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December 2021

Blessed feast, may God bless you and keep your family!

We just celebrated Thanksgiving and a birthday, so now our house is ready to switch into Nativity mode! While we’ve been fasting, it doesn’t feel like Christmas to us until after we celebrate the Harvest…

New this month!

December page images are all updated with easy downloads and the new St James the Persian image and story. Saints this month include St Porphyrios, St Nicholas, St James (Persian), St Algae, and a Nativity booklet under the Nativity tryptich… All FREE printables.
The Nativity Fun page has photos of projects we’ve done at home over the years as well as links to buy our coloringbooks (smaller version is $4.00) on amazon

Decorating

-We started with paper chains to add color, and the kids decorated and copied things from our Thankful pumpkin- so it features lots of superheroes but also fantastic thoughts like “God watching over us”. The kids were excited to start making ornaments to bring their cousincs. They were so cute, asking if kids from church were family, so I assured them we’d have enough ornaments for them too.
When I was a kid, we did ornament swaps with our cousins rather than presents. I still have many of them. We’ve been making ornaments with my kids for years, but I wouldn’t say they were keepsakes, now that my kids are a little older I love helping them make beautiful things.
-I got some tiny plaques in the craft deptartments and let my oldest son drill a small hole for a string, instant ornaments!
-I also like to order wooden products from a small company in Maine called Casey’s Wood Products. I’m not affiliated with them, but as a New Englander I like to support local businesses when I can. They get backordered sometimes, but everything comes in good condition, not rough edges or cracks. They offer a huge range of products including unpainted pegdolls.
-Salt Dough ornaments (click for recipe) are in our plans as two separate activities- making them and then painting them. But if your kids are little, it could make sense for you to make the shapes one night and then decorate them with the kids… Plan what will work for your home.

Fasting

We all have our favorite fasting groups, websites and books so I won’t overload you links but one thing we did (sort of by accident) was include the kids in a fasting menu master list. We awere all sitting at the table and my husband and I started making a list of the fasting foods we like and the kids just joined in. They added things like cheese pizza and chinese foods, fish sticks and hummus- lots and lots of hummus!
Make a plan you can stick to for each week. I find that if I have a plan, I don’t end up “cheating” or forgetting.
I find Fasting as a Family helpful, we also eat a lot of asian food- frozen vegetables with a bottle sauce and a pot of rice. A new favorite this fast is hummus with pickled vegetables as a buffet on the table with fresh bread or crackers.
To create a specific plan, talk with your priest for guidance.

Services

Attending weekday services may not be practical but there are so many options online, a blessing from Covid is all the livestreaming or youtube videos. At our house we substitute church music for extra television in the afternoons. Its been great timing to cut back on tv and sets a nice mood for evenings and homework.

Mama Moment (blessing)

I found myself lacking energy and motivation, for 2-3 years I thought it was normal motherhood since my kids were not regularly sleeping through the night. I felt like I was pushing myself through the day, putting on my happy face and drinking lots of coffee. But I always seemed anxious and short tempered, I was not enjoying day to day life. I tried changing my diet, forcing myself to exercise, changing my routine, and extra prayer… nothing was helping and then I noticed that I couldn’t fall asleep for hours. I would fall asleep after midnight, laying in bed for 2-3 hours. Inspired by the simple words “Make small and purposeful changes” from the Filled with Less ladies, I tried a couple of “sleep” remedies.
I’ve now been taking Magnesium for over a month. I feel ten years younger! My house is starting to run differently. Things I accepted as normal are gone (being cold all the time, afternoon lull in energy…) and my house is running more smoothly than it has for like 3 years… I’m not saying go out and buy magnesium, I wanted to share my own blessing of restored health.
Thank God that it wasn’t anything serious, but even my “small” issue affected my entire household and my relationship with my small kids. Having better sleep means SO much as a mom that I thought it was important to put this out there for you. I pray that this will help someone enjoy their nativity with a more peaceful and joyful heart.

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Sparks is Back

Its been a busy summer of gardening, baby chicks, kittens and all kinds of outdoors fun.

We went on vacation, got sick and we are looking forward to establishing routines for the new school year. I am back working from home. My new studio is doing well with the support of the priests in our lives. You can find my iconography at @kassianistudio on Facebook or Instragram. Commisions have left me with sketches to finish off for new @sparks4orthodox drawings.

But I still want your input! My kids are getting older and need different things. If you don’t find what you need, please let me know.

New for September is an image for All saints of Alaska, just scroll to the bottom

September
Featured

At the 11th hour for the 11th month!

This past month has been a wild ride!
You may remember I went back to work, teaching, this fall. We decided to offer virtual church school, so I might as well link in the video and materials for you all…you can use it for your own zoom sessions or in class/home! I hope it will give some spark to your lessons! I also started some new icons for a church building, Christmas present, and our own house (yeah!). I worked with another business to create a kids pillow. And my stepbrother asked me to help create a logo with Christian imagery for his military dive team.

