Natural Remedies ROCK!

First, let me say that I feel Really bad about thinking that Quinn's headache on Wednesday was Just a headache.  He gets them so often in the summer, that I thought it was brought on by the heat.  Dave and I were all over Quinn for not drinking enough water that day...yada yada.  Well, that evening his headache was so debilitating that he couldn't even walk.  Dave and I were concerned that we were going to have to do tests to figure out Why he is getting these raging headaches So often.

So, he wakes up on Thursday (yesterday) and Still has a headache.  Now, that's Not normal.  At all.  Usually he has a heat headache.  He sleeps it off and he's good to go the next day.  Not this time.  So he stays in doors all day.  The intensity of the headache goes up and down all day.  Then that night (last night) he comes to me in the middle of the night saying that it Hurts Really badly right under his ear.  Well, that was a sign that this is a Sinus Infection.  Yay!  At least I know what it is now.  So I'm laying in bed thinking about what I might have in the cabinet that he will take that will help a sinus infection.

I have the neti pot.  But I've already experienced Quinn and the neti pot together.  Not a pretty sight.  I offered him Ibuprofan.  I told him that it would Not fix him.  It would just allow him to sleep.  But the only thing wrong with this is that he Doesn't swallow pills yet.  But we convinced him to give it a go.  Well, that didn't work!  I knew that was going to be the case.  It was worth a try anyway.  Even though I am Against Ibuprofan.  I figured it was better to allow him to sleep.

So, he came to bed with me.  I was laying there thinking, thinking.  Quinn is Just miserable!  So I said "Well, you can try that nose spray we have".  "OK", he says.  So we spray his nose and he is able to rest for a while.  Then he sprays again.  And he sleeps the rest of the night.  All day today, he sprays.  He must've sprayed, I don't know, 10 times today.  Whatever it was.  His fever is gone and he is Completely better.  I am So glad our doctor wasn't in the office today.  Otherwise, I would have taken him in when I didn't need to.  :o)  I am So proud of myself for holding it together enough to think about all the options.

I've got to admit, I Did think about taking him to Urgent Care for antibiotics.  Glad I pushed that thought aside.

Now, I bet you are wondering what this Magical spray is called.  Ok, it is called Sinusin.  It is a homeopathic nasal spray.  But the Naturopathic doctor I got it from put a little extra somethin' somethin' in it to make it "Magical".  Now I'm almost out of it.  I've Got to get More!!!

Raw Garlic: Mother Nature’s Antibacterial

Raw Garlic: Mother Nature’s Antibacterial

I read this article yesterday and decided to try the raw garlic.  I suspect I have Candida.  So I would like to try natural methods to combat it.  The raw garlic didn't seem SO bad.  Afterall, they suggest you swallow it in two pieces.  Don't chew.  Just swallow.  I can do that!  So I did just that this morning.  But I don't think I took off all of the outer husk part.  Because when it went down, it was scratching and I could feel it laying in my stomach ALL day.  I felt kind of sick to my stomach all day.  Then this afternoon, Sloane was sitting on my lap and leaning against my stomach.  All of a sudden I felt like I was going to throw up.  So I nonchalantly went to the bathroom.  But nothing happened.  No vomit.  Yay.  But I felt better after that.  I guess it had decided to move on.

So I'm going to try it again tomorrow.  But this time, I'm going to make SURE I have all the husk off Completely!

I guess I also need to keep taking the Candida test so I know if it's working or not.

Daily doings

Quinn and Sloane have been into tomatoes lately.  They like to have them cut into bit sized pieces and eat them with toothpicks.  Yum!

Dave received all of his childhood mementos from his parents as they are cleaning out their house to sell.  The kids are having a blast looking through it all.  There are grade school pictures and banners and high school id's.  They think it is so cool to see into Dave's childhood.  

The kids are having fun with these little do-dads.  I can never remember what they are called.  I'm sure you have seen them.  They are little colored, plastic cylinders.  You put them in a shape and iron them.  They melt together and Wa-La!  You have your special, little shape you made.  :o)  Very fun!

