A Quest for Health

A couple of months ago, both of our girls began getting recurring ear infections, which of course meant antibiotics. After 2 and 3 rounds of the medicine and no improvement I began searching for other alternatives to the antibiotics. This became even more pertinant when both of them developed horrible (screaming, crying, sleeplessness, clawing ...)yeast infections from the antibiotics and the baby a diaper rash that burned her skin badly. So my option was to give them another medicine to treat the problem from the 1st medicine that caused the problem to begin with! Yikes, that was enough. I put in several calls to friends and people who helped me figure out some oils and probiotics to use to clear everything up, at least the yeast infection, which worked. We still had the issue of draining the fluid that was causing the ear infections to begin with. As it was explained to me, the antibiotics only try to clear up the infection; they don't neccessarily drain the fluid, which is the main problem. So we were referred to a craniosacral therapist in town who used gentle pressure points to get the fluid moving in her ears. We went to three 1 hour sessions which not only fixed the ear fluid problem but helped get her spine and other things lined up. She has been a much happier baby since! If you are local and interested in in her name and number, comment or email me.

So, out of neccessity, I have embarked upon learning how to use essential oils and natural remedies to "cure" common ailments, mainly with our children. I have been so amazed at how wonderful the Lord is in giving us all the things we need in nature to fix our problems. Don't get me wrong, there are times that modern medicine is necessary, but probably 90% (my estimate) of the time, we can cure or heal our bodies by using everyday things like essential oils or other tools/practitioners available. I will try to explain below some of my findings below and in later posts. Needless to say, I am very excited about my discoveries. To me, this is something new, but it's really not. There are countless references to oils in the Bible, so this is just new to me. I thought i'd try to share some of the things i'm learning.

To begin, let me define what an essential oil is (from Young Living website):

Essential Oils can be used aromatically, applied topically, or taken internally. Young Living's line of pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils and unique essential oil blends are sourced from the world's finest plants. Our oils are not diluted with chemical and synthetic additives and are carefully prepared to maintain plant integrity. This commitment to purity makes Young Living essential oils the world's highest-quality essential oil line.

Let me explain one thing. The reason you will see me use the company name Young Living(YL) a lot is because I have done some research as to why some essential oil's (EO) are much cheaper than YL's. There are no regulations when it comes to EO's. So, that means that some companies may use fillers and other junk in their oils and not even have to label it that way. YL has very strict standards for how they produce their oils. All in all, I feel that YL offers products that I never have to question. I know they are pure and are all made to work with my body and not harm it. I don't have the time to research each and every oil/product from other companies to see which ones of there's truly are therapeutic grade.

Here are YL's standards:

Young Living Therapeutic Grade™
The process Young Living uses when planting, cultivating, harvesting, and distilling a batch of oil is crucial to retaining its vital compounds. Without the exact blend of naturally-occurring plant chemicals, an essential oil can lose its beneficial properties and fail to produce the desired effect.
Young Living Therapeutic Grade (YLTG) means that every essential oil Young Living distills or sources has the optimal naturally-occurring blend of constituents to maximize the desired effect. Young Living is able to make this assertion because our strict cultivation process—illustrated by the Four Ps—guarantees the optimal potency of every Young Living essential oil.

Plants-An oil's potency can be affected not only by selecting the proper plant to cultivate, but also by where the plant is grown, the quality of soil in which the seed is planted, and even the time of day it's harvested.
Young Living has extensive experience selecting the correct species of plant for desired oil potency, planting under optimal conditions, using ideal soil and natural methods to encourage growth, and knowing the precise time to harvest each crop. Only those plants that produce the most active and widest array of therapeutic compounds are selected.

Preparation-Once the optimal soil, plant, cultivation, and harvesting conditions have been adhered to, the plants must be distilled properly in order to meet YLTG standards. Young Living uses a gentle, proprietary technique for steam-extracting the most potent essential oils, which remains unmatched throughout the essential oils industry.
To meet YLTG distillation standards proper temperature must be maintained throughout the distillation process, and pressure, length of time, equipment, and batch size are strictly monitored.

