The days of...cold!

Yes, the weather is getting colder, but tis the season for other sorts of colds and "bugs" in general! With three small children, I should be dreading it, but I have been expanding my knowledge on herbal remedies and feel fairly confident in tackling what comes our way! Apothecary here I come!!!

Just tonight I made my very first Glycerite. If you've ever bought a little dark bottle of "Echinacea" or "Immune Support" that has a little dropper and is a little syrupy, THAT is a glycerite. It's where you use glycerine to extract the healing properties out of herbs. It's highly concentrated so you only need a little, but it's also sweet, so it's pleasant for children. My very first recipe is a great multifunction formula that can be used for just about any minor illness. It contains, Elderflower, Yarrow and Peppermint! I was a little intimidated in trying it out, but after extensive reading and finally making it to our herb store I jumped right in...and now I think I'm hooked! It was far easier than I'd imagined and the savings is pretty substantial. (less than $1/oz compared to $5/oz)

I'm already planning my next formula...I really do believe in being my families primary health provider and now I'm beginning to feel like I actually have the adequate tools to do it with confidence!!!

If you're interested in the recipe's let me know...or check out "The ABC Herbal". It is a VERY simple but sufficient guide to taking care of childhood illnesses. I even gave Benjamin an enema (per instruction from the book-I had to read ALOT about it before I was brave enough) the other night due to a fever and he immediately broke a sweat and cooled down. We may even get a chance to treat chickenpox sometime soon...and "Yes, I'm excited!!!"

Mexico Wedding/Vacation

We went on our very first official family vacation and it was a great success! However, I'll say so right now I totally failed in the picture department. I've decided it must just be one more thing to carry around...and possibly lose, so thus we can back from our wonderful vacation with a grand total of about 10 pictures. Yikes. (We do have one video of our hike through the redwoods though-that's something!)

So, one week before leaving Kiely was sent off to Kentucky for work...scheduled to return the day of our departure. I was able to get everything packed up and ready to go so we just picked him up from the airport on our way down. A few of our major stops along the way...

Aunt Eowyn's in Eugene-we stayed the night and had a blast visiting with her, Korinne and Kaj (Eowyn's man : ) Kiely's sister runs a daycare so her house was a huge playhouse for the boys..plus, she has a culinary degree so eating is always super yummy!

Next stop-Eureka, California. We camped at the local KOA, took until about 12 to eat breakfast and clean up both days. However, Eureka had a great little zoo we took the kids to and then a great redwood park. Then...

San Fransisco- Kiely and I have a friend from highschool and his wife that live there (Nick and Megan). They let us stay the night and we went out to Chevy's Fresh Mex with the kids and then ice-cream. Yum-yum.

We then drove from San Fransisco straight to San Diego- We met up with the rest of the wedding party and so it began. Picking up tuxes, getting nails painted etc. The guys went into Mexico that night (Wednesday) for bachelor festivities, and we ladies followed the next morning. We spent the most of Thursday lounging by the pools and enjoying the gorgeous resort...then Friday-Wedding day!!!

Lot's of decorating, running around, fussing and getting ready. It was great. The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and we had a blast. Lots of fun and dancing! I'll get a hold of pics and share them....when I get a chance : )

Saturday morning-we went out to breakfast with 5 of my siblings in Rosorito (Peter, Daniel, Maria, Leah and Micah) After breakfast we headed back for the border and safely got back to the states. From there we headed North and really only stopped for food/potty breaks. One or two park stops and lots of driving. We got home around 6am on Monday. We all went straight to bed and amazingly the kids even slept until 9am. We still had a lot of sleep catch up over the next few days...but it was all worth it! We had a great vacation!!!!