Community vs. Isolation

Betty Duffy has an excellent post about the importance of community to the health of the family.  Of course, it presumes a healthy community.  Retreating to "do your own thing" might be the best option under certain circumstances, but thankfully I don't think that needs to be the case for most Christians in our country.

The Bug Man

 

It's hard to believe Ian entered double digits this year.  Have we really been parents for an entire decade?  Ian is still helping his Dad at work one day each week and is starting to develop an interest in the construction process.  He's asking more questions and volunteering to jump in there a bit more.  Ditto for piano.

Like Anna and Lewis, Ian enjoyed swimming and homeschool soccer for extra curriculars this year.  He's also been bitten by the reading bug, and lately can often be found curled up with the Tolkein in between read alouds with Dad.  However, his main passion is still observing six legged bugs.  Before the weather turned cold, he was particularly interested in watching fire ants.  He still likes spiders a lot, though, and really any bug will do in a pinch.  

Ian resolves to be out there to welcome all the critters back as soon as 2011 gets warm.

The Adventurer

 

Always up for a challenge, Anna finds eight exciting.  She's used this year to learn some knitting, a little bit of sewing and soccer, and more swimming, cooking, crocheting, and piano.  And she managed to add flute lessons to her spare time this fall.  

Still a huge bookworm, Anna has enjoyed participating in our ladies' book club this year and has no problem keeping up with the reading there.  600 pages on Eleanor of Aquitaine?  No problem.  We're currently in the middle of War and Peace, and that hasn't slowed her down either.  Don't worry, we're still covering the other two of the "three R's" as well.  In fact, writing poetry and short stories is another of Anna's recently acquired hobbies that I forgot to mention.

We're very thankful for the many talents and opportunities God has blessed Anna with in 2010, and we look forward to exploring even more territory with her in 2011.

Toothless

 

Lewis is now halfway through being six.  He has learned so much this past year that I am truly amazed.  Reading is now pretty easy and fun for him, and his addition and subtraction math facts are at least easy.  Piano study became a part of his routine this year, too, and that is going quite well. 

Lewis still loves to draw and color, and he took to bike riding like he'd been doing it for years.  He also enjoyed his first round of swimming lessons this summer and a little home school soccer fun in the fall.  His weekly work day with Daddy rounds out his schedule nicely. 

In addition to all the wonderful activities above, 2010 has been the year for Lewis to get rid of those old baby teeth, and we had fun singing "All I Want for Christmas" to him this holiday season.  Lewis resolves to acquire the necessary tools for comfortably eating apples and corn on the cob in 2011.

Fidelity in Small Things with Great Love

Sara shares some wonderful thoughts today over at This Scrapbook, and I needed to post a copy of them here for my own continued edification:

A quiet peace of mind

From the book, Where There is Love, There is God

"Silence is at the root of our union with God and with one another."-Mother Teresa

Silence and recollection are the indispensable conditions for prayer. An atmosphere of exterior silence is certainly very helpful, but Mother Teresa, who spent most of her life in large, overcrowded cities, learned to be interiorly silent and recollected in the midst of much noise and activity. She shows us that to practice silence one need not flee from the world and live as a hermit. What is necessary is to learn to quiet the mind and heart to dispose ourselves for prayer.

In the silence of the heart God speaks and this is the time He will speak to you. To be able to listen you have to be like a little child. Read Mother Teresa's life--you will find nothing special or extraordinary, but what is striking is that fidelity in small things with great love; that fidelity to silence.

Scenes from Christmas Morning 2010

I still have pictures from our extended family Christmas party last week that I need to post, and no one was taking pictures during the Bible reading or carol singing this morning.  Furthermore, the feast for today is yet to come, but I doubt we'll bother to take any pics while we eat either.  So, what follows is only a small portion of our actual celebrating, but posting a little bit of the fun is better than posting none at all, right?

Miss Sweetness

Four year old Jocelyn is still our gentle, quiet spirit.  A great helper both for younger and older siblings, she loves being in the kitchen (graduating this summer to official egg cracker status), can do imaginative play for hours, and is showing interest in piano.  Jocelyn has made lots of progress with reading and writing this year, and we'll probably see what we can "add" in the math department in 2011.

