Home again...

We are home from our camping trip. It was wonderful. Beautiful weather... went to the coast for a day, went to Olympia for a day (for church and to see Mimi... and, I know, I forgot to give her a jar of homemade jam from my mom:( AAAGGGHHH! We even talked about the jam!). I did about a hundred loads of laundry on Tuesday... everything smelled like campfire. And, right now, I'm suppsed to be periodically checking the Lufthansa website because my uncle is flying in from Greece this morning. Dad wants me to call him the moment the plane lands and he will go pick him up from the airport. Uncle Pete is minus his new wife as there is lots of paperwork to fill out in order to bring her here.

Pavlos loved camping. He almost caught a fish (seriously). Paul did not fish as the out of state fishing license is pretty steep. And we enjoyed celebrating my sister's birthday at our campsite on Saturday... complete with chocolate chocolate chocolate cake that mom brought. Petros didn't know what we were doing, but he took everything in stride (even the bath I gave him in the washtub).

Anyone see the movie Serenity? We got it from the library. Interesting. I guess it was first a TV series that didn't make it and somehow it was made into a movie. We have never seen the TV show... we just checked out the movie because someone recommended it to me a long time ago. Basic premise... man cannot create a utopian society without taking away a person's free will. Or am I reading too much into the movie (hee hee)?!?!? So, it was interesting.

A few weeks ago we rented (we go back and forth between renting newer movies from Blockbuster and checking out other movies from the library) The World's Fastest Indian with Anthony Hopkins. It was very funny and very good. Based on a true story. Anthony Hopkins' character was the most down to earth, laid back kind of guy... nothing got him down. But he had determination to make his one dream come true. And he was so friendly... everyone liked him. The other movie we rented was Syriana... kind of opposite to The World's Fastest Indian. Syriana is a very serious movie... seemed more like a documentary the way it was filmed. It is one of those I-need-a-week-to-digest-this-movie kind of movie. Definitely not light-hearted fun.

Hopefully, I will have some pictures up of our camping trip. Now we are waiting for the Summer Heat Wave 2006 to hit Portland. Ooh, I'm excited (not really). I am not a big fan of heat. Paul wants to spend Saturday at the coast (no Vesper's Saturday evening because Fr. is coming home from the Clergy/Laity on Saturday evening). We'll see. I think everyone else in the city will be going to the coast, too. I am not a big fan of crowded beaches. But, I am also not a big fan of heat:)

OH... one of our former clients made it to the front page of the Oregonian newspaper on Monday (or was it Sunday). I will try to see if I can find a link to the article about him. I can't promise anything, though.... I'm supposed to be watching the Lufthansa website, you know:)

I only have eyes for mommy....

Petros is in the best baby stage... when all he wants to do is look at me and "talk" to me or have me talk or sing to him. I love it. Pavlos is in the stage where he skipped from being four years old to a 13 year old... he wipes away kisses. Didn't know that I could be so embarassing for him:(

We are going camping... leaving this evening and coming back on Monday. We are going west of Olympia so we will check out Ascension church in Olympia on Sunday and go out to lunch with my blogging friend, Mimi:) On Saturday, my mom is going to drive up to our "site" from Portland, my sister and her two children are going to drive down from Seattle, and my Uncle Jeff (mom's youngest brother) is going to drive east from I forget where (he lives on the Washington coast). Paul wonders if we are actually going to be on vacation:) he he he... It will be good to see my uncle as we haven't seen him in almost a year and that was at my brother's wedding which was not a great place for catching up (too much going on).

If you happen to be in the Portland area or are just interested in goings on at St. John's... we are having our annual dinner/fundraiser for our church building fund on Sunday July 23. Here is a link to buy tickets through PayPal. It was a lot of fun last year!

Pray for events in the middle east....

Chronia Polla!!!!

Oh foremost of the apostles and teachers of the world
Interced ye to the Master of all
that He may grant peace to the world
and great mercy to our souls


Ok, big feast day in my family. Happy Name Day to my dad (Petros), my husband (Paul), my sons (Pavlos and Petros), my nephew (Pavel) and my father in law (Fr. Paul... May his Memory be Eternal). Normally, my parents would probably have had one of their famous lamb roasts this Saturday (their own version of a Panayiri) but we just had Petros' baptism a few weeks ago... just can't do two lamb roasts in one month:) So, maybe next year... It is also my brother in laws birthday today.
One interesting thing to note is that after my sister and I named our sons after St. Paul, dad told us that his great great grandfather was named Pavlos. The name didn't get passed down because the family did not want to name a son after the other grandfather. So we have re-introduced the name back into our family without even knowing it! (my mom's grandfather and uncle were also named "Paul" but they were not very nice men and so we just try to forget about them:)

