Bee Stung Lips

Hubby came home this morning!  YAY!  It's been way too long with him gone.  It's tough work being a trucker.  It's even tougher being a trucker's family.  In preparation for his arrival I decided to make some all natural beauty products.  I decided that since I made so many different things, I would discuss one each day for the next few days.  I don't get much done when Hubby's home.  After him being gone so long we're usually pretty busy...er....  busy.  Yeah, Busy!  ;-)  So this way I can better utilize his home time (and give me time to get everything done for our Lady Bug's birthday party on Saturday).  The first DIY all natural beauty product we'll discuss is lip balm.  Wonderful, soft, delicious, long lasting, luscious, moisturizing lip balm.  Yeah, I think it's that awesome!

There are a few supplies you need before you get started.  Well, besides the ingredients.  This takes special containers to put the lip balm into when  you're done.  It seems obvious, but I was so happy to be able to make lip balm that I sort of forgot about that part.  Good thing I had saved 2 empty Chap-Stick type containers of the girls.  The rest went into an old empty artichoke jar to be remelted and used as necessary....  at least until I get containers.  *smh*   

Supplies

-------------------

Small metal bowl

Metal pot large enough to fit small metal bowl inside

Metal poker (to stir with)

Water

Oven Mitt

Metal Spoon (Cereal type spoon)

Containers

Once you have all that the rest isn't that hard.  Another one of those small accomplishments that will seem HUGE to you....  but not the lady working at Wal*Mart.  Don't ask how I know this.  My dorkiness is already showing entirely too much.  

Ingredients

-------------------

5 Tbs Beeswax Pastilles

4 Tbs Coconut Oil

2 tsp Grape Seed Oil

20 Drops Essential Oil(s) of your choice

 4 tsp Liquid Raw Honey

Put all of the ingredients  into small metal bowl.  But bowl into pot filled with enough water that is will not make the bowl float or accidentally get into bowl.  Heat the water to boiling.  Reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook, double boiler style, until all the wax and oils are melted completely, stirring occasionally with metal poker.  When it is all melted use the oven mitt and pull the bowl full of liquid out of the hot water.  Using metal spoon fill lip balm containers, scraping off cooled lip balm and place back into bowl with liquid.  Let cool until cool to the touch.  Use!

That's it.  Seriously.  And it's sooooo tasty (we used vanilla and tea tree oils (tasty and healing)).  The girls were surprised this morning to new filled tubes of lip balm which we think smells amazing and tastes slightly sweet.  Guess what? My lips stayed moist all day!  I go through lip balm like most people go through toilet paper.  I get horribly dry lips (So does our youngest) so this was a small miracle.  Even better, hubby said they felt amazing!  You don't get better than Hubby approved!  ;)

I, of course, am using their lip balm.  I found some decently priced containers online and am going to get some next week.  Just in time for our contest.  CONTEST?!?!  Yup...  contest!  I will have all the rules and such up this weekend.  It will run Monday through Saturday next week with a winner everyday and a drawing Sunday for a big prize!  So keep checking the blog for more information and the prizes.  It's not a lot or super valuable, but I'm giddy excited about it!

My baby step today is to remind you of the value of recycling.  Not the haul the cans to the redemption center kind (though that is VERY important), but in the save your empty jars and jugs and containers.  I would have been soooooo spit out of luck if I hadn't thought to save their empty lip balm tubes.  And lord knows what I'd do with out empty egg cartons and jars!  So try the recipe above if you want a fun tasty awesome lip balm, but definitely make sure you save reusable objects and actually reuse them.  You'd be amazed what even this simple step could do for shrinking your foot print and help you abide by the waste not want not motto unprocessing embodies (along with a lot of other things.  :-) ).

Today I wish that you are loved.  It's such an amazing gift to share your heart, and to get a piece of theirs in return!

Essentially....

Sorry for missing a couple of days there.  It was crazy busy at our humble abode.  But it's Monday and we're back to usual.  :)  This weekend I started making our own dish washer detergent and laundry detergent, both in tablet form.  I am using the laundry detergent for the first time right now (on a load that has been in my washing machine for days and actually washed multiple times.  *smh*) but I will let you know how it turns out.  The dishwasher tablets on the other hand.....  I'll have to use one until I mix u a new batch later today.  But Why?  Because I learned an important and valuable lesson.  Not all essential oils are created equal....

In my Laundry Soap I used cedar and citronella.  Nice summery woodsy scent that appeals to both the girls and my husband (has has this aversion to smelling like flowers....  who'd have thought).  I used 10 drops of each.  It's slight pungent in the tablets, but surely won't be one the wash is done.  But it's still not bad.  For the dish soap I wanted something Kitchen-y, so I used thyme and orange.  Wow, you think, I bet that smells amazing.  WRONG!!!!  You are so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so wrong.  I thought it would too.  But apparently thyme is one of those really strong oils.  Because I used 10 drops of thyme and 10 of orange and you smell thyme.  An overwhelming abundance of thyme.  So much thyme it gives you a headache.  My entire house REEKS of thyme, and it's been in the oven drying all night because I couldn't take any more smell of thyme.  So, thyme is strong.  Oh so strong.  But, I have a friend who likes thyme, so she will be getting an awesome gift in the mail of home made dishwasher tablets.  ;)

The best part of having to mix up another batch is that I get to make a tutorial for all of you!  It's actually amazingly easy.  Took me next to know time to mix up and I ended up with 24 dishwasher tablet and 24 laundry tablets.  Best thing, all together it cost me less than $20 for all of the supplies and I will undoubtedly be able to make like a 6 month supply of each, PLUS fabric softener!  You don't really get better than that!

So I tried something new that I had never done before.  Part of it was awesome, part of it was a fail.  At least I learned from it.  Not all essential oils are created equal, or at least their pungency! :)  Today, take a risk.  Allow yourself to fail.  It might not be your greatest success ever, it may be your greatest fail, but you will learn and knowledge is by far the most imporatnat thing we can give ourselves.  Now excuse me while I go try and make cocoa.  :)

Today I wish you knowledge.  A wise man is never unarmed.

An Unforseen Bounty!

Today was Booter's 2nd grade field trip.  We went to a wonderful Life and Science museum a few counties away.  It's a spectacular museum.  I had never been, but had wanted to go for a while, and regret not going sooner.  They have a HUGE butterfly house (Oh My LOVE), an interactive barnyard, a train, a nature walk, a garden, a playground full of sensory stimulation, an old caboose, a dinosaur walk with fossil dig, a space center, a food lab center (though I got into quite a heated debate about animal testing and processed foods (two separate debates)), a weather center, a math center, a sound lab, and on and on and on.  It's really really really AWESOME! 

I was a chaperone.  They actually entrusted me with two other innocent children.  What the freak were they thinking?  LOL!  On an up note, they think I am the most awesome mom ever!  We shared our healthy all natural lunches with them (they had cafeteria lunches and I couldn't not share), taught them about healthy living, consideration, and simple acceptance.  As a matter of fact, by the time the day was done, I had them both preferring water to soda, choosing fruit over candy, and the young gentleman was being exactly that!  He was even racing ahead and opening doors for us three ladies, holding our hands as we crossed the street to protect us, and addressing adults and sir and ma'am.  And they said he was a problem kid.  I never expected him to be, and he lived fully up to my expectations.  They truly made the trip an absolute delight and I would not have has it any other way!  We had fun and did literally as much as humanly possible in the time that we had.  I'm going to send them both a planter with some heirloom seeds when my order comes in as a thank you for being such delights and to foster the immense interest they both had in learning to garden REAL food...  or as we had them calling it by the end of the day, DIRT CANDY!  Seeing these children learn and live up to their potential truly filled my heart.

After the field trip was over and our museum buddies had boarded the bus and left, Booter and I enjoyed some one on one museum time.  We went and did (almost) everything she wanted to spend more time doing when we had our companions and stuff we never even got to go do.  We spent most of our time in the Butterfly House and the Fossil Dig (my pocket book as soooooo many shark teeth).  On our (first) trip back to the butterfly house we saw many things we missed the first pass through.  We were able to watch a butterfly emerging from its Chrysalis, wood partridges roaming hidden amongst the foliage, and a cocoa tree laden with ripe pods.  WHAT!?!?!  I was in serious lust!  I have always wanted to try and make chocolate from scratch.  I realize this will more than likely be an epic fail.  But I still want to try.  Going 100% unprocessed is hard...  even harder when you take away chocolate.  I asked one of the attendants about the pods and what they do with them.  They said that they leave them there to rot on the tree (WHAT?!?!) for the butterflies, but they don't seem that into them.  I asked if any ever fell and if they let guests take them.  I got that all too familiar look that means I either spurted 3 horns and a tail or I asked a question they just couldn't fathom why I would ask that.  So I explained to the gentleman what we were trying to do.  He told me there were places online I could order the roasted beans and that they never allowed vivitors to have them.  I must have looked REALLY disappointed because he actually asked me why I looked disappointed.  LOL.  I explained that we were trying to make all of our food from plant to table, if at all possible, and I had always wanted to try and make chocolate.  He promptly climbed the tree (yup) and plucked me a wonderful yellow pod and went to explaining how to open it, what's all edible, and where to look online to learn to roast them.  He then went on to tell us that he is from Germany and his mother used to do for him exactly what we are trying to do and that he thought that this had died with his mother's generation.  He even told us that if someone asked about it to inform them that he had given it to us and he'd handle it from there.  AWESOME!  So now my pocket book held fossils, butterfly wing slides (from a class they held during the field trip), and a cocoa pod!  I offered to bring him some of our chocolate (if I figured it out) and he declined saying that one pod wouldn't render that much and we should enjoy it ourselves.  His gift was knowing that someone was taking care of teaching the next generation the proper ways.  We shared a hug and I knew I would always remember our German Butterfly friend.

