tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008448131621508362024-03-12T23:26:31.703-05:00a chime of heartsI am a Texas girls blogging about Orthodox family life, homeschooling, and my journey. Mother of five, wife to one. Welcome to A Chime of Hearts. mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.comBlogger145125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-19041362605831904732016-04-11T13:27:00.003-05:002016-04-11T13:27:59.621-05:00I have moved!
Please join me in my new home!
A Chime of Hearts
mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-60647991936742027182015-12-20T09:28:00.002-06:002016-01-18T15:11:00.058-06:00Christmas Dinner
I made a centerpiece for the Christmas table. Just a simple arrangement of greenery in a vintage camping coffee pot. This afternoon I am going shopping to purchase a new tablecloth. My dining room doubles as our schoolroom which makes decorating and creating ambiance a bit of a challenge. However, after some cleaning and rearranging I think I have it readymandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-31800372827769471642015-11-03T09:25:00.000-06:002015-11-03T09:47:01.849-06:00What Teens Really NeedYesterday, I was told a story about two very great kids we know, a young man and women, who were caught in the library making out. I chuckled at the story...who knows if it is even true. Both, age16, come form great homes and are homeschooled. Again I just chuckle...not because I am laughing at the indiscretion or making fun in the least, it's just funny how we homeschool moms think mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-7469648061162975462015-10-30T10:10:00.000-05:002015-10-30T10:21:57.069-05:00How to Not Be Empty
Beware of the barrenness of a busy life. -Socrates
I really don't know when I got it in my head that I desperately needed to outsource in our homeschool to be successful. After Samuel was born I think I was determined not to let another baby hold my older children back from their goals (my goals is more like it). It was a great plan, so I thought... just let someone else teach them, holdmandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-2597881900864068502015-10-29T09:44:00.000-05:002015-10-29T09:45:33.721-05:00Housework
No scouring for pride
Spare kettle whole side
Though scouring be needful, yet scouring too much
Is pride without profit, and robbeth thine hutch.
-Thomas Tusser
mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-70359718949833716132015-07-27T11:18:00.000-05:002015-07-27T11:55:50.317-05:00Ancestors of God
It occurred to me in Church yesterday that everything I was experiencing in the Liturgy was according to gender. In the Orthodox Church we worship as male and female, and this is something missing in modern Christianity. The roles of males and females are not interchangeable in the Orthodox tradition.
Nothing in Orthodoxy is generalized. Everything has a created mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-35435750635652699332015-07-10T17:34:00.001-05:002015-07-10T17:34:28.898-05:00I Have Missed YouIt's been a long season of no blogging...and I cannot explain why. I have been busy, yes, but that's not it. I think I was just too lazy to write anything, and when I did have the enthusiasm I spent it on other things.
But, I have missed it. I have missed it because I miss my Orthodox connections and friends. I did not realize how much of a part of my life you all were...mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-40831874635876030972015-04-10T09:16:00.000-05:002015-04-10T09:16:03.984-05:00Holy Friday
Keeping the lights low. Asking everyone in the house to be mindful of the noise. Hush little children. Today we mourn. We mourn, but not without hope.
mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-64166934074103287992015-04-07T20:46:00.001-05:002015-04-07T20:46:55.882-05:00Hymn of Kassiani
"Keep this spirit." These were the final words of Father tonight.
mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-59078694803702258392015-04-06T15:39:00.003-05:002015-04-06T15:43:03.380-05:00Holy MondayThis lent has been the most difficult. I have been extremely distracted, not wanting to dive into the full experience. It has also been a hard Lent in terms of dealing with inward sins and weaknesses. I feel like I have been dug up, and now it's time to replant.
At Lazurus Saturday services I saw that not every Lent will be the same, and that this Lent is not a failure...maybemandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-77896896154295738292015-02-10T12:46:00.001-06:002015-02-10T12:48:18.471-06:00Wasting
"Wasted"
Brandi Carlile Lyrics
If you had eyes like golden crowns and
diamonds in your fingertips you'd waste it
If shining wisdom passed your lips and
traveled to the ears of God you'd waste it
And so I hate that you're overrated most
revered and celebrated because you'll waste it
Then again it's good to get a call
Now and then just to say hello
Have I said I hate to see you go
mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-45579297512324133242015-02-05T16:03:00.000-06:002015-02-05T16:09:13.633-06:00Long Cold Winter
"Ho, Mouse!" says Hare.
"Long time no see!"
So they pop white corn.
And they brew black tea.
-Bear Snores On
mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-76803248482949260552015-02-04T08:31:00.001-06:002015-02-04T08:33:46.351-06:00A Good Day
We stopped at the Fort Worth Zoo to see the lions, Samuel's favorite.
We drove through Big D headed to Granny's. Frank Sinatra played on the stereo. We met Pa Glen and Amma for dinner before the party.
Granny (Gigi, the greats call her) celebrated her 85th birthday. So happy to be with her on this special day.