Purity-YLTG standards prohibit the acceptance of any diluted, cut or adulterated oils. Every product Young Living produces—essential oils, oil blends, nutritional supplements, or personal care—meets strict purity standards.
Every batch of essential oils is subjected to rigorous, state-of-the-art analysis at the Young Living chemistry lab. Using some of the most advanced equipment in the world, our scientists subject every batch of essential oils to Gas Chromatograph and Mass Spectrometer testing, and heavy metals analysis. Oils that exhibit even the slightest hint of possible adulteration or tampering are rejected.

Potency-The culmination of the preceding three stages, Potency means that the naturally occurring compounds contained in each essential oil product are of the highest and most consistent bioactive levels. Without strict adherence to the YLTG standard in the Plant, Preparation, and Purity phases, the final product would not have the necessary potency to create the desired effect.

All that said, that's why I am using the YL oils versus others that are sometimes cheaper. I have even decided to become a distributor since I plan to learn about and use these oils.

I bought Essential Oils Desk Reference 4th Edition book. This book has all of the oils available and how and when to use them. The back part has a reference section that you can look up the health issue and it lists many different oils that can treat it along with different ways to apply them. Or you can look up the oil or oil blend and find out what they are good for. It is focused more towards Young Livings oils and products but also ahs a lot of information in general. I refer to this book almost daily right now. I got this book at a steal from a friend who had an extra. It's not cheap but well worth the money!

The main oils i am using on my kids right now are Thieves and Lemon. Every day I put one drop of Thieves essential oil on the bottom of all of my children's feet. Here is what this is from the Young Living website:

Thieves® was created based on research about four thieves in France who covered themselves with cloves, rosemary, and other aromatics while robbing plague victims. This proprietary essential oil blend was university tested for its cleansing abilities. It is highly effective in supporting the immune system and good health.

This oil is a blend of highly antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic, and anti-infectious essential oils. You name it, this oil does it! I have heard that this is the oil you want to use to help protect your children from diseases if you don't immunize. That's why I use it for almost everything. YL also makes these products with this oil blend which i am excited to begin using:

Thieves® oil blend is an integral ingredient in Thieves® Household Cleaner, Thieves® Spray, Thieves® Wipes, Thieves® Lozenges, Thieves® Dentarome Plus™ and Thieves® Dentarome Ultra™ toothpastes, and Thieves® Fresh Essence Plus™ Mouthwash.

Here is a great pdf to read about the hundreds of ways to use this oil and products: http://www.nutritech.org/files/Thieves.pdf

When the kids have an acute illness, i rub lemon oil down their spine and put thieves on the bottom of their feet every 15 or so minutes until the symptoms are relieved. We also begin the Zapper routine.

Ah, the Zapper, how do I explain this? It's amazing! I don't know how it works or understand it, but it works! It's a box with with a battery, some electrical parts, and an on/off switch that is connected by leads to 2 copper pipe pieces. The directions say to wrap the pipes in wet paper towels and hold them in your hands or on the feet (i strap these with soft hair bands to the baby's feet while she sleeps) for certain intervals in minutes. I am not crazy, this thing works for anything viral, bacterial, or parasites! You can not feel the "zapping" while it is on you, but the virus, bacteria, or parasite does and it is destroyed. This has already knocked out several illnesses with in a few hours for my kids and alleviated many symptoms from fevers, yeast infections, and stomach viruses. I bought mine from http://www.freespiritenterprises.com/ which happens to be local for all of you B/CSers. Dr. Peter Minke and his family lives here locally and makes the zapper. They are $40 if you pick it up locally (as of 12/2008) but can be ordered online and shipped. The Minke's are a wealth of knowledge about lots of things natural including oils, cleansing, massage therapy, Aston-Patterning, cranio-sacral therapy and much more. They are always willing to help out if you have a condition you are needing to treat. Their phone number is 979-492-9492.

This is a lot of info, but there's so much more. I'll continue posting as I can! If you have questions, please leave a comment for others to read or you can always contact me by phone or email.

