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Showing posts from October, 2013

Homemade "Jell-O"

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Since my sons have been under the weather the last few days, taking care of them, my husband, the house, our pet, their chores, the meals, the extra disinfecting, and homemade remedies has kept me been busier than a gopher on a golf course. :-)   My youngest has always liked jello, especially when he's sick. But since I don't like all the added ingredients in the commercial brands, I make it myself and thought I'd share how to do it.  You will need:  1 heat proof container (I use an 8x8 baking dish) small containers (optional - for individual servings) 2 packets Knox Gelatin 1 container frozen juice concentrate (black cherry is good) Combine juice concentrate + two cans of water in saucepan.  Pour out one cup of juice mixture; reserve. Heat to boiling.  Pour juice into baking dish and sprinkle 2 packets gelatin over top.  Stir till dissolved. Pour in the reserved cold juice and stir till combined.  Pour gelatin mixture in

A Mother's Priorities - Natural Remedies

It's that time of year! Autumn is my favorite season, but it does seem to usher in colds and flu. In my opinion, natural remedies should be on every mother's list of priorities. My boys came down with flu symptoms yesterday and I have been using my arsenal of herbs and remedies and they are already showing signs of healing. I found myself reflecting on how far I've come in my 25 years as a mother and thought I would share a bit of what I've learned with you. When I was a young mother, any fever was considered bad and children's tylenol was the answer. But now, I don't panic at fevers below 102° because I know their immune response is working. When I was a young mother, sickness usually meant calls or visits to the doctor, accompanied by a trip to the pharmacy for ill advised, gut-destroying antibiotics or other "medicine". Now, we only use acetaminophen as a last resort when pain or fever have not responded to natural treatments. But I honestly

A Mother's Priorities - A Healthy Home

Each year I look forward to the arrival of Autumn. The smoky rooftops, twilight skies, falling leaves and crisp cool air are irresistible! I try to bring the beauty indoors and decorate my house and front porch with pumpkins, leaves and shades of orange and gold.  But then comes the inevitable and I breathe a sad, frustrated sigh as I'm faced with reminders of Halloween competing for attention during the beautiful month of October.  One nice surprise this year has been the lack of any halloween displays in our local Costco.  Makes me wonder if maybe that store is managed by a Christian? So what does all this have to do with a healthy home? Well, for me, autumn signals the time to start closing up the house and bracing ourselves for chilly weather and eventually winter.  We all want our homes to be as clean and healthy as possible, and o ne of the most neglected aspects of good housekeeping today is fresh indoor air.  There are several different ways we can increase the quality

Homeschooling Insecurities

A reader shared:   Even though what I'm doing with him isn't hard, (numbers, letters, shapes, etc...) I still can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm not qualified for this!  I'll get thoughts like, "What if I'm doing him a great disservice?!" or, "I'm not a good enough mom to be a homeschool mom!!!"  It didn't help that I took all my kids to Target today, and an older many stopped us and said, "You kids should be in school!"  Do you remember having thoughts like this when you started? How do you defend yourself to people who tell you  to send your kids to school? I can only answer for myself. But I believe insecurities like this come mostly from preconditioning.  Investigate where those doubts are originating.  Just what does "a homeschool mom" look like?  Answers will vary because people vary in their ideals. I would describe   the ideal homeschool mother as God fearing, kind, loving and industrious. She is