New Year.....New Resolutions.

Happy New Year my Enlightened Homemaker friends! I hope you all had a great Christmas and are ready for a great New Year! I love the new year. I love goals and the chance to sort of start a new. I love looking back on the year to see where I started and where I ended up. There were set backs along the way, but all in all, I feel I did travel in an somewhat upward path. I feel that I learned so much and gained a deeper testimony in the miracles of God and the love he has for me as an individual. I have learned that this life is a blink and that what we do with it has tremendous repercussions. I have realized that life moves much faster the older you get and that amid the chaos and craziness we must stop and enjoy the moment. We are expected to work hard in this life, but we are also taught that we must have joy. Finding that balance is the challenge. Always a challenge. I have realized the blessing of good friends and influences in my life and a sincere "thanks" goes out to all of you who have sustained me in my efforts and nourished me along the way. This blog has been my journey of enlightenment this past year and I thank you for not only being on the journey with me but contributing greatly along the way with inspiration and insight. Sisterhood is a wonderful thing. We all need each other to get through this life and to become the mothers we want to be. Thanks for sharing. May we continue in 2009 to become even better!

As far as goals for this upcoming year, I have pondered what I need to focus on; what my family needs, what I need, what my relationships need. There are always the basic goals of shedding the winter coat and getting ready for swim suit season, but those goals seem so trivial compared to the tasks we have at hand this next year. We all know that this world is a different place than the world we grew up in and it will only continue along that downward path. Raising our children in this environment is tough, scary and exhausting. We have not only the influences of the world on them to worry about but also the effect of the economy in providing for them. My thoughts continually go to the idea of FORTIFICATION (please read that carefully) . Our job is to make our homes the refuge from the storm. I cannot control the value of the dollar, the cost of a gallon of gas or the lack of morality in the world but I can at least attempt to control what happens inside the walls of my home. To fortify my home I must do so both spiritually and temporally. Spiritually will entail a more valiant effort at scripture study, prayer and family home evening. It will entail a monthly meeting with each child to see where they are and the personal progress they are making. It will entail understanding what is going on in their worlds and how to best protect them from what is out there, ie, internet, cell phones and other influences. It will mean I need to work on my own ability to be inspired so I can know what I need to be doing to make this all happen. Temporally I need to make sure that no matter what happens with this troubled economy that I will be able to provide for my family. I need to make sure that my shelves are well stocked for meals for the year , general supplies are on hand and savings are increased. These goals have always been important to me but this year I feel a more of an urgency that it needs to happen now. I know we all feel this and procrastination needs to not be an option. This year will be a dedication on my part to self reliance. Our crazy world right now has the idea that our government should be the ones to take care of our every need. Pay off our debts, schooling, food. We are in charge of ourselves, our families. It is our job. I am not going to be waiting for Obama to deliver a basket of fruit to my door when the world is starving. I hope that we are all taking this seriously.

May we all be inspired this upcoming year and continue on the upward path. May we focus on what is truly important and what we need to be doing as mothers of these incredible little spirits. I am thankful for another year. Another chance at growth and becoming who I need to be.

Happy New Year!

Oil Uses Books are here....

I have limited access to some of the oil uses books. If you want one, please email me asap! They are $35 each.

Welcome Back, Cockroaches.....mi casa es su casa

I do really hate cockroaches and all of their little friends...the ants, crickets, black widows, etc. I don't like them anywhere near my home or surrounding fence line. The enemy. However, after today, I will welcome them back. Maybe not with open arms but I will no longer be using all means necessary to ban them from mi casa. Here goes the story, a story I must tell because no one is home for me to vent to and I have already cried my eyes out to the corporate office for the pest control company. Maybe I overreacted, you decide, but I am still one angry mama bear.

I have always had my home sprayed but after Tate was diagnosed with autism, I became aware of the dangers of pesticides and chemicals so I switched to an earth friendly company. I made sure that they sprayed only on the fence line or house line, no where near toys, fruit trees or the garden. They assured me that they would never spray in that area. So, I went with it. Then, a cute little college bound boy came soliciting his bug spray company and in pity , I decided to go with him. He assured me that they would never spray near my garden, trees or heavy traffic areas. I felt OK with this as we have black widows and I don't want them sharing my backyard picnic bench with me or my children. I know I should probably do away with the pest control all together, but I thought I was getting sprayed responsibly. Today I realized that I made a mistake.