THANKFULNESS LESSONS FOR CHURCH SCHOOL WILL COME SOON on social media!

Collaroration with St Tabitha’s Workshop on Etsy!

She saw Spark’s St George coloring page and was inspired. She reached out to me about creating a pillow- Together we created this huggable pillow for kids! We are already planning one for the Theotokos (probably won’t get to it until Thanksgiving break)! If you like sewing, or fabric toys check out her Etsy shop!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/881888578/st-george-pillow?ref=shop_home_feat_2

November Coloring pages… sorry there’s nothing new this month!

November means Nativity fun begins!

If you like the images but don’t like printing batches, consider buying our coloring book on amazon. the last few pages have small images for creating your own DIY Orthodox Nativity cards for your kids to send out. The images follow through the fast and end with Epiphany! Includes many images not available on the website.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1698389531/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

Check out Nativity activities that have been successful at my house on our Nativity Fun page! There are crafts, candy and card ideas. You can also see centerpieces the kids have made and a birthday cake for Jesus!

https://sparks4orthodoxkids.com/home-2/feast-fun/nativity-fun/

Check out the Sparks products at the RedBubble Shop!

I’ve been adding my favorite images slowly. Still in black and white for your Sparks to color in!

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August 2020

I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as we are. We are settling back in after a visit up north to our families. The kids really needed that time with cousins and grandparents. We were blessed to visit with my grandparents a few times. My Grandpa gave the kids lots of “elbow bumps” to replace hugs. He’s such a hugger, the poor guy couldn’t resist when our four year old (also named for him) innocently reached up and hugged him the day before we left.
We are preparing the best we can for the upcoming school year. I will be teaching Pre-K in our local classical school. I’m not sure what to expect along the way. Only God knows the future.

New Coloring Pages!

I am excited to have a bunch of new coloring pages made from sketches that I made for icons during the lockdown. These are uploaded into the months they are celebrated in-
St Brendan the Navigator May 16th
St Edmund King of England and Holy Martyr November 20th
St Charity (Agape) the daughter of St Sophia September 17th
St Irene of Chrysovalantou July 28th

The set of icons that inspired the new coloring pages

St Natalia
August 26th

I received a request this month from a Mom making a “Happy Name-Day” banner with the patron saint for each person on it. I thought it was too cute not to share the idea! I was honored to help with such a special project!

Please remember I am happy to take requests anytime, Sparks is a free resource!

Current Projects

-Saints Felix, Regula and Exuperantuis- (preschism martyrs) Patrons of Zurich Switzerland September 11th
You may have seen in social media that I made an icon of these ancient saints for my in-laws, but I didn’t have time to make up the coloring page yet. I will have it for next month, so that its ready for their commemoration!

-We are continuing our family’s support of St Peter Rigena’s Orthodox Orphanage by building up a care package. If you’d like to contribute in some way to the care package, please email me. Anything sent will go in the package, 100% of any money donated fo shipping will be used for shipping the package.

alaska archangels Cain and Abel Christmas coloring Constantine the Great February hospitality icon coloring january Jesus in Bethany Jesus Prayer Lent magi Mama Moment Martha and Mary Name-day nativity orthodoxchristian orthodox christian crafts Orthodoxfamily Orthodoxkids orthodox kids Orthodox Mother Orthodox Saints Pascha Pharisee Presentation of Christ Prophetess Anna Publican Righteous Simeon Saint Stephanie saint Syncletica Saint Winifred spyridon St Alexandra St Constantine St Edmund St Elizabeth St George St Helen St Hilarion St Porphyrios St Raphael of Brooklyn St Tikhon

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July 2020

Hello Parents,

I’m going to format this a little differently. I find its starting to be complicated to find all the images available you now have to click pages and posts in different places. So I’m not going to post all the new stories into the posts anymore and I have already backtracked to copy everything into the website pages- streamlining it all!

If you have a request for an upcoming Name-Day or saint that you love, I am happy to help. There are SO many saints to choose and I love learning about new ones each month!

Contact me directly with your input or requests

casey@sparks4orthodoxkids.com

New for July

St Jacob Netsvetov, Enlightener of Alaska with a simple look at the massive geography of Alaska. Have you ever seen Alask overlayed on the continental USA- its MASSIVE! I hope it works as a nice compliment to the page of Our Lady of Sitka.

CLick HERE to go to Coloring Pages for July

Changes!

You may have noticed activities for bigger kids over the past couple of months. I always new Sparks would grow as my kids grow and we are taking those first steps! Our facebook name has also changed from Sparks for Orthodox Toddlers to Sparks4Orthodox to match the webpage and Instagram and open it up for future growth!

