Plantain at the Picnic

Monday was the big kick off to the annual conference at the mission where My Beloved works (the same conference where my unfinished love story really began). This year they've made some big changes, shortened it up a bunch and added a HUGE picnic to the kick off. It was hot and it was humid, but it was a lot of fun!!

I was still on the "we'll see how I'm feeling and how hot it is" track when My Beloved left for work that morning. Maybe the kids and I were going to be there, maybe we weren't. My Beloved was working it all day. At 9:30 he called to say we should totally come... and that it started at 10... not 11:30. There were all sorts of those blow up activities (slide, bouncing room, etc.) I had already decided we were going to go, but this made it even more sure! And we were going to start getting ready now.

We wrapped up breakfast, used the potty, put on our shoes and mommy gathered all the necessities (sunscreen, etc.). We were in the car by ten after ten.

It was hot when we got there, and humid too. The cloudy sky had broken open to nice sunny (read: even hotter) weather so our first order of business was to apply that sunscreen. It wandered in several directions through the morning as others were blessed by my having it with us! Once the kids were slimed up, Daddy was there and ready to take them on the huge slide! (See pic at the top.)

Eventually Daddy had to take his shift at the golf carts, but the kids were all over. We had to have mandatory breaks when they sat in the shade with mommy (I stayed there and sent various teenagers to chase the kids) and drank water until their faces were a more normal color (other than bright red). They had a blast and I stayed mostly comfortable with my water in the shade.

Lunch time came (and the climax of our story today) and we found a shady spot away from all the blow up stuff. This made it easier for the kids to play in the shade for a while. While we were visiting, I heard crying just under the tent nearby. A quick glance and I was pretty sure someone (6-7 years old) had been stung. It was the same tent the "medical station" had been set up, so I looked around to see if anyone was helping. All I saw was the mom running to get some ice.



When we'd sat down, My Beloved and I noticed some plantain weed in the grass next to us. This was very exciting considering our recent lesson in identifying it. With the research I'd done Sunday evening, I knew that this was a great treatment for bee stings (among other things). All that needed to be done is to pick the leaves, chew them up, and apply the green goo to the sting. I picked 3-4 leaves off the nearby plant and jumped up (as any 38 week pregnant woman would "jump" up from a seated position on the ground in front of 600 people).

Now understand that this isn't MY child... so really, I wasn't going to chew the leaves and apply my spit to her sting... this was going to have to be the mom's job. And I know that not everyone is ready to just put an unknown-to-them plant in their mouth and start chewing, only to spit it on their already distressed daughter.

I tried to approach the scene delicately. I walked up, leaves in my hand, and started out... "You do not have to do this," I said patiently (what would I have thought in her shoes???), "but if you chew these leaves up and put them on the sting, it's supposed to draw out the poison and help the pain go away." (I even sounded crazy to me!) I'm sure she didn't quite know what to do with me. I reiterated that I wouldn't take it personally if she didn't want to try it. She said she'd try anything once, but didn't move to take the leaves. She kept applying the ice to the stings. I waited a moment and then added again, "Again, you don't have to do this, but if you want to try it, the sooner the better." She was starting to understand. And the little girl wasn't looking happy about my idea. The mom took it, chomped it in her mouth for a few seconds and then started to smear it on her daughter... who was now freaking out worse about the treatment than the actual stings.

I honestly don't know how it turned out. I left just after (my presence was distressing the girl... I was after all the crazy woman who convinced her mother to spit green goo on her) so I really don't know the outcome. She wasn't crying long after that, but I don't know if it's because the plantain weed worked... if it's because the trauma of the green goo had passed, or if the pain would have subsided that quickly anyway (I'd like to think it was the plantain.) It was just too perfectly timed (after our research and learning the night before) to be a coincident!

Now I just need to have the opportunity to use some of this new found knowledge on my family... if only to see first hand what the results are.

Anyone have experience with plantain weed???