I love my job!

I am so overwhemled right now with how much I LOVE MY JOB! If you don't know me, that sounds weird, because my "job" is being a wife and mother! I am so thankful the Lord has burned a desire deep in my heart to be a homemaker. There is no place i'd rather be than in the heart of my home. I have not always cared for cooking, cleaning, and washing clothes, but lately, I feel so blessed and thankful to have a family to do these things for and it bring me such joy. I am busy from the moment i wake up to the second I lay down, and during most nights too. It's a satisfying busy though. Not the kind of busy that makes you frustrated and crazy (i've been there too!) but a fulfilling and peaceful busy. I've noticed recently too that because our days are pretty structured and full, there is so much less disciplining needed for my children. And i also don't mean the kind of busy where we are away from home a lot. Monday thru Thursday we are home all day doing our homeschooling, chores, and life stuff. Occasionally, we run errands in the afternoon if it works out. We have Cub Scouts and church certain evenings, but otherwise, we are home so that we can stay on our schedule. Fridays are our homeschool co-op and handbells classes and then the other Friday is our free day.

For some of you, you may think that you would go crazy staying home all day, there have been times that I have even thought that. However, i have found that crazy days are days where there is no structure. I seem to wander around from one thing to the next, always busy, but never seeming to get much done. Then the kids are fine for a while, but then the bickering and fussing begins when they don't know what else to do or need some attention or guidance. So a general plan for the day with round about times gives us a guideline to go by. Even when we miss things or something else comes up, we can easily get back on track by jumping back into the schedule at any time.

Here is our daily schedule (i re-evaluate this frequently and change as needed):

7:15-Wake up

7:30-breakfast/clean-up/feed lambs

8:00-get dressed, make beds, brush teeth/hair, complete morning chores

9:00-Bible Study

9:30-Kate nap

begin School;M-Owen & Claire-letter of the week,Cody-Independent work

T-Math Day

W-Science Day

Th-Skittle School (if all work is completed this is their treat-they love it!Small candies are earned for answering questions and completing tasks/activities i give them based on their abitities; their favorite game is Alphabet Bingo! Since we don't eat a lot of sugar, this is a huge treat! Picture above is of Skittle School)

10:15-Snack/break

10:30-My Father's World (packaged curriculum)

11:15-outside playtime

12:00-lunch

12:30-clean up/misc

1:30-Kate nap

others-read books/play quietly/occasionally watch a video

3:00-Free time (T/Th-computer/Wii)

5:00-dinner prep

6:00-dinner

6:30-clean-up/girls bath

7:00-girls in bed/boys feed lambs/shower

7:30-boys in bed/read books

8:00/8:30-boys lights out

I plan out our dinner menu 1 month at a time. Since I am now cooking dinner everynight (very little leftovers anymore) we have some meals that are always the same. Friday night is Mama's Homemade Pizza Night and everyone's favorite meal of the week. I make a batch of homemade dough and get out all of the toppings like sauce, cheese, canadian bacon, italian sausage, pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, etc. Each person gets a chunk of dough and they roll it out in what ever shape they want and then top it to their liking. Sometime we watch a movie while we eat our pizza. I try to stick with the same type of meat each night, then vary the meal: Monday-chicken, Tuesday-ground beef, Wed.-eat at church, Th-misc, Friday-homemade pizza, Sat-crock pot meal; Sun-light meal (sandwiches,soup,etc)(we eat out usually after church for lunch so we're not as hungry for dinner).

We also have a weekly menu for breakfast and lunch. These do not change except when we get tired of eating the same things after a while.