"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash"

Pavlos' new favorite album is a Johnny Cash greatest hits... although we may have to cut back on him listening to Folsom Prison Blues as it sounds a little funny hearing him run around the house singing, "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." Pavlos' real favorite song is Ring of Fire... he even made up hand motions to go along with the song:)

We were at the monastery this last weekend... very nice. Although I am selfish and would rather be there when no one else is there... too many people. Papa Herman has pictures on his blog (he didn't take them as he wasn't there). Pavlos is not pictured in the picture of the kids ringing the smaller bells, but he "helped" ring the bigger bell:) It was very hot and we spent a lot of time with the goats (hopefully, not the goats that Christ separates from the sheep).

In other news... my uncle Pete is getting married. This is big news as he is a confirmed bachelor of 48 or 49 years of age. We can't believe it. He is in Greece right now. I think my new aunt is a couple of years younger than me. We are very excited and happy for him. Seriously, we never thought this day would come. And, in fact, he has 3 nieces and a nephew that are married before him:) This is an answer to my yiayia's prayers (she passed away last October... May her memory be eternal). I know that while she was alive she prayed constantly that Pete would get married... her prayers in heaven are more powerful because he's getting married!!! I might just have first cousins that are 34 years younger than me (and younger than my own children). Only in crazy Greek families:)

Another Something I have Learned Since Becoming a Mommy...

The organizational status of a kitchen towel drawer does not mark the end of the world. Sometimes it is better if I just let things slide (which is hard to do for an organizational type person such as myself... I value and crave CONTROL which, when having children, means you lose a lot of).

Paul and Pavlos have dropped me off at my parents' home. They are driving to the monastery today. Petros and I will be going tomorrow morning with my parents. Yesterday I ran into two of the nuns from the monastery at Costco. This is the second time I have run into them there. It's kind of funny, for lack of a better word, to see them at Costco. And surprising. Especially because yesterday it was two of the nuns from Greece and I know there is nothing like Costco in Greece. I saw them as they were walking out and I was walking in. So, through the rest of my trip in Costco I thought what it would be like for them to walk through that gigantic store full of bulk items and $2000 TVs. And it's always interesting to run into them in the public... they always look the same while I have my specific clothes for church/monastery and my everday clothes (not that I was wearing anything outrageous... just some capri pants and a t-shirt oh, and a baby in a bjorn). I wasn't embarassed, but it made me think (which can be a trying thing to do for my baby brain).

So, I'm at my parents' home, baby is asleep, and I actually have time to write a blog. I have just finished reading Touching Heaven by John Oliver. He writes about his experience with the Theotokos. I have always been curious... as a cradle Orthodox I have never doubted or questioned the role of the Mother of God... it just seems so natural the role she plays in the Church (and I'm not implying that just by being a cradle Orthodox, one does not question... I'm sure there are plenty of cradles that struggle with this issue... I just never did and neither has Paul...). And I don't think that Roman Catholic converts have the difficulties in honoring the Theotokos as the Theotokos (birthgiver of God). So, if you are a convert or a cradle who has struggled with this idea... how did you get through it? Maybe you are still struggling with it, I don't know. Maybe I haven't struggled with it because my yiayia (grandma) was always praying to the Panagia to protect her grandchildren. It just seems to me such a natural thing... to honor the woman who gave birth to Christ. I mean, God would only choose someone worthy of that calling. And I know that a lot of Protestantism is really an attempt to put off anything that might at all resemble Catholicism. But to completely disregard the Theotokos?!? And, even snub her (as I have heard/read some people do) seems so, uhm, I don't know what word to use, uhm, incomprehensible to me (whew... that's a ten dollar word, especially from my little brain). Anyway, if you have thoughts on this, please, post away!!!

I think this is a long enough blog entry. I'm going to try to download a picture from the baptism for you all to see... might take me a few minutes:)

UPDATE: Ok, a picture of Petros with his godparents and Fr. Theodore. I look like I just ate something that tasted bad... oh well:)

A Good Movie..

