Friday, December 28, 2012

Teas, tinctures, and healing

Ok, I don't think I've ever written about it, but Colt gets this really dry barking cough every time the season changes. It's really bad in like March and November. It also comes and goes throughout the winter a couple more times. When he was 1 yr old I took him to the Dr for it and she prescribed him an inhaler. She almost treated it like asthma, and mentioned that a lot of kids get these asthma like coughs but grow out of them so they aren't considered asthma really. Anyway, so for the first couple years, I would just rely on the inhaler treatment for him. Then when he was about 4, he would get the cough and nothing would make it better. I would literally just have to wait until it got so bad that he got a fever with it, then I'd call the Dr and she would write me a prescription for antibiotics. That would instantly solve it. So from 4 yrs to just the last 18 months, I would rely heavily on that prescription of antibiotics. Well last March, a year ago, I got into Do Terra essential oils. With essential oils you can make your own antibiotics by dropping the oils into the tiny capsules. So, by learning about them and going to a few different classes and asking a lot of questions, I decided I was going to heal Colt's next cough. It was scary going into it relying totally on natural healing but many homemade capsules, rubbing oils on feet, and diffusing oils in the air later, He got completely better! His cough went away without a Dr. Prescription! Yeay. I'm not against doctors or modern medicine. Hello, Colt is able to get synthetic growth hormones every night because of wonderful technology and research and doctors. I don't know how we would be without those growth hormones. That's another post all in itself of how amazing his life became bacause of those. Anyway, I just get to thinking, what if there comes a time when I don't have access to a doctor or a quick prescription? I'd like to be able to make my own antibiotics to save my family from illness if need be. So then, after healing his cough a few times with oils, I got to thinking, well, what if I can't just go out and buy a bunch of bottles of oils!? I know, as if that wasn't cool enough right? So I started talking to this girl at school who is getting her herbalist license. She gave me this catalog of mountain rose herbs and I picked her brain about all the herbal teas and cough syrups I could make myself for Colt's cough. Soooo.... Lo and behold, my herbal cough remedies. With the help of weird herbs like astragalus, licorice root, cherry bark, and mullien leaf, I turned the kitchen into my own little herbal workshop. And with lots of help from Mr Google and a little will power, I had colt drinking funny teas and taking herbal cough syrup all day. And yes, once again his cough was healed without a Dr prescription!! I love knowing that in a hard time, or emergency I can make my own antibiotics for my family. I also want to eventually learn how to grow my own herbal healing garden. I just want to not have to be dependant on something so simple as an antibiotic because that is sometimes the only thing that saves a life from an illness.



Pro Award

I was so proud of Colt when he got the PRO award at school. Each semester the teacher picks one kid out of her class to get this award. It's the People respecting others award. The teacher announced that Colt is always willing to participate in class and he cares about others and he is a shining example of how others should act. I WAS A PROUD MAMA! I just think about how far he has come. One and a half years of preschool, also all the primary and nursery teachers he has had, then kindergarten, first grade and now second, Colt has had a lot of teachers and a lot of school. In the beginning, I was so worried about him because he was so wild and the teachers would have such a hard time with him. And now that we've tried so hard to work with him, on his behavior especially, he is just such a good boy.
Ok he looks really grumpy in this picture but he's just being serious. He does that in pictures recently.


La La

Well at the beginning of November we for our pregnant goat La La. She is Sooo sweet! She ways her tail when we pet her! We for her from a family outside of temecula, who literally had her with a leash and collar on. She was their total pet, like a dog. She has been great so far. She will have a baby in the middle of January probably and we can milk her. If all does well, that is, seeing as how everything for us is such and experiment around here. I think she and Diamond are good company for each other. We love having the barn! So we have our beautiful chickens and rooster in one stall, then La La in the middle and diamond on the end. It's so nice knowing they are all protected from all the elements!





Halloween night

So this year Halloween was so different for me. I couldn't get into the spookyness! I was having so much fun doing all the cutesy things with my boys, I felt like maybe I was finally growing up! Until Halloween night when I got together with my spooky freak friend Sheila. And of course the trick or treating night turned into being all about us! But I didn't feel too bad because Sheila had her grandson here and the boys all had a blast together.



Thursday, November 15, 2012

31 days of Halloween

Ok, October this year around here was more like a December. Melody made me this really great advent calendar with her sewing machine. But in each day slot, I made up different fun activities or crafts to do that day. Although it was a lot of work, it was worth it. I had so much fun doing things with the boys that I wouldn't normally do and it made the month so festive and fun and spooky.
Here are just a few activities we enjoyed together:
*Glow baths
*Pumpkin carving
*Jumping on the trampoline with our costumes on
*Pumpkin bowling
*Made our own trick or treat bags
*There was also a grab bag choice about once a week. I really really had fun with this and we are looking forward to doing it next year too!







Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Charley turns 4!

