Simply Renovated

"Motherhood isn't easy. You have to work really hard."

Sally Clarkson

The start of this week began with a puking toddler. Bible Study early Monday morning, host Bible study early Tuesday morning, home fellowship group Tuesday night, Awana Wednesday night, Worship Practice Thursday night..........most of these plans scratched off the mental calendar because this little man was under the weather. It was the saddest things watching his frail, shaking body try to get out whatever was just put in. But in the moments in between cleaning up puke here, taking care of the other three needy boys, disinfecting the entire house and doing repeated amounts of laundry....I sat grateful that I am here to do this for him. To take care of him.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Galations 5:9

I was SO grateful for so many things taking care of this little man and many of them were knowing how to care for him before he was sick and during his sickness. Now....before you go judging and storming off this blog because you think I'm an ultra-conservative, worry wart, freak...hear me out. ;). We are not anti-everything. I do believe there is truth to natural care though. Will I trust myself if my kid breaks his arm? no. Healing a cavity with natural remedies? no. Strep throat? no. But the flu? yes. I do not believe you need to pump your body full of medication for the flu. I do not think you need to take cough suppressants during a cold. Everyone is different but these things...these common illnesses I believe can be dealt with. I honestly feel like since we started this approach my kids are recovering so much quicker. This wasn't even a "24-hour bug" ...it was way quicker. So I wanted to share some of my tricks for you.

Bone Broth or Chicken Stock. We have made this a part of our life now. Homemade bone broth. To either drink plain or in soups. If you are looking for a good easy recipe check out my friends blog .

ahhhh Kombucha. Wait...kom-what??? First of all I think this is an awesome picture of it ;) second of all if you don't know what Kombucha is you should really check out this article. This drink provides great pro-biotics to help ward of the sicknesses during these cold months and there are so many other great benefits.

Homemade disinfectant is a must for our cleaning. This recipe is so simple and you can try it and experiment with it. I haven't found a bad recipe once.

1 orange

1 lemon

distilled vinegar

water

bay leaves

baking soda

orange essential oil

rosemary essential oil

tea tree essential oil

and the MAGIC ;) Thieves Blend essential oil (we'll talk more about that)

I mix the water, vinegar and baking soda first (because of the fizz reaction), then add the rest of the ingredients. I just love how this cleans and I trust there are not yucky chemicals floating in the door handles my kids touch daily.

now...Thieves Blend. This is a blend of oils that I just love! I will put one drop in my tea, mix a few drops with coconut oil and rub on the bottom of my kids feet if I feel something coming on or while they are sick. Diffuse it in your house or put it in their baths. I'm convinced it works.

I am not promoting NO MEDS and I am not promoting NO FLU SHOT. This is what works for our family and maybe next time you want to think about giving it a try...all winter my kids have been sick for less than a day and back at it and running around like their crazy selves.

Now on a lighter, less controversial note (wait is homeschooling less controversial? ;) )...we are finishing up our Hungry Caterpillar Series...we still have a few things to work on and definitely some art. WE are going to spend the last week or less studying the art in Eric Carle's books and trying to mimic the techniques as best as a 7, 6, 5, and 2 year old can! All of these things are just your typical standards but done with caterpillars.

counting by 4's

putting the alphabet in order to make one very long caterpillar

yes! I hand drew everything. Hopefully next year I'll think ahead and really print everything off or pre-buy everything but for now...hand drawing/writing is what I'm doing. So each day the kids had to color and trace numbers and words in their hungry caterpillar book (Williams was blank to draw his own and Zak has a lot of tracing)

Learning space value on caterpillars :)

Zakary I've learned is my child who "get's it" one day. He didn't practice walking much...he woke up one day and decided to try it and did great. He decided one day to wake up and talk in full sentences after barely saying any words. He decided one day to wake up and potty train (done in a week...through the night even)...so I know he'll get his numbers and letters down...he's just taking his time apparently.

making patterns (Matthew does really well with activities like these)

My kids are personally loving the caterpillar series. There is so much to do with it to teach them!

yes...I have messy windows!

We also are learning about St. Patrick's day....

Matthew reminds me of my Grandpa Anderson because he doesn't like his shirt buttoned up all of the way......

William is doing clover fractions....

We also decided to make playdoh yesterday to make rainbow caterpillars and make homemade butter....

william having focus issues while the butter is in the making...

Benny sneaking from the play-doh making to the butter making...

always focus issues....

it started to really splatter....

basically making a mess....

but it was soooooo good..... and.....

you get homemade butter and buttermilk...yummmmmm!!!!!!

Play-doh Recipe:

1 c. flour

1 c. water

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/3 c. salt

1 TB vegetable oil

mix dry ingredients in a saucepan. Add wet ingredients and cook on medium high. Stir constantly for 1 minute and add your food coloring. Keep stirring until it clumps together. Once it's close to the consistency of playdoh remove and set on wax paper to cool. Once it's cooled work out lumps with hands and store in air tight container.