I will send you a personal email)... (I guess that's my disclaimer and I hope the rest of this post makes sense):

Anyway, I'm going to pat myself on the back a little bit... most of the time I feel like the harried mother who is constantly battling with my little one. And the doctor we met with today told me that she was so pleased to see how well I interact with him... how patient I am (and I felt like I was constantly telling him not to touch this or that, etc.), how I engage with him, etc. Anyway, it made my day that an outside person would compliment my mothering when most of the time I feel inadequate (I think we probably all feel this way). Pavlos is totally fine, just needs a little speech and occupational therapy to get him ready for possibly entering kindergarten (or primer as we call it at Agia Sophia). That's all I'm going to say about that....

Happy Anniversary, I guess...

It’s my mother in law’s birthday which is why I know that today is the one year anniversary of when I first entered the hospital. For those who I got to “know” better through that experience (my blogging friends and you know who you are)… can you believe it’s been a year?!?!? I cannot. Do we ever fully recover from an experience like that? The scars are slowly healing (although, the other day, one of my incisions from the splenectomy was bothering me… it’s right on my waist line and so sometimes clothing rubs it the wrong way (literally) and I hope that I have learned a little bit better the meaning of the word struggle.
I tried to read my hospital blog a few weeks ago. It still makes me very emotional. I admit, I cried. I guess I am just too busy with the boys to be able to really spend a lot of time thinking about what happened. I don’t know if that is good or bad. And, after all is said and done, I do have Baby Petros, who will be one in a month. He is one sweet pea who can be very grumpy (like his pappous) but who loves to hug and snuggle (unlike his big brother).
I apologize if this feels a bit disjointed, there is so much more that I want to write, but I don’t have the time. This small bit took me all day! So, here are some pics of the boys. Thanks for reading!

Like everyone else is doing...

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Milady the Right Reverend Christina the Splendid of Waterless St Mildred Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

From now on, everyone refers to me as Milady the Right Reverend, ok?

I am so against this. We are no better than him.

Where in the world is Christina???

Oh, yeah, I'm sure you are all wondering what happened to me?!?! Actually, I received a little "how are you" message from Dawn through www.orthodoxcircle.com and figured I had dropped far enough off of the face of the earth and I need to get back (BTW... if you would like to join orthodox circle let me know... and if you are already a member, why haven't you invited me to be your friend:) PLEASE know that I continue to read your blogs through bloglines, I just rarely comment...


So, what's been happening over here on our end of things....

1. Petros is getting bigger. And he's crawling. Everywhere. Oh, and his god-parents are moving into a house right behind ours!!! We are so excited!!!

2. Pavlos is, well, Pavlos. He loves preschool and he loves to paint (something that I did not know until he started preschool... actually, I don't think he even knew that he liked to paint until he started preschool). Pavlos does not like coloring. Never has. But he loves painting. And all of his paintings are of one thing... space (the final frontier). Literally. He saw the cover to Paul's Star Trek Movie DVD and it has all sorts of colors on it so he thinks space is full of these different colors. And that is what he paints. OH... and Pavlos' current favorite song is the U2-Green Day The Saints are Coming. He is right now singing it at the top of his lungs. He likes to put on his sunglasses and pretend he is Bono...

3. Go to www.liturgica.com and pick out a free chant sampler CD (here is the direct link to the order page). We received ours and it is very nice.

4. Kristin/Kiera is challenging us to take the TBR Book Reading Challenge. Basically, pick twelve books that you have been meaning to read for the last six months (at least) and challenge yourself to read one a month. You can sign up at the TBR Book Reading Challenge link already posted in this blog. So here are the books that I would like to read this year:

January: Children of Dune- Frank Herbert
February: Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys- Dan Kindlon
March: Einstein's Dreams- Alan Lightman
April- St. Silouan the Athonite- Archim. Sophrony
May- The Crimson Petal and the White- Michel Faber
June- Wounded by Love- Elder Porphyrios
July- The Hunchback of Notre Dame- Victor Hugo
August- Genesis, Creation, and Early Man- Fr. Seraphim Rose
September- High Tide in Tucson- Barbara Kingsolver (I have read two chapters)
October- Obedience is Life: Elder Ephraim of Katounakia- Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi
November- Dubliners- James Joyce
December- The Old Curiosity Shop- Charles Dickens (I've had this book for almost 20 years and have not read it- I tried to read it when I was 14 but didn't get very far... this was a gift from my grandma- I think it's time I give it another shot:)

Here are other books that I will probably/want to read this year, also:
God Emperor of Dune - Frank Herbert
Heretics of Dune - Frank Herbert
Chapterhouse Dune- Frank Herbert (just to finish the series)
Les Miserables- Victor Hugo (depending on how the hunchback goes)
The Gulag Archipelago- Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn (ok, that's a wish list book so we shall see if I even get to it:)

5. Christmas shopping is almost finished. I am so glad that I have boys... I spent a long time looking for a church outfit for our god-daughter and ended up buying part of the outfit from a store and ordering a skirt online because I couldn't find a decent length skirt. So she will just get two packages in the mail from us:)

Thanks for reading, even though I don't post much! The picture is what I am sending out for our Christmas cards:)