Something you should know

Wild Oil of Oregano is THE most Amazing herb out there, afaik.  Sloane has been sick with a head cold for two weeks and it was in her throat and head.  We have been doing wet socks on her neck multiple times per day, dosing her with Vit D, Echinacea, Elderberry, Colloidal Silver, ADP (oregano pills) and nothing was shaking the cold.  But as soon as I received the Wild Oil of Oregano in the mail yesterday, I put two drops on the pads of her feet while continuing the other regimen.  And for the first time, she slept peacefully all night and woke up hacking out the mucus that has been inhabiting her head for the last two weeks.  She has bright, cheery eyes again, a smile and says her throat "only hurts a little".  She is eating again and is "bored".  That's when you Know she's not sick!  LOL  SO!  We are continuing with the Wild Oil of Oregano for a couple more days to get the rest of the virus out.  The ADP that we have used on Quinn in the past just wasn't working for her.  But at least I have found a "cure" for her.  Yay!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

This is the digital photo album I sent out for our Chrismas card this year.  I decided it was time to go digital and save a tree.  Hope you like it!

Digital scrapbooking design created with Smilebox

entrepreneurial Family

Lately, the kids and I have been very crafty with ways to make extra spending money.  Well, the money I make goes towards bills right now.  But for the kids ~ they are loving seeing their goals be attainable quickly.

Quinn and Sloane have started walking the neighbors dogs for a dollar a day.  They each get paid $5 on Fridays.  Quinn did some clean up work for our other neighbor this morning for $20.  For the same neighbor, Connor is transferring VHS tapes to DVD for money.  Not sure what that will bring.  Hey!  Maybe he can start a business!  You know anybody who needs VHS tapes transferred to DVD?  Let us know.  Connor can help!  :o)

Dave is also doing estimates for a concrete guy for extra income.  We have to bridge the gap somehow until the Insurance gig kicks in.

Oh!  And I am babysitting a neighbor's 2yo during the week.  His name is Rece and he is sooo cute!  He fits right in with the family.  That was one of my stipulations to watching him.  He had to be able to go with us.  I didn't want to be tied down to the house.  We as a homeschooling family are out and about quite a bit.  That is the beauty of homeschooling, afterall.

This Labor Day weekend, I watched another neighbor's dog, Jax.  Jax is a Shih-tzu mix and is just the cutest, mellowest dog you have ever seen.  Emma, our dog, who doesn't like other dogs, lived quite happily this weekend sharing her space with another dog.  It was good for her to have to get along.  Emma didn't let Jax do anything at first.  She would follow him around and snip at him for no reason.  Then by today, they were best of friends.

So, we are all finding ways to buy the things we want even if we don't have family money readily available.  I am really proud of us.  Before Dave got laid off of work in May, we were still not grasping just HOW much money we really DON'T have.  But now we know that we can have anything.  All it takes is a little creativity and some hard work.

Yay us!!

Unconscious Mutterings

Want to play?  Go here.

1. Gangs ::  of New York
2. Contact :: paper
3. Surprisingly ::  delicious!
4. Penciled ::  in
5. Ignore ::  what I just said
6. Let’s go! ::  play
7. Cornerstone ::  bakery
8. Influential ::  people
9. Holistic :: healer
10. Lovesick ::  for chocolate

Coming Home from camp

Such a beautiful place.

Connor is saying goodbye to Laura, the camp director.

I think he's happy to be going home.  This is at the airport.

Brothers.

Connor finally got home last night.  :o)  I loved the Welcome Home sign.  In this picture, he is showing us his new mustache he got from camp.  Isn't it nice?  LOL

He's coming HOME!

(Click picture to enlarge)

I made this banner for Connor.  He comes home today!  Yea!!!  :o)  We are all so excited.  He has been at camp all week and we MISS him.  I have talked with him briefly this morning after Dave and Quinn picked him up.  But I didn't get much in the way of information out of him.  I think I'm just going to have to be patient and let it come out over time.  He did tell Dave that he would like to go again next year.  Well, that must mean he had a good time.  Right?

It's harder than it looks

We got some coupons for bowling in my email box today.  And Sloane took to the idea RIGHT away.  :o)  She felt the absolute NEED to go bowling...TODAY.  I tried to get her to wait until Wednesday when we could go with our homeschool friends.  But she wanted to go NOW.  :o)  And...since she and I were here by ourselves today with nothing else to do.  I said "Why Not!"  Let's go!  :o)  So we packed our coupons and our socks and away we went.