_________________________________
Some info on Plantain Weed:

• Herb Lesson: Plantain
• Plantain
• Our Experience with Plantain
• Plantain: First Aid in your Backyard
  

Labels: As it happens..., Healthy Living

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:53 AM 0 Comments

Learning About Natural Remedies

For a while now I've been reading about and trying to learn about how to use herbs medicinally. Without a live teacher, it's not so easy. I do lots of reading, but without putting it to use, it's hard to really learn it. Sometime in the last year or so I stumbled on this video on Simply Kristen's Blog. I don't even remember what led me there, but I was fascinated at the thought that I could make something in my food processor that would take poison ivy rashes away. Though I've never had it, my husband is immuned (at least so far) and my children have never had it; we do have several friends from church who get it quite badly every year. I took down a mental note, but haven't had the opportunity to try it in all that time (much to the discomfort to those who have suffered from the itching, I'm sure!)

Sunday morning at church, we learned that one of the youth came home from camp with poison ivy on his arm (like he does every year). I was so excited (um... not for his discomfort, but for a chance to help). I know we have jewelweed (one of the two ingredients required) growing abundantly in our backyard, so I told them about the remedy and that I'd look at it again and see if we can find the other part.


Sunday evening, I did just that. I watched the video several more times, did some research on plaintain weed (the other ingredient) and set out to my back yard to find some. Nothing. Then the strip of ground across the street... nothing. Not willing to give up, I headed in to ask My Beloved to help me identify the things I needed. In less than a minute, he found some in the same place I'd already looked. And a lot of it. Then some more. I've since found it in the back yard and in the side yard (better looking than the ones we harvested). Ok... it's everywhere!



I brought it in and followed the instructions. Before long I had this goop all ready to be used. The poor kid is supposed to get it this evening and will hopefully use it according to the directions I sent. Theoretically it should be fading to gone in the next 24 to 48 hours.



I'm looking forward to hearing how my first test subject recovers. And wouldn't it be sooo cool if God's naturally provided remedy works as well or better than the steroids they were going to resort to if it's not gone by the end of the week! I'll let you know how it goes! (But... if I don't, someone remind me!... I have a track record for breaking such promises.) :)

View this podcast for more details on use and making!

Labels: Healthy Living, Mommy's Tool Box, Passing it On

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 2:44 PM 4 Comments

Caring for my family's teeth

I am not great at doing those things that need to be done everyday. I really never have been. You'd think I could get into a routine, build a habit and then it would just happen... automatically. Not so far. Or perhaps it's just that I've never been able to manage to get into the habit.

One of the worst to admit to is oral care. It's not that I hate taking care of my teeth, it's just that I don't think about it. And if I don't think about it... I don't do it. I know it should be a priority, but somehow, it's not.

It was easier when I worked outside the home... or at least had some place to be. I'd wake up and get ready... I'd note that I had unpleasant morning breath, so I'd brush. Even then, I've always been one to brush my teeth before eating breakfast. Seems silly I know, but if I wait I no longer have that yucky taste in my mouth telling me to brush. And then I'd leave the house without brushing. Yuck. Even I know that part!

As a stay at home mommy, I've found that there are many days that I never really do "get ready". Oh sure, I get dressed... eventually. Sometime after the kids are up and eating their breakfast I'll slink away to throw on something I wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen in if the landlord stopped by or the mail lady showed up (though I've been known to collect the mail in my bathrobe a time or two over the years). But as far as the actual brushing my teeth and hair part of getting ready... it's known (regularly) to fall by the wayside. I do have some plans for rectifying that situation in the near future, but in the mean time, oral care is getting missed.

I've never been so keenly reminded of this as I am today... sitting in the painful wake of a dentist visit! Ouch! Praise the Lord there are no cavities, but between my lack of care, my pregnancy hormones (which always make my mouth so much more sensitive) and a less than gentle hygienist, my mouth hurts! And, as always, I left the office determined to see change.

