happy december

A dear soul gently pointed out that yesterday was the first day of Advent and I still have a sick pumpkin as my most recent blog. Thank you, Marianne, for that fine kick in the blogpants!

Since there has been no snow around here (except the flurries in the sky a few minutes ago that have left no trace of white on the ground... and fine by me!), I'll give you a glimpse into a few other signs of the season around here....

First off, in case anyone finds it remotely interesting, I am currently trying to overcome a sinus infection (something I seem prone to in recent years) with more natural remedies so as to avoid antibiotics. As I type, I'm drinking a concoction of lemon juice and cayenne pepper brewed with a cinnamon stick. This drink is not for the faint of heart. A friend who works with folks with brain injuries informed me that you can actually get a brain injury from a really bad sinus infection. So with that in mind, I'm counting on a few things to come through for me this week: the neti pot I just bought -- jury is still out on that one -- inhaling steam, and now this strange drink I'm downing. And of course, I'm open to any other wisdom y'all want to share. Just leave a comment if you have a thought.


This past weekend, I took Maia to her first tea party. Some friends at our church started an annual Christmas Tea last year. We sat with three other little girls who were also all dolled up for the party. So sweet. (Hilarious to learn proper tea drinking etiquette, by the way. I'm such a peasant.) It was perfect that we had a hair appointment scheduled for Maia that morning, not just so that she could have her hair curled to feel a bit like a princess, but mainly to fix the large section of bangs that Maia cut off last week at school when no one was looking. I guess most kids have to try it once. Hopefully, just once.



We recently celebrated Eliana's half-a-birthday while Grandma and Auntie Tanya were visiting. This is a fun little tradition that I grew up with and am enjoying passing on to my girls. A single candle in a cupcake goes a long way in stirring up a celebration. I love how Eliana just stared at the candle for a minute or two before attempting to blow it out. She has had a keen interest in candles for months so I think she was stunned at being allowed to be so close to a flame. "Hot!" she warned us. Cute!

Ellie is our little parrot right now. If you speak out, be prepared to have the last word of your sentence parroted. Other Ellie trends right now are asking for everything to be opened ("Open this!"), seen ("See! See!") and repeated ("'gain!"). Just now she asked me for more grapes ("Gape! Gape!"). When I clarified ("Do you want more grapes?) she used her new favourite word: "YES." I don't know why it makes me giggle when she answers questions with "yes" the way she does this week. Maybe because it's not the dreaded "no"...? Or maybe because the fact that she communicates so clearly now is such a relief and a surprising delight.



Today Maia and I started painting a star we'll hang to celebrate Christmas. On the first coat, I found myself teaching her about primer. Second coat, maybe I should actually talk to her about why we decorate with stars at Christmas.....

In a rare moment of camera friendliness, Maia asked me to take a video of her painting. Here's a one minute glimpse into our afternoon:




Don't you just love when your Christmas cactus blooms? Mine always blooms in November and February. Is that normal?


As I've been reflecting on the Christmas story this week -- particularly how rich it is with ironies that centre around God drawing near to the lowly and those we wouldn't expect -- a new song was birthed and I feel really fortunate to have been able to share it twice this past weekend already. Speaking of my music, it's been quiet for a while but exciting things are brewing. More on that in my next post! I promise not to wait until the Christmas tree is losing its needles...