It looks like I may be heading back to work (as I am writing it is not firm, no contract signed) so I may not post as many things as fall arrives and I adjust to our new family routine! I have a few things sketched out to share, but if you have a request please give me plenty of time. I hope teaching Pre-K classes will spark some new idead for lessons as we return to Church school…


Current projects include-

-Revising the Pascha Coloring Books-Will be shelved for now, as I head back to work!
-Compiling and editing coloring pages for coloring book collections -Fall, Spring, Summer, and Winter. This one is coming in slow motion but still moving forward!
– You may have seen some photos of icons that I’ve been making for friends and family. I would like to be able to offer them online in the near future; it has been a blessing for my personal prayer time through this crazy spring.

We are aslo sending love and kids supplies to St Peter Rigena Orthodox Orphanage and School. If you are interested in more information about them,
https://orthodoxafrica.org/missions/saint-peter-rigena-orthodox-orphanage-and-school/

This is what I have done so far. Bible verses in their own langauge, but we’ll be adding each child’s patron saint, and atleast one more Bible verse- provided by Fr Hezekiah in their own language!

I discovered RedBubble a few months back and I have started creating products with my artwork. If you are ever looking to create something bigger with your kids as presents of a church go-bag please remember us.
Here is a sampling, but the images are available on multiple products

Click HERE to see the RedBubble Shop

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June Coloring Pages

Saints Mary and Martha
Lazarus’ sisters & Myrrh Bearers
June 4th

Mary and Martha host Jesus at their house along with their brother Lazarus. Jesus was talking with His disciples.
Mary sat at Christ’s feet to listen to all He had to say. Martha was busy and distracted by providing hospitality and serving her Lord and guests food. She got frustrated and said to Jesus, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister is leaving me to do all the work? So tell her to help.”
Jesus replied, “Martha, you’re so stressed out. One thing is important right now, and Mary chose it. I’m not taking it from her.”
(My retelling from Luke 10:38-42)

Martha and Mary show us strong traits for the faithful. Mary sat and listened, not to avoid work but out of her love for God and desire to learn more. Martha was busy serving, not to show off but for her love of her neighbor and desire to do good works. These are both traits all faithful should have but we must learn to balance them.

Click to download the story with a simple word game as pdf

sparks-mary-and-martha-word-activityDownload
Click to go to the RedBubble shop!

Select images are available on products through RedBubble. Slightly edited and formated but still black and white so you can make them special with fabric markers, paint and modge podge – create unique projects that will last almost as long as the memories.

https://www.redbubble.com/people/Sparks4Orthodox/shop?asc=u

A Mama Moment

I know there are many opinions about the ideas of “Mama time” and I don’t really have strong feelings about it. As a stay at home Mom, I’m here with the kids almost nonstop. Since the quarentine, I’ve been with them except a few grocery trips. So sometimes I need a break away from the kids and I think that is natural.
The other day my husband and I were talking. I realized that over the past few years, while I threw myself into life with my kids; I threw off the balance with my husband and I. By not “doing something for myself” I didn’t give my husband anything to support. Of course he praised my parenting and helps to give me with the kids.
My husband and I have been together since we were teenagers. We have always helped eachother reach goals. We support and push eachother better than we support ourselves. Its our balance. By living for my kids over the past six years I threw us off balance. I cared for my kids, and supported my husband. I felt burnt out.
I knew I needed a change. So I started painting again. It wasn’t about getting away from my kids. I felt I needed something for me. I started spending evenings in quiet prayerful time making icons.
Its been a couple of months, my husband has a wishlist growing (LOL- his birthday is coming up). Its no longer about having something for me. My kids are helping to Ghesso boards. In the morning, they compliment and comment on the progress of each painting. In the evenings, my husband works on his latest article or translation while I work.
I didn’t notice there was something missing until it was back. I feel better, less stressed and more patient with my kids. Its not about attention, its about feeling like I contribute beyond my kids.
It has been a bigger blessing for my family and a new service to the Church.
I guess my point is, if it feels like you need a break or that something is missing, let God guide you by His still small voice!

alaska archangels Cain and Abel Christmas coloring Constantine the Great February hospitality icon coloring january Jesus in Bethany Jesus Prayer Lent magi Mama Moment Martha and Mary Name-day nativity orthodoxchristian orthodox christian crafts Orthodoxfamily Orthodoxkids orthodox kids Orthodox Mother Orthodox Saints Pascha Pharisee Presentation of Christ Prophetess Anna Publican Righteous Simeon Saint Stephanie saint Syncletica Saint Winifred spyridon St Alexandra St Constantine St Edmund St Elizabeth St George St Helen St Hilarion St Porphyrios St Raphael of Brooklyn St Tikhon

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May Coloring Pages

Empress Helena

May 21st

When her son St Constantine (the Great) came to power he sent her on a mission to find the Holy Cross of Christ in Jerusalem. Even though she was in her seventies, she took the long trip. She traveled all over, clearing sites that are important in the life of Christ. She had churches build, and tore down pagan temples. She kept searching until she finally found the Holy Cross of Christ. She found all three (who died alongside Christ?) and a miracle showed her which one belonged to Christ!

