Family Tree Hunt

We headed up on a sunny and unusually warm Sunday afternoon. Luckily Grandpa had already staked out a spot for us to tree-hunt and had even found some potential Christmas trees. This makes it a lot simpler when you have little children tagging along.

With two vehicles we headed out with kids and dogs up the windy country backroads of Douglas County. We discovered the trail to be damp but not muddy. It made for an easy hike even for the kiddos. Blueberry was in a back-carrier with Daddy and enjoyed touching the raindrops that collected on the trees. The other kids enjoyed most of the hike without complaints, but were fearful of going back down.

The tree that grandpa picked out was to everyone's liking. It was on a steep slope but we managed to get it down. We found another tree for Marie and her family. After lunch at Wendy's we took a break before all heading out to Grandpa and Grandma's house to decorate.


The kids got to hang all the non-fragile ornaments while the adults helped with the fragile ones. Family traditions are great!

Come Into the Light

‎"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." John 1:4-5

A friend of mine shared this today. Do you know how powerful the Light is? In darkness is fear, hatred and resentment. The Light of Love is more powerful than all of those and will conquer them all.

Blueberry signed "more"

Today at lunch Blueberry used the sign for "more" when she wanted more crackers. It was very clear and she made the sign with confidence.

She has also been using the sign for "milk" a lot more confidently lately. This led me to believe she was actually ready to start using signs more, so we have tried to be more consistent with some of the other signs. It has paid off.

You can see a look of satisfaction when she gets the desired result when using a sign. There is nothing like positive reinforcement to teach children!

Wisdom Nutrition Website Has a New Look

My WisdomNutrition.info website has a new look. Please go check it out.

I have healed from Crohns disease and controlled my health and weight with a strict diet. I was sick because of food allergies that were undiagnosed. I give practical advice on how to apply your prescribed diet into your lifestyle. I do not suggest you follow my diet, but I do share what worked for me. Please read if you need inspiration.

Baby Sign of the Day on hold...

Our learning signs is on hold right now since Blueberry needs to catch up a bit. She is starting to understand a lot of what we say and using her hands more. Once she has learned a few more of the signs we already know, I will continue adding some. It is hard to remember too many signs until you start using them regularly.

Another Baby Sign Learned!

Blueberry clearly signed "all done" after lunch and after dinner today. We are so excited. When we asked her if she was all done she answered with her affirmative "heh" sound. She is thrilled when we understand her. She makes that sound when we ask her a question and the answer is "yes". Watching her learn to communicate is so amazing!

Baby Sign of the Day: Family Members

For this post we are going to tackle the signs for family members. I found a great tutorial video for these so we are going to learn them together. It is a lot easier because the signs are very similar.

Male signs are done above the nose and female signs are done below the nose, on the face. The sign for Mommy is an open hand, and you tap the thumb on the chin. The sign for Daddy is the same, but you tap the thumb on the forehead instead. For grandma and grandpa the sign is similar but instead of tapping you start with the thumb on the chin or forehead and move the hand away twice. (See the video, it really helps) There are also signs for aunt, uncle, cousin, brother and sister on this video.



To differentiate from the grandparents we are going to make up a sign for "Nonna" which will be like the sign for "grandma" but will be with the hand in the position for the ASL letter "N", so instead of an open hand, it will be a letter "N"

Here is a link to ASL letter signs.