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!