We went and dug for some more fossils, saw bears and a wolf on the nature walk, shared some water and apples, and went back to the butterfly house (Booter is fascinated by them (That's MY girl!)) and ran into the young woman who taught the butterfly class earlier in the day.  She had apparently spoken to our German friend and wanted to know about what we're trying to do.  I explained it all to her as well.  She asked if we ever used herbs.  That led me into essential oils, natural healing, a chemical free life, and making our own cleaning products and no poo.  She was thrilled about the no poo idea (she has severe skin sensitivities and has a hard time with commercially prepared shampoos and conditioners).  She then asked if we had herbs planned for our garden.  I said yes (of course) but that I hadn't been able to order all the herbs I wanted.  That they would have to wait.  She asked then if we had any mint or lemon balm.  I said that I had seen that their organic garden had them and that I was jealous.  Those were two we did not get for this year.  But while they could both over run a garden like no ones business, they are amazing container plants and I was hoping to get some with in the next year.  She smiled and said she had a gift for us.  A souvenir for our trip to the museum and something to help our family with it's goal of all natural homesteading.  I thanked her (still not knowing what the gift was) when she handed me 2 wet paper towels (I was confused, but politely played along).  She went on to tell me that on our way out of the museum we could pull up some mint and lemon balm to take home and that the paper towels were to keep the roots moist until we got home.  HOLY CRAP!!!  I almost burst into tears!  What a wonderful and generous gift.  I came expecting nothing but the gift of time with my beloved daughter and I had been given so many gifts already.  Two amazing companions, a chance to teach by example through encouragement and love, precious little one on one time with Booter, a cocoa pod, and some organic herbs we didn't think we would have for a while.  But it keeps going.....

As we were walking toward the playground and garden on our way out (already 20 mins after closing) we detoured to take the path that ran through the barn yard.  In the Barnyard was a Duck.  I don't remember what kind.  It was white.  Lol.  They were in there mucking and cleaning the habitats from the day and feeding the animals.  Booter and I were invited to held feed the duck when Booter noticed an egg in some straw.  She picked it up and asked me if duck eggs were good to eat.  I told her they were generally richer than a chicken egg and totally nom worthy.  She asked if when we got settled if we would have ducks.  I told her that we probably would someday, but that it was a long way off.  As she handed the egg to the lady keeper, Booter said she would have to wait to have duck eggs, but that she couldn't wait.  The lady looked at us and smiled and asked what she meant.  I, once again, gladly explained our mission to eat and live simply and naturally and completely unprocessed.  She smiled knowingly and asked us to wait a moment.  She left into an area labeled employees only and returned several moments later holding an egg carton with a half dozen duck eggs!  The ducks (there's more in the back?) have been laying well lately and they had been saving the eggs.  She handed us this carton and wished us luck and told Booter she really hoped she enjoyed her duck eggs!  I couldn't help it, as we left my eyes were filled with tears. 

We stopped by the garden and as I pulled up my herbs and Booter ran through the playground one last time, I couldn't help but think of those herbs as life.  Many people may look at those herbs as  weeds.  An intruding species that is crowding in on the goodness they try to cultivate around them.  They can't see the good that is right there in front of them.  My "garden" is full of these weeds, but I now know to see them for their blessing, their bounty.  We spend so much time planning our garden that we feel so anxious at the thought of weeds, and start pulling before we know what we're removing.  This morning today felt like a rushed chore of necessity.  My well pruned and cared for garden of life.  But just like a perfect garden becomes a chore, so does everyday.  It becomes Life on a checklist.  Lunch, check.  Animals fed, check.  Essential oils for insect repellant, check.  Phone cord, get gas, long drive to museum, check , check, check.  The thought of having the other kids felt like an intrusion into my garden.  It's not the way I had it planned.  I didn't want to explain to people what we were trying to do.  I didn't want to educate strangers.  I just wanted a fun day...  not to have to worry about all these weeds, unwanted intrusions into my garden.  But today I learned that the best bounty and blessings are the ones we don't expect, don't foresee.  The ones we were so sure we didn't want in the first place.  I sit here now, tears running down my face, thinking of how I fumed on my trip to the museum to have to share my time with someone else's kids.  How aggravated I was to have to explain to the German man why I wanted that cocoa, to explain no poo to a stranger.  How I almost pulled these amazing beautiful beneficial herbs from my garden before I stopped to even look and see what they were.  How I thought that all of this was just weeds ruining my harvest.  And I am so grateful that today I decided to just let the weeds go and enjoy the garden any way.  Because, when it's all said and done, The best part of today is not what I left the museum with loaded into my pocket book.  it was the little hand I held in mine and It was the herbs I didn't even recognize.  It was the weeds.

I don't really have a step for you today, and for that I am sorry.  I was a little busy learning to take a huge step on my own.  But I will tell you this:

Today, I wish lots and lots of weeds!

You are Driving me Sew Crazy!

I was once told that sewing is just common sense.  God, I hope not.  If that's the case, then I am much more of an idiot than I originally thought.  Not only am I terrified by patterns (in all honesty, it's because I have no idea how to use them....  and they us a LOT of numbers.  Math scares me more than patterns), but sewing machines escape my grasp of reason.  I understand their purpose and I am sure that for most people they are a sewing blessing.  I, on the other hand, have found that ALL sewing machines bare a hidden contempt for me.  They refuse to work properly bunching the thread, the fabric, or the bobbin.  Most times, it's all three.  I received a sewing machine as gift years and years ago.  I sewed a baby rattle (horrible) and hemmed my ex husbands uniform pants (but not with the invisible stitch that is a function on my machine.  That was too complicated). The machine was then packed into it's box and stored in the nether regions of The Shed of No Return.  My awesome hubby dug it out for me for Christmas.  I told him I wanted my sewing machine, so he rearranged the whole shed just to find it.  What an awesome sweet Christmas present.  No money, just love.  I'd have been better off asking for the clothes I thought I was going to make.

I had delusions of starched, white pinafores down the fronts of amazingly ruffled dresses with tons of eyelet lace and smocking.  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHd;lsdjgpekiykr;tj,u oirp6........   Sorry.  I fell over laughing there.  I live in my own little world sometimes and apparently reality doesn't agree with my little world's views.  My theory, if you can do it, so can I.  Someone has to make our clothes.  If you buy from mass retailers, chances are it's a 10 yr old in Hunan.  Apparently, I am not as smart as a 5 grader.  At least not a Chinese one.  I think it's a lot like the computer (oh, I'm afraid of those too), I don't know how it works, one mistake can destroy an expensive piece of equipment, and when it comes to the inner workings I have no clue.  They both have their own secret language that only the initiated are allowed to speak, but if you can't speak it, you aren't apt to get much help (ie: asking what makes the thread all loopy and thready will illicit a response more suitable for a brain damaged zombie.  *blink blink stare* *face palm*).  They are tricky and finicky and much more high demand than one would imagine.  After 2 days and all I got was this mess, I was ready to quit!!!

That my friends (loopy and thready...  seems accurate to me) is technically called Birds nesting.  Who the heck would've thought?  That's the underside of my seam.  Awesome right?  Totally rad.  But from every failure comes a lesson.  I now consider myself an expert at ripping seams and pulling threads.  EXPERT!  I went through two full bobbins and 95% of a spool of thread.  I'm simply trying to upcycle.  Baby Booter LOVES Hello Kitty and I found an old pair of her favorite shorts with Hello Kitty on them.  I was trying to turn them into a pocket book for her.  Cute idea.  Apparently my sewing machine does NOT want my Booter to have this as a pocket book.  At least not a lined one.  I finally got that blasted contraption of craft making spite to work to the point that I have the whole "bag" assembled, but it will not let me put in the liner or the straps.  I don't know.  I put that project aside, hoping it was just the fabric, and will come back to it when I am denim ready.

Am I glad I did.  I was right! (Holy Crap!)  It was the fabric.... and the machine.  It's always part fault of the machine.  I did all I was supposed to do.  Thread machine, catch bottom thread, pull thread out back of machine, place fabric, lower foot, press pedal, try to sew in straight line.  Done, simple, not so much (My mom's machine did the same thing to me growing up, so I am truly pretty sure it's a mass conspiracy between the machines).  But I was going to sew SOMETHING!  Booters pocket book was supposed to be my easy project to break me into actual clothes.  That didn't work.  So clothes will will have to break me in themselves.

I decided to make a skirt as a gift for a dear friend's daughter.  She's turning 7 and her birthday party is this Saturday.  I am in one of those dilemmas where if we go, we can't afford to buy a gift.  If we buy a gift we can't go.  Like needing to sell your car for gas money.  So I decided to make her some gifts (and pop a few bucks on some awesome goo balloons (the ones where you put goo on the end of a straw and blow them up!) from when we were kids.  I purchased some for my 2 and they were a hit... and CHEAP!).  One project I'm making is no sew and really a cheat.  All I have to do is cut out some fabric.  That's it.  I wanted to present more than goo balloons and strips of fabric.  So I was going to have to make that damned machine work (or else I was going to bring cereal...  and what 7 yr old wants cereal for their birthday?).  