Thinking "Pro-" Rather than "Anti-" in the Biotics Department

Sarah of Healthy Home Economist  has a helpful blog post up today with lots of ideas for treating a sinus infection naturally.   I'd never thought of using probiotics in a nasal rinse or directly on the tongue right before bed.  This topic is especially appropriate for this time of year when too many sweets and carbs can make us prone to candidas overgrowth and the various infections that can result.

The Littlest Lady

 

Evangeline Mercedes is three years old and a bundle of fun.  She still loves to sing, a passtime she took up more than two years ago.  She also now enjoys puzzles and will do the 48 piece variety . . .if you'll help her sort the edge pieces from the middle.  

Eva is a good kitchen helper, too.  Cracking eggs and stirring are her current specialties.  Eva's favorite part about 2010 is probably being big enough to hang with her older siblings outside, especially swinging.  Her plans for 2011 include learning to read.

Into the Wild Movie Review and an L.A. Times Nutrition Article

Titus and I finally got around to seeing Into the Wild last night after first hearing about it a couple years ago (see March 2009 story telling).  The occasional nudity, foul language, and general adult foolishness keep it from being appropriate viewing for children, but we think it is indispensable for young adults (still skipping the nudie parts).  So much fodder for discussion there!  We fully intend to view it with our children as they enter adulthood in order to help them understand more fully where certain types of folly lead.

In other news, L.A. Times  just printed an article that confirms what we've been learning around here about the benefits of orienting our diets in a high healthy fat, low carb direction.  Several months ago,  Bee Wilder helped us pull together various things we've been learning over the past few years and focus on candidas control in a specific way using the type of diet described above.  We've been making focused efforts in that direction since August and have seen numerous benefits in our family's health.  There are lots of success stories on Bee's site where people have written in to describe their progress in everything from diabetes to fibromyalgia, which serves as further confirmation that this is a good way to eat for many reasons.

The Littlest Man

 Here's the official portraiture of our Cael-man at 15 months.  He's a month older now and just starting to walk--definitely our latest bloomer in that department.

However, he's a master communicator.  There are several words in his current vocabulary list: "see," "there," "here," "hi," "bye-bye," "Mama," "Dada," "Ian" [works for any sibling], "all done," "thank you."  He signs for "potty," "all done," and "please" and has lots of useful facial expressions--a couple of which can be seen here thanks to Ruthanne.

Cael thinks 2010 has been a great year for learning and growing,
and he resolves to take up running for a hobby in 2011.

Sweet Sibs

Not sure why it's taken me so long to start posting these--maybe it's because my attentions have been consumed with Christmas cards and such rather than Christmas blogging.  Anyhow, the time has come to document these excellent photos on the blog, and I can see no better place to start than with everyone.  This shot taken in our front yard captures the sibling group dynamic wonderfully.  Thanks, Ruthanne!

The Aforementioned Professional Shots

Ruthanne has a few pictures of some really cute kids over at her blog.  Can't wait to get my hands on my copies!

Then and Now: Where Baby Steps Can Lead

'Tis the Season . . .

. . . to enjoy a bit of history.  Since I probably fall into the categories of both amateur foodie and amateur history buff, I liked this overview of the background of the gravy packet (and other mixes, too):

It's All Gravy: The Industrial History of a Thanksgiving Favorite

HT: Rick at Dry Creek Chronicles

Shutterbugs

The talented G family came over yesterday to help us with Roman shade hanging and photography.  During the photo session, Jocelyn was inspired to grab our little camera and shoot along with Mrs. G.

The professional pics will be posted soon, but above are a few of the four-year-old shadow's results.

Means and Ends

Conversion Diary  has a great quote posted for today:

Peter Kreeft, in his excellent book Jesus-Shock . . . writes:

What is precious in believing-without-seeing is not the not-seeing but the believing, the strengthening of the faith muscle when the crutches of seeing and feeling are removed. Seeing Him was not enough, for thousands saw Him yet turned away, and even shouted, “Crucify him!” Feeling Him in the heart is not enough either, for that is subjective, that is ours, that is fallible. Furthermore, we are self-centered experience addicts. We are so addicted to our own positive experiences of joy and happiness that if we experienced Christ more joyfully than we do, we would almost inevitably come to love our experience of Christ more than Christ Himself. We would come to worship our experience, that is, ourselves.

Double Digits

Fun roller skating, hot dog roasting, and movie watching with friends . . .

