Posted in Affordable Mineral Makeup
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For anyone out there interested in Affordable Mineral Makeup, here is an incentive for giving it a try! Celebrate Earth Day, April 22nd with 15% off at Affordable Mineral Makeup. Put the word earthday2008 in the coupon section to take off your 15%. You must also put in the comments section one thing you'll make an effort to do to help the environment. Have an awesome day! Blessings, Carol
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Posted in A Day in My Life
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I am now officially HOME! After much prayer, I felt it was time for me to quit my job at the daycare, and I have been home now for a couple of weeks. It feels so good to be home with my kids! This will be a short post because it is now time to run to piano lessons, but I did want to mention that the herbal treatment for lice works great!!!! Have a blessed day,
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CarolPosted in Make Your Own
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I found this from www.welltellme.com: 40 drops Bergamot essential oil 20 drops Lavendar essential oil 20 drops Tea Tree essential oil 1/2 cup carrier oil (I used olive oil) Mix together, drizzle over hair and work it in. Wrap head in plastic and leave on a minimum of 1 hour or overnight. Comb through with a lice comb, and then wash hair. Do this twice a day for two or three days. My sweet little niece has battled lice for over six months now. My b-i-l has tried the regular over-the-counter treatment over and over, but they still come back. We caught them from her a few months ago, and now Luke has caught them again. My head has been itching, too, although I haven't found any on me. Last time we found a wonderful herbal shampoo, Therapeutic Treatment Shampoo from Dessert Essence, that worked really well, but this time I thought I would try something else along with the shampoo. I will not be able to do this twice a day, so we will just do it once a day for four days, which is what you are supposed to do with the shampoo. It smells really great! I'll let you know how it works.
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Posted in This and That
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Please be in prayer for the people of the little town of Clinton, Arkansas. This is the place my parents are from, and where I spent time each summer as I was growing up. It has been devastated by the tornado that came through on Tuesday. My relatives that are still there were not harmed, but my cousin's ex-son-in-law was killed while at work at the boat factory. Here is a video where you can see the effects of the tornado: http://thecabin.net/. So sad. |
Posted in Homesteading
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Reading Maa's Mom entry tonight reminded me of a site that I had heard of quite a while back. I always thought we would have moved by now so I never followed through with it, but it sounds like a great deal. Here is the blurb from the main page: WELCOME
Every year millions of unsold, high-quality, nursery plants are destroyed.
Sheltered workshops all over the Nation can provide jobs. The problem is to find enough work to keep the doors open.
We find unsold plants, have those workshops package them and... The Plants are YOURS FREE! You pay only processing and shipping Reserve your FREE Plants Now! So apparently all you have to do is pay for shipping and processing, which I believe is a very modest fee of $7.95. Like I said, I have never done this, so I cannot guarantee how healthy the plants and trees are, but $7.95 is not a big risk! Here's the link: http://www.freetreesandplants.com/index.html Also, I just found out that if you join the Arbor Day Foundation for just $10, they will send you your choice of 10 free trees that are right for your zone. Not a bad deal at all! Here's that link: Hope this helps someone. Thanks for stopping by! Blessings, Carol
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Posted in This and That
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Well, it seems that while I was offline a few months ago, I was tagged by none other than Randy, aka Scarecrow. Here are the rules: Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog. So, although it has been quite a while since I was tagged, here goes: 1. I am only 5 feet tall. 2. For as far back as I can remember, I have ALWAYS wanted to live in the country - just haven't realized my dream yet. 3. I always get chocolate covered cherries in my stocking at Christmas. 4. I am allergic to bananas and avocados. 5. I have always lived in Texas. 6. I have three surviving children, and seven in heaven. 7. I love learning about anything pertaining to homesteading. Now, instead of tagging others, I'll just say. . . "If you read this, consider yourself tagged!" If you decide to do this, please leave me a message and let me know! Thanks for stopping by! Carol
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Posted in A Day in My Life
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It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since I first started blogging here at Homesteadblogger! It's also hard to believe that my oldest daughter, Shera, turned 15 today. Where has the time gone? Today she wanted to spend some time with just her daddy and me, so we went to her choice of restaurant - Steak and Ale - for lunch, and then dropped Keith off at home while she and I went shopping. We went first to Kohl's where she bought two tops and then to Target for a couple of t-shirts. We will be having her birthday party next week with my family. She is saving up for a laptop so all she wants is money. Here's a picture of the two of us on her birthday.
You can see how much she has matured by comparing our pic from last year. Speaking of laptops, my daughter Hannah has saved for quite a while to get one - and she accomplished her goal this year. In fact, she got it today. It is a refurbished one that we were able to buy from my nephew's company. They sell them at a discounted price, plus he got another discount, so she was able to get an IBM Thinkpad for only $270. She saved so much that she was able to buy herself a digital camera and still have some left over! Luke would like one, too, but we'll have to wait and see about that.