Sadly, this lack of care doesn't stop at me. And I am ever feeling guilty over the need to take better care of my children's teeth. The worst of it is that they love to brush! It's me that doesn't. Well, with a new month dawning, I've determined to get the better of this habit (with God's help). And I'm starting with a chart to help us keep track. This is what ours looks like... fun clipart and all!It is my hope that we'll see more boxes filled in at the end of April than are empty. Maybe I'll even get around to sharing the results with you! I'll hang this paper on the inside of the medicine cabinet door for us to keep track and then color in each box as we do them. Hopefully this will get the kids and I excited... Daddy too. He said he wanted to be on the chart with us. Maybe we can even have a special treat at the end if we see improvement.

Labels: Healthy Living, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 8:03 AM 0 Comments

WOW Toys... a self offered review!

Have I mentioned this car??? No? I can't believe that. I'm sure I took this faceless picture just for you.

I wanted to take moment to share it with you now with Christmas coming and all. Isn't it cute? I think so. The little person/girl/driver doesn't usually drive laying down, but apparently this was a rough day. She has a little doggie that sits in a dog bed in the back too.

I introduced myself to this company during my search for toys that did not contain toxic chemicals. I don't know about you, but omitting toxic chemicals in the toys meant for babies who will put them in their mouths just isn't enough for me. Sure, they take BPA out of baby bottles and pacifiers, and they omit phthaltates in toys for babies, but did your toddler (and pre-schooler) automatically stop putting things in their mouths when they outgrew the "safe" toys? I know mine didn't. Not to mention the fact that just because one of my children is almost three doesn't mean that my baby isn't going to crawl (or run now... she's so big) over and stick that thing right into her mouth.

WOW toys have been touted by other conciencous consumers as a great healthy substitute for Fischer-Price Little People. I don't know if you've every tried to find out what Fischer-Price puts into their toys, but when I tried I was refused numerous times. Most other companies were more than happy to help me keep my children safe, all Fischer-Price would say is that they meet government standards (that didn't impress me much!)

ZRecommends has given a great review of this particular line of toys, which I've found to be accurate and lots of fun! My littles love this car (our first) and person that comes with it. No batteries and no toxins! What more could a mom of littles want. Oh, and when you expand into others in the line you will find that there is quite a contrast in the types of activities the WOW toy characters are into (more outdoor things) than the Little People.

Take a look at the WOW Toys website. And enjoy... as much as we have!

Oh, and welcome to all of you visiting from Keeper of the Home's new forum!! I hope you'll enjoy your time here. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, head over here to check out a new forum on natural living, child raising and more!

Labels: As it happens..., Healthy Living, Passing it On

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 4:32 PM 0 Comments

Why we have chosen the healthy path

I'm guest posting over at Keeper of the Home today! Come on over and join me to learn about some of our motives for healthier living.

Labels: Healthy Living

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 10:56 AM 0 Comments

Our healthy living journey... part 3

Here are part 1 and part 2!

________________________________________

Refined sugars were next. As we have traveled this path for healthy living, we’ve met and fellowshipped with a number of people traveling the same road. Many are behind us, some have caught up faster than we could move, and others are still far ahead. They have helped in the understanding and decisions regarding refined sugars. Last fall we made the switch away from refined sugar. You see, we have long known that most artificial sugars weren't the best for us. Aspartame made me sick and gave My Beloved headaches for years. (Who knew there were more serious threats.) We had no idea, though, that plain old white sugar was a problem. Though the best bet is to remove most sugar from your diet, in our home it's just not practical. We've found that unrefined options are best. We've chosen Rapadura for most of our sugar use, and raw honey as often as we can.

Then January came, and with it a new shower head… one that filters chlorine. Now if only I could find a way to filter our bath spiget.

February brought with it a Berkey Water Filter to purify our drinking water, removing the chlorine and fluoride. (We had been previously been using a Brita.)

