Awake and Elder Porphyrios on beauty

This morning I tried to sleep a little later, yet still woke up at 5:30.  Last night we attended the Great and Holy Friday services of Holy Week.
The kids went to Church at 11:00 in the morning for their annual retreat. They had a wonderful time and baked Prosphora bread
At 3:00 we came to get them and all went into the Church for thee Great Vespers and the Apokathelosis, and after we went to eat dinner. The children were very excited and talkative. 

When everyone finished eating we ran through the rain to get back to Church for the Great Saturday services of Lamentations and the Procession of the Epitatphios.   That finished after 10:30 and we got home after 11.  The kids headed straight to bed, and I wrapped my son's presents, because today is his 9th birthday.

I have to stop and say that my kids did amazingly well with the marathon of Church services we attended this week. Last night as I listened to my boys sing the Lamentations and watched the smiles on their faces as they explained the services to me (because they remember from previous years) and helping each other keep their places in the Holy Week books, my heart nearly burst.  

Tonight we go back to Church at 10:30 for the Paschal Liturgy and after the Liturgy and the Agape meal where we break our Lenten fast and eat meat (yay!!!!) we head back home. Usually we get home between 2 and 3 am.  This is why it is crazy that I only had 5 hours of sleep last night.
Naps will happen later today.
Please forgive all the grammatical errors within this post...I am rather foggy still.
Here is a quote from Elder Porphyrios that i came across yesterday and love.
“For a person to become a Christian he must have a poetic soul. He must become a poet. Christ does not wish insensitive souls in His company. A Christian, albeit only when he loves, is a poet and lives amid poetry. Poetic hearts embrace love and sense it deeply. Make the most of beautiful moments. Beautiful moments predispose the soul to prayer; they make it refined, noble, and poetic. Wake up in the morning to see the sun rising from out of the sea as a king robed in regal purple. [And then] go beyond this to give glory for all beautiful things so that you experience Him who alone is comely in beauty. All things are holy—the sea, swimming, and eating. Take delight in them all. All things enrich us, all lead us to the great Love, all lead us to Christ.”