I came home from my 1st graders class party and saw the bug spray truck outside. First, I noticed that my entire driveway and walkway was completely hosed down, soaking wet. My front door, the handle, the windows, the stroller next to the door. All of it, drench. I went in, taking off my offending shoes and looked in horror at my back yard porch. All drenched. Kids shoes, bikes, picnic bench, toys, etc. Nothing left untouched. Then, I thought in horror....my garden. Please, don't be in the garden! He was headed out back to his truck. I ran to him and asked if he was in the garden.

"Oh, no mam. I knew that looked like food you would eat so I only sprayed around it and on the soil by the plants. I only sprayed the bottoms of the fruit trees, not the leaves also."

My heart sank. I went in, shocked. I looked in the back. My soil was soaking. My plants, misted. My fruit trees, wet with chemicals.

Call to the company. I want my service cancelled. I explained why. He informed me that I couldn't get out of my contract. I was still under control at this time. I asked for a supervisor. He said he would have one call me.

Heather from corporate called and said she talked to "Daryl" the bug man and repeated what Daryl had told me. She said that the chemicals do not hurt humans. Here is where I came unglued. Here is where I lost it altogether.

SAFE! Are you kidding me? Are you going to take a drink of it or let your children sit in a stroller drenched in it? Do you want to eat lettuce from the garden that you planted months ago and nurtured daily so your children can eat food that has not been sprayed with bug spray only to get that hard work stolen from you? Do you understand... Heather.....that a little bug spray goes along way and that for children with autism it is even worse? Do you understand that I have paid thousands of dollars in bio medical treatments to get these pesticides out of Tate's body and paid $600 for special orthopedic shoe inserts that were just hosed down with chemicals!

I was a nut case at this point. I could barely talk. Tears streaming down my face. How could she understand. How could she understand that everyday I am fighting a battle to remove autism from my child's life and in this one small instance of a routine pest control spray she just knocked us back one giant leap to recovery. I wanted her to know that what the world deems as "SAFE" is a joke. That there are 1 in 100 , at least with autism and that it is because we are making that happen. I wanted her to tell her employees that spraying our food, our toys , our strollers is NOT ok.

She was sorry. I asked again....I want my service canceled. She reminded me that I would have to deal with bugs. I told her, ma'am....I will take my cockroaches if that means I will have clean lettuce to eat.

Welcome back little pesky friends. Until I find a natural solution to rid you off my premises, enjoy your stay. It may be short. Please stay out of my house, a nice warm bush will be sufficient.

Wheat Sale.

My friend, Tracey Adair and owner of Preparing Wisely in Mesa has let me know that the Montana Gold White Wheat is for sale through December. 50 lb bag is $30. This is the best wheat for baking. Also, they carry large cans of wheat gluten and also great items for your year supply! Great stocking stuffers!

Thanks for the info , Tracey!

(Check out her blog to the right for more info)

More on Vitamin D from Dr. Mercola.....

If you don't visit Dr. Mercola's site, try it out. He is incredibly knowledgeable and informative. I love this lecture he did on Vitamin D. Please take a minute to get educated about how important a little sun exposure is in our lives.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/12/16/my-one-hour-vitamin-d-lecture-to-clear-up-all-your-confusion-on-this-vital-nutrient.aspx

Reindeer Names.....

Just in case you too have little elves who like to shake, rattle, hold to the light or any other means of gift guessing the wrapped present under the tree.....here is a great little idea I implemented years ago. The children are all given reindeer names,different ones each year. They have no idea which reindeer they are until Christmas morning. That way, I can put names on all the presents so I know who they belong to , but they have no idea. They can rattle all they want, they don't know if that gift is for them so it takes the fun out of it. Sure, they are all confident each year that they are the reindeer with the most gifts under the tree, and this becomes a game in and of itself of figuring out who is who. They haven't been right yet. Nonetheless, they try. So, if you too have the rattlin', peakin' elf syndrome at your home, you are free to borrow the reindeer name game. Copyright lifted.

Oil Sale...