This is late too, but our big boy Charley turned 4 at the end of September! Oh I just love and adore him. I let him get away with way too much, he is often times a little spoiled booger and that's because I dote all over him all day long. He has finally started to enjoy learning his letters! Yeay. That is huge because he was always so defiant with anything having to do with learning before now. He is shy towards other people, he plays really well on his own. He plays with Colt so well (most of the time). I wasn't able to get charley in preschool this year which was a bummer. But I am enjoying him being home one last year with me. Charley is a super picky eater. Be literally complains that his tummy is too full every time we sit down to eat. I really think he lives off of scrambled eggs and granola bars. He loves this new cartoon called Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, he also loves curious George and this creepy cartoon called courage the cowardly dog. Well here are some pics...






Update

Whoa its been a while. But that always happens. We are enjoying our new home and new location so much. I hate that we like it so much, seeing as how we are still in California. And things are only beginning to get worse. But onto happier things. Here at this house we haven't been focusing as much on becoming self reliant like we did at our last place. Right now we are sown to five chickens and a horse. And we all know horses are big black money holes. So last wknd we did get a beautiful pair of meat rabbits. Meat rabbits are such a great thing to have because they don't eat or drink much, but in an emergency, they can breed, have a ton of babies and you can then have months of rabbit meat. Rabbit meat is lean, full of protein and very low in cholesterol. Now if only it tasted a little better! So we want to build up our chicken supply. Mostly dual purpose chickens that can lay and be good meat chickens. Our plan is to have about 15 of each. Them when the meat chickens come of size, we spend a day butchering and processing them. And wallah! Tons of chicken in the freezer. Also need a rooster so that we can replenish our supply. We also sold my beloved sweet heiffer, Molly. She was such a sweet cow and we loved her. And SHE LOVED US! BUT looking at it in a sustainable way, she wasn't even pregnant yet. I'd we got her pregnant, it would be another 11 months before she had a baby, then we'd be getting 8 gallons of milk a day. Hello! Also, in a pinch, cows go through a ton of water and food. If we had an area for her to roam, it would be different. We do have 6 acres here, but we didn't have the means right away to section a couple acres off for pasture. And finally, we are getting a garden area ready for a winter garden. We bought TONS of great heirloom seeds from a sees co online last year so we are set with being able to grow our own food. Also important is out water supply. We have a well that runs off of electricity and if need be we can jimmy it up to a generator when times get tough. We also have a 10,000 gallon holding tank full of water and we have 2 550 gallon water tanks that we are constantly refilling with fresh water. Now we just need to get off the map! Wahaha. Here are a few pics in no particular order from recent months. SH






Thursday, August 9, 2012

Stop fighting!

So I think I'm ready for this summer to come to an end. Or, just ready for school to start. Maybe because we've been home a lot, but the boys are at each others throats. For a couple weeks there it was so bad. They were constantly yelling at each other. I mean, I'm sure its nothing abnormal, but I definately needed to do something. So I invented the amazingly creatively named, "The stop fighting jar"!  Its pretty simple, if the boys want to fight, they can work. There are several slips of paper in the jar with various chores written on each slip. So, the boys get one warning, and if they keep fighting after that, they get to each pick a chore out of the jar. Simple....And Effective! And now that I think about it, they haven't had to pick out of the jar in a few days so I'm pretty sure something got through to them!




Raw local honey

I have fallen in love with raw local honey. This year it is Alfalfa honey from Coachella. A lady from school gets it per gallon from a guy. Last year I gave all my beautiful honey away in decorated jelly jars for Christmas favors. So this time, I got two gallons just to be safe! I love local honey. It is great for allergies and it is healing during the sicko months of winter colds... And I appreciate bees so much after I have learned how efficient and hard working they are... Save the bees!



Homesteader

Well I had no idea how homemakey I had become until I caught myslef literally in the middle of this in planned picture moment.
I was making almond milk while my homemade bread cooled on the counter while drinking a fresh veggie juice... All while wearing my lime green overalls, barefoot in the kitchen of my double wide! Hahaha.


Family campout

So we went on a little very last minute family campout this summer. We hiked our gear in about a mile, set our tent up in the middle of a huge open field. Then we went exploring, ate dinner over our little gas stove. Hank got to come with us! And we were the only ones camping there so it was cool being all out in the open totally alone. The boys did so good carrying all their stuff to and from the campsite...
And, Nathan just tops everything off with pure fun and enjoyment. He makes things easy, chill, and happy. Thank you Daddy!








The beach

So when Chad and Allyson were here, they took a couple days to stay at Carlsbad beach. Chad asked me if I was always at the beach since I only live about an hour away. I said, in total shock, "No. I'm not at the beach all summer." So I've made a point to take the kids to the beach a lot this summer. It's actually been cool because I've had the luxury and confidence to take the kids by myself instead of feeling like I have to go with Nathan. The boys are older too, it makes it easier...







Chad and Allyson

This summer, my brother and his wife came to visit. They ha e two boys, each a little older than my boys. We all had a great time. Their oldest, Walker, is very artistic. He was actually more into his own things, while my boys played with Noah. This was definately a case of city meets country. Thanks for making us a part of your summer, Chad and Allyson!
Take note that Noah and Charley look like twins! Also, Charley LOVES Chad. It was soo cute, Charley would always cuddle up to him.