Constantine’s Vision at the Melvian Bridge

This document is a one page story of the Vision of Constantine at the Battle of the Melvian Bridge. It is for slightly older kids, up to middle schoolers. Included with some small drawings to color in, and a list of terms to investigate. It makes a good history lesson for anyone interested in Church history or the Roman Empire. Please enjoy!

contantines-vision PDFundefinedDownload

Hymn for
Sts Constantine and Helen

Happy Name day for my son, FIL, SIL and all the Helens and Constantines out there!

Hymn from Compline
Lord of the Powers

Every Lent focuses on prayers but this year it seems especially fitting!


CLICK HERE for the May page
like St Constantine

I want to share a cool website that my husband showed me
Orthodox Unlimited has a T shirt line. You may want to check it out as you start to think about Father’s Day (next month). We usually make a Tshirt, but now that we live in a warmer place -I think we’re going to splurge on one he would wear in public!
https://www.orthodoxunlimited.com/

https://www.orthodoxunlimited.com/

alaska archangels Cain and Abel Christmas coloring Constantine the Great February hospitality icon coloring january Jesus in Bethany Jesus Prayer Lent magi Mama Moment Martha and Mary Name-day nativity orthodoxchristian orthodox christian crafts Orthodoxfamily Orthodoxkids orthodox kids Orthodox Mother Orthodox Saints Pascha Pharisee Presentation of Christ Prophetess Anna Publican Righteous Simeon Saint Stephanie saint Syncletica Saint Winifred spyridon St Alexandra St Constantine St Edmund St Elizabeth St George St Helen St Hilarion St Porphyrios St Raphael of Brooklyn St Tikhon

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Coloring pages for April

St George
April 23rd

St George grew up in Palestine after his father was martyred.His mom moved away to raise him but when he was old enough, he joined the military.
St George, the Victory Bearer, is a very famous saint for the story of how he saved a village from a dragon that lived in their lake. The pagan priests told the people to feed it children instead of fighting it. The brave St George, killed the dragon and freed the village from the dragon; and also from the terrible leadership of the pagan priests!

When the Emperor Diocletian pusecuted Christians, St George sold all his belongings and went to the Emperor to bear witness as a Christian. We call him a soldier of Christ.
The Emperor knew him, he was a well known soldier, so he talked with George about just sacrificing to a Roman god so he can go home. But George would not deny Christ. The Emperor was furious and had guards arrest George -off to be tortured.
He continued to torture George in different ways. One day, the torture was so bad that the Emperor thought George was dead. He ordered his body removed but when they picked up his body, an angel healed him and George was able to stand up. Oh the Emperor was enraged! He came up with new tortures. He even brought in sorcerors to drug George because he thought that magic was protecting George. Not magic, his guardian angel was keeping George safe.
Word spread around the city about the miraculous St George. People came to visit him and be healed by him in the prison! Politicians announced they were christian. Even the Empress knew that George’s God was The Saviour. Emperor Diocletian beheaded many of these people but he was trying to save George by forcing him to sacrifice to the false Roman gods. George stood his ground before the pagan statues of their false gods. He called the demons out and the statues shattered! The crowd went crazy, not understanding what was happening; everyone ran!
The Empress Alexandra, yelled out praises to the all powerful God. That was the last straw, the Emperor announced both George and his wife, Alexandra would be executed.

Empress Alexandra
April 23rd

The Empress Alexandra was married to the Emperor Diocletian. He killed many Christians trying to maintain the pagan ways. Christians could be arrested just for following Christ.
She was in the pagan temple when St George called the demons out and all the statues broke. She called out to the God of Truth. The Emperor was so angry that she betrayed his false gods that he had her sentenced to death along with St George. She did not struggle, but she did faint on the way to the execution.
People thought she was dead and somehow she escaped the angry Emperor Diocletian.
Nobody heard from her again until after he died.
Diocletian passed their daughter Valeria off in marriage to a follower of the pagan gods. The Empress Alexandra had secretly raised her as a Christian and she didn’t want to marry Galerius. Her father didn’t care, she had to marry him so that he could be the new Emperor. Her dad retired.
When Galerius died, the new Emperor Maximinus also wanted to marry her. She refused, and her dad wasn’t there to make her; so the new Emperor kicked her out of the country. This is when we hear that Alexandra is still alive! Someone must have snuck her out of the palace when she fainted, everyone thought she had died!
They lived in Syria until they heard that Emperor Maximinus had died.