I had elastic, fabric, and thread (I have a LOT of sewing stuff from sewing by hand, but it takes forever).  I knew with those three ingredients and the stubbornness of a mule I would be able to make something.  I decided the easiest thing would be a skirt.  It's not the fanciest skirt, but it's cute and practical.  I used my kiddos and their old clothes for the measurements and I can only hope it fits.  If not, I guess she'll grow into it.  :)  I only needed one side seam, a double hem, and a folded casing for the elastic waist band.  I made it out of vintage Popples (remember them?) material.  It truly is not the cutest skirt in the world.  I am sure I will get better with time.  But both of my girls want one of these skirts now (Good thing I have exactly enough fabric left to do so (mom thinks ahead)), so I am sure Little Miss Birthday Girl will like it.  At least I hope so.

 Finished skirt

And a random bit of helpful information.  Tweezers are a sewing kit must have when using a machine.  I untangled thread from my tension arm thingy, saved having to re-thread my bobbin and machine about a million times, and it helps to pull out sewn in end threads.  I used my tweezers as much as my scissors last night.  Who'd have known.  Best part though, I made this whole skirt (including ironing EVERYTHING (Did you know you had to iron to sew?  I didn't)) in a little less than an hour.

With all this accomplishment (and failure) under my belt today's baby step is more of a challenge.  Not to sew (necessarily), but to find something that intimidates you and that you have tried and failed at repeatedly, something you want to do but are apprehensive to do so, and do it again.  Try it anyway.  Not only are you giving yourself the benefit of hard work and determination, you are showing it to those around you.  We're teaching by example.  And we're learning and showing adaptability.  Willingness to change and compromise.  Wonderful lessons in and of themselves.  Sometimes we have to change our approach to succeed.  It may not be the success we thought we would have, but most of the time it's actually better than we imagined.  And trust me, even a small success like a skirt is so much more satisfying when it's been so very challenging.  And so what if this isn't some rocking turn of the century pinafore emblazoned mass of ruffles..... it is a thoughtful gift made with love and hard work given from the heart.  I also now know that I can clothe me and my kiddos (from the waist down...  and hubby either has to go naked or be a cross dresser.  I think I'll work on pants next.  LOL) and that this is the first small step in a huge line off successes to come.  Who knows, maybe I'll be able to sew those fancy shmancy dresses by the time I have grand kids.  ;)

Today I wish you perseverance.

Sniffle cough sneeze

Germs and bugs and viruses have been running amuck with my family it seems.  Hopefully, with us going all Homestead and healthier, next year will be better.  But this week, we have a lot about being ill.

My poor hubby has been sick all this week with some horrible respiratory ailment that's quite thoroughly kicked his butt.  The worst part is that he hasn't been home to get the tender loving care one deserves when miserably ill.  No Jewish penicillin, no raw honey, no eucalyptus and lavender vaporizer filling the air with healing warmth, and no loving wife to rub his back and pamper him well.  Ok, I pamper as much as I can, but I can only handle so much testicle induced whining.  LOL.  I'll be honest.  None the less, I felt horrible for my devoted spouse.  He busts his hump in order to provide for us and now he has to suffer in the back of a bumpy moving Semi Truck.

I wanted to bad to help him feel better.  I felt helpless.  He's all over the country and I am sitting here growing roots into the floor next to the computer desk.  I knew there was a way to help ease his misery all naturally, but how in the world was he supposed to prepare it on the truck?  So, I gave myself a mission.  A way to help the man I love.  I needed to find a grocery store remedy.  Something that could be made quick and easily with ingredients available at almost any grocery store.  That rules out any essential oils, long boil poultices, and anything that directly involved large amounts of anything.  *sigh*  Alright, I might be a pretty good kitchen magician when it comes to making up healing tonics, but I am not that good.  Not yet.  I thought I was going to have time, to learn slowly and gradually, to ease into this healing stuff with out feeling rushed.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  Yeah, I forgot this was real life.  Sorry.

I went to work using everything I have ever known about medical science, herbal healing, and comfort foods/smells in general.  Oh, and Google.  I used LOTS of Google.  I ended up with a list of ingredients and numerous methods in which to use said ingredients.  But it was all 2 here, 3 there.  Hubby was not going to make and then take like 20 different things to get all of the benefits.  He's not the most patient man.  And, he had been sick for days already and this virus sounded like it was trying to settle in his lungs.  I didn't have time to pussy foot around.  So I sat down and started combining things, taking care to make sure that nothing counter acted anything else.  That would all act together in a symbiotic balance of healing and relief.  Taking care to know the therapeutic doses, and the lethal ones, and staying with in those parameters.  More doesn't always mean better.  It may look like a liquid suspension but it's really a microscopic dance on elements and properties moving together to create a ballet of well being.  That sounded poignant, right?

Well, my efforts were not in vain!  I sent him his recipe and the next day he was up to 80%!  *happydance-happydance-happydance*  This sounds like it would taste akin to dog poo after Thai left overs, but apparently it's not that bad.  Not amazing or even tasty, but not intolerable.  Meh, who would've thought.  There are a lot of steps and ingredients, but they can all be procured at Wal*Mart (at least that's where Hubbers got them).  And it takes overnight to make part of it, but it supposedly works quickly once it's ready.

Shopping List
------------------
Onion
Eucalyptus Leaves (Hispanic food section in the dried bagged herbs)
Garlic clove
Raw ginger
Lemon Juice
Cayenne Pepper
Apple Cider Vinegar
Black tea
Green Tea
Cinnamon
Honey


First.....
Slice the onion and put a layer in the bottom of a small storage container
generously drizzle some honey on top of onion layer
Put down another layer of onion
Then more honey
Continue until there's no more onion
Put lid on container and allow to sit in dark place over night
In the am you will find a lot of thin syrup in the container
Remove onion slices and reserve this liquid
(this liquid can be used alone as a cough syrup)

Second......
Mix syrup above with 1 Tbs cinnamon
1/4 C Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Stir until well blended
Put into air tight container

Third.....
Make a hot tea using 1 (one) eucalyptus leaf (more could be fatal...  use only 1)
minced clove of garlic (just one clove, not the whole bulb)
1 tsp fresh minced ginger
1 bag of black tea
1 bag of green tea
16 oz of boiling water
Let steep 10 minutes and then strain out pieces of ginger and garlic.

Fourth.....
Mix 2 Tbs of the liquid made second with 4 - 6 oz of the hot tea
Drink up to 3 times a day until better
Sweeten with honey as necessary
Also make sure to breathe in the steam vapors from this remedy....  it'll help a LOT!


There you have it, My fairly untested all natural cold remedy.  It worked really well for my Hubby, but I'm not making any promises for you.  LOL.  This in NO WAY constitutes medical advice.  This is just one way to help ease the symptoms of a viral respiratory ailment all naturally.  Use at your own risk.  Now that the disclaimer is out of the way.... 

It sounds selfish, but I felt so much better when he felt better.  Knowing that I could help my husband be comforted, even from so far away, gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling and a serious confidence boost in my home healing skills.  :)  Sometimes, it's not even the "making it all better" part that makes you feel good, it's the fact that you aren't some helpless ninny sitting on your duff unable to do something for the one you love.  Even if you can't solve the problem, you can give support.  They may be having a really rough day at school, a parent who is ailing, a broken toy, or a flushed goldfish....  it doesn't matter.  It's the same feeling heart broken frustration of not being able to help, to heal.  You can't go to school and fix their problems, you can't cure an elderly parent of age, you can't always repair that broken toy, and Lord knows you can't make a zombie goldfish.  But you can be there, you can listen, you can hold and cuddle, you can comfort their heart and soul.  I do not have the cure for the common cold, but I felt like even though we were literally thousands of miles apart, I helped to ease his discomfort.  I could comfort him.  In turn, it comforted me.  Funny how even the most generous and selfless acts come back to refill our cup too.

This leads me to today's one small step.  Learn to comfort your family.  Not cure.  This is one of the hardest things to learn.  Every time someone picks on your child you want to go and punch some kid on the play ground in the face (ok, maybe not that drastic...  but there are times!).  Every time your spouse's boss is unfair you want to call and tell them what for.  Most times, we don't.  But we often don't know what to do past that initial reaction.  A lot of us end up forcing our loved ones to stop talking about their problems because it makes us uncomfortable to listen to them hurt when we can't repair.  It may be easier for us, but it is a huge injustice to the people we love the most.  We are causing them more of the pain we are devastated we cannot fix (I personally will deflect.  If you are hurting and I can't fix it, I try to make you laugh and talk about something else.  Just ignore  it...Like the big pink elephant in the room).  Even if we did act on those first impulses we could be denying our loved ones a huge learning opportunity.  A lesson in compassion (is Hubby's boss a jerk because his wife is leaving him and his kid's on crack?), in conflict resolution and the ability to stand up for one's self (teach your child how to compromise and how to have enough confidence that someone's words aren't important).  Most the time, when people come to you with their problems they don't want you to apologize for life's BS and they don't expect you to fix it.  They want you to listen, to support them, to be a sounding board for their ideas.  Yes, sometimes we need to step in and protect them, but most of the time, we just need to show them how much we care. So today, comfort those around you with your words, your heart, your arms, your patience, and your compassion.  Soothe their symptoms as the virus of life runs its course.  You be the healing balm that can allow them to heal themselves.

Today, I wish you contemplation.  A chance to think deeply can be a rare and beautiful gem.

