Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Essential oils for school

Most of my diligent readers and friends know that I am a Wellness Advocate, for a company which sells essential oils. They are high-quality oils that are pure, certified therapeutic grade. You can see some other posts about essential oils here and here.

Last week, two of my friends and fellow Wellness Advocates in my hometown held a class about Back-To-School oils. Even though I am a homeschooler, we still use several of these oils in our home and when we are out and about. I have a keychain of oils that I keep in my purse, to use at any time. I also have an Protective Blend hand sanitizer that I made for my purse with Fractionated Coconut Oil. I made another one for our van using Protective Blend and Aloe vera gel. They both work great at supporting our immune systems and protecting us from various germs.

Another favorite in our house is Calming Blend. It is a great one for calming down those tired bodies and promoting restful sleep. My son uses this one regularly to help reduce worry and stress.

If you are having a dragging, rough start to the day, Wild Orange and other citrus oils-- Lime, Lemon, Bergamot, and Invigorating Blend are great uplifting ones to have in your water, smoothies and to smell aromatically. I recently got a diffuser and the citrus oils are ones I love to use in it. Peppermint is also a great pick-me-up used under your tongue or in the diffuser with Wild Orange.

Sometimes we need to have our stress lessened and have help with anxious feelings and nerves. Grounding Blend is a great oil for that. This is our grounding blend, that creates a sense of calm and well-being. It provides whole body relaxation and feelings of tranquility and balance. It is another one we put on our wrists and diffuse often.

Respiratory Blend is our respiratory blend that is great for healthy respiratory function. Cold season is beginning, and this oil can be used on your chest, under your nose and even across your nose, but it may burn a little. It helps maintain clear airways and breathing. It is a great one to diffuse at night when you are having a difficult time breathing.

Digestive Blend is a great one for those tummy issues. I like it when I've got an upset stomach, feel bloated, ate too much and need some digestive relief. It is our go-to oil for any gastrointestinal issues and any stomach upset.

Focus Blend is great for enhancing focus. Several of my kids need this one daily. They need to slow down, have mental clarity and just focus! It is great for helping pay attention and staying on task. I think I will put this one on my kids when they have test days too!

Lavender can be great for helping with calming and relaxation, and paired with Rosemary is another peaceful combination. We also sell chewable kids vitamins called a2z. They include whole food nutrients, a blend of B vitamins along with A, C, and E. IQ Mega  is our specially formulated fish oil with no fishy taste but a citrus taste instead. IQ Mega supports healthy nervous, cardiovascular, and immune function. ClearSkin is our topical blend now called HD Clear. It promotes healthy and clear skin with essential oils known for their skin-beneficial properties. This line now includes and face wash and lotion which I am excited to use on my teenage daughter!

A great one for teen girls (and moms too) is called Women's Monthly Blend. You can use this daily for monthly support with symptoms of PMS, and stages of menopause in a natural way. It provides a temporary respite from cramps, nausea, hot flashes and emotional swings. I have used this one this past month and love it. Love the smell too!

Of course, these oils are to be used with a healthy lifestyle including nutritious food, communication with teachers, trusting your own intuition and wise healthful choices. Several of these oils we have not tried yet in our home, but they are on our list to purchase soon!

Let me know if you have any questions. You can visit my website here.


Exodus 30:25
Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.

Leviticus 14:26-27
The priest is to pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, and with his right forefinger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before the Lord.

Psalm 141:5
Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Marie-Grace & Cecile-Week 4

This week in class, we reviewed book four in the series, Troubles for Cecile. After we discussed the book, we began our craft. The craft this week was drawing a self-portrait or portrait of another student, since Cecile's brother painted a portrait of her in the book. I brought drawing paper, colored pencils and pencils, and gave a very basic facial drawing instruction. Then they set to work! I loved seeing the variety of drawing styles and progression of their drawings while they worked. I felt so mean telling them that they couldn't draw their dog, or a cartoon, or someone who wasn't there... but they finally decided who to draw!

I also read a brief poem from a collection of poetry by Willem Keats. It was fun to try to figure out what the poem in  its imagery was about! Cecile read poems in our book while at the orphanage. (But not Keats' poems, he wasn't born yet!)
 Who to draw?... Hmm...
 I'll draw you and you draw me...
 A diligent artist...
 What color shall I choose?
 This girl drew a portrait of me! I was dressed in blue, with blue earrings...

Snack this week was Teacakes. I found a recipe online here. (You can see some Russian tea cakes that another mom made from her own recipe on the table below).
 One girl in our classes was quite the artist! She loves to draw, and owns lots of cartoon drawing books. She drew a portrait of another mom in my class that was helping.

We also discussed plays, and acted out a play of Little Red Riding Hood. In the first class, ALL of the girls wanted to act out the story. In the second class, no one wanted to act out the story... but they did it anyway!
 Some of the girls had to pretend to be trees since there were not enough parts for them to act it out all  at once. The girl in the pink hat is Red Riding Hood and the girl peeking around the shoulder of a "tree" is the big bad wolf who sees her in the forest.
 The completed drawing of the mom from our class. Pretty good!

The 2:00 class...

