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Flower of the day: December 17, 2020

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Keeping the flowers steady from the wind

Thanks Cee for hosting this photo challenge! It’s been a while since I last participated…life has been busy with wrapping up homeschool for this semester and never-ending housework. Hope you are staying well and recovering fully!

Categories: flower of the day

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singlikewildflowers

Welcome to my blog! My name is Esther and I'm so happy you are here. I'm an avid nature photographer and a daydreaming thinker. My posts revolve around photos of nature's beauty, homeschooling adventures with my 2 kids, sporadic reflections on my child's heart condition, Bible reading reflections, gardening feats, and other mish mash things. Hopefully you'll leave encouraged, pensive, or smiling at the simple things of life. Thank you for stopping by and hope you'll find some interesting posts to read!

29 replies ›

    1. Thank you!! It was weird getting ready for Christmas because most things were done electronically. Too many people out there to shop in person.
      But kids had a good Christmas and Santa delivered, so they’re all smiles. They want me to play with their new toys and things, which I’m not too enthusiastic about: build a card deck, play video games…All I want to do is nap, read, drink coffee, and have silence. lol. A tired mom here.
      Take care and God bless!! I hope your grandbabies had a great Christmas.

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      2. Parents of young ones seem to be always exhausted…speaking from experience here. Still am. It’s one mountain after another in reaching milestones: potty training, bottle, binky, easing separation anxiety. It’s hard work for everyone, but thank goodness the Lord created them so cute!!

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      3. It’s the joy of parenthood. My daughter has fun doing potty training using all kinds of motivations. My granddaughter is so cute. When she uses the toilet, she asks to be left alone so she can relax and concentrate!! She also handles separation quite well. She only cried for a few seconds when my daughter and her husband went on vacation for a week and I babysat her alone!

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      4. And the young years pass so quickly! I was so tired back in those days that my mind felt like a black hole.
        That’s great Autumn had a smooth potty training experience. It’s different for each child and kids make the call. But there’s so much pressure to have them potty trained by a certain age. I had one slow potty trainee who refused the toilet; the potty seat was unused but turned into a potty seat hat and necklace. I won’t say who this was in particular, but I used to have nightmares about potty training. lol
        Autumn sounds like a trooper toddler!

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      5. I’m so proud of Autumn. She’s observant and picks up things quickly. Even when she was a few months old, she had the serious look and absorb. On one visit when she eas two years old, she’d day, ‘xcus me. I couldn’t figure out what it was. My daughter said she learned at daycare, so she passed gas, she’d day that naturally!

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    1. Thank you! I hope you know how much I appreciate your encouraging comments. Flowers are still around but sparse with the cold weather.
      Have a great start to the new week and hope it’s a wonderful lead in to Christmas!!

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Couldn’t agree more!!
        Hope you and your family are having a wonderful Christmas and staying healthy! We are well and trying to keep busy. Made the worst gingerbread cookies 2 days ago. Something about me and baking. Next year, I’m going with Betty Crocker’s mix.
        We are set to have rain coming tonight and maybe for another day. Gets us into the winter spirit.
        Take care and holiday cheers! Thankful for you. 🙂

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      3. I know what you mean and in the 90s my cookies were always scones – it was just the way it was – and I also have an amazing biscotti recipe I will try and share with you later – but they are amazing to make at the holidays and became my staple for about ten or more years!
        And happy new year

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      4. If you have a go-to recipe, use that forever and pass it on to your loved ones and friends! Online searches bring up hundreds of recipe options and the choices overwhelm a newbie baker like me. Omg, the gingerbread cookies this year was a disgrace. Kids were nice and took a few bites, otherwise, they were left untouched and undecorated.