St Elizabeth the Wonderworker
April 24th

Elizabeth’s parents brought her to a monastery to grow up in a life of prayer and service to God. Elizabeth grew up and continued to live as a monk. Her prayers were heard by God and through His mercy she healed the sick.

She fasted very strictly. She would eat nothing but greens and vegetables, refusing bread or non-fasting foods. During Great Lent, she refused all food.
She was just as strict with herself in her prayer life. She would not look up. She followed the example of the Tax-Collector.

What do you remember about the Tax-Collector? How should we act, to follow his example?
Can you think of any other kids who’s parents gave them up to live in God’s house?

Pascha Preparation Page- ckick here

alaska archangels Cain and Abel Christmas coloring Constantine the Great February hospitality icon coloring january Jesus in Bethany Jesus Prayer Lent magi Mama Moment Martha and Mary Name-day nativity orthodoxchristian orthodox christian crafts Orthodoxfamily Orthodoxkids orthodox kids Orthodox Mother Orthodox Saints Pascha Pharisee Presentation of Christ Prophetess Anna Publican Righteous Simeon Saint Stephanie saint Syncletica Saint Winifred spyridon St Alexandra St Constantine St Edmund St Elizabeth St George St Helen St Hilarion St Porphyrios St Raphael of Brooklyn St Tikhon

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February

Saint Simeon and Prophetess Anna
February 3

When Mary, the Theotokos, and Joseph, Jesus’ Stepfather, brought little Jesus to the Holy Temple they met these elderly people. They were not a married couple.

Saint Simeon was a very educated man, he was working in a group of 70 scholars to prepare the Holy Books of the Old Testament (the parts of the Bible from before Jesus). While he translated the Book of Isaiah he came across something that didn’t make sense to him. The sentence said that a virgin would give birth to the Christ (Isaiah 7:14). Virgins can’t have babies so he was about to change it from “virgin” to “young women” when an angel appeared to sttop him. The angel said this word is correct, don’t change it; and you will see this baby with your own eyes. So Simeon waited, he visited the Holy Temple and waited until he was a very old man.
Anna the Prophetess had lived in the Holy Temple since her husband died as a young woman. She never left and spent her days praying and fasting. She was now in her eighties. When she came up to pray, she met little Jesus. The Apostle Luke tells us that she told everyone about The Redeemer, Jesus (Luke 2:36-38).

St Raphael of Brooklyn
February 27th

St. Raphael was born in Syria. He was a smart boy and got scholarships throughout his schooling. He taught Arabic and Turkish before going to semenary at The School of Theology at Halki and then graduate work at the Theological Academy of Kiev.
Eventually he became a missionary to the United States, to support the immigrants struggling here. Only two weeks after arriving, he started setting up the Chapel dedicated to St Nicholas in Manhattan. He traveled around the country visiting Arab-Christians from New York to San Francisco. While he visited with these communities, he encouraged them to continue the Orthodox faith at home when there was no priest nearby. He told them to pray and read the hours. Saint Raphael published an Arabic language book to help them, The Book of True Consolation in the Divine Prayers. He also worked to find priests and recommend local men for seminary. Saint Raphael build the Antiochian Cathedral of St Nicholas in Brooklyn as a permanent home for the Arab Orthodox community.
Saint Raphael’s work as a misisonary helped to grow and organize the Orthodox communities to the point that the new Bishop Tikhon couldn’t visit them all. He needed help. In 1904 Father Raphael became the fist priest to be concecrated as Bishop in the USA!
As Bishop, he had less time to travel to all the communities across the US, so he started a magazine to share news and teach about the faith.
Bishop Raphael noticed that the kids in New York who couldn’t speak Arabic were not in Church. In his short time in the US he learned English and he knew that children are the future of the church, so he created evening schools and started promoting English in worship. He found an English service book to recommend in parishes.

When Bishop Rapheal fell asleep in the Lord in 1927, the Syro-Arab Mission to the US had 30 parishes with 25,000 faithful.

I hope these coloring pages and stories are helpful and useful in lessons with your Sparks.
I would love your feedback to make this resource better and more applicable to your work.
Feel free to comment or message me on Facebook and Instagram or email me through the blog.
Constructive feedback is welcome!
I’d also love to see what your Sparks have created!

Sparks has more to offer

If you enjoy these please concider a coloring book-

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1796731684/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

37 pages begining with the Triumph of Orthodoxy to Pentecost. It includes hymns, and saints, all the days of Holy Week, Doubting Thomas and many more. $10 plus shipping on the link to Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1796742805/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

25 pages of images to help focus your Spark through Holy week. This smaller version is intended to be easier for travel to services. $8 plus shipping at the link to Amazon

If you are in need of a new “go bag” please see the link for a number of images and styles of bags.

