Oh (baby) Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Benjamin loves the Christmas tree farm,

and all the "baby" Christmas trees. 

 He wanted his picture by every single baby tree we walked by, and, as you can tell, we walked past a lot of them. He even wanted his picture by a dead one until I told him it was dead and then he said in a very sad voice, "don't say that about that baby tree." 

 You can't see the saw but it is there and very sharp and heavy and dangerous.

 We got caught in a storm of rain and hail and sleet

 but we stayed warm and cozy, though a bit wet.

 Good Job

 Everyone is happy 

and Benjamin has a portfolio of baby tree photos.

How I lost lbs and cured eczema

   I have had many people ask me about this diet I am on. I lost on average 1lb every 2 days. I am not a dieter and so this was the very first time I had done anything like this. I had to because my nursing baby had really bad eczema, face, body, arms and legs. Her eczema started to improve after 2 weeks and was completely gone in 4 weeks. I lost 30 lbs and did not get one head cold or illness for the 4 months I was very strict about this diet.

The following is what I do not eat and like most things there is an exception to most every rule:

No Soy products- no exceptions
No Dairy products- exception: Butter
No Nut based milk products: no exceptions
No Eggs- no exceptions
No Processed meats- exception: canned salmon/ seafood packed in water or olive oil
No Wheat- no exceptions
No Oil-exception: Olive oil, coconut oil
No Refined sugars- exception: Maple syrup, honey, molasses
No Flavored gelatin- no exception
and a few random things such as strawberries, tomatoes, pistachios and olives

I eat lots of meat, potatoes, salad and oatmeal. The biggest things I missed were eating out, granola bars and pre-made salad dressing. Oh, and cake and ice cream and cookies and chocolate.
So there you have it.

I gave her a very high quality infant pro-biotic
I gave her homeopathic sulphur 4 doses.

I also made an oil concoction that seemed to give her some relief when it got really red, inflamed and itchy.
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup coconut oil
4 Tbsp lanolin
24 drops seabuckthorn oil

Before

After

Advent for Sister Turner

My Sister, Sister Turner is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
I wanted to give her a meaningful gift that added to her service and gave her an extra dose of the true meaning of Christmas, what better way than to give her a service Advent.

The Santa Baby I only want to make you happy Advent Adventure:

1. Quote from the book Gift from the Sea. Note on service and joy. Rules for advent. 

2. Gift certificate to go eat at The Garden Restaurant in the Joseph Smith Building and look at the city lights. 

3. Sing What Child is this carol to someone or recite like poem.

4. Give a hug, quote about the power/goodness of hugs.

5. Read John 13, Lush lotion bar gift, give her companion a foot rub.

6. When Joseph went to Bethlehem from the Childrens songbook decoration for wall.

7. Sing Three Kings of Orient carol to someone or recite/read like poem. 

8. Make hot cocoa for a friend and yourself. gift card for milk and whip cream, mailed cocoa mix.

9.  Sent her a blank Thank you card for her to give to someone who she would like to thank for something someone did or a kindness shared.

10. Read in Matthew about the wise men following the new star. Sent her a star ornament I made.

11. Sent her paper snowflakes, picture of W.A. Bentley snowflake, note about W.A Bentley and his work photographing snowflakes and showing everyone the beauty that was in something they all saw but didn't see. 

Gift card to card to Papyrus paper store.

12. Mix for making ginger/dried fruit cookies for her to bake and share

-a ginger chocolate spice cookie with almonds, raisins, cranberries, figs, chocolate chips.

13. Sent a blank Christmas card with the instructions to -Write this christmas card for someone and leave it under the windshield wiper on a parked car. 

14.Sent her tissue paper snow angel and heart decoration (and tape to hang) make a face print in the snow if it's snowy. Shoes optional. 

15. Scripture, Luke 2:46-52, Mosiah 2:17.

16. Candy cane to eat, challenge to do something sweet, kind or loving for someone.

17. Sketch a Nativity scene with you in it, think about where you would put yourself and how you would feel to be there.

18. Gift Card to go to breakfast or lunch at a soup and sandwich shop also money to buy a 10 dollar gift card, ask the teller to give it to the next person in line as a gift. 

19. Gift card to buy an ornament, wrap with this paper and put this "For You" tag on it. Leave it where you can see it so you can watch someone find it.

20. Scripture Luke 2:1-20, 3 Nephi 1:1-21, think about how your thoughts, actions and service affect others and others and others as the pebble ripple in a still pond
 I see in my minds eye Mary praying for any night but this to go into labor, no family, friends, home, not even a room and on the other side of the world Nephi is pleading that the sign be given this night in order for his people to be saved. 