Here is our laundry schedule:

M-Cody-am

Owen-noon

T-Claire-am

Kate-noon

Me-pm

W-Kenneth-am & noon

Th-linens-am & noon

F & S-misc-whatever didn't get done

I also alternate running the dishwasher and washing cloth diapers late at night. We have a septic system and since I am married to a septic installer I have to follow the "spread your laundry out" rule so our system doesn't get overloaded. Also, my children are trained to do their own laundry. They each have their own dirty clothes basket in the laundry room (they are responsible for putting all of their dirty clothes straight into their basket every day). At their designated time/day, they have to put their clothes in the washer and add our homemade(see my recipe in the Natural Cleaning tab on the right) laundry detergent(with help for younger ones). I usually move the load to the dryer since it is hard for them to reach way down in it. Then they have to put their dry clothes into their drawer (which is 1 huge drawer that is built into their beds). We do not fold, only hang special dresses or shirts! This is a stress saver for me at this point in life!!

Ahhh-It all sounds like so much, but really a little bit of planning goes a long way. I plan out our dinner meals at the beginning of each month and write it on my calendar so I see it every day. I also plan out 6 weeks of school at a time then take off one or two weeks so I can reevaluate our studies and adjust where needed. We are homeschooling year round so these are needed breaks to the kids as much as me. I found that taking the summer off led to lots of problems due to a lack of schedule, so we go year round with many breaks for resting and holidays. I then prepare for each week on sunday nights and get all of the materials needed for the week ready.

So...Staying home can be great! Just find what works best for your family and go with it. If you find yourself having a hard time, maybe you need to focus more time on your children. Play a game with them before you clean the kitchen or read a book to your little ones before starting school. Fill their cup first, before getting all of your housework done, and they will be content.

Also, one other thing I have found that makes our day go so much more peacefully is to not get on the phone or computer. It never fails, that when i do either of these, things get wild! I try to do these things after the kids are in bed.

Happy Homemaking!

Homeschooling Help

Ten Ways to Simplify Homeschooling

Colette Longo

August 2001

1) Keep everything as simple as you can. Jesus wrote with a stick in thedirt, and He was the greatest teacher that ever lived. He used no curriculumor flannel graphs or lesson plans. Homeschooling can be made far morecomplicated than it should be. A simpler approach is much more effective.

2) Stick to the 3 R's. They form the foundation of life-long learning inevery field because they are the tools of study. There will be no need toformalize any other subject if the children are doing their best in these 3,because people who are well grounded in reading, writing and math willapproach other subjects boldly, independently and confidently.

3) Let the children teach themselves as much as they are able to. Thisteaches them responsibility, intellectual independence, and buildsconfidence. It's also better for the parent/child relationship because youcan focus on parenting instead of playing schoolteacher.

4) Use the most direct method available. For reading, read. For writing,write, for math, do it, and for Bible, read it. Don't fall for catchycurriculums or methods that are really just something else for you and yourchild to learn.

5) Don't worry about your child's age or grade. Just let him do the best hecan each day. Children grow intellectually like they do physically: inspurts. Although we may have an audience of skeptical relatives,homeschooling is not a circus, and we refuse to train our children to dotricks for people.

6) Minimize distractions in the home. Watch for excessiveness inentertainments, snacking, outings, phone conversations and the like. Thesesorts of things can easily get out of hand and compete with theeffectiveness of a homeschool and sap the family of time and energy.

7) Seek quality over quantity. A few tapes of great music, a small case ofcarefully chosen books, a few special play mates, and an occasional outingis better than a large, but poor quality collection.

8) If you must document your school activities, do it after the fact. Thisway you will not make promises you cannot keep. If you are required to makelesson plans, be as vague as permissible. Don't let transcripts, diplomas,records and tests determine your academic plans. Focus on learning and therest will follow.

9) Put the needs of your youngest, most vulnerable children first. If anolder child gets a little behind in school, I'm sure you can forgiveyourself. But if something happened to the toddler while you were busyhomeschooling, I don't think you would be able to say the same.

10) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul and don'tneglect to seek him early...giving him the first fruits of your day andteach your children to do the same. I know that you are tired and that therearen't enough hours in your day, but we serve a God who can make the sunstand still.

Recent Pics

This past month has been busy with bottle feeding and taking care of lambs, Kate's 1st birthday, our 10th anniversary, and getting back into the swing of homeschooling. Here a a few pictures!