Totes by Sparks4Orthodox

If you are interested in this, click the link. It is available on a number of products- bags, adult and kids T-shirts

Jesus snuggles T-shirt
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A Mama Moment for February

Something for you,
to spark you on an adult level

I’ve seen the icon for the Presentation of Christ in the Holy Temple many times. I’ve heard sermons about the Righteous Simeon waiting years to see the Christ; fulfilling a promise from God.

Every year a women standing in the middle of that icon has gone all but unnoticed. This year, I’m taking some time to think about the Prophetess Anna. We know that she was widowed as a young women and lived in the Holy Temple serving others. She lived a life of prayer and fasting. We learn about her in Luke 2:36-38 while he tells the story of Christ’s presentation.-

  33And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. 34And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— 35and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” 
36 And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. 38At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Personal speculation-
I’ve often wondered at how Mary was prepared for motherhood, who raised her? We know that the Saints Joachim and Anna brought her to the Holy Temple when she was weaned (so about 2-3), and died shortly after. We know that Mary spent much of her childhood in the Holy of Holies and was educated by the priests. We also know that she was working on a new tapastery to cover the door to the Holy of Holies when the Angel Gabriel appears at the Annunciation.
But who taught her to sew, embroider or weave?
I don’t believe its a cooincidence that Anna was on her way to pray as Mary brought Jesus to the Holy Temple. Mary would have known her routine from childhood, afterall she hadn’t been gone very long. This may be a glimpse at a very special relationship between two faithful women of God. This may be the mother-figure who raised up the Theotokos.


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January

Nativity Blessings!
We are done opening gifts but the season of Nativity continues on.

Venerable Desert Mother Syncletica

Syncletica’s family was from Alexandria. As a young girl she loved and did what pleases God. People said she was beautiful and she was from a wealthy family. So when boys started to visit her as a teen, she made it clear she did not want to marry. She spend her time praying and fasting.
When her parents died, she gave away everything in the house. Sold her family home and took her little sister to live in the desert.
Stories about her spread around and soon other women and girls came to live in the cave with them. She lived to be an old lady, about 80 years old before she became very ill and fell alseep in the Lord.

Name Day Fun!

Here’s something fun to help celebrate name days with your little sparks!

Patron saint Pegdolls

I had so much fun making these for my little Sparks
that I would like to offer these as special orders
for your Sparks too!

*Painted dolls to order will be $15 (like these shown).
*I can also draw out the line-work and faces to order for you and your Spark to paint for $5.

Payments will be via Paypal, prices include shipping. Prices negotiable for orders of 3 or more dolls.

Please email me with any questions, or to request dolls at

casey@spark4orthodoxkids.com

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December

December means most of us will be filled with Christmas/Nativity preparations- decorating, cooking, extra church, and fasting. Its so easy to get lost in the To Do’s and lose patience or just feel grumpy. I know I do this time of year; so this year I am trying to do less so I can slow down and enjoy more. Being a stay at home mom from the northeast, means I can easily go a full week without leaving my house this time of year. All day everyday with three kids under 6 years, sometimes I feel like a pinball going from child to chore to animal to child, to child to chore to animal…
Please check out the link to Nativity Fun for ideas I’ve done at our house to encorporate the kids into the preparation and decoration time.
https://sparks4orthodoxkids.com/home-2/feast-fun/nativity-fun/

New Coloring pages for December!

Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker

December 12th

After his wife passed away, he was appointed Bishop of Trimythus. He was one of the Bishops who went to the big meeting called the The First Ecumentical Councel or The Councel of Nicea. They discussed how to describe God and the trinity. There was an arguement with a man named Arius. Saint Nicholas was there too. He was so frustrated with this man that Nicjolas slapped him in the face! Saint Spyridon picked up a brick. Instead of joining the arguement of logic, he demonstrated the relationship of the Trinity. He squeezed the brick and it both burst into flames and dripped water; then he opened his hand and there was dust.
While it is true that he is known for many miracles, it is important to remember that saints are people. They had full lives with happiness and saddness just like us. We should remember that Spyridon was a kind farmer who fed many poor people.

The Magi

December 25th

We often call them the Three Kings or Wisemen. They were starwatchers, astrologers, watching the sky every night. They each noticed a new star appear in the sky. They thought that was weird, and it had to mean that something special was happening!
They each decided to follow it.

Scientists have been trying to figure out what these “Wisemen” were following. For a long time they said it was just a silly story.

We don’t know exactly what they saw, but neither did they, we know it was strange enough for them to travel for months with no plan.