FYI....ForeverGreen has their oils on sale this weekend only until stock runs out for any wanting to try some out. They are selling out quickly. I am placing another order today. Check out their link for what is available and email me if you want to find out what oil is best for your situation. This is a great time to try them out with each oil being 5-10 dollars cheaper.

Accountability

I have had several conversations this past week with different moms about health situations. Many layed blame upon Dr.'s for what they prescribed and how their child and/or their illness was treated. In the Autism world, we blame Dr.'s for the fact that THEY have given our child too many shots, too much antibiotics and no clue how to fix it. It is a cycle of blame but here is the problem; accountability. Who is accountable for these little children? Who is accountable for our health and our well being. It isn't these Dr.'s that we so quickly blame. It is OUR bodies, OUR children. WE are accountable and until WE get it, health care will never change. We wait until we are sick, then head straight to the DR. and demand an antibiotic. We want the quick fix. We don't want to research, prevent or ride it out. In turn, we are slowly destroying the amazing body that we have been given. Dr.'s are there for a purpose. If I was in a car accident, I would be most grateful for the Dr. who stitched me up. Likewise, I am eternally grateful for the wonderful Dr.s who have saved my blue, breathless asthmatic ; repaired broken arms, hands and stitched chins. But, if we continue the cycle of "treating our body badly, eating horribly, not an ounce of prevention then covering it up with an antibiotic", we will be the ones who suffer, not the Dr.s. The medical community is finally seeing the picture. They are understanding that the overuse of antibiotics and quick drugs are breeding a whole new world of superbugs. They are also causing the stomachs to be ruined and a whole myriad of conditions to arise. The problem is that they have so many moms in their office demanding these drugs that they give in. They know that this is a world of quick fixes. The truth is that most people don't want to know how to prevent something or heal it on their own. They don't want to do the work. The body is an amazing thing. It lets you know what it needs and their is an amazing amount of self help information out there at your finger tips if you spend a little time. If we don't do the work, the blame lies with us. I learned this early on in my mothering career with my first child who had chronic ear infections. After 8 straight months of ear infections with 8 straight months of antibiotics I knew that there was something that wasn't right about treatment. Not once was I asked why he was having this problem. No one tried to prevent or find a solution. It was only a paper prescription. It felt wrong and the last prescription was the last straw. I tore it up, went to the book store and within one week, my little child was healed and never had an ear infection again. I didn't have a medical degree. I was a mother and that was the only degree I needed. I could be inspired, I could be educated by information out there. I learned at that moment that the responsibility of the health of my children and myself was up to me; not the primary physician, but of the primary mom. My son is now almost 15 and he has never had antibiotics since. He has never needed them because I have learned that the body gives clues before it gets sick. The first tickle in the throat hits before the full blown strep. When treated immediately, it goes away before the epidemic hits. An ear infection or constant runny nose most often will indicate that there is an allergy going on. Constant headaches tell you that your body isn't getting something it needs or too much of something it doesn't. There is not a magic pill. It is hard work, it is worth it. The repercussions are illnesses that can be lifelong, illnesses that can be heartbreaking. I look at so many children I know with autism and know that it probably could be prevented. We cannot expect the Dr.s to be our health care director. WE are the ones accountable. It is time to stop laying blame solely with the Dr.s. It is time to be accountable. If not for ourselves, for our children. The first thing to do is concentrate on what we are putting into our bodies to begin with. You can't feel good if you fill up with junk. It isn't possible. Your children can't hold still if they live off of sugar cereals and fishy crackers. Ritalin isn't the cure. We need to take control, fix it from the ground up.

I know this is another one of my blog novels. That is my prerogative. I just have learned first hand that medicine many of the times is not the answer. Since I stopped seeing a primary care physician to be our medical directors, I have been the one to heal eczema, stop strep in its tracks, get a severely asthmatic child off of all medications, cure headaches without Tylenol, prevent colds and flu and decrease allergies. My Dr.s couldn't do this. They haven't been trained. It isn't their fault. It is how the medical schools teach. They are great at writing prescriptions if that is what you are into. They are great for trauma and disease when it has gotten out of hand. They shouldn't be the ones to go to first. They should be the ones you go to as last resort. We wonder why health care costs are out of control. It is our fault.