I think for every good movie we watch, we must see a couple of not so great ones. I won't write about the not so great movies:) but we recently rented The Syrian Bride which was very good... both funny and sad at the same time. I enjoyed it. And I re-watched My Left Foot yesterday while writing thank you notes for Pavlos' birthday and Petros' baptism. I had not seen it since it first came out, 16 years ago or something like that:) Thanks, Dawn, for writing movie recommendations which prompted me to just link these two movies I recently watched:)

What I've learned since becoming a mommy... and other updates

If you have a four year old boy, just leave the toilet seat up at all times. It makes life easier (and you won't ever sit in a "puddle").

Other Updates:

• Last Saturday was Petros' baptism. He literally cried for a second and then just looked around at what was going on. It was beautiful. I didn't cry, but I warned Paul the night before that I might cry. You see, Petros' baptism was one of those future events that kept me going in the hospital... as in I would say to my self when I was really feeling down or yucky, "by the time this baby is baptized, everything will be ok." And it really is ok. We had a lovely party at my parents home complete with lamb on a spit (and my dad hung the Greek flag on the garage a la My Big Fat Greek Wedding). It was a beatiful day.
• Pavlos' last day of school is Friday. I don't know what I am going to do with him this summer. Mom is suggesting some community center classes. I will look into that. I know that we can spend one day a week at the zoo, at least. He will be going back to pre-K in the fall. We are very pleased with the school and with his teacher.
• We are going to the monastery for their feast day (anyone else going to go... we'll meet you there:).
• My sister and brother in law are moving in the next few weeks and celebrating their 11 year wedding anniversary. Congrats to them. In this day and age 11 years is almost a miracle (and, boy, does that make me feel old... they were married a few weeks after I graduated from college).
• I just finished reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Very interesting book. One of those magical realism type books with a strong emphasis on the realism part. And through out the book I actually felt like magic existed in England. I love it when authors put in fake footnotes and cite non-existent books, very realistic. It was a very interesting read...
• uhm, that might be all for now... I have to stop and think for a moment...

AAWWW, yes, I have something to say... I have been reading people's blogs, but haven't been putting in too many comments. I just don't feel like I have the time right now. So, please know, my faithful few readers, that I am reading your blogs:) And keep writing...

I thought of something else to add... we are on the family cell phone plan with my parents (they have two phones), my sister (she has one phone), and Paul and I (we have two phones). Dad upgraded the phones recently. Now, none of us are big cell phone users. I pretty much just keep mine in the car. And I know for sure that my sister can't even remember her pin number to access her messages (it's been that long since anyone has left her a message). So, anyway, Dad upgraded the phones. Dad's great at finding deals and we are all proud owners of the Motorola SLVRL7. This phone does everything. It has a camera. It connects to the web (for a fee so we won't be doing that), it can hold 110 songs (I believe that's how many... it could be more). And, according to my brother who knows such things, this is a "flippin' cool phone". Uhm, ok. I don't think I have ever been this cool in my life...

On Yesterday, Six Years Ago...

Rob/Paul and I were married. Happy Anniversary!!! We went out to dinner and saw the movie Water. It was very good. Mom and dad watched the kids. Today is Katie and Steve's one year anniversary. Happy Anniversary!!!

What a big year for us... baby, bought a new home, moved into the hospital for a while, lost a spleen... always something going on. I don't have time to post more thoughts because the baby is starting to cry. Maybe I will try to write more later (not today, probably, we are going to a dinner tonight).

On This Day, Three Years Ago...

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
O Christ our God, You ascended in Glory and gladdened Your disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. Your blessing assured them that You are the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Second Tone
O Christ our God, upon fulfilling Your dispensation for our sake, You ascended in Glory, uniting the earthly with the heavenly. You were never separate but remained inseparable, and cried out to those who love You, "I am with you and no one is against you."

On this day, three years ago, we were in Greece for the Ascension, at the church of the Ascension on the island of Ios (where my dad is from). The church is one of our family churches (our other church is to St. Petros). It is a very small church. When I asked my Aunt Ourania how old is the church... she replied, "very old." I said, "no, really how old? One hundred, two hundred years?" She, again, replied, "very old." So I am going to assume that this church is probably 500 or more years old because the "new" addition on my grandparents home is 2oo years old! Hope you like the pictures!!! And remember I'm really bad at posting pictures so if they are in a weird order, please forgive me:)

Happy Birthday, Dad/Pappous!

Love,
Paul, Christina, Pavlos, and Petros:)

PS: photo is of yiayia and pappous with all four grandchildren

It's been a while...