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      5. Well side note on all baking.
        I am
        Now part of a group that is anti sugar and so baking is out in the normal way.
        I know god leads all of us for what we need but I am disgusted Ron think of the “sugar parties” I had over the years – and I mean baking holiday cookies with friends – or just birthday parties when I’d send kids home with party loot that involved candy!
        Our couture makes it so innocent and benign
        But now that I see the true connection between sugar and the immune system
        Between sugar and the small way it pulls from health
        Well I would have used stevia long ago.
        —
        And so the most recent coooies I made were almond flour and eggs and avacado oil (because canola oil and vegetable oil which used to be my fav in biscotti – wel they scar the liver and pull from health because they are industrial oils))
        I also use good butter and then add plain stevia – we like the 365 brand — because the bagged stevia often has malodextrin added and that is a chemical
        —
        Anyhow – all that to say that there are ways to enjoy baked goods without the curbing blow of sugar and white flour and bad oils – and that is what I aim for in all baking or in what we buy
        And stores have more and more options all the time
        Like aldis store has keto ice cream now
        Pretty amazing

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      6. Wow, thank you Yvette for sharing your thoughts about healthy baking! I feel the same concern about baking and it getting loaded up with sugar and other harmful ingredients. I read about avocado oil being a healthful alternative. Which butter do you use? I made my own butter by mixing up organic half and half but it required a lot of work.
        I will try your recommendations. Thanks for sharing. 😛
        Hope you are having a good start to a new year and staying well!

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      7. Hi – things are well here –
        and we use the organic butter from aldis (i think it is from there) it looks like Kerrygold brand but cheaper and just as good or better
        —
        and we use avocado oil and olive oil.
        I make almond flour biscuits that might not be as good as white flour ones – but make a nice alternative and win-win
        have a good day and ttys

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      8. I’ll keep the organic butter in mind for next time.
        One of my favorite dessert thing is red bean buns. I’ve tried many times to make it but they don’t come out as fluffy and soft. lol. Maybe one day I’ll succeed.
        Have a great Sunday evening Yvette and take care!!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you! We still have color from leaves and some flowers, but it’s not a variety like spring. Flowers are slowing going into their rest period.
      I’ll still post any bright flowers I find over the winter!! Hope you had a good weekend and ready for the Christmas week.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Good to know colorful images are coming from you Esther. Maybe a poinsettia plant too or is it too cold there for them to grow … I saw pictures in Mexico of gorgeous red poinsettia plants one time. I am glad it is a short week – hopefully will have part of Thursday off which would be nice. Are you all ready for Christmas? I saw Dr. Fauci on on CNN on Twitter saying he had been to the North Pole to give Santa the COVID vaccine so he was “good to go” – apparently some kids were worried he might bring the virus with him.

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      2. I told my kids the news of Santa getting vaccinated and they misheard it. They thought he had Covid and looked alarmed.
        We asked Google where and what Santa was doing on December 23rd, and he was at the north pole resting.
        I could see why the kids were worried Santa would bring the virus with him. There is a joke my kids heard a joke about what Santa does all year after Christmas. It was on some youtube channel. Apparently, after Christmas he goes to prison for breaking and entering. hahaha, got a good laugh from that one.

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      3. Oh, that is funny Esther. It never dawned on me that kids would worry about Santa not going to houses due to COVID. Do you follow Santa on NORAD? Now I guess you can follow Santa on OnStar … I have OnStar on my car, but am never out at night and apparently they have been doing Santa locations on OnStar for a decade. That is a cute joke!

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      4. I am in the same boat as you! When I heard it, it sounded so reasonable that kids would think that. They are very clever and thoughtful.
        We didn’t track Santa’s journey, but we googled what he was doing. Gosh I wish I could tell you specifically what was said, but I can’t. Something about hanging out in the North Pole and in the summer he relaxes at the beach. A new fact we learned: Santa is 1751 years old. Kids thought he was 400 years old…way off.

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      5. Well, that is fun to know how old Santa is … that is something I never thought about before – isn’t that funny? The kids sure were off on his age. I wonder how they figured out Santa’s age. Kids worry about Santa and COVID was much more logical than I’d give them credit for … but I’ve never been around kids before.

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