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!!!!

Birthday Boy!!!

My handsome little Gabriel turned two on the 31st!!!
He is such a sweetheart, and we celebrated his birthday last Thursday at Grandpa and Grandma Bondurants! Gabriel was my easiest birth and made adding the second addition a pretty easy transition. (Thank you Gabe) He's always been a little on the chubbier side (which I love) and all around sweet. He started talking around 16months...sentence talking, and he is absolutely adorable to listen to these days. He is a big fan of his brother Justus and is constantly mimicking him and trying to keep up. However, he also has his own little niche's. First, he is left handed, even with things we didn't show him how to do, like swinging a golf club. He is definitely my biggest eater and very interested in helping me cook. He likes to stand with me and will repeat what I say, "Oh, we put onions in the pan now!" "Okay mom, I cut up this apple" It's great! Even though he has an agreeable disposition, he is Mr. Curios, but on the clumsy side, so we've sacrificed a lot of dishes and other breakable objects to his curiosity and adventure seeking (ahhh, what's a few broken plates and glasses). He has the most similarities to my baby pictures, except that he has stiff straight hair (Kiely and I are both curly-go figure) So, Happy Birthday to my chubby boy!

Yippee for birthdays...and family...and fun!
Gabriel got his very own apple red tricycle and after trying it out for a few minutes asked Justus to take a ride on the back (Sooo sweet!) He's still practicing riding it...he's not quite as suave as Justus with the pedaling, but he's picking it up. There are also some pics of grandma Shary and Peggy...grandpa Larry with Benjamin...and my oh-so-handsome man!

Also, we went to our first soccer game of the season today. Kiely is helping coach the highschool boys team, so we came out to show our love! Here are the boys playin'! I love it!

p.s. I have been pondering the subject of "simplifying" lately, so stay tuned for my next post and my newest thoughts on managing a busy household... : ) Much love

Heaven Help!!!

We had quite an adventure this last Sunday morning...
It all started Saturday evening when we drank the last of the milk! Honestly, somewhat of a crisis in the Bondurant family. However, we were either too tired to go to the store, forgot, or just didn't hardly think about it, so when we awoke Sunday morning, there was no milk!

Now, I'm okay to go a meal or two without milk, but Justus is not quite so content under such circumstances, so about every 10 or so minutes he would ask, "Mawwwwwwm, Will you go to the store and buy milk?" After about the 30th time, while sitting on the couch nursing Benjamin, I jokingly ask him why he didn't want to go to the store and buy milk? He thought about it, and then told me that he couldn't get the keys, put them in the car and drive to the store without me. "Bummer" I said and thought maybe that was that! Unfortunately not!

A few minutes later he heads out the front door with Gabriel faithfully in toe. Assuming they were just going out to play or perhaps get in the car, I didn't bother to ask what they were up to...but with the thought in the back of my mind that maybe he would try to go to the store (Which is within walking distance of our house). So, after not hearing them for a minute or two I finished feeding Benjamin and headed out the front door. I ran down our driveway and to the next block so I could see all the way down the hill and there was no sight of them. Hoping that they had gone the other way (Up the hill to our neighbors house), I ran back up to see if Kiely had found them. When I found out he didn't, I jumped into our car and headed farther down the hill, praying and getting more frantic as I thought about them getting down to the highway...where we had walked just the night before (With no lights or crosswalks....just fast cars).

As I turned down the last block before the highway, I heard Justus yell, "Hey Daddy! (I was driving Kiely's car). Not seeing him right away I thought maybe I was hearing things until I spotted him in my rear view. Just as I wanted to turn around another car came up the road and was heading for the intersection Justus was running across. Knowing the other car had a "Right Turn Permitted Without Stopping" sign, my heart just about froze in the split second I had to turn the car around and find my horn, so hopefully the other driver would slow down or know something was up. And sure enough. Justus was already standing in the road about 10 feet from my car, and Gabriel was in the middle of the crosswalk, carrying a ball and headed towards me. The other car stopped!

I didn't even know where to begin and was thoroughly shook up from every other thought that crossed my mind in those few minutes. After hugging them and puting the boys in the car...Justus, sadly says, "I just wanted to go to the store to buy milk!"

