Hello Everyone!
I have to apologize that we were out this whole week. The girls have been sick and we weren’t able to do school.
I wanted to talk a little bit about the schedule I have Theia on. So, I run into a lot of people who make comments like; “you do so much”, “I don’t know how you do it”, “I could never do that”, or “you must be so busy”. I just want to say, it really isn’t that much. My girls keep me busy, with or without planned activities. The planned activities actually make the day go smoother and I find myself getting more done. If you were to follow one of my days and just do morning prayers, Circle Time, Saint’s life, and 2 activities – without any outside time or breaks, it would take you, at the most, 2 hours. Prayers and Circle Time take the longest. The majority of the activities I do with Theia take her about 5 minutes to complete, except for ones like baking. Now, some of the activities I do require prep-work on the parents part, but that work only takes 5 -10 minutes. If you were to do morning prayers, Circle Time, Saint’s life, and 2 activities starting at 8am – you would be done by 10am, at the latest (if you didn’t do anything extra like outside time). So, let this be an encouragement! You CAN do this with your children. It is no harder than what you do with them now every day. Your kids keep you busy, doing this or not. Planning some activities just requires a little thought and preparation. How beneficial is it to provide them with Church-centered activities?!
This past Sunday we went up to the Cathedral of the Dormition in Buena Vista to celebrate the Feast Day of the Meeting of Our Lord. This was a very special day and it was so nice to be able to celebrate the Feast Day with the Fathers.
Today our Circle Time songs are:
- Thursday: The Apostles (from the Children’s Garden of the Theotokos)
- My Cross (from the Children’s Garden of the Theotokos)
- Sing! Sing! Sing! (from the Children’s Garden of the Theotokos)
- Bumpin’ Up and Down (by Raffi)
- Going to the Zoo (by Raffi)
For our Saint’s Life today we used the felt board to tell the story of The Holy Martyr Dorothea. She was a very brave young woman. Sapricius, the administrator of the district of Caesarea, sent two pagan sisters to try to convert Dorothea to paganism. However, Dorothea succeeded in bringing both sisters to the Christian faith. Sapricius condemned the three of them to death. Theophilus, a nobleman, who was present during Dorothea’s torture laughed at her and called out to her: ‘Here, you bride of Christ; send me apples and wild roses from your bridegroom’s paradise!’ Dorothea replied, ‘Yes; I’ll do that!’. When Dorothea was about to be executed, an angel of God suddenly appeared with three marvelous apples and three red wild roses. Dorothea asked this angel to take them to Theophilus. The angel did so and said: ‘Here is what you asked for.’ When Theophilus received the gift, (this was also during the dead of winter) he was very much afraid. He rejected his pagan beliefs and became a Christian. He was then tortured and killed for Christ, and his soul quickly followed Dorothea’s to the Lord’s Paradise.
Today we made a Kyra Sarakosti in preparation for the beginning of the Great Fast.
The Kyra Sarakosti, or Lady of the Fast, has seven feet to represent the seven weeks of the Fast, including Holy Week. Every Saturday of the Fast, you cut off one of her feet. This helps you visualize the length of the Fast. She also has no mouth because she is fasting, and her hands are crossed in prayer. She has a cross on her head to symbolize that she is a nun. The last foot that is cut on Great and Holy Saturday is placed inside a dry date or fig and whoever finds it receives and extra blessing after the Fast.
The recipe can be found on page four of the Festive Fast.
2-2 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of salt
2-2 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
water (as much as needed)
Combine the dry ingredients and gradually add enough water to form a stiff, but flexible dough. Roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick. With a sharp knife cut out the figure. Also, cut out two narrow strips for arms and join at the shoulder with water. Make slits in the dough for fingers. Mark the closed eyelids and nose with the knife. Bake in a moderate oven (about 250) until golden.
* This is not edible
I also had Theia color a couple paper Kyra Sarakosti’s that I printed up off of the internet. We are keeping these hung on our fridge for the Great Fast and will remove their feet each Saturday as well. I don’t think we will be putting the last foot of these paper ones into a date. 🙂
I should also like to mention, we have two new pets! Goldfish. We have no names for them yet. If you would like to suggest names, please do.
That was the end of our day, and our week. I hope you all have a wonderful and sobering Forgiveness Sunday. I will be back on Monday (God-willing the girls will stay healthy)!
In Christ,
D. Kyriake
Saint Xenia's Academy 
🙂
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