Spring brought the trial and error of homemade laundry soap (after switching to a natural brand around the time our first was born). I think Recipe 4 is close to the one we're using, though I can't remember exactly.

I know there are probably a handful of other little changes we’ve made which I’m forgetting, but I hope this has given you a little picture of how we got from where we were to where we are. I know there are a number of things looming in our future (hair and body care products, toothpaste, dishwashing soap, etc. for example), but each comes as a baby step with a lot of research, thought, and discussion. I generally think, think, think about the next step for a long while, figure out all the ramifications, research, shop around, and then plan a start time (like “when this bottle of shampoo is empty I’ll try the “no-poo” thing”.) It’s scary, but then, every other step was scary too, and now it’s just part of life!

Labels: Healthy Living

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:46 AM 2 Comments

Our healthy living journey... part 2

Find part 1 of this series here.
__________________________________


Late last summer I read an article online about plastics. Ugh! What now? Turns out, there are terrible chemicals in the things I let my babies chew on (eh, play with). BPA and PVC are found in many plastic toys as well as canned food products, and food packaging, as well as lots more. This one was huge. We spent some time deciding how we felt about this one. Were we going over the edge with this? Was this going a little far? We thought, we prayed, and we talked it over. These chemicals are known for causing a number of health problems, including infertility.

We decided to pull them. I researched toys and toy companies. I contacted manufacturers and asked questions. We learned which companies we could trust (Evenflo was frank about which plastics contained these chemicals and which weren’t, Fischer-Price made it clear that they are not to be trusted by refusing to answer our questions straight.) The next step was to get rid of the offending toys. We stopped buying canned food (BPA is used to make the plastic lining in most canned foods) as much as we could with plans to cut them out altogether as soon as possible.

The next step just sort of happened. We went organic. For many month we’d been telling people that we weren’t “organic”, but that we simply bought a number of organic items because that was the only way to find products without the ingredients we avoided. Then one day we were talking and it just made sense. If we are going to all the trouble and expense to do all this other stuff, why not just go all the way.

So, we started buying organic because it was organic… to avoid the pesticides. We buy organic produce when we can (and when we can afford it). We are deliberate about buying lettuce, tomatoes and apples organically because we can find them easily in our grocery store. When we have the opportunity to buy other things organic, we do. We trust the Lord for the rest of it.

In addition to the buying organic, we’ve grown a garden this year (our first and we love it!) This garden allows us to eat fresh, pesticide free produce and plenty to can for later (without BPA).

Labels: Healthy Living, In the Kitchen, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:38 AM 0 Comments

Our healthy living journey... part 1

So, awhile back I made a promise to share some of our "healthy" choices with you. Let's just pretend that wasn't way back in February! Ok? Though some of what I'm about to share was already touched on, I'm going to start at the beginning for a brief overview of the changes that have taken place in the last few years.

______________________________________________
Two and a half years ago, when my oldest was born, we took a little baby step that would prove to be a giant leap in the end. With his birth (why not before I don’t know, but stay with me here) we said good-bye to partially hydrogenated oils. Being sick through much of my pregnancy I had a lot of time to read. Friends of ours were the “healthy types” and I’d heard this and that about them. We knew enough about their food choices to be able to make a meal for them that wouldn’t compromise their convictions. Now that I had all this time for research, I dove in and started asking questions. I had a little one’s health to think about now, after all.

This wasn’t an easy decision to implement. Of course it’s easy enough to read labels and toss the bad stuff, but some of those things were well loved, and hard to replace. I’d grown up on Country Crock and cash register candy bars. Still, I was nursing, and once our kids were old enough to notice, we wanted them to be noticing good examples from their parents.

I kept reading. Not long after cutting PHOs (partially hydrogenated oils), we added MSG and high fructose corn syrup to the list of no-nos. This wasn’t a decision we entered into lightly, nor one we made overnight. We started to learn of the health effects, especially on children. We discussed and discussed and discussed, then finally made the decision to stop buying them.