Ahhhhhh! And, Lord, I just want my boys to be safe. I know I can't protect or shelter them from everything, but how my heart aches to think of something happening to one of my precious little men.

Catch up Pics

I don't post pictures nearly as much as I'd like, so I thought, while I have the chance, here are some pics from our everyday life...which, in my opinion, is best!

Our Cute little house

Mommy and Gabriel sharing a PB&J

(p.s. I completely whacked off my hair...and I love it!)

My two men "laughing" and "playing" on the top bunk
Gabriel just being Gabriel---Too Cute
Benjamin's very first High Chair experience...along with

some elephant chowing (p.s. he is now 27.5" and 17lbs)

Growing so Big!!!

Parties, Diapers, Laughs...and more

Oy! It really has been a whole month since I posted last...how the time flies, and how little seems to get "done". Aaahhh, but I'm learning to enjoy it and not fret so much about dirty floors, un-made beds and misplaced couch pillows (honestly-big pet peeve for me...but I'm letting go).

However, we have truly been having quite a bit of fun lately. To start if off, we had a Wonderful 4th of July Weekend. Two Couples from Portland and their kiddos came for the weekend. Kiely golfed, we barbequed, sat around the fire, rode the trolley, went to the Jetty and Battery Russel, roasted marshmallows and did a whole lot of laughing! Oh, and we watched the fire works from our front lawn! Glorious! Unfortunately, I was so busy having fun that I didn't take any pictures to post on my blog : ( Maybe next time

Also, the last few weeks we were blessed to have my niece some stay with us and help out while earning money for her Mexico trip. She did everything from cleaning up dinner dishes, to gettting the kids dressed and taking them to the park to the all-time favorite babysitting so Kiely and I could have a night out! Then, when my sister came to pick her up we happened upon a local rummage sale where I bought a whole bag of 100% wool sweaters and skirts for a grand total of $2. Now, why would I want a bunch of wool you ask???

Cloth Diapers! That's right, I am completely old school. Right now though, I supplement with disposibles because the covers I use are slightly less than ideal, especially for overnight or longer outings! However, I'm hoping the wool will help me go completely cloth! So, why wool! It so happens that wool is a natural insulator- i.e. It keeps you warm when it's cold, but also keeps you cool when it is warm! Fantastik! The other great thing is that wool is waterproof when lanolized! That just means that it has the natural oils (lanolin) that are found in wool. Viola! A perfect candidate for a diaper cover. Waterproof. Breathable. Cheap. Natural! I love it! However, I am in the process of felting (or rather shrinking) my wool and still have to sew the covers up. I'll probably post all about it once I have another grand spare moment!

Last, but not least, some of my favorite moments from the last few days!

Justus is laying on the floor head tilted, looking at Benjamin (also on the floor), when he says, "Benjamin-You daddy! Yeah-You daddy! Why you look like daddy Benjamin! (more a statement than a question: )

Also, while standing in his chair at the breakfast table and quite noticeably grunting and working to fill his diaper. Red face and all, Gabriel pauses looks up at me and completely innocently says, "I not pooping!" Yeah-right!!!!

Lastly-which was very near a disaster, but was a laughable moment instead. The other night after finishing a gallon of milk at the dinner table we decided to show the boys how to lightly twist the cap on and then smash the jug so the cap went flying! Perfect entertainment for boys. Kiely, then kept blowing if back up so the fun continued....Well, fast-forward to the next day. I run down to the basement to switch a load of laundry and when I come back up, they boys have a gallon of milk sitting on the floor, taking turns jumping on it! However, it was not empty, but 3/4 of the way full. Luckily the cap was on tight enough and we didn't have a milk flood all over the dining room, Phew!

Where we've been

We have had a busy last few months...moving, setting up our house, re-arranging, re-arranging some more, trips to Portland and Corvallis, and most recently, Justus' third Birthday!!! At one end I can't believe he's 3, and on the other side, I am amazed at how much has changed since then. So, here's to hoping for a little "down time" the next few years (i.e. no major life events such as new jobs or new towns or new babies : )

In the mean time, here our a few pics of our most recent days... Bejamin...growing like crazy, Justus being a good big brother and showing off his new Radio Flyer trike ($25 at a resale shop), Gabriel charming his way through life...and the view from our house. AAaaaaah Astoria!!!