I love the quote from Benjamin Franklin, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Boy how I wish that I realized that before I had my first son. I would have saved him and myself 8 months of grief. Listen to your bodies. Feed them right. Clean them out. Take care of them today so you can be healthy tomorrow. It works.

FYI; I have 8 extra sets of liver cleanse coming in this week, a lavender, eucalyptus, defense and physical thera P for any takers. I have been doing this for a month and my allergies are down considerably and I feel great. My children have the same results. Such a cheap treatment!

Are we paying attention?

Growing up, my father always would comment that we had twenty years left and things were going to hit the fan. Well, twenty years came and went, we are on to the next twenty year time line and he is still saying it . As he says, "one day I will be right." There is wisdom in his words, however. Maybe it isn't 20 years, maybe it is 100, maybe it is 4. But, we should prepare like it is going to happen. If it never does, which is very unlikely, what are the repercussions? Food, savings, peace. I'll go with that.

Most of us are keenly aware of the situation in the world right now. It happened almost overnight it seemed, although it really was a work in progress. Many have been hit hard already, many just waiting to see how they will be affected. I think about this all the time. What are WE doing to prepare our homes, our families, our neighbors with the hard times that are to come? Are we the type to be the one thinking that if a hurricane came, we would just sit in our homes and hope that it would pass us by? Or, are we boarding up, preparing, getting ready so that IF the storm hits, we would be fortified.

My thoughts go in so many places on this topic and I really can't stop thinking about preparation these days. I think about our materialistic world, one in which I am present in and participate in. If you look at it from the outside, we have too much and waste too much. I was at the cabin last year working along side my grandpa Reid who is a child of the depression. I was using a rake, one which had to be from that era itself and the handle snapped. I told him that I would put it in the garbage and grab another one of the 20 plus rakes that he keeps around (he never throws anything away, another depression trait). He told me, "Don't throw it away, I will just put a new handle on it from a scrap I have laying around." I thought about the 20 plus rakes. I thought that surely we didn't need another one. Then, I thought about why he has so many. He values things. Our generation gets rid of something the minute it has a little scratch or problem. We are quick to replace instead of repair and reuse. I long for that society. The old saying "Eat it up, wear it out, use it up or do with out" should be back in style. The main reason our world is in such a mess is because we have shunned this saying altogether. We have spent more than we should, we waste food, money and think we need things that we don't. What have we been teaching our children? We want it all. We will now reap what we have sowed. There is hope. We can start now. We can teach our children what is important and correct our habits. We have started this in our family. We are watching what we spend even moreso and the children understand why. They get it. Our income may not be affected greatly now, but I am not going to wait. If you aren't the one affected now, great, but use that opportunity still to stock up, save and prepare because you can always then be in a position to help another in need. Besides, who knows if you will be spared. I think we are all to be touched by a little hardship.

It is overwhelming to think of where to start especially if you are in a financial hardship right now. But, it can be done little by little. First thing, start organizing your home so that you can find places to put extra supplies in. I junked out everything I could and even though I am the farthest thing from a pack rat, I still had several bags of donations to take out. I found extra space that shelves could be added. I created space I didn't think I had by eliminating things that I think I needed. This was all free. Next, start listing what you need to store. I love the website of Wendi Dewitt. You can check it out here. She breaks it down simply and tells you how to make a meal list and what to store. You can spend time learning how to can meats, fruits and saving for the equipment. There is another important thing we should be doing. Learning. Learning skills that we don't learn anymore. Learning to be resourceful. Do you know how to sew a hem? Cut bangs or little boys hair? Take care of a garden? Cook healthy meals on a budget?Make Bread? We need to get back to the basics and we need to create a network of friends who are willing to share their talents to teach these things if needed. This is all free. We can lean on each other more and utilize what we have here. Co oping with others who may have skills in areas that we need and offering up our services. My mother's ward had a neet program a few months back. They had a free rummage sale, so to speak. They had the members bring all items they wished to donate and made a store. They put up signs in different rooms for children's clothes, adults, household items, etc. People were then free to "shop" for what they needed for no cost. Consecration of goods. She lives in a nice area and thought this may be a bit of a pride issue for people. They got the hang of it and came out with some great things. We should be doing this type of thing in our communities. Helping each other out. Learning to be resourceful and share. Our society is out of practice.