They simply followed God’s light and found His Son, Jesus Christ. They brought baby Jesus presents all the way from their homes. Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh

Here is a preview of the nativity coloring book, over 60 pages like these to focus your Spark available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1698389531/ref=rdr_ext_tmb
Featured

November

NEW coloring pages

Please enjoy all the printable images with the stories that go along.
PLEASE SEE THE LINK FOR EACH COMPLETE MONTH.
If you don’t see what you are looking for, I happily take requests!

See All November Coloring Pages
Saint Winifred

November 3/6th
On the Island of Britton a long time ago there was a young girl named Winifred (or Gwenfrewi as the Welsh call her) who wanted to devote her life to God as a monk. Her family went to Liturgy one morning before her. While she was home alone, a prince stopped by for a drink of water. While they were alone, he attacked her. She ran as fast as she could for her uncle’s church but he had a horse and sliced her head off with his sword! Her family came out to find her. Her Uncle, the priest, scooped her up and prayed and cried. It is said that her cried so much that a spring of water started to flow out of the ground! God heard his prayers and restored Winifred’s life. She lived a the rest of her life as a nun.

Saint Stephanie

 November 11th
Saint Stephanie is a martyr of Damascus. She was the wife of a soldier. Her husband had arrested a Christian man named Victor. She visited her husband at work while he was torturing Victor.  As a Christian, she blessed Victor when she saw him enduring his torture.  Then she saw the heavens open and two crowns appear.  She was also martyred for choosing God above even her husband.

February- Readings with Lessons

February – Publican and Pharisee

Luke 18:10-14

Talking Points:
Follow up to Zaccheaus
A Publican is a tax collector
A Pharisee is a “zealous observer of the Law”
God the Father calls for obediance
Before Jesus, God called His people to follow the rules so that’s what the Pharisees did.
Jesus came to bring us a relationship with God.

What do you remember about Zaccheaus?
bully, thief, rich, people hate them…
The taxcollector was not a leader in the Temple community.
The tax collector came before God quietly and called on God’s mercy.

Activity:
Make a compare/contrast for Pharisee and Tax Collectors
Publican’s Prayer-> Jesus Prayer – Give out a written copy for them to decorate and keep as a reminder
Prayer Bracelets- beads for younger kids
Practice together, the Jesus prayer, and talk about doing extra as Lent arrives

Beaded Prayer Bracelet borrowed fromhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1lkpWua-DXwQI5HTCZPFt4kjdtSmmeZP3MxHkno4-LNs/edit?fbclid=IwAR2lTV3vA9qzXJqvYN4_ZtO0RkA62vvKZP0JMy_b1ZNOdrk8AZsTrTneyj4

November

I got it done! As promised, each image for November has a download link embedded so when you click it, you get a free and easy download of the image! I hope this makes it more useable for you all. And really now that I know how, its not much work (phew, lol)

New saint for November-
St Katherine along with her amazing story. She was not just a “pretty girl from a good family” she is the amazing patron of scholars/philosophers, the guardian of Mt Sinai and the patron of women enduring difficult labor! I kept it as short as I could. I also updated the image for St Stephanie.

Mama Moment
I had an “aha” moment that I wanted to share…
Setting up water paints always takes SO long. getting water into each color is always the messiest part of the process (unless the water cup spills). I realized that using a spoon was SO much easier! I wish I had thought of it last year when I was teaching a PreK class!

Next Projects-

For December, I will update them to automatically download as well… There is a Nativity tab for some FREE festive coloring pages. If you are looking to make things to send to family this season check out our Market for Sparks images available on Tshirt, notebooks, bags… You can color them or paint with washable fabric paints to create unique gifts this season. It has not been updated in a while, so if you do not see something that you would use please contact me. I will try to get you what you need.

New tabs, I thought a page for all the Theotokos images, and a tab for the major feasts would help people find things more easily. I just added an angel tab and will add archangels (in Nov) and other images as I come back across them.

Taking requests for January. Holiday craziness is setting in at my home, with 5 birthdays on top of Christmas and another big trip to visit family so I do not plan to add anything new for December… Ok, I just saw that I never added the story for St James the Persian so I will do that research.

Kassiani’s Art Studio

I have a new home business, making icons… real handpainted icons in both acrylic or egg tempera paints. Its so new that I have not made a website yet but you can see those new projects at Facebook or Instagram . To keep Sparks free will be moving the “Market” to under this business, onceI get around to setting up its website.

New Facebook Group

A new mom’s group called Crunchy Orthodox Moms… So far conversations included best detergents for cloth diapers, cold and flu stock ups, and lotions/creams for rashes.

October

It has been a month at our house!
I am so blessed to be back into a calm routine, home with my youngest.