. . . and a banner made by younger siblings

What more could a ten-year-old want? 
Thanks for a decade of parenting OJT, Ian.  

Looking forward to what God has in store for your next ten years!

Blessing or Burden?

Yes, They're All Ours has some more well-articulated thoughts on family size--and the picture at the top of her blog alone is worth the click over there.

HT: Amy's Humble Musings for both my recent links on this topic

Pumpkin Patch Memories

A Simple Life

Rural Revolution has some excellent thoughts on what constitutes true, biblical simplicity--something as profoundly mundane as obeying God.

Lewis Milestones

Bike riding is a piece of cake--no instruction needed!

Losing a front tooth isn't too hard either when big brother pulls it.  Might  as well let him do the other one too!

Cael is taking notes on what big boys do.

Well Put

Once again, Jen at Conversion Diary has managed to encapsulate my thoughts--this time on that complex question:  "Do you want more children?"  The tough part is that people usually expect a quick "yes" or "no" answer.  Maybe next time, instead of answering, I can just promise to send them a link!

Let the Maryland Adventures Begin!

After picking up bags at the Baltimore airport, Grammy's already catching a quick nap!

Home and School

Cardamom's Pod  has some great thoughts for today:

“While we are making study attractive
and life enjoyable to a child,
we should see to it that the child learns
to keep quiet at specified times,
and to be active at other times,
that he studies assigned lessons,
does set tasks,
denies himself craved indulgences;
not because he wants to do these things,
but because he must.”
- H. Clay Trumbull, Hints on Child Training

“One of the greatest powers for good is a family
whose members respect each other
and who have learned to function, however poorly,
with the rich concepts the Word of God
gives us as human beings.
It is almost incredible to think of
the stabilizing effect ordinary families can have:
not only for themselves,
but as a light in a troubled generation.”
- Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, For the Children’s Sake

“And let us not grow weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall reap
if we do not lose heart.”
- Galatians 6:9

Signs of Life

As noted here before, neither Anna nor I are too fond of lengthy read-alouds.  I think we both are impatient to read faster than such a pass time allows.  However, we've managed to slip into a habit of reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm aloud together and are both enjoying it much more than when we were reading it separately. Here's a favorite tidbit Anna and I came across last night in the "Change of Heart" chapter:

If you have ever observed how courteous and gracious and mannerly you feel when you don a beautiful new frock, if you have ever noticed the feeling of reverence stealing over you when you close your eyes, clasp your hands, and bow your head, if you have ever watched your sense of repulsion toward a fellow creature melt a little under the exercise of daily politeness, you may understand how the adoption of the outward and visible sign has some strange influence in developing the inward and spiritual state of which it is the expression.

God Created Everything--by: Anna

God created everything
The beasts and birds that fly
The grass and flowers too
He created the sun in the sky

God created the everything
He created the butterflies
And the snakes too
And God created man.

God makes food grow
He does it for us
He is our master creator
For it is he who made the universe.

So Big!

More pics of the one-year-old to come--they're on the other computer.  

This one pretty much says it all though.

Amma on Loving Children

1 John 4:16--And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.  God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

What I specially want to bring you is this: Young children . . . have only one way of knowing how loving [our Lord] is.  They look at us.  If there be any flaw in our love, if we fail them at any point, we make it just so much the harder for them to see, to know, to apprehend, His love.  Do not let us fail our children.  "Love through me, Love of God."

August 14 entry in Edges of His Ways, a collection of daily devotional notes by Amy Carmichael

Celebrating Eight

Festivities started with the family party.  Grandpa McLeran's birthday cookie can be seen in this pic.  Eva, Cael, and good ol' Mom were included in the honorees for this bash as well. (More pics to come in a later post.)  So much to celebrate!

For the next event, Anna talked Daddy and her siblings into helping her make another pinata like they did for her birthday last year.  She enjoyed painting it, and everyone enjoyed bashing it.  The girls all had their line-up order planned out long before pinata time came!

The other big highlight of the birthday play was painting.  (Not to mention the sprinkler to keep everyone cool and the fire to roast their own hot dogs.)  If the level of fun is judged by the messy condition the children leave in, then it's pretty safe to say everyone had a blast. 

Ian the Clown

I'm waaaay behind on posting birthday pictures, but these self portrait shots of a non-birthday boy at one of our recent gala events make me smile too much not to put them up.  We'll get to the true stars of our recent shows shortly.