This is a lot of rambling. But, I needed to get it off my chest. I read a very sober article last night. You can read it for yourself. It is from an interview with a man named Gerald Celente. He is a CEO of a trendsetter forecasting company who is famous for forecasting with accuracy the stock market crash of 87, the collapse of the soviet union and the current mortgage crisis. He is known as the modern day Nostradamus.I do not take this for prophecy but it is from a man who researches and gets it right. He gave this speech below on Fox news a few weeks back and even if he is only 1/4 right, it is scary. Take it for what you want, but at the very least, do something. No one was ever hurt by being prepared.

Gerald Celente
"The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions - all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.
Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events, which will send a chill down your spine considering what he told Fox News this week.
Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.
"We're going to see the end of the retail Christmas..we're going to see a fundamental shift take place..putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree," said Celente, adding that the situation would be "worse than the great depression".
"America's going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for," said Celente, noting that people's refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.
Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency
Crisis, the sub-prime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as "The Panic of 2008," adding that "giants (would) tumble to their deaths," which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent.
The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.

The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British
Ministry of Defense report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle lass, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, "The world's middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest," and that, "The middle classes could become a revolutionary class."
In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the
subject of revolution in America.
"There will be a revolution in this country," he said.
"It's not going to come yet, but it's going to come down the line and we're going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D. C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen."
"The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That's going
to be the big one because people can't afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You're going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop."
"It's going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before.
Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we're going to see many more."
"We're going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It's going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It's going to come as a shock and with it, there's going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people's minds weren't wrecked on all these modern drugs - over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody's comprehension."

The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente's accuracy as a trend forecaster.

"When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente."
- CNN Headline News

"A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties."
The Economist

"Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right."
- USA Today

"There's not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he's talking about."
CNBC

"Those who take their predictions seriously . consider the Trends Research Institute."
- The Wall Street Journal

"Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and
uncannily on the mark . he's one of the most accurate forecasters around."
-The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Mr. Celente tracks the world's social, economic and business trends for corporate clients."
- The New York Times

"Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority."
- 48 Hours, CBS News

"Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted
everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing."
- The Detroit News

"Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, 'green
marketing,' and the boom in gourmet coffees."
Chicago Tribune

"The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poors of
Popular Culture."
The Los Angeles Times

"If Nostradamus were alive today, he'd have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente."
New York Post

So there you have it - hardly a nut job conspiracy theorist
blowhard now is he? The price of not heeding his warnings will be far greater than the cost of preparing for the future now.
Storable food and gold are two good places to make a start."

My two cents (and Gerald's) for the day. Take something from it. Start somewhere today. I do not get discouraged by this information. I get motivated and I find peace in knowing that if I am prepared, I need not worry. I look forward to the opportunity we have to grow as a family in learning to become more resourceful and to value even more what we have been given. It is a lesson for all. Are we listening?

Canning Apple Pie Filling.....

I wish these were my cans of apple pie filling but mine are yet to be made. They are on the schedule of the "to be done". Apples are cheap right now if you can find the right deal and will be even cheaper soon. With Azure Standard you can get a 20 pound box of the tastiest Organic apples for under $20 bucks. Now is the time to can these delicious little treats. I have canned them plain, now I am going to can some apple pie filling. It is easy and tastes delicious. If you too are feeling adventurous and want to add a little sweet to your year supply, here is your recipe.

Apple Pie Filling

For seven Quarts:

6 Quarts fresh apples sliced 1/4 inch thick.(perfect size in the apple peeler)

5 1/2 C Sugar

1 T Cinnamon

1 t. nutmeg (opt)

2 1/2 C cold water

5 C. Apple Juice

3/4 C bottled lemon juice

3 C. Ultra Gel

Peel, core and slice apples; place in water containing ascorbic acid or fruit fresh. Blanch no more than 2 quarts at a time in boiling water for 1 minute and keep warm.

Combine sugar, spices , water, apple juice and lemon juice in large kettle. Add ultra Gel gradually with a wire whisk and stir until smooth. Cook until thick and bubbly. Fold in drained apple slices. Fill jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space.

Adjust lids and process immediately in water bath or steam canner for 35 minutes or per your canners instructions.