Cereal Killer

We're all guilty of noshing down bowl after bowl of cold cereal, or, why use a bowl, just take in an entire box of some food like product marketed to be a complete meal, eating 4 - 5 times the serving size on some carb fueled sugar craving.   Breakfast cereal is marketed as being a healthy substitute for real food in our ever increasing frenzy of lives.  But it's not.  Cold cereal is about as healthy at a donut!  But it's tasty!  There are few things in the world as comforting than a bowl of crunchy sweetness in milk before bed.  It makes us feel like kids, it makes us feel comforted (isn't that the point of comfort food?).  And what about those mornings where you wake up a half hour late and are rushing to get out of the door on time and you just want to get in a quick nutritious something before you race through your day?  We are deluding ourselves thinking that store bought cereal is a good option. 

Store bought cereal is laden with chemicals and hidden sugars.  Even organic cereals are horrible for you.  It's a ruse to convince you that you are being healthy.  In essence, you've picked the lesser of two evils.  In order to make commercially prepared cereals they process the grains until they are literally liquified.  Not belnded, not slurried, liquified.  They break the very molecules of the grain down into mush.  Then they shape them into puffs and rings and flakes and crunchy little balls of deception!  This process often renders the grains themselves toxic and allergenic.  What are we doing to our food?  More importantly, what are we doing to ourselves? 

Well, Mrs. Smarty Pants, how are we supposed to eat cereal for breakfast with out buying into the processed food trap?  Good question.  Make it yourself.  WHAT!?!  Really!  It's actually not that hard.  It will take some finesse, some patience, and some ingenuity to get your cereal exactly to your tastes, but you can do it.  As a matter of fact, we made cereal this past weekend.  Yup.  We made cereal and we killed that mess (Hence why were cereal killers. wokka wokka)!  It took the same amount of time as it took me to make dinner for 3.  How do I know that for sure?  Because I made them at the same time.  It didn't even take extra time in the kitchen.  We had spaghetti with garden vegetable sautee and homemade tomato sauce.  It takes me about 40 minutes to make.  Including cook time, that's how long it took to make cereal!

Now in all fairness, this recipe started out as one thing, then after raiding my cupboards I realized I had minimal amounts of the ingredients, so we modified on the fly.  The version I made (I'll include both recipes) isn't horrible at all, just unique.  It's pretty tasty, but I think I will try it the other way next time (a serious trip to the market is in order) and compare.  But The girls love this cereal.  They say it tastes better because they got to make it!  This is a base cereal.  You can add fruit, nuts, honey or syrup, raisins, whatever you want to your bowl when you eat it.  It's better that way!  So this is our modified bare cupboards recipe and a photo tutorial.  At the end I will post our original recipe (which is modified from the suggestions of 3 separate recipes I found on line).  You make it the same way, just different ingredients.


Crunchy Homestead Honey Flakes (Our oldest picked the name)

1/2 C      finely ground white corn meal
1 1/2 C   whole wheat flour
3/8 C      Organic sugar free Peanut Butter
2 t          ground cinnamon
1/8 t       nutmeg
1/8 t       ginger
3T         raw local honey
1/2 C     whey (from making cheese)
1/4 C     H20 (may not use all of the water)
1t          Pure vanilla extract

1.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.   Put all of the ingredients except for honey, water, whey, and vanilla into food processor.

2. Mix the ingredients, scraping down the bowl occasionally, until well blended

3.   Mix honey and vanilla into whey and our into food processor and blend, scraping bowl occasionally, until well blended.

 4.  Add additional water, 2 T at a time, pulsing between additions, until dough is not sticky but holds together.  Divide into 2 balls.

 

 5.   Place one ball onto parchment paper and roll FLAT as possible.  1/8" or thinner.  (we didn't get ours quite thin enough).  Move thin rolled dough to cookie sheet dusted with corn meal (next time I will just use two sheets of parchment paper.  Seems easier).

6.   Roll our second ball of dough the same as above (we decided to make it in two different thicknesses to see which we prefer, so we rolled our second ball out to about 1/4" and scored it with a pastry cutter for easy break lines when done).

7.  Place sheets of cereal in oven (I left the second sheet on the parchment and baked it directly on that, no cookie sheet) and set timer for 20 - 25 minutes (I know the timer says 30 minutes, but that was too much for the thin sheet and it got slightly burned on the edges.  20 - 25 would have been much better.  Consequently, 30 mins was not long enough for the thick sheet and it needed an additional 5 minutes.)

8.  Pull the sheets of cereal out of the oven when they are slightly bubbly and a golden brown.  They won't crisp up all the way until cooled.  This is a gamble, our thicker ones did not get cooked long enough and some of the middle stayed soft.  Our big girl says that makes them chewy and delicious.  LOL!

9.  Let cool entirely then Break squares apart (if you did the thicker ones) or break sheet into flakes (note on the thin ones the edges lifting up and becoming flake like).  Put your cereal  into atorage containers (an old jelly jar and demarara sugar container worked here (I save that sort of thing.... never know when it will come in handy! *says the pack rat*).

10.   Eat and enjoy!

So There you go.  Our modified modified version of homemade breakfast cereal.  It's actually very tasty with a unique hearty type flavor.  I do not think I will use cornmeal next time though.  It gives it an odd almost gritty texture, not bad, just ....odd.  I am thinking about graham flour in place.  And hopefully I will have all the tasty stuff to make it in our original version.....  Here is the original recipe.....



Matanily Love-made Breakfast Flakes (Baby Booter named this one...lol)

1/2 C      Nuts (your choice) divided in half
1/2 C      Graham flour
1 1/2 C   Whole Wheat Flour
3 T         Raw local honey
1/2 t       Salt
1t           Cinnamon
1 T        Coconut Oil
1 t         pure vanilla extract
1/2 C     Whey
1/4 C     H20

Preheat to 350    

Grind half of the nuts in food processor until powdered
Add in all other ingredients except for honey, water, whey, and vanilla.  Mix until well blended, scraping bowl occasionally. 
Dissolve honey and vanilla into whey  and add to ingredients in food processor.  Mix until well blended. 
Add water 2 Tbs at a time, blending between additions, until dough holds together with out being sticky.
Divide dough into 2 balls.
Roll out on parchment as thin as possible (at least 1/8").
Place in oven and bake 20-30 mins until golden brown.
Let cool entirely and break into bite sized flakes.

Store in air tight container until ready to eat.


So there you go.  Delicious tasty healthy homemade cold breakfast cereal.  I was amazed (just like the Cheese) at how easy this actually was.  We enjoyed making this together (well me and my Big girl, Baby Booter was not feeling very well.).  I hope you guys have as much fun making and eating this as we did.  I think it's pretty tasty.  Cassie thinks it's delicious!  :)

My challenge, to you, today, is to make some cereal!  Find a way to make it with what you have.  It's a great way to get excited about that most important meal of the day thing we're doing (right?).  Accessorize it or eat it as is in all of it's nutty wholesome healthy goodness.  You won't be disappointed.  It's really quite satisfying to know that you can provide this for your family.  Make them even healthier, unprocess even those quick breakfasts that seem all too familiar, impossible to go all natural, and happen all too frequently.  Go make goodness happen!  You know you wanna be a cereal killer too.  ;-)

Today I hope you find humor.  Laughter is the most important ingredient to our happiness.

Little Bitty Icky Tummy Germs

That's what my youngest miserably told me at 2:00 this morning when I asked her what was making her feel so bad.  Then she ran to the bathroom and promptly threw up.  Which she defines as leaning over the toilet and coughing so the germs can get out and stop eating your food.  Lol!  I love kids' explanations of thing.  Even if I feel terrible for her being sick.  *sigh*  Just another day as a mama....  Even when it hurts your heart.  She'd been up most the night vomiting.  I usually just let bugs run their course with supportive measures like fluids and rest.  But when she told me she was doing her best to try and be a Trooper and not throw up because it hurt her belly and she knows that throw-up makes me sick feeling (I'm a sympathy puker.  Ashamed to say, but by 4 yrs old, both of my kids could vomit with out assistance so mommy didn't end up sharing the toilet with them... or just using the trash can) and that she just wishes she could sleep without having to cough at the toilet, I knew I had to do something.

But how can you help someone to stop vomiting.  Easing nausea is one thing, but usually once someone is actually up chucking you either need prescription meds (boo) or you have to just let it go.  But I am a firm believer that you can do just about anything naturally.  People survived loooong before modern medicine, and if it is severe enough that medical intervention is necessary I'll can always take advantage of it.  But this isn't that bad and trying something I whip up in the kitchen first is always worth a shot! 

So I went to work, putting all my knowledge and wisdom into action.  I am super mom!  I can fix tummy uckies in a single bound!  Catch falling drinks with lightening speed!  And see trouble being caused in the other room with the x-ray vision from the eyes in the back of my head!  I needed to make a tummy bug fix that was kid friendly, Our baby bug is our picky one and if it's not palatable, she won't take it.  This made things a little bit trickier.  How was I going to make a kid friendly all natural stomach cure?  Ingenuity! I decided to start with two well known and well used sour stomach cures... ginger and mint. 