We began buying whole wheat flour, then making our own bread. It’s funny really, but we never before used our bread machine because I don’t like the shape it makes the bread. Then I read the same thing from someone else online and how they use the bread machine on the dough cycle and bake the bread in a bread pan in the oven. What an Ah-ha moment that was for us. I’ve been making all (eh, except when I drop the ball and run out of time) our own bread, buns, and whatnot ever since.

Then Tammy and Crystal talked about their grain mills and I started dreaming of getting one for our family. I was pretty sure my husband was going to oppose this one as “over the top”, so I kept it to myself for a while. Then I started mentioning it. I was right… he didn’t jump on my band wagon. Over the next 4-5 months though, he started coming around… for his own reasons. Before long, he was ordering a Family Grain Mill with hand crank and bulk grain from a local natural food store. Now all the bread I was making was made from home ground flour. We loved it, and after a while, he even ordered the electric attachment so I wouldn’t have to hand crank everything (a huge time saver for a woman with a toddler and a newborn).

To be continued...

Labels: Healthy Living, In the Kitchen

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 1:24 PM 1 Comments

Our Garden: Starting Seedlings

This past week/weekend we started our garden. Realistically, we've been planning for months and months, so I guess you could say we started in the fall. But for the sake of keeping you all with me here, we started... we planted seeds. I mentioned that we are brand new at this! And so as I share with you the things we are doing, feel free to leave comments such as "you're doing WHAT?" or "You know, you're doing it wrong!" But leave them nicely... I'm pretty sensitive. And though I am always working on my fear of man issues, I haven't arrived yet, so I'm pretty sensitive. In fact, perhaps the two examples I gave are better examples of what NOT to say. :) I will still welcome any advice or ideas or encouragement though... I love comments!

Ok, there... now that I've said all that. Where was I? Oh yeah, gardening. We really are so excited to be starting our first EVER garden. And yes, we are a bit overzealous. But it's what we are doing... so we are ok with that.
We started Wednesday or Thursday of last week with these... our broccoli and Brussels sprouts. (I think you are looking at the broccoli, but I could totally be wrong about that.) We saved and save through the fall to collect and cut in half all our milk containers so that we could use them. Then we actually did... and we've decided not to use the rest of them... just not as great as they were supposed to be. I'm sure we'll still use the tops later... maybe... for something else. Otherwise, we'll just get rid of them.

Saturday we went to the gardening store and found this actual plant starter thing. It holds 36 little baby plants. We got two of them, but only 27ish plants needed to be started over this last weekend, so we only have the one out so far.

(Just an aside: The green plant with pink around it is the flowerless daisy plant My Beloved brought home for me a couple weeks ago. It just happens to be in the picture. But I thought it added nice color.)

Have you ever tried soaking your seeds before? I'd never even heard of it until I read this book (the whole gardening strategy we are following this year!) So we got out all these little cups (sippy cups to the rescue!) to soak our seeds over night. the Oregano, Marjoram and Thyme had such little seeds that we just put them in the dirt right away.

Did I mention that we are planning to grow 7 different varieties of tomato? It's true. We want to be able to can a lot of them in salsa, tomato soup, diced, etc. It's my way around the BPA in canned foods from the store. Make your own. :)

Here is the overall list of what we have started so far... in alphabetical order if I can:

Basil
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cayenne Pepper
Cumin
Jalapeno Pepper
Marjoram
Oregano
Tomato, Amish Paste (supposedly great for canning)
Tomato, Besser
Tomato, Big Red
Tomato, German Pink (also good for canning)
Tomato, Old Virginia
Tomato, Porter (another for canning)
Tomato, San Marzano
Thyme

I think that's it for now. We plan to do another grouping of starter seeds inside this weekend. My Beloved will also be clearing a flat spot of ground out behind the house and building our raised boxes this weekend. Turns out our source of soil won't be ready until the following weekend, but I'm pretty sure the work he has for this weekend will take all his time anyway. I'll try to get some pictures!