In October, we start to focus on thankfulness and the Protection of the Theotokos. Since Sparks already has a couple of images for that I decided that new guardian angels would be a good lead into you potential lessons for the upcoming seasons. To start this new page, under lessons, I have one with a boy, and another with a girl. I hope they are helpful. Click here to see the Angel Page now

To see October,
with 8 FREE coloring images alongside their stories- click here

I joined an art challenge to help charge up my creativity. Its been fun to play with my art on a personal level. Iconography is my favorite prayer time, I need my hands to stay busy, just like my kids! It’s been refreshing and fun this past month playing around with some different media. My kids are loving watercolor pencils. They are coloring pencils that are filled with water color paints. Even my oldest who doesn’t like how watercolors flow, is enjoying these pencils. My daughter busted into my pastels and its been fun to see her, at three, to start blending and smoothing.

I had an “Aha” moment while we were painting during our morning “school” time… Don’t add water to the water color paints with a brush- use a SPOON! No more spills everywhere before the painting is underway!

Before the weather turns on us, here is one last opportunity for an outdoor mess. We’re saving these to add to over the colder weather. I promised they could color with marker over the sprayed on paints and stickers are fun. They could become a background for projects for the upcoming feasts.

Bear with my low-techy skills

I received a couple of emails with concerns and questions about how to copy images, so I will begin to convert the images to ‘downloadable images’. I am sorry if its been difficult. I found a tutorial and will begin converting the winter months first. This is a busy season at our little homestead so please bear with me a little longer! The new guardian angels should have a link to download them more easily… so please reach out by email or social media if there is a problem with this. Its new to me!
Click here to see the Angel Page

Pen pals

I will match up the current pen pals on October 15th. If you know someone who may be interested please let them know its time to pm @sparks4orthodox . If your child is not receiving letters and you want a new pal at any time, please join the group, on Facebook to find a mom in your situation. Its closed for a level of protection from trolling. https://www.facebook.com/groups/793216078218931

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December

Nativity Greetings!

Nativtiy cards will be extra important to our family this year since we are not able to go visit our loved ones this winter. If you are in a similar sitution, you may be interested in Orthodox Nativity Cards to color and send out to loved ones.

I know we are all very busy this time of year with preparations. It is difficult to remember that we are celebrating in addition to celebrating the host of saints! Visit the December Coloring tab for saints and stories in addition to some Nativity images. New this month is St Porphyrios with his image and a quote in word art to color in.

For more Nativity ideas, that I’ve done at home with my Sparks, check out the Nativity tab

If you haven’t seen it already,
the Nativity Coloring book in print on Amazon,
has about 60 pages of Orthodox Nativity images.

I’ve been busy with some new projects.

These are my largest icons ever! The Protection of the Theotokos is about 18inches by 3ft. The Trinity is for a parish Narthex and its 2×3 feet, prepared with linen and rabbit glue! I’m enjoying the larger space to work on face details. The St George is a 12inch round board, hoping it will be ready as a Christmas present for my husband’s friend!

New Page coming soon!

Its been a great to include the kids in the process of making icons. This summer, they helped gesso a board for an icon I made for their grandparents, this time they helped me mix the rabbit glue. I’ve decide that over Christmas vacation, I’m going to add a page for teaching the process of making icons for the kids. We’ll include some video explanations and lots of photos for the kids to understand the process of revealing the saints. I hope it will be helpful, especially for our friends teaching with the Charlotte Mason way!

September 2020

We have one new coloring page for September- I made a coloring page from the sketch I drew for an icon I made for my Goddaughter this spring.

I am going back to school, and it has been a lot of work to get my classroom organized, cleaned and rearranged for COVID spacing. My kids have been acting up in response to all the changes, I’m sure you all can relate! I’ll add photos for projects and crafts that I made for school. Here’s the first one! I twisted little pieces of tissue paper with my son last night, making moths and flies for the students to feed this guy with tweezers- fine motor activity.

I did complete the requested, Saint Porphyrios for December. I found a nice quote to make word art. He is such a new saint that there are TONS of stories about him. I apologize if I missed anyone’s favorite story about him. I know he is very beloved by many. Click the image below to check out his story and see both coloring pages.

All other projects are in limbo until I get into a “back to school” routine with all the kids.

Please enjoy the coloring pages for September including-

St Moses the Godseeer (9/4)
Prophet Zaccariahs (9/5) – what a great follow up to St John (8/29)
St Kassiani (9/7)
Nativity of Theotokos (9/8)- Happy Birthday Mary!
Exaltation of Holy Cross (9/14)
St Charity (Agape-Love) (9/17) daughter of Wisdom and young martyr

St Moses the Godseeer (9/4)
Prophet Zaccariahs (9/5) – what a great follow up to St John (8/29)
St Kassiani (9/7)
Nativity of Theotokos (9/8)- Happy Birthday Mary!
Exaltation of Holy Cross (9/14)
St Charity (Agape-Love) (9/17) daughter of Wisdom and young martyr