I took some mint, chamomile tea and some fresh ginger and put it on the stove with just enough water to cover the tea bag.  I let it cook until the water was reduced by half.  Then I added 1Tbs of apple cider vinegar, 1 Tbs lemon juice, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 2 Tbs honey.  Once again I let it cook down by half.  Then I peeled and chopped an apple and dropped into my food processor (my food processor has never been used as much as it has since we've decided to homestead).  I poured in my strained syrupy tea mix from the stove and let it rip.  I let it run until it was just about pure liquid. I poured this mess into some freeze pop molds (you could use ice cube trays) and stuck cinnamon sticks in them for the handles and popped them in the freezer.  I knew they'd be set by morning.  For the night, I had to do better than that, and I knew putting this odd applesauce on her already revolting stomach would not end pleasantly.  (If you have babies under a year old, DO NOT use this popsicle recipe as is.  It is not safe to give babies honey.  Use raw sugar or agave nectar in place of the honey for an infant safe version)

For an immediate fix, I went liquid.  I put 1 Tbs lime juice with 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp baking soda in an 8 oz glass of half water half coconut water and had her sip it slowly.  That managed to stop it until this morning.  I guess it wore off, because as we're trying to get Big Sissy ready for school, it started again.  I had her sip another glass of the liquid fix and enjoy a popsicle.  Around lunch she said she felt a little better and was a tiny bit hungry.  So I used an old trick.  I heated some milk on the stove until it was almost boiling, mixed in a slice of buttered toast that had been crumbled, some honey, cinnamon, and a mashed banana.  She ate it slowly and said it was delicious.  The best note, that'll help the other end (which started ruining pants about 10:00 am) to tighten up.

She's still sick and miserable, but she's no longer vomiting.  Her "other end" is still loose, but I'm hoping that'll end soon too.  She fell asleep watching the Power Puff Girls and is finally getting the rest her Little Bitty Icky Tummy Germs denied her over night.  I may not have cured your common stomach virus, but there is something soothing and empowering to know that as a mom, you can help your little bug to feel better.  That you have that magic all little kids assume their mommy has.  But, I don't think we're supposed to be able to "cure" whatever ails them.  I think that it's the same in illness as it is in life.  We can't always fix what's troubling our babes.  Sometimes we have to let the troubles and problems run their course.  They become stronger from going through these challenges.  With viruses it's their immune systems, with life it's their character.  Our job is to soothe them, to guide them, to be there and support them as they grow and heal themselves.  This will make our children strong and healthy adults, both physically and emotionally.  And no matter what, they will always know that their mommy will be there for them, not to catch them and keep them from falling, but to teach them and help them to rise when they do.

Today, learn one way to help soothe those you care about.  It may be learning to be a better listener, being able to let them make the mistakes we know are bad, or cooking up some home remedy for an ailment.  Learn to use the world around you and the wisdom with in you to comfort those you care about.  Love them enough to always be there.  To show them the strength in failing, the benefit of illness, the silver lining to the storm clouds of life.  Today, learn to love in a way you had never loved before.  Because, this is not for them, in the long run.  It's for you.  There is nothing like the feeling you have when you love.

Today I hope you find health... even in the smallest of ways.

Olive You!

Most of us know the benefits of Olive Oil.  It's amazing for skin, hair, salad dressings, etc.  It has amazing flavor and it does wonderful stuff for your ticker.  But how do we know that we are actually getting the olive oil that we're paying for?  There are a lot of Olive Oil blends that are mixed with cheaper not so good for you vegetable and canola oils.  So how can we be sure that we're not inadvertently putting sub par, less than healthy stuff in our bodies?  No fear!  I found a way!

Olive oil is made from olives (duh), and like a lot of fruits it has a natural wax that helps protect it against insects.  This is important because this wax is the key to finding out how pure your olive oil actually is.  Like all waxes, this wax will become solid when chilled. 
Once I figured all this out I knew exactly what I needed to do to test my olive oil.  I'd simply put some in a small jar and put it in the back of the fridge.  If it turns solid, it's real olive oil.  If it remains liquid, it's some crazy hybrid where the manufacturer is using cheaper oil to stretch the olive oil and their profits. If it turns solid, when it returns to room temperature, it will once again be the dark liquid we all know and not have any clouding or floaters (unless your jar wasn't clean, but that's on you.  LOL)

I used an old pickle jar, poured in about 2 oz of oil, put it in my fridge and waited.  Actually, I put it in the fridge and forgot.  Yup.  Plum clean forgot.  Days later while digging for supper (I'm such a great planner...lol) I come across the jar and wonder what the heck is this solid odd light greenish colored greasy looking blob in a jar.  Ah Hah!  Olive oil!  *happy dance*  It worked and mine's pure.  Well, one brand, the other.... not so much.  I didn't really expect the other to be in all honesty.  As soon as I heard about this food industry dupe I knew that the olive oil I picked up from Big Lots would not make the cut.  But that was my fault. 

Good olive oil ALWAYS comes in a darkened bottle... green or brown.  The color should be very greenish golden  in color and it should smell and taste like olives.  Seems obvious, right?   This olive oil was more yellow and not much green, very thin (olive oil is NOT thin), and in a clear bottle.  But it was only $2.99 (another clue?), so I bought it anyway.  Yeah, to say the least it didn't pass the test.  In all fairness they do have some frying blends of Olive Oil that have a much higher smoke point.  I won't use it.  But you are welcome too
.  We're trying to eliminate vegetable oils, so we use coconut oil for all of our frying needs now. Now, Once again, in all fairness, the Felipo Berio (sp) has a clear bottle too, and it passed just fine.  Probably a manufacturer that is new to the whole Olive Oil thing...  I dunno.  I don't remember the name to the Big Lots brand.  It's label peeled off forever ago after the great olive oil disaster of February 2013.

The down side, there's not much of a recourse you can take when if your olive oil doesn't pass the test.  If you test it the same day you bought it and it's not solid in 24 hrs, then you can return it to the store you bought it from.  But both of mine have been around for a good minute and I can't very well return half used bottles of Olive Oil.  You can also always call or contact the company to complain.  And as far a olive oils go, Extra Virgin Olive oil is your best option.  It is not made using any chemicals and it is supposed to be the purest type of this delicious healthy fat.  That's all we buy. 

So today, test your olive oil.  Seems like a fairly simple little step.  We can't truly unprocess ourselves if we don't know if we are inadvertently putting processed in.  Knowing how to check these things is simply another way that we can protect our families and ourselves.  Let me know if your olive oil passes this test and what the name of the brand is...  and let me know if it fails too.  I'd like to keep a running Buy/Do Not Buy kind of list!  Don't worry, I'll share!  :) 

(sorry if today's post seems a little scattered...  I am writing it while playing Wii (a carefully measured and dolled out treat here) with my youngest daughter.  The oldest had a sleep over and we're enjoying some one and one time.  But she's so awesome she said I could write while we played!  I love my kids!)

Today I hope you find a sense of awe.

Some Late Night Honey!

This is a completely random bonus post... lol.  I had to share this very helpful bit of information when you get a midnight sweet craving only to have it intruded upon by 6 legged 3 part torso having guests.  

Not being able to sleep and having a sweet tooth I thought some chamomile  tea with some honey would be just what the herbalist ordered.  I set the kettle on to boil, pull out the tea, and pick up the honey I leave out on the counter.  Ants.  Yup, tons of the little tickly black teeny tiny guys.  Sugar ants.  At least that's what grandma called them.  Well, I was not going to forfeit half f a jar of local raw honey to these invading pests.  I grabbed my tongs out of the drawer and picked the jar up (did not feel like doing to creepy crawly heeby jeeby dance at midnight!) and turned on the sink.  I rinsed the jar until nary a bugger remained.  Then I undid the ring (mason jar) and rinsed some more.  Then I pried off the top.  YAY!  None of them got inside.  *phew*  But now what?  I can't just put it back down on the counter or even in the cupboard with out risk of another close encounter of the 6 legged kind.

Then I remembered my grandma doing this.  It's a really vague memory.  Honestly it could have been any elderly relative or family friend at this point, the memory is that vague.  But for some reason I really think it was Grandma.  *sigh* I miss her.  Anyway, if she was going to have something sweet out for a while she would put the jars of honey, jelly, syrup, bowls of sugar in a separate bowl or saucer of water.  The water is a natural barrier to ants and they won't cross it.  That simple.  So once my honey was rinsed and used.  I put the jar smack in the middle of a bowl of warm H2O.  In the south you learn to live with pests.  You deal with their intrusions into your home.  The cleanest of the clean and the richest of the rich alike buy mouse traps and ant bait.  You yards and lawns are over run each year by insects.  Insect annoyances are the norm.  Usually I live and let live so long as you don't bite, aren't poisonous, and get too big for your britches.  But I am not sharing that liquid gold with them.  Let them feed on the compost pile!

It also works for dry dog and cat food.  My dogs are BARF doggies, but my kitties eat dry food.  They don't ever leave any food long enough for me to worry about, but I know dry food and ants are almost synonymous this time of year.  Just put your fur baby's feed bowl into a shallow dish with water.  It has to be far enough from the edge that the ants can't climb or bridge it (they really do that crap too) but not so far from the edges that fido and fluffy have to stand in water every time they're hungry. 

Well, my tea has gotten me quite settled in and I have a long fun morning with the youngest alone.  My oldest daughter went to a sleep over tonight and the baby bug and I have had a time acting a fool together and are supposed to be baking a pie tomorrow.  Lord knows she'll want to do it at 6 am.  So there's your random post.  That was an aggravating end to my day and I though how much other people might appreciate to not have that same aggravation.  So, there you are.  :)

And now, I'm off to bed....

Tonight, I wish you sweet dreams!  Good Night!

I Like it Dirty!