The great grands had a blast mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-14606212364858687942015-01-29T11:31:00.001-06:002015-01-29T23:25:46.727-06:00Honoring the Process
When I was a young teenage girl my mom and dad traveled to Indonesia on a missionary trip. Of all the stories they came back with I remember one in particular. The home where my parents stayed belonged to a middle class Indonesian family and they had three small children. My mother was very intrigued by the way the mother of the home handled her children. The maternal mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-23144518569965226692015-01-27T21:16:00.000-06:002015-01-27T21:19:59.750-06:00Pie for Dinner
I curled up on my bed with a blanket on Saturday afternoon and read the new Bon Appetit that came in the mail. This issue featured some great savory pie recipes...great for winter comfort. The pretty pictures inspired me to make a homemade chicken pot pie with the chicken breasts I thawed for dinner. Is there anything better than buttery flaky pie crust with mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-64511075663908211652015-01-22T14:20:00.001-06:002015-01-22T14:20:54.961-06:00Brace Yourself
Before...
After.
Today Adalay got her braces off. How exciting. We went for cheese burgers afterwards and shopping for girly stuff...makeup, soaps, and hair products. I love my time with Addy. It is wonderful to parent teens....enjoying the journey today.
mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-52580184389025292302015-01-21T11:40:00.001-06:002015-01-21T11:40:44.467-06:00Homeschool Convention
I am going to the Texas Homeschool Convention with my sweet sister-in -law. I have not gone to one in a couple of years, but this convention has a lineup of seminars that interest me...they are practical and informative. I am especially interested in the seminars on high school transcripts/portfolios/scholarship applications. I am also looking forward to mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-63779247543365407562015-01-21T09:27:00.001-06:002015-01-21T09:27:11.950-06:00Sanctity of Life Sunday 2015
Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon
To the Venerable Hierarchs, Reverend Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America:
Dearly beloved,
Today (January 18), has been designated by the Orthodox Church in America as “Sanctity of Life Sunday,” a day on which we re-affirm our faithfulness to the eternal value of human life and re-commit ourselves to the mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-9247520443132633812015-01-20T15:56:00.000-06:002015-01-20T15:56:31.751-06:00Homemaking Inspiration
I was able to steal away for a couple of hours on Monday after I dropped my older girls off at drama practice. I went to my favorite book store and bought the second Madame Chic book with my birthday money. It is a really soft and yummy read. I love homemaking books...and cafe lattes.
Throughout my homemaking journey so far I have discovered a few inspirational mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-77164317446711632002015-01-14T15:29:00.001-06:002015-01-15T08:01:37.931-06:00MYSTAGOGY: An Annual Theophany Miracle - The Jordan Reverses ...
MYSTAGOGY: An Annual Theophany Miracle - The Jordan Reverses ...: "Today the nature of water is sanctified. The Jordan is parted and reverses its flow on seeing its Master being baptized."mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-77422570822954482682015-01-13T14:56:00.000-06:002015-01-13T16:27:54.869-06:00Math Facts Boot Camp
The strategies I learned as an assistant in a math rehabilitation classroom in an alternative school years ago are strategies that I use to this day.
I believe wholeheartedly in learning the basic math facts. I believe in drill! Drill for the skill!
My third grade student is in my math boot camp this year. If all we accomplish this year is learning the basic math factsmandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-22154103667875084262015-01-09T11:36:00.001-06:002015-01-09T12:27:09.163-06:00Less Stress
Mark Zuckerberg is a genius, but not for the obvious reason of being one of the co-founders of Facebook. He is also the networking website's CEO, and is said to have a net worth of over $30 billion...still not why I think he is a genius. His one dollar salary from Facebook is pretty great, but again I am not all that impressed by numbers, big or small.
What I am impressed by are his mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-21558607548097397412015-01-08T09:40:00.000-06:002015-01-09T11:56:45.299-06:00Slap Her
Girls shouldn't be hit, not even with a flower.
mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-66440355746096939712015-01-08T09:19:00.000-06:002015-01-08T14:49:18.551-06:00January Preschool
Snowflake Bentley
Make coffee filter snowflakes.
Make a snowflake from Borax.
View Caltech’s snowflake gallery.
Learn the snowflake song by Jean Warren.
Cotton-Ball counting.
The Quiltmaker's Gift
Have a tea party and serve Blueberry muffins and Ceylon tea.
Make bird feeder pine cones.
Learn the Seven Continents song.
Make a paper patch mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200844813162150836.post-27905578520130079852015-01-05T10:46:00.000-06:002015-01-05T10:46:27.544-06:00Daily Docket
Special Day- Birthday, Name day, Feast day, Holiday, Saint.
Pace- What speed do I have to go today? Do I really need to be running like a hare, or can I take it slow like a turtle? Knowing the pace of the day is good for me.
Priorities- What are the top 5 things I have to get done today? Did Slade ask me to do something for him? Do we have appointments? Do I mandysextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17866974860533442174noreply@blogger.com0