When we got there, Sloane presented our coupons to the kind gentleman behind the desk and at first, he said we couldn't use both of them because they both had my name on them.  Then he looked again and realized that they are student coupons.  He said (pointing at me) "but you're not a student.  Oh well, I'll give it to you anyway."  Yippee!  We only had to pay for our shoes.  $6 is all it cost for two people to bowl one game and for both people to rent shoes.  Not bad, I'd say.  :o)

Sloane even took a picture of me.  We had such fun.  I haven't bowled in I can't tell you how long.  But I DID get three strikes!  My game was only 101.  But fun was on our agenda and FUN is what we had.  :o)

It's been one week

Dave and Quinn left on a plane early this morning for Nashville, TN to pick up Connor from camp.  We haven't heard from him all week.  We can only assume he is doing well.  We are all missing him desperately.  Camp is over tomorrow at 11am.  Then they will have to race back to Nashville to catch their plane.  And we will see all three boys around 8pm tomorrow evening.  Can't wait!

Free bowling all summer long!

Sign up here to go bowling for free.  We printed out free coupons and plan to use them on Wednesday next week.  How about you?  Do you want to join us?  Come on.  Let's go!!!

Quinn and Dave left to pick up the molds in El Paso, Tx.  They flew out and picked up a moving van and will drive back.  While they are gone, Sloane and I went bowling.  What fun we had!!!  :o)

We found this little wagon in front of somebody's house that was in the bulk trash pile.  Can you imagine throwing this perfectly good wagon in the TRASH?  My original idea was to take it home and give it to our two-year old neighbor, Rece.  But the kids thought it was too fun to give away.  They had so much fun riding in it behind the golf cart.  So we kept it!  :o)  

Quinn is 8 on the 8th

We had a family celebration on Friday.  Quinn, (cousin) Zane, (cousin) Lyndzy and Sloane had a fun time trying to blow out the candles.  They were the ones that went out and then when you think you're done, they light back up.  Everyone joined in.  It was hilarious! 

Then today, we celebrated with Quinn's friends in our pool.  This is only some of the kids.  I couldn't corral them all at the same time for a group picture.  There are a few that were inside playing the Wii.  But that's OK, there was plenty of fun to be had.  Happy Birthday, Quinn!

Quinn's golden birthday

8-8-10

Today is Quinn's birthday.  He had a few friends over to help celebrate.  

ETUSC

Dave and I are helping Connor pack for camp.  Camp is from August 8th - 14th.  Connor is 13 and this is the first time he has ever gone to camp EVER.  And he chooses a camp on the other side of the country.  ;o)  Not only that.  But he has NEVER been away for a week without us.  He leaves early tomorrow morning on an airplane.  Dave is flying with him.  They then have a four hour drive after getting off the plane from Nashville to Jonesboro TN.  Then Dave will fly back next week to pick him up.

Connor doesn't show any signs of being excited OR nervous.  We asked him if he wanted a calling card so he could call home during the week.  And he said "No, I'll be fine."  What!!  But what about ME ~ your MOM?  And he's just as cool as a cucumber about everything.  Doesn't seem to have the jitters At all.  He has always been the kids that could walk right up to anybody and talk to them and hang out.  Never any worries about anything.  I guess that is what is going on right now.  He knows he'll make friends and have a great time.  When I was a kid and went to camp for a week, I remember being so homesick and just scared about all the people I didn't know.  Of course I always had a super time.  But the initial getting acquainted time was so scary for me.  Hopefully he will have none of that.

We asked if he wanted a disposable camera.  And he doesn't want to take pictures.  He didn't want a camp shirt either.  "Why would I want that?", he asks.  Don't you want to have ANYthing to remember camp by?  So I ordered him a camp shirt anyway.  So if he changes his mind, he will have it.  Also, my mom is buying him a disposable camera (just in case).  You know.  Things are always different once you get there.

I know Connor will be fine and he'll have a great time and make some awesome new friends.  I can't wait to hear all about it.

Olive/Olivia

Sloane loves olives.  When we went to the grocery store today, she asked if we could get a can of them.  Then she opened them and proceeded to eat half the can when we got home.  She loves to put them on her fingers.