21. Gift, knit boot toppers.

22. Gift, Skirt.

23. Gift, Shirt.

24. Gift, Mighty leaf, and fancy salted carmel chocolate bar, grey (warm) leotards.

25. Nordstrom gift card

December Advent Adventure

1. Decorate the house for Christmas

2. Go to a friends for dinner and game night

3. Make a Christmas collage for your door, write letter to Santa

4. Make an ornament

5. Make Shortbread

6. Go Bowling

7. Make popcorn and cranberry chains for the tree

8. Go cut down Christmas tree at farm

9. Decorate Christmas tree

10. Make a wreath for the door

11. I love you because jar, make peppermint pennies

12. Go swimming at the pool

13. Make paper snowflakes, put on windows

14. Drink hot cocoa by the fire, read Christmas books

15. Ward Christmas Party

16. Take pictures by Christmas tree, play m&m Parcheesi

17. Set the table fancy, daddy brings dinner home

18. Camp out in the living room, make gingerbread cookies

19. Go ice-skating

20. Deliver Christmas treats to friends

21. Make Smores over the fire, watch a Christmas movie

22. Make gingerbread house cake

23. Go caroling

24. Drive to look at Christmas lights, listen to Baby Jesus story from Bible on Ipod.

Of Champions and Stars

   I have two Cub Scout Age boys, and we recently participated in the Cub Scout Rain-gutter regatta. First off you build you own sail boat from a kit then bring it to the Pack Meeting where you use the force of your own breath to blow it down a length of rain-gutter filled with water while a pack mate blows his sail boat down another rain-gutter and so you are racing your sailboats by blowing on the sails.
   Needless to say there is fierce competition, we had at least three handouts telling us the best way to build a "winning boat"
   The boats were sanded, painted, sanded, sprayed, glued, sails attached and trimmed, the boats were tested and deemed worthy so off we went to the Rain-gutter regatta with children, boats and brownies to share.
After nights of deliberation between Nathan and I we decided on the design with the lowest center of gravity which was a good choice as Ethan and Matthias had winning boats right from the start, racing through the competitors with their boats aptly named "Colorful" and "The Blower".
  The problem with winning the Rain-gutter Regatta is that you have to keep winning to win and the only way to keep winning is to keep racing all the other boys and if you are winning you stay there blowing your boat down the rain-gutter over, and over, and over again with your Mother and father cheering and clapping at the finish line you must not disappoint even though you are hyperventilating. And when it is all over instead of proudly strutting to your seat to enjoy the praise of your friends you stumble haphazardly while holding your head and sit dejectedly on the first chair you can find.

Here are just a few quotes from the night:
"My head hurts."
"My head is pounding."
"I can see my hand but if I look over there everyone is fuzzy."
"I just need to breath."
"I can see little stars when I close my eyes."
"I feel dizzy."
"Everything is in slow motion."
"Wouldn't it be cool if everything was always in slow motion like this."
"When I am racing my boat I can see the waves rolling so slowly."
"I thought I was blowing my boat but when I got to the end I realized I was still holding it and it wasn't even in the water."
   The boys won 1st over-all and 3rd over-all. There is a bit of a discrepancy that the boy who won 3rd should really have won 2nd which brought momentary sadness to said boy when he realized he would not be racing his brother for the ultimate championship position, as a good Mother I breathed a sigh of relief and told them to go get some treats. And I know it sounds very suspicious but I did not bring THAT kind of brownies.

Back to School

"You see", said the stick, "they were as pretty little children once as you could wish to see, and might have been so still if they had been only left to grow up like human beings and then handed over to me. But their foolish fathers and mothers instead of letting them pick flowers and make dirt pies and get birds nests and dance around the gooseberry bush, as little children should. Kept them always at lessons working, working, working.

Learning weekday lessons all weekdays. 

And Sunday lessons all Sunday.

And weekday examinations every Saturday. 

And monthly examinations every month.

And yearly examinations every year. 

Everything seven times over, as if once was not enough and enough as good as a feast. Till their brains grew big and their bodies grew small and they were all changed into turnips with little but water inside and still their foolish parents actually picked the leaves off them as fast as they grow, lest they should have anything green about them."   

                                                                                      Charles Kingsley (The Water Babies) 

I Love Gardening

  "The big change, I believe, has to be from seeing education as a mechanical or industrial process to seeing it much more as a human and organic one. Gardeners know that they can't make plants grow. Plants grow themselves. Gardeners provide the right conditions for that to happen. Good gardeners understand those conditions. Running a school or teaching a class or raising a family is much more like gardening than (like) engineering. It's about providing the best conditions for growth and development. And if we get that right we'll see and abundant harvest of talent, commitment, imagination and creativity in all of our children and in all of our schools."
                                                                                 Sir Ken Robinson