I am currently browsing page after page of seed catalogs looking for heirloom and open pollination seeds.  If you are confused by this, that's ok.  Up until about 3 days ago, I was too.  I thought I could just go out to the local Wally's World and grab some packets of seeds, pop them in the ground, pull some weeds, and have a bounty of healthy tasty "dirt candy".  Mmmmm.  But I was looking to see if the store bought seeds are GMO *shudder* and I learned a lot more than I anticipated.  Most seeds (especially store bought) have been genetically modified to be frost, bug, and/or drought resistant.  They are designed to resist weeds and weed killers, to grow bigger, and more produce.  Unfortunately it also makes for sub-par produce.  They lack in nutrients and protein and flavor.  The seeds made by the plants are usually infertile so next year you will have to buy more seeds, and the year after that, and the year after that.  You cannot seed bank from your own crops.  There are limited varieties of the produce, and they are all grocery store staples.  With heirloom and open pollination seeds I have found yellow meat watermelons, tomatoes that are green when they're ripe, and amazing purple carrots with multi colored interiors.  There are varieties of foods I didn't even know had options.  I knew tomatoes had a ton of modified Red varieties, I did not know I could make a rainbow salsa using just tomatoes.  Seriously!

I knew I wanted to find different tomatoes.  I have never been the biggest tomato fan, but love tomato soup.  This past winter Campbell's had Harvest Orange tomato soup and a Yellow tomato soup.  Both of  which were far superior to there plain old boring red tomato soup.  But this is the first time I was exposed to tomatoes of colors.  I had grown some yellow pear tomatoes once, but had never seen them again and actually often wondered if it was just a realistic dream.  LOL.   I actually cried the first time I went to go grab a can of my beloved orange soup and saw it had been discontinued as seasonal.  My foodie heart broke.  I could still taste it's creamy deliciousness running down my throat and choked up at the thought of never tasting it again.  HA!  Now I will be able to make my own, better, tastier, healthier than I ever imagined orange tomato soup to be.  Maybe, this whole time, the reason I disliked tomatoes was that I had been eating the wrong kinds!

Three days ago, I was worried about how I was going to fill the tiny plot of land we've dedicated to a garden.  It's quite late into the season and we're just now getting started.  I was certain that I would be out of luck when it came to anything actually growing to fruition starting now.  I now know I can have a garden, fresh veggies and fruits, all year long without needing a green house.  That the foods I was so worried about missing this spring will grow again wonderfully in the fall.  And that there is plenty of produce I can grow through the summer that will knock my family's socks off.

Open pollination is a fancy word to say that bees, birds, wind have to do it for you.  Closed pollination is where it was laboratory designed to do the pollinating.  I just want good natural goodness.....  not lab crap!  I can get that from the store with a LOT less effort.   Heirloom seeds are seeds that have been seed banked for generations, the seeds and their bounty being the heirloom wealth passed down to each new farmer.  These seeds are not mutated in a lab.  The best have been cross pollinated and cross bred naturally to have the most desirable traits while leaving the food full of deliciousness and nutrition and the seeds capable of creating this bounty again the next season.

And do not think for an instant that now your choices are limited now.  I have found the exact opposite to be true.  Where I didn't know how I was going to fill the land before, I am now debating how much larger I can feasibly go.  I have probably 6 different kinds and colors tomatoes I want to grow.  Three kids of zucchini, four kinds of carrots, 2 kinds of corn, cukes, melons, beans, squash, onions, lettuce (oh my the lettuce), beans, artichokes, spinach.  I ran out of room somewhere around the corn.  I want my children to see what healthy looks like, to dig in the fertile earth with me.  To produce goodness not available at the grocers.  I want them to be excited over sprouting and flowering.  To celebrate when we get to make our first homegrown salad and know that there are few around that will know it's bounty. 

My challenge to you today is to plant something edible.  Get in there and get dirty.  It can be one cherry tomato plant in a pot on a window sill.  It can be an acre plot with more food than one family can consume.  Find seeds that are open pollination or heirloom.  Take the first step to being independent of commercially produced field grown poisons.  Take the step of becoming self sufficient.  Play in the dirt.  Relish in it's simplicity and complexity.  Remember how fun mud used to be rather than the curse it tends to become as we age.  Grow, not just your food, but yourself.

So, I am going to go finish browsing these seeds.  I'll try to keep myself in check, but get the most benefits for my family.  Then I will go and day dream of my hands caked with warm mud, the smell of fresh earth, and the satisfactory expectation of seeds just being sown.  Maybe, when it's all grown and ready for harvest, we can have a feast, a festival of sorts, celebrating the wonderful gift our little garden has given us.  We will bank our seeds for next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.  We will continue the tradition of heirloom, the lineage put forth by Native Americans and pioneers alike.  And we will eat knowing that this time, we truly are unprocessed.

That's if my brown thumb doesn't kill it all first.

Today I wish you passion.

No Poo Here (And I Don't Mean Constipation)!

Have any of you heard of the no poo approach to washing your hair?  No poo is short for no shampoo.  I hate the name.  It sounds like some kitschy term for a bowel disorder.  But I have taken the plunge none the less.  Yes, you read that right.  I am no longer using ANY shampoo or conditioner on my hair.  Well, nothing you could buy at the store.  Well, nothing you could buy at the store in the HBA section in pretty bottles laden with chemicals and artificial fragrance.  To go no poo you use baking soda, apple cider vinegar, and water.  You don't get much more basic than that.  Which reminds me, I really need to google how to make your own apple cider vinegar at home.  We go through a TON of the stuff.  *mental note to self, do blog post on ACV!*

After reading the ingredients label on our shampoo bottles I about stroked out.  I can't even pronounce the majority of the ingredients.  Then I made the horrible mistake of looking up what shampoo does to your hair.  YIKES!  Awesome.  I remembered many years ago, when I shaved my head, a friend of mine telling me about the no poo method and said I should try it.  I didn't.  Not then any way.  Now, here we are in the present and I am kicking myself for not starting this when my hair was a half inch long.  It would have been a MUCH easier transition.   But, I didn't have the drive to do it then.  I didn't understand exactly what I was doing to myself and my family through our environment and food.  Now I do and the call brought a sort of desperate urgency to rid ourselves of the poison who all so innocently flood ourselves with.

I started this about 3 days ago and am glad I read about it first or I would be stark raving furious right about now.  My hair is dull, and stringy, and oh so oily.  It have the vague appearance of a homeless person with a hairbrush.  Why would I want that?  I don't!  But, just like unprocessing our foods can leave our bodies with DT's, unprocesing our hair does too.  It takes several weeks for your hair to stop over producing oil.  Shampoos strip our hair of any healthy oil so severely that even after we stop using it, our hair habitually over produces it's natural oils in excess to protect itself.  I wouldn't mind it so much if my kids didn't both have separate school functions today that require my attendance.  The people in our small southern town tend to be a little on the judgmental Stepford side of things, so this makes showing up at school dressed like a hippie with greasy hair much less than desirable if I want to avoid the "freak" stares all day.  Oh well.  Let them think what they want.  They can poison themselves for beauty. 

The problem is, I am kind of (really) vain about my hair.  I started lightening my hair chemically when I was 11 yrs old.  I chopped, and bleached, and colored, and stripped, and curled, and blow dried, and flat ironed, and essentially abused my hair to the point that no one would have blamed it if it all fell out and never came back.   But, when I shaved it several years ago, all that changed.  I got to see my natural hair color for the first time in two decades.  It was dark and rich brown, like wet cocoa.  It had these gorgeous chesnut and auburn undertones.  It was soft.  OH MY GOD soft.  It shined with health and radiance.  Why did I ever not want this hair?  Blue hair might be fun for a little while, but this, this was breath taking.  Ever since I have been a little fanatical about my hair.  It's been cut 4 times since.  The last one being the most drastic and in all honesty, I hate it.  It's the cut I wanted (for hubby, he prefers short hair on women) but I miss my flowing tresses.  I have not dyed it once, despite the ever increasing prevalence of kinky shiny silver threads inundating my locks.  I wash it regularly and use the most luxurious hair care products I can afford (Suave Professionals) to pamper it and show case it's stunning-ness.  But my hair falls out in droves.  I have to clear my shower drain multiple times each time I bathe.  The thick body of my hair is literally falling through my finger tips.  I would rather go through a "hat" stage than have my hair leaving my with thin bald patches on my lily white scalp.

I started by purchasing (at the suggestion of my awesome little sister) catsup and mustard condiment squirt bottles.  The kind that are red and yellow and empty.  I put about 1/4 cup of baking soda in the red one and filled the rest of the space with warm water and shook it up.  The yellow on got about 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar and then filled with warm water and vigorously shook.  When you shower you wet your hair like usual and then squirt on the red bottle of baking soda water.  Rub it into your hair paying close attention to the roots and scalp.  You rinse.  Then you use the yellow bottle of vinegar and water and squirt it on.  Rub it through your hair and rinse.  Aaaannnnnddddd..... your done.  Clean hair.  Really.  That's it.  But make sure you rinse between the baking soda and the vinegar lest you want your head turning into a 3rd grade science experiment.  Not that I've done this...  nope.  Just a public service announcement.  :)  The best part, once your hair dries it smells nothing of vinegar.  Pretty darn cool. 

I know I still have upwards of a month left before my hair decides to behave itself again.  I just hope it will forgive me for force feeding it hair heroine and then yanking it away to dt cold turkey.  Even though my hair has been sooooooooo oily this far, I still rub the ends with coconut oil when I am out of the shower.  It might seen contraindicating, but like skin, sometimes being too oily is a sign of not enough moisture.  Besides, It really is awesome for your hair. 

I am going to switch the girlies to no poo as well.  But because I love them enough to not only worry about their physical health but their emotional well being as well, I am going to wait until summer vacation starts.  While we plan on homeschooling in WA, right now they are in public school and they both have hair that reaches almost to their waists.  I am not going to make them go through the last few weeks of school looking like crazy punk rockers trying to grow dreadlocks.  If they want that when they are older, I'm all for it.  But right now, I just want them to enjoy the simplicity of natural beauty.  That's what they are, natural beauties, and that is one thing I hope will always stay unprocessed. 

