Monday, February 25, 2019

Herbal tea

We love herbal tea in our house. It is a mainstay during the winter, especially. I am a huge peppermint fan, and drank peppermint tea every morning for many years (before I started drinking coffee, after I had babies!). I still love a good, hot cup of herbal tea. Since we live in Colorado, we love to support Celestial Seasonings, which has its home in Boulder. 

One of our favorite field trips that we took was when we visited Celestial Seasonings while visiting family in Denver. They have tours of their facility during certain hours, for ages 5 and up (The first time we visited, we couldn't take the tour because Rebekah was too young.) I found the whole process to be quite fascinating, to how there was a man that tasted the teas, to how they were stamped, boxes made and folded, and even sealed in cellophane. My husband enjoyed the tour too, because he worked for a calendar production company for several years, and enjoyed seeing the production process. 

One of the highlights of the tour for me was the mint room. The mint room is separate from the other teas in the facility, because it is so strong and potent, that if they didn't separate it, everything would taste a little bit like mint. They allowed us to go into the enclosed mint room if we wanted to, and I loved it! It smelled so amazing in that room!  They also had a gift shop, which had lots of teas for tasting, and teas for sale, as well as t-shirts, coasters, tea cups, tea sets and much more. We did buy a magnet which says, "I survived the mint room." It is a fun memory for me. One of my very favorite essential oils has always been peppermint, and it is strong and potent too, but I love it!

So we like buying different types and kinds of teas. It seems every one of us has a different favorite or taste preference. Bethany loves peach tea, (I didn't see the C.S. tea at our local grocery store, so I bought Bigelow, which is unusual for me.) and she also loves Watermelon Lime, which is not my favorite. Rebekah likes a Throat Coat tea, which is a different brand. Joshua likes Bengal Spice, and my Dad does too. 

My favorite is called Candy Cane Lane, and it is a seasonal green tea. Last year, for Christmas my husband bought me 6 boxes as part of my Christmas gift, and I enjoyed them all year long. I didn't see many Candy Cane Lane boxes this past Christmas, but when I do, I always pick up a box or two.

I remember my grandparents drinking tea, especially my Dad's father. He liked to drink black tea, and he would pour the tea from the cup into his saucer, let it cool, and then he drank the tea out of his saucer. He did it that way every time that I could remember. I remember drinking tea sometimes as a child, and mostly drinking Constant Comment tea.

We do have other teas on the shelf in our kitchen,  including several Sleepytime teas, and Tension Tamer, as well as Morning Thunder, which is a nice substitute for coffee. Mallory likes to have Sleepytime tea before bed, since she has a hard time sleeping some nights.

Now when we have sore throats in the house, and we run low on tea, I may need to buy 6 boxes like in the picture above, to tide us over through the end of the winter, I hope!

Do you like to drink tea? What is your favorite flavor?


Verses about herbs and spices...

Genesis 37:25
As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

2 Kings 4:39
One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were.

Luke 11:42
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

Friday, February 22, 2019

Ski day 2019

Last weekend, we ventured up to the local ski area for the day. Our homeschool group has a deal that gives discounted lift ticket/ rentals/ lesson in a packaged deal, it was still about half price! We've never taken advantage of it before, and thought we'd try it out! It was Mallory's first time skiing, and Joshua's first time snowboarding in about EIGHT years! Caleb has skied a bunch, with a friend from church. He took a lesson (more advanced level) and learned something new in his group of "little kids." 😄

They both did very well in their lessons in the morning, while Joshua did a few runs alone and with friends. Bethany decided not to try skiing yet, maybe she will try next year. I'm not a skier, so we hung out in the lodge reading books, eating snacks and chatting with friends. It was a nice day! When we got tired of sitting, we'd walk around the lodge and outside. Bethany played in the snow in her snowsuit a few times. It was fun to watch Mallory get the hang of things. They have a "Magic Carpet" on the bunny hill for lessons, which is like a moving walkway. It was an easy way to get up the hill!
 Hanging out while others get rentals...
 Getting ready to go...
 Let's go, Mom!
 Daddy was taking a break with Bethany when Caleb skied right by us!
 In the afternoon, they were ready to take a run all together!
 Getting on the lift...
Mallory and her girl friends from co-op taking a lunch break...