Blessed gardening!

Labels: Healthy Living, In our garden

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 2:39 PM 0 Comments

Our garden: why

In yet another effort at healthy/natural living, My Beloved and I are attempting our first garden. I don't think anyone will disagree with the fact that fresh produce is best! Best in regards to taste and in regards to nutritional density! It's just best.

Planting a garden is also the way to go in today's economy. While in the past several years we've been wanting to start a garden to help live more frugally, this year we've decided that it may become necessary. I haven't delved into the economy and the state of the world (present and future) too much here on my blog, but don't think that means it isn't something we are discussing and preparing for in real life. This may be a topic that we begin exploring here down the road, but for now, suffice it to say that if food is going to get expensive (and by that I mean too expensive), then we want to have our own supply.

Back to the healthy side of things: In the grocery stores, we have begun changing the things we shop for, and by that I mean we are buying more and more organics, especially where produce is concerned... this is expensive, but to avoid the pesticides etc, it is much better.

There is another reason we are growing (hopefully) our garden this year... BPA. (You can read what Wikipedia has to say about it here. Info about BPA in canned foods is here.) Yep, almost all your canned foods and soda's are lined with plastic containing BPA, a toxic chemical linked to cancer, infertility, birth defects and more! We've recently removed as much BPA from our home as we can figure. But the last item on the list is canned foods (I know, that probably should have been first.) It's hard to get rid of canned fruits and veggies... especially in the winter. We've reduced to almost never using them, but our garden is another step to being independent of canned foods. We are hoping to grow enough to eat and can our own (in glass mason jars). We'll see how that goes.

Let me say this... we are true novices. Neither of us have ever gardened before (at least not successfully!) And we are a bit ambitious (our plans are bigger than the average beginner's should be). And I plan to share it all with you. Success or failure. Now may be the time to add that, not only have we never done this before, but we don't have the greatest set up for a garden... not great light anyway. But we press on... and hope the Lord will multiply our light. Oh, and we haven't exactly cleared it with our landlord yet. And since we are hoping to put it in the front yard (our "backyard" is somewhat non-existent) and he lives next door... we really feel the need to clear it with him first.

I'll be back with pictures and stories from this years garden experience! :)


Any one else plunging into spring with garden plans? Or seeds sprouting in their kitchens? Or anything else?

Labels: As God Provides, As it happens..., Healthy Living, In the Kitchen

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 4:01 PM 3 Comments

Heading toward healthy

I mentioned a while back that we've made some changes in our lifestyle for the healthier. I suppose you could say this is an understatement. With every new change and piece of research, something new turns up that needs to be researched and, usually, implemented into our lifestyle. More and more organic foods have entered our diets and more and more plastic toys have left our home. We've learned so much and implemented so much in such a short period of time that it's hard to look back and share it with you in bite sized pieces... but that is exactly what I want to do.

While I am in no way the type to judge you for the decisions you make, we are becoming extremely passionate about the things we have been learning and want to make some if the information available to you... hopefully without scaring you off.

Know that while we are going the healthy route... we are not die hard. If we were, the occasional sour cream donuts wouldn't wander home with My Beloved for our movie snack or every bite of the Dunkin Hines cake friends made wouldn't be savored. I guess you could say we figure that if the majority of what we eat is healthy, the once and a while "poison" won't hurt as bad. Or maybe we'll get really disciplined one of these days. I'll let you know.

I say all these things today as more of an accountability tool for myself. I want to start pulling this info together for you... and now that I've said that, maybe I'll actually do it. In the mean time... is there anything in particular you do to make your family a little bit healthier??? Or are you making plans to "miss" my posts on this topic? I'd love to know where my readers stand. :)

Labels: Healthy Living, Home Making, In the Kitchen

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 2:45 PM 3 Comments