**Ultra Gel can be ordered online or purchased locally at Shar's Bosch Center in Gilbert. Also, if anyone has info on if this stuff is horrible for you , let me know. I know this is a corn byproduct and is better for you than cornstarch. I know any corn byproduct isn't great but either is sugar. I can't find out any more info so enlighten me if you can. Until then, I will use it sparingly when needed.

To all my spice girls....

For those of you with the spice of life, just a note. If you are sick, you can go full force with the spice of life. You can get veggie capsules at health food stores and put 3-5 drops of oil in one of them and take it up to 3 times a day. You can just put it in water also. Thanks for all of your emails regarding what results you have seen with these oils. I am glad you are loving them as much as I do. For those of you who wonder where the miracle is in these oils, remember, these are not always a quick fix. You are fixing your body from the ground up, not just covering up the symptoms. Patience.

Holiday Boutique...

Just in case you need something to do Thursday Night, this is at my SIL's house in Mesa. Wish I could be there!

Got Warts? Croup? Headaches?

I have been busy testing out oils for you all and I have a few new favorites. But first, if any of you would like a list of oil uses emailed to you, let me know. It is a couple hundred pages of symptoms so you can look up what oils you would want to try. They are great reference pages. You can go to the Forever Green link on the right to look up the oil price or email me. I can mail out of state also. Forever green also has some great packages right now to save on oils. I love the first aide kit that has 7 oils in it. It is a great starter and saves you almost $40. They have the Eucalyptus on back order right now but it should be in this week. Now, on to my new favorites.

Lemongrass

We have a few children with wart problems in my house. We see a dermatologist and can't seem to get rid of them. There are a couple different oils for warts, depending on the type of wart, but for the general raised wart, lemongrass is working for us. You want to put it on the wart 2 times a day and it is best if you put it on a cloth or gauze and cover it so it maintains saturation. I made the mistake of putting it on a band aid and covering it. The finger turned orange from the band aide. I would recommend a clear band aide or something else! I have even just been putting the oil directly on the wart and not covering it and they are still shrinking daily. I am sure this is a slower process but works for the lazy person. I am impressed, and... it smells great!

Exchange

I am sure many of you are up at night with little ones with croup, coughs or general congestion. It is the time of year. I also have a child with asthma so anything regarding the chest is an issue for us. I have decided to take my son off all asthma medication this year as it is very hard on the liver. However, since asthma has landed him in the hospital a good 4 times a year, this had to be a gradual process. It has taken me two years, but we just kicked the last of the meds and he is asthma free. He has been for two years. I owe it to liver cleanse, vitamin B, Spice of Life and exchange. You need to keep them healthy to begin with so if they do sink to the asthmatic level, they don't sink so low. Boost them up. Hopefully this eliminates the problem altogether but if they hit the low, exchange is a good blend for lung issues. You can also make a tea with peppermint, lemon, eucalyptus. One drop each. Add warm water, a little honey and sip. For the little croup kids, you can ever so tenderly go rub some exchange on their chests and throats when they are sleeping to help them open up. You can also use eucalyptus and even across the bridge of their noses. I hold my hand above their nose for a bit so they can inhale it. It works great. Infants can use this but weaken in a bit in some coconut oil.

Lavender

Lavender is a great calming oil. It has so many uses, one of the most versatile of them all. It is an antiseptic, calming oil to help with anxiety and depression, headaches and migraines, hypertension and earaches. Great for throat infections, bronchitis, asthma, sinus congestion and provides allergy relief. Helps stimulate production of gastric juices and aids in digestion. I love it for its calming effects. Put a few drops in a bath, rub some on the soles of the feet of the little colic child or toddler who needs to relax a bit. It will help the asthmatic calm down in an attack. It is great for headaches especially when mixed with peppermint and rubbed on the forehead and the back of the neck. It is a natural insect repellent and helps with bites and stings. It is a great oil to have on hand.


I am placing an order this week if anyone is interested to save on shipping. The cost is as follows:

Lemongrass $20
Exchange: $29
Lavender: $24
First aide kit: $110
(includes Lavender, peppermint, lemon, eucalyptus, tea tree, spice of life and fysical thera p)

I can order anytime if you want to order at a later date, just let me know. Check out the website and look at all the oils. Great stuff!