It was a nice and sunny day, although it was windy, a COLD wind! Caleb said the snow was like a crusty donut, it crunched when you first went down into it. That night, it snowed more after we left and the next day was a great powder day for skiing!

What about you? Have you enjoyed skiing or sledding this year? I'd love to hear about it!


Job 38:22
“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail...?"

Psalm 51:7
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Proverbs 31:21
When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Valentine's day 2019

We had a wonderful Valentine's day last week. We had pink pancakes for breakfast (no more gluten free--yeah!!), and all of the kids got new Valentines socks. 
 We had a small Valentine's party at our home with homeschoolers from our church. We have had this tradition for years, but lost several homeschooling families in the past year or two. We invited other homeschoolers not involved in our church, but there was sickness and other things... so just three families this year. We also simplified by not having lunch, we only had dessert, pink lemonade and traded Valentines with each other. It was fun!
 Kids reading Valentines...
 Me and my girl! 💕♡


 Love them... each one!
 I loved wearing my new LuLaRoe leggings from my friend Katie!
 My girls gave me a new bracelet pendant from Hobby Lobby... sweeties!
 My sweetie and me at the church Valentine's dinner and entertainment...
 Valentines from my girls... a few they made at the dinner! Mallory chose punny ones, and Bethany chose Avengers, of course!

What did you do for Valentine's Day this year? I'd love to hear about it!

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. He that does not love, does not know God, for GOD IS LOVE.' 1 John 4:7-8

"Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not easily angered. and keeps no record of wrongs. Love always protects, always trusts, always perseveres. LOVE NEVER FAILS." 1 Corinthians 13

Monday, February 11, 2019

Bethany's skin

Many years ago, I wrote a post about my daughter Bethany and her skin problems, leading us to a dairy-free diet for her. You can find that post here. Since that time, we had her allergies tested when she was about 3 years old. The results showed that she was mostly allergic to animals, but NOT dairy. We were surprised, because her skin always seemed to react when she or I (me while nursing) had dairy. She drinks soy milk for dinner to this day.

She does eat yogurt, ice cream, cheese, and other dairy products. She has had eczema on her legs for many years. She has used steroid creams when it gets bad. We usually put a lot of lotion on her after a bath or shower. We have tried many, many lotions for her skin, but they do not take care of the root of the problem. Last summer, we decided to try a gluten-free diet for her and for my husband. It was difficult, and honestly-- expensive! After trying it for over 6 months, as best we could, we decided to give it up because she still had eczema on her legs. She also gets it on her arms and knees during the summer. During allergy season, she also gets it on her eyelids and neck. My poor girl!

When my husband was a boy, he had the big three- allergies, eczema and asthma. I had allergies but not really any skin problems. Our daughter Rebekah also is prone to eczema. My nephew also gets eczema. When he was a baby, I remember my sister coating him with Eucerin ointment before he went to sleep. We tried Eucerin too. Her skin seems to favor Cetaphil lotion. We've tried lots of essential oils, and putting oils on the bottom of her feet every day, and oils in baths. Nothing totally gets rid of her itchy skin.

In the past 6-9 months, I have been on a dairy-free diet. I find that too much dairy makes my stomach hurt. When I would have a big bowl of regular ice cream, my stomach would just be in pain! Lactose free tablets help, as does doTerra products for digestion.

Several friends have recommended different vitamins, and fish oil. She takes good vitamins every day. Another friend recommended probiotics. I hesitate to have her take too many things when she is young. When I took her to the dermatologist years ago, they said that they do not know what causes eczema. I think I will give her a break for a few weeks and try a dairy-free diet for her again. We will see if it makes a difference. I wish I could take it away from her. It is hard when I feel helpless as a parent, not knowing what to do.

Thankfully she is a happy girl, and most of the time doesn't let her skin bother her. She loves to read, eats well, and sleeps well. She can work hard in school, and has her favorite subjects (grammar, science and spelling). She likes to play legos, wear hats, not have her hair brushed, and is our resident tomboy. She does wear dresses for church and other special occasions. She loves Jesus and her family. What a great kid! She is a treasure to our family, and we are so glad to have our Bethany girl.
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