Today go no poo!  The name sounds as dumb as a lead hot air balloon, but it's really just another way to rid our lives of pollution, processed schmuck.  It's just one more step to make ourselves and out families healthier.  I will post before and after pics when my hair stops freaking out and I would love to see yours too.  Besides, think of how much money a year you would save without forking out for chemical hair cleansing agents.  Just sayin.....  I think this is a great little step that's easy, practical, and actually pretty amazing.

Today I hope you find wonder.

Coming Out of the Closet

And the Shed, and under the beds, and from that awesome teetering pile in my bedroom that has no where else to be crammed.  Yep, it's time to clear out some crap.  I did have a catalyst in this sudden interest in ridding myself of unwanted treasures.  My youngest daughter's 2nd grade class is having a rummage sale to help them learn about economics and they are asking for donations.  All the money raised goes to one of our favorite local charities (Me Fine Foundation) and whatever isn't sold is going to be donated to the same charity's thrift store.  Awesome I thought.  I can get rid of some stuff and it goes to help a great cause as well as teaching kids some valuable lessons.  The only down side is that they gave me a week to do this, and I thought I had two weeks.  Rad.  So last night, my 7 yr old reminds me that everything has to be turned in today.  I hadn't even started yet!

Now, we needed to this anyway.  Trying to achieve our goal of going of the grid is going to require a LOT of down sizing.  We don't plan on taking much with us when we move and we already had too much stuff anyway.  So I chock this sudden de-cluttering up to part of unprocessing our lives.  Do I really need all of their old lunch boxes?  And what about that cute outfit that doesn't fit anyone?  Or how about all of those VHS tapes that we already have on DVD?  Fact is, no.  I don't need any of it.  This stuff is stacked up around my house closing in around us like a tomb of stress and excess.  This is exactly what we are trying to rid ourselves of.

So I came up with a quick fix.  I might not get rid of all of the clutter this way, but I made it fun, got the kids involved, and am GREATLY reducing our mess!  I told them that we all had 2 hrs to go through the house and we were all going to find stuff to donate.  They each went through their rooms and closets while I hit up my room and closet.  We have 3 LARGE trash bags full up with everything from colorbooks to sippy cups to a dvd/vcr player...  Ok, make that 4 LARGE trash bags, 2 boxes and a stack of board games.  Sheesh, we had a LOT of fodder!  The girls feel awesome about all of their hard work and are excited to be helping a great cause, I am thrilled to get some space back in our house and a little less clutter from our lives.  The best part is that up until today, In my youngest one's class, only one person had brought in about 5 things.  I think we may have made the rummage sale!

So the small step today is to continue to unprocess your life.  Find one thing around your house that brings you anxiety when you look at it and it seems daunting to  fix.  Go for it!  Or go through you house, in two hours, and see what you can come up with that is merely clutter in your life and donate it to a worthy cause.  You will get the relief of having it done and out of your way and the satisfaction that you are making you and your family healthier.  Stress is as much of a poison as gmo foods and artificial sweetener.  It's true that you will never be able to fully rid your lives of stress, that's completely implausible.  But by diluting it, you can help remove some of the poison that is already in your home.

Today I hope you find gratitude.

Insanity is Hereditary. You Inherit it From Your Kids.

Do you guys remember, waaaaayyyyy back, like a week ago,  in my first post, what I said step three was on my list?  I've Started unprocessing our diets, started unprocessing our home and health care cupboards, Now I get to unprocess my kids.  I have actually been dreading this step more than any other.  You see, this step I have no one to blame but ourselves.  I can't fault the food industry for putting profit over people,  I can't fault nanoparticles or phytoestrogens, it's me and Matt.  Our job as parents.  Somewhere between manners, empathy, love, and laughter I forgot to teach work ethic and responsibility.  It wasn't for lack of trying.  We tried probably 100 different ways.  Every time lends to the same result.  Broken toys, lost pieces, hidden candy wrappers, forgotten library books, misplaced homework. I am handed coloring pages scribbled through hastily like a cracked out 2 yr old that stays somewhat between the lines.  Nothing is ever finished, it's half-assed, and as little is done as possible.  Never mind that it is completely normal for my kids to spend entire weekends cleaning rooms that aren't that dirty to start with.  They can drag their feet or sprint to the finish line, but it's never done the way they were supposed too.  Even homework is sloppy and messy.  My oldest daughter's desk at school gets so bad that I get sent home letters about it.  How can two girls, one who is raising books for every kid in their school to be able to have books at home of their own and one who just made a sign tonight that said Running for Boston that she wants me to pin to her shirt when we go to the park and she just wants to run the whole time to show support, have such little regard for cleanliness, organization, and sheer giving a crap?  They want to change the world, but they can't change the laundry!  It's because of me.  This is the consequence for my actions.  I have not been ensuring that I was teaching my children the right lessons.  I taught them they are infallible and everything they tough is gold.  A lot of us are guilty of that.  We refuse to criticize our children for fear of hurting their little psyches.  Instead we are denying whole generations the chance to mature, to see each mistake, each failure as a stepping stone to success.  I have been cracking down lately, I have been expecting more and insisting they do it.  I just always redo it when it's not done right out of frustration.  That stops today.

So yesterday I started what is clearly going to be one of the biggest undertakings of my life.  I have started making a responsibility chart.  *dundunduuuuuuunnnnnnnn* What's the big deal you ask?  Kids all over have chores.  Yes, but somehow I have enabled my two beautiful little girls to be slovenly pigs incapable of sweeping a floor, loading the dishwasher, or folding laundry.  We are going to be homesteading in Washington State on no less than 60 acres.  We are going to have crops and livestock.  We will have to work hard to reap the rewards from this life style.  We will have to always do our best and always do it right.  None of this half assed crap they've been allowed to skate by on (Sheesh, I am a horrible mom... LOL).  So the responsibility list has to be flexible.  Willing to grow as they do.  I would like to have them able to do all of the basic household chores while I tackle the more difficult, dangerous, laborious, skilled type things.  I do realize they are only 7 & 10...  but we are preparing them to be able to this when they will be  12 & 15.  But I can't wait until then to spring it on them.  I have to train them up, just like I have to train myself.  It's homeschooling 101.  I am preparing them for their future and to function productively in the world around them.

I have also made the mistake of teaching my kids about chores rather than household responsibilities.  I have made it begrudging work that comes with rewards for doing what you should be doing in the first place.  I'll explain it like this...  a family is a micro society functioning with in a larger society.  In any society every person has a responsibility (if not more than one) that they do in order to keep said society functioning smoothly.  A fireman puts out fire and responds to emergencies to keep society safer, the sanitation crew cleans up the trash and keeps the society clean, the doctors help to heal and comfort, etc, etc, etc.  One person can do it all, but then things would not run as smoothly because that one person could not focus on one task at a time, his workmanship would be shotty from being unable to devote the proper amount of time to it, and the community at large would suffer.  A family is much the same way, but in smaller scale.  Ask any mom who works, and keeps the house clean, and does all the cooking, and pays all the bills, and does all the yard work, and keeps track of everyone's schedule, and..., and..., and...  She will tell you, after a minute things fall apart, she cracks.  The entire society's function and survival have been placed entirely on her.  Imagine if everyone who was old enough to do so, kept track of their own schedule, picked up their own stuff, cleaned up their own messes, and stepped in to help with some of the communal needs at large (like dishes or laundry or yard work).  The mom would have time to spend quality time with everyone, prepare healthy meals, focus on important tasks and problem solving.  Everyone took responsibility to make the society as a whole run smoother.  With out responsible actions by responsible people society would crumble, and families will too.  Now Chores, they are optional things that are not necessary, but helpful.  Scrubbing walls, for instance, imo is a chore.  Yes it looks nicer but really, wtf the point?  Picking up our rooms and taking care of our own belongings is a responsibility.  I do not want my kids to see their responsibilities to our family as an optional thing that isn't really necessary.  I don't want them to grow up thinking that any responsibility is a chore.  They are different and it's an important difference to know.  Not only as children, but for the rest of their lives.  It teaches them value dedication, hard work, and respect.  

Respect?  How does it teach them respect?  Think about it.  People put a lot of thought and effort into gifts, let alone the hard work the had to do to earn the money to buy (or make) said gift.  What message are we sending to the people who gave them to us.  Your effort and hard work are not important to me.  I am treating your gift, your physical representation of your feelings for me, like it does not matter, like you do not matter.  The subconscious thought process is I will just get a new one when this one breaks, I can waste money and resources from everyone around me so I do not have to be responsible for my own things or actions.  This is showing vast amounts of disrespect to the people around you who provide for you, give to you, sacrifice for you.  If you were to lend something of yours to someone else and they were to use it in a matter that you specifically asked them not to (or they knew better than) and your item was damaged or destroyed, you would feel disrespected.  It's the same when you turn it around or apply it to yourself.  That is why it is also a matter of self respect.  Just like when you see someone who is slam drunk most nights, dresses like a prostitute, smokes like a chimney, and passes themselves around like a party platter, you realize that they have no respect for themselves.  Self respect comes from caring about ourselves.  I can dress as nice as I would like, but if my home is a disaster, covered in filth, with broken windows and non functioning parts, I am showing my inability to value myself enough to be worth living in conditions which are clean and presentable, safe and healthy, organized and stress free.  I am not worthy of goodness, so I do not provide it for myself.  When we respect ourselves we do our best to keep ourselves presentable and well cared for.  Our belongings are simply an extension of ourselves.  If we are not willing to value ourselves, in any form, then we are at a loss of self respect.