 Working on their drawings...
 Drawing, drawing away...
 This mom helper had a drawing book in her car that she brought in and helped the student in pink work on her drawing. She helped sketch the basic head and features and the girl filled them in. It turned out very well!
 Acting out the play... the girl in red had to be Red Riding Hood! The other girl in the chair is pretending to be the wolf as grandma lying in the bed...
 Now the girl in pink was Red Riding Hood and the girl in blue was her mother giving her the treats to take to grandma. There was no dead grandma in our version, only one that was stuffed in the closet. :-D
Little Red talking to the wolf grandma... they had fun and giggled a bit while acting!

It was a great class! Hard to believe there are only two more weeks before we begin to discuss Kirsten!

Genesis 1:26-27
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Luke 20:24
“Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Acts 17:29
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Kindergarten-E week

This past week in homeschool kindergarten, we discussed the letter E and things that began with E. We talked about elephants, the Earth, eggs, ears, eyes, ate eggs, played egg and elephant games and discussed lots of E words. We did estimation, counting to eight and eleven in math. It was a fun week!
Bethany made an E with eight blocks (actually two sets).
On Friday, the kids played "Elefun" where there is a fan on the bottom with a trunk and butterflies that float up and out of the trunk. Then the players try to catch them in their nets. Whoever catches the most wins!  All three of our younger kids played together.
We enjoyed reading stories about Elijah and Elisha, Eve and Ezra. We listened to shaker eggs and did music/ rhymes with eyes. It was a fabulous week and we are looking forward to F week next week!
Kindergarten is fun!


Psalm 44:1
We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago.

Psalm 130:2
Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

Matthew 13:16
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your earsbecause they hear.

Matthew 13:43
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Garden in September...

Some of my more diligent readers have kept up with our garden progress this year (June). We planted tomatoes from the neighbor and they are going crazy! The carrots are small, I probably should have thinned them out a while ago. The cucumbers were a good idea for pickling, but we were sick and did not make any pickles. We have been busy this fall getting back into school, clubs, baseball, co-op and the weekly routine, so we haven't made time to make pickles. We are making applesauce now though!


We get one of these yellow bins of cherry tomatoes every day these days! YUM!

 Tomatoes taking over the end of the raised bed...

 Sad sunflowers hanging their heads...
 Green beans (done producing) and yellow pear tomatoes, and sweet potatoes, which we need to dig up soon!
More tomatoes on the far end of the 2nd raised bed... YUM!

I love being able to go outside and get so much FRESH food to eat! Eggs, tomatoes, apples, lettuce, and more... it's been a great summer!

How about you? Did you have a garden this year? What did you grow? I'd love to hear all about it!


Genesis 1:11-12
Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 2:8-10
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Women's retreat 2014

I just returned from a women's retreat in the mountains this past weekend. It was a wonderful time, seeing lots of fabulous fall colors and scenery, chatting and laughing with friends, eating chocolate, playing games, hot tubbing, lots of great Bible lessons and teaching. I came home with a full heart, some new books, things for the kids from thrift store shopping and new Crocs shoes! 
 Loved these gorgeous purple flowers (hollyhocks?)
 Fall colors right outside the back door... (don't mind the power pole!)
 Sweet daisies growing, a thing of God's beauty...
 On my prayer walk, I found these pink-red leaves in the middle of the green grass...
 A heart rock, reminding me of God's love...
 Standing firm on the rock of God's promises...
 We talked about how growth takes time, and I enjoyed these trees of different sizes nearby each other, a four-foot one, an eight-foot one, and a twelve foot one...
 God's amazing mountains...
 Love the cloud shadows on the rocky hills... "I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from?"
 Love the contrast of the purple ball flowers (thistle?) and the yellow leaves.
 Sometimes in life, God shows us a path to walk on, and we don't know where it will lead...
 The colors by the stream, so bright, contrasting and peaceful... aaahhh...

 Love the red trees we saw when we went thrift store shopping!
 Our room was decorated with masks with a New Orleans/ Mardi Gras theme. It reminded me of our Marie Grace and Cecile classes! There were also lots of fleur-de-lis around the room.

Singing praise songs to God on Sunday morning. Loved the singing! 
More beauty on the way home..


Exodus 24:13
Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God.

Psalm 43:3
Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

Psalm 121:1
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 147:8
He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Marie-Grace & Cecile-Week 3

This week in class, we discussed book three in the series, Marie-Grace and the Orphans. We also discussed orphans, and sang a lullaby. For our craft, we made a baby doll blanket (hand-sewing)!  
 The girls had to turn the blanket so the wrong sides were out, match up the edges and pin. Then they did a running stitch along 2 1/2 edges. They turned the blanket inside out, and hand-sewed the final half edge. Several of the girls finished it very quickly, and some of the younger ones needed more help. I think almost everyone completed their blanket! It was fun to see the girls chat as they worked too.

  Our snack this week was Peppermint sticks and Crisp cookies. I wanted to have pizelles, but you need a special cookie iron for those. Instead we had vanilla sables. You can find the recipe here. They loved the snack this week!
 The 2:00 class worked on their blankets too...

One of the girls had a mask from New Orleans that her Mom had let her bring to class and show us. It was pretty neat to see, and a cool wall decoration!

We are looking forward to talking more about Troubles for Cecile next week!



Judges 4:18
Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

Isaiah 28:20
The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.

Jeremiah 8:18
You who are my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me.
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