Sorry, everyone, it's been a while since I posted. I'm even having trouble getting around to reading other people's blogs!!! We are quite busy, of course, with baby Petros and Pavlos and just lots of stuff going on. On Saturday we had a memorial service for Paul's father (Fr. Paul). It's been five years since he reposed. May his memory be eternal. So I spent Friday and Saturday putting together kollyva. I have a shelf in my cupboard that is dedicated to kollyva stuff.

Sunday was our church general assembly meeting. I don't particularly like general assembly meetings. And, since becoming co-chair of our sunday school program, we have to watch the children while the parents attend the meeting. AAAGGGHHH! Not my idea of a fun Sunday afternoon:) We were able to play outside and I brought Pavlos' newest game, Hullabaloo, and the kids loved playing it (it was a birthday present from yiayia and pappous).

Petros is now three months old. I cannot believe it. Pavlos went to his 4 year check up and we also weighed Petros... he's now up to 9lbs 7 ozs. Way to go!!! He is smiling a lot and making lots of cute baby cooing noises. Pavlos is a hefty (lol) 28.5 lbs.

I have started reading again. Finally have a little time to do that. I read The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Oh Susanna by Kate Wilhelm (thanks, Kiera). Shadow of the Wind is kind of like a Gabriel Garcia Marquez book (are my sister and I the only people who like Love in the Time of Cholera better than One Hundred Years of Solitude? Just curious). The Wilhelm book was funny and entertaining and easy:) I have finally gone on line to the library to request some books to read.

Last night, I recorded the season finale of 24 so I could watch the DVD of Pride and Prejudice which we rented. After having seen the mini-series P&P numerous times and also reading the book many times, the movie went so quickly! It has beautiful scenery, wonderful editing, it flows nicely, beautiful score, but it just gets through the story so fast. If I had never seen the mini-series, I probably would have like it better... although I do like the movie, too... maybe it would be good to own for those times when I would like to watch P& P but just don't have the time to sit through the whole mini-series?!?! So tonight we will watch the season finale of 24... will Jack make it (of course, he does, Kiefer Sutherland has signed a new, three season contract). Will the president be exposed for the lying slimeball he is?

Ok, that's enough rambling from me... have to go work on baptism invitations (if you are a member of St. John's you will not be receiving an invite to the baptism as we are inviting the whole parish... but please, let me know if you can make it so we can plan on how much food to make:)

Save the Date... and if you aren't tired of the davinci code already, here are some links:)

Sr. Magdalen (the link on her name is to the monastery where she lives in England), author of "Children in the Church Today" and "Conversations with Children" (both excellent books if you haven't read them) will be the speaker at the St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church Annual Fall Women's Retreat. The retreat will be the weekend of October 13-15 here in Portland, OR. Just giving you all a heads up (since most of my five readers of this blog live in the Pacific NW). I am very excited to meet her!

On a completely different note... a priest friend of mine sent me the following links regarding the DaVinci code movie (and book, for that matter) and the gospel of Judas. These are websites that have been developed through the Greek Archdiocese. Mind you, I haven't checked out these sites, yet, just passing the info. on from a reliable/trustworthy source. And, on a side note, who has read the DaVinci Code? I did, and thought that it wasn't that well written of a story, aside from all the historical inaccuracies:)

Oops... happy birthday pavlos, update:)

Me and my sleep deprived brain forgot to add two things to my little happy birthday pavlos blog entry... First, Pavlos was and always will be my greatest mother's day gift... he was born Saturday evening, the day before Mother's Day!!! And second, I need to change the description of my blog... Pavlos is not 3 and he really doesn't say, "uhm" anymore like he used to... i will keep the title of the blog, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the description... thanks:)

Happy Birthday, Pavlos!!!

Pavlos is four today. Our first miracle baby. He's my little boy blue eyes:) He's loud, silly, and loves to sing and dance and play (especially with his little people). I cannot believe it's been four years... how much he has changed and grown up (especially in the last few months). We are celebrating his birthday party on Sunday afternoon (his cousins are coming down from the Seattle area and his god-parents will be over), but tonight, yiayia and pappous are coming over for some pizza and hot fudge sundaes (Pavlos' favorite foods). Happy Birthday, Pavlos, and May God grant you many, many years!!!

Pain-free visit to the dentist...

I went to the dentist today to have some long overdue dental work done. The dentist had to numb both sides of my mouth. When he inserted the needle, he said, "you will feel a pinch." I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. My body was poked and prodded so many times while in the hospital, I have developed a new level of pain tolerance! Whenever I have bloodwork done, it feels like nothing. No pinch, no poke, no feeling at all.