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Posted in This and That
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You may have already heard this, but this is just so awesome, it's worth repeating. A 13 year old boy from a ranch in Nebraska called a Christian radio station distraught from having to take down a calf. Listen to what the Lord taught him: (Sorry, I don't know how to embed the video or I would have done it!) Blessings, |
Posted in This and That
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Please be praying for this precious little guy and his parents:
http://www.prayforcoy.blogspot.com/
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Posted in A Day in My Life
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It has been quite a while since I posted last, and so much has happened that I really don't know where to start. I'm at home today nursing a cold and not feeling very well at all. Two weeks ago I had a stomach virus. One of the perks of working in a day care, I guess! We have temporarily moved in (for the most part) with my mom, so I don't get access to the computer very much. We usually come back home for the weekends, but the kids usually beat me to the computer! A month ago, my dh had surgery for an umbilical hernia, and needed a recliner to sleep in while he healed. We don't have one, but Mom does, so we stayed with her. A few days before the surgery, Mom fell at home in the bathroom in the middle of the night and gashed her head. She had to have 3 staples. What is scary is that she is on a blood thinner, so had she blacked out, she could've bled to death. She's very tough, though, got up, got the bleeding stopped, and then called me to take her to the hospital. While my kids had happened to be there spending the night, they slept through it all. It concerns me now to leave her alone, though she doesn't know that. She is 79 years old, doesn't usually fall, but got up to use the bathroom in the dark so it wouldn't disturb the kids. The darkness and being half asleep was not a good combination. Anyway, we have continued to stay with her during the week. This helps me out as well because I don't have to worry about cooking supper when I get home at night. I am also working on decluttering my own home, so it helps to be able to come over in the mornings and work a while with one of my daughters without having everything undone so quickly! I'm still working at our church's day care, and while I love my job, I am SO ready to be back at home full time. I miss being with my kids - it's homeschool, eat, leave for work, come home, eat, and go to bed. I haven't been able to spend very much time with them, and then I'm so stressed trying to get "school" done that I'm not always very nice in the time that we do have. Another prayer request I have is for one of the mothers whose babies I have in my class. She is a foster mom, and had just started the process of adopting one of the babies, Alex, when he contracted pneumonia and died. He was 7 months old, but had been about 3 months premature. His little organs couldn't take the stress of pneumonia. She is, of course, deeply grieving right now. The other foster baby was taken away for a while during the investigation since he died unexpectedly at home, but is back with her now. She desperately wants to adopt this precious little girl as well. It is so good to be back here - even if it was while I was sick! I have so missed reading everyone's blogs. Hopefully it won't be so long before I can post again. Blessings, |
But dh's work has not picked up, and it looks like I'll be there for a while longer. Please be praying that by the first of the year they will get more work so I can come home!Posted in This and That
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I received this in my inbox and thought I'd pass it along . . . THIS IS TRUE....PASS TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE WITH CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN OR KNOW SOMEONE WITH CHILDREN....in other words, EVERYONE YOU KNOW |
Posted in This and That
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As many of you already know, I am really big into natural type things - eating whole, organic foods; using herbs and essential oils; and so on. One thing that has bothered me was the world of makeup. Our skin is our biggest organ, and what we put on our bodies is just as important as what we put in it. Most makeup has a lot of really bad stuff in it. You can go to Skin Deep, type in your brand of cosmetics, and it will tell you what the ingredients are and what harm they can cause you. Also, if you visit www.mercola.com and type in cosmetics, you will find a lot of articles on the dangers many wearers of cosmetics face. My daughter and I have tried some new makeup and really love it. It is called Affordable Mineral Makeup. I actually had tried a different brand of mineral makeup before but just wasn't impressed (with the results AND the price!). This, however, looks so natural and is really inexpensive compared to other brands. Also, there are only four ingredients in this makeup: zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, mica, and iron oxides; all natural ingredients from the earth. There are no fillers such as cornstarch or bismuth, no chemicals, parabens, petroleum, oils, or dyes, and no preservatives. My 14 year old daughter is just now getting interested in makeup, and I wanted to find something simple, pure and natural for her; something I felt good about letting her (and myself) put on. Anyway, since we loved it so much, I have decided to become a consultant, and now have my own website. The wonderful thing about this company is that you can purchase samples of the makeup to see if you like it and to figure out what shade looks best on you, before you buy a container of it and find that it doesn't suit you at all. In fact, that's what I did the first time I tried it - just purchased different samples and tried them out. I hope you check it out for yourself - if not my makeup, at least check your own out and make sure you are not adding unnecessary risks to your health! Blessings, |
Posted in This and That
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Posted in A Day in My Life
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The kids and I have taken the week off from the computer, aside from some research. We are still trying to settle into some kind of routine for school in the mornings to be finished before I leave for work in the afternoons. We finally started doing some school in the evenings before bed and that seems to help. I know it will take some time but we'll get there! I really love my job ( I'm working in the infant room at our church's Child Development Center) but I really miss being here with my kids in the afternoons. Hopefully we can get some bills taken care of soon and I can come back home. Meanwhile, it has been a good experience for the kids. They may not realize it, but they are learning responsibility, independence, and how to take care of conflict (among themselves!) while Mama's not here. I honestly never wanted to go back to work while I had kids at home, but I guess there's a season for everything. It was a great surprise to log in tonight and see that Maa is back! Yay! I so love their posts and have really missed them! We still have not got a new car yet. We're hoping maybe tomorrow we'll be able to go looking. In the meantime, we have been checking out cars at cars.com. That's a great place to look without having to leave your house until you find something. But some good news - Keith's truck was found and our baby bed was still in it! Almost all of his tools were taken, as was Hannah's Game Boy, but the baby bed was still in it, unharmed. Praise the Lord! Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend! Blessings,
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Posted in A Day in My Life
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Now we have two teenagers in the house - yikes! Well, gotta go get