But how do you motivate children to do their responsibilities with out teaching them entitlement?  If you give performance based allowance, rewards, or bribes you are teaching them to link responsibilities with with getting something beneficial.  No body comes in and hands me $5 when I mow the lawn.  I did it because it needed to be done.  It's a responsibility, not a job.  Now, if one day I just really want the walls clean, but I don't feel like scrubbing them, I can offer them payment for doing a job that was not a responsibility, just something I wanted and they were willing to do that work for me so I did not have to.  That's economics.  What happens is when you start paying for responsibilities, kids start expecting to be paid for doing what they are just supposed to do.  Say Little Johnny is supposed to sweep the wood shop.  The wood shop, you realize, hasn't been swept in months, there is dirt and debris everywhere, so you really want it clean.  Out of desperation (and the desire of just once not having to nag your kids to do something helpful around the house) you tell Johnny you will give him $5 to clean the wood shop, like he was supposed to in the first place.  At the thought of $5, Johnny is giddy with gumption and promptly goes and sweeps the wood shop.  He gets his $5 dollars and is content.  A week later Johnny comes up to you asking about his $5.  What $5? you ask.  I already paid you.  But I just swept the wood shop again.  You gave me $5 last time I did it, so where is my $5?  Now little Johnny never wants to sweep the wood shop because he feels entitled to payment for his responsibility to your family and you are not going to pay him every time he does what he is told to do.  You are both frustrated, angry, and feel taken advantage of.  But, you can't get mad at Johnny.  This is what you taught him.  I will pay you to do what you are supposed to do.  You have taught him entitlement.  That he has the right to $5 every time he sweeps the wood shop.  So if you have a reward for performance type of system you are telling your kids that they are entitled to special extras for doing what they are supposed to be doing in the first place.   But then how do we make them want to help out, do their share?   Gratitude.  

This will take an unusual amount of patience and tongue biting (I hope you like the taste of blood).  Because at first they are not going to want to do these added things for your thanks (especially if you have inadvertantly taught entitlement).  They are going to roll your eyes and moan and whine.  They are going to drag their feet and stomp around.  You are going to have to explain societies and what societies are.  You will have to teach them about responsibility and why it's important.  And then they will still mope about doing as little as possible.  So then you show them gratitude and attitude.  Let them do it shotty, then thank them for trying, but say they still have to go back and redo it.  While you appreciate that they tried, you do not appreciate their lack of effort.  That doing it the way they did was not of benefit and that they will have to do it again.  This will make for tears and fits galore.  Seriously, you have to deal with it.  This is where I have failed as a parent.  I always end up stepping in or doing it myself, fussing and yelling the whole way, but they are still off the hook of actually learning respect and responsibility.  I am encouraging laziness and less than their best effort.  This is where I need to work harder.  When they do it right,  praise them, thank them.  Not over the top type stuff, save that for when it's needed.  You don't want them to be praise junkies.  But let them know you appreciate what they've done.  Their contribution.  Everyone likes to know they are appreciated and validated.  But make sure you are giving the time and guidance for them to learn to do it properly, and that the responsibility is not beyond their ability.  I'm sure I could learn to rebuild a transmission, but if you just sat the pieces in from of me and said, do it, I would fail.  It would take time and education, and guidance.  At this moment not only do I not know how to do it properly, but it is way above my mechanical ability.  It would not be fair to make me re-do what I still don't know, properly.  This is the same for kids.  I expect mine to fold laundry properly and put them into their drawers neatly once folded.  I do not expect them to be able reorganize their wardrobe for summer.  I have to be realistic as to what they can do.  Next year, Cassie might be able to, but until she is ready for it, I won't ask that of her.  As they learn to do their responsibilities more regularly and with full effort and with out nagging you cut back your constant appraisals.  Let them learn that helping is a reward in and of itself, that there is a great deal of satisfaction in accomplishment, that hard work is the reward.  This teaches them work ethic, dedication, gumption, stick-to-it-iveness.  This teaches them that if they are going to do it then it needs to be done right.  Respect and responsibility and a healthy sort of pride.

This does not mean they do not get an allowance.  This would rob them of learning value and economics.  Every week give them a privilege (television/computer/video game time, time with the art box, sewing time, etc) or small amount of money.  As adults we do our responsibility of our jobs everyday.  We are given a paycheck.  I use my children's education as their "job".  Because they are working hard to learn and be educated on top of the responsibilities that we all have to do for our home.  As long as they are getting an education and "going" to school, I will support them.  This is their career until they are ready to go out  into the world.  We use technology as their reward.  The are given a half hour a day to be banked up for the weekends, with 15 minutes (non reward) a day for educational games during the week IF all of their homework and responsibilities are done properly... not because they are done properly, but as a fun way to relax and learn if there is time in your day.  We just limit their exposure.  Theoretically, every weekend, they are allowed 3 1/2 hours of technology time to be divied up amongst the things they would like to do.  Except that isn't always the case, but it is still their choice.  I assign each responsibility a value of minutes (also each bad behavior that they are insistent upon continuing.... like talking back).  At the end of the week, any responsibility that was not done or done improperly has their value of minutes removed from their tally and reassigned to the person who completed said task.  If Sally doesn't do the dishes, but Molly sees they need done and does them instead, then Sally must "pay" Molly for doing them.  As an adult, if I do not feel like or do not have time to wash my car, I have to pay someone else to do this for me.  My car needs washed in order to stay well kept and of worth, vehicles are a responsibility.  So Say Sally has 3 1/2 hours banked up and she doesn't do the dishes all week and they are valued at 5 minutes a day then she loses 25 minutes of her time.  Say Molly did the dishes all week, Sally must pay her that 25 minutes.  Now Molly has 3 hrs and 55 mins of technology time.  Sally can get upset all she wants, but this was her choice.  She chose not to do the dishes, so she must "pay" for them to be done.  If you "spent" all your minutes, you are sol and better get your happy butt busy.  Because if I can't afford for someone to pay someone to wash my car, then I'm back to doing it myself.  But this payment system will also be voluntary.  Say the next week Molly wants to go camping with friends, but she has to fold the laundry.  Laundry folding is valued at 10 minutes.  She can offer that time to Sally if she will fold the laundry for her.  If you apply this model to money and the real world, you have taught them basic economics.  The best part, is by not allowing them to go into the red, borrowing against their time for the next week, you have also reduced their chance of debt.  You are teaching them to live with in their means.

So, making a chart is not as easy for me as listing their "chores" and checking them off as they complete each one.  I am trying to teach my daughters a LOT more than how to pick things up.  I am trying to use this everyday life experience to prepare them for the world.  to make them stronger women, better human beings.  Responsibility, respect, worth, appreciation, duty, work ethics, and economics, All from cleaning their rooms.  To me that makes it worth the extra effort.  I am not looking forward to letting go of some control.  I am a little bit of a control freak.  It's the only way to make sure things get done right.  But I am being selfish beyond reason to deny my children these valuable opportunities to learn so much.  And let's be honest, up on the mountains these lessons are going to ensure our survival.  Not just as in life, but as a family.  

And bonus tip!!  Make lists in kid friendly print and language for the order of things to be done in each area/room when cleaning them.  Kids have short memory spans about stuff like that and you saying go clean the kitchen may result in the dishes done and the floor swept, but nothing else.  An easily visible posted list of expectations included when cleaning a room will ensure the counters get wiped, stove gets scrubbed, floors get mopped and sinks get cleaned too.  You may still have to work out the details (like it's a lit easier to sweep and mop if you move the chairs, trash can, and dog bowls.  LOL) but this will cut down on a lot of EVRYONE's frustrations!

Today's small step is to give up some control, hold our tempers and our tongues, exude patience and gratitude, and teach our children not just to clean, but to contribute.  Kids inherently want to make the world a better place, and I have no doubt that someday mine will, but they cannot do that with out the lessons they will learn from their responsibilities at home.  Sometimes to show love we have to pull the rug out from under the little guys and let them fail, let them fall.  Teach them the consequences for their actions.  If we are not respectful and responsible for ourselves, our family, our pets, our planet, or our belongings they will break, they will fall apart and they will no longer be of worth.  He leaves his Buzz Lightyear in the rain and it doesn't work anymore, don't replace it.  Teach him the consequences of his actions.  It was up to him to remember to bring in his toys from outside.  They are his responsibility, no one else.  She waits until Sunday night after dinner to tell you she had a weekend project that's due tomorrow, let her fail.  This one project is highly unlikely to make a difference in her educational career, but this one project will teach her the pitfalls of procrastination.  Remebering her assigned school work is her responsibility.  It is her homework, not your.  She doesn't pick up her room and now her favorite books cover is torn off.  That is her consequence for not responsible and respectful over your belongings.  He forgot to tell you about his big game coming up and it was missed, that is his consequence for not being responsible for his own interests.  You're not the one playing the sport.  They stayed up late giggling and talking and are now going to be late for school.  Don't write them a not with a lied about excuse.  Let them learn about time management and the importance of a good nights sleep.  It's a LOT better to do it now than when they let Fido starve to death in their college apartment... or when you have to go bail them out of jail.  Don't start bailing them out now and they will learn to be responsible so you won't ever have to.  So give your child responsibilities.  Let them make mistakes, let them fail, and use those moments to teach them how to rise up.  Help them to not only grow, but to mature.  Seriously, society at large depends on it.

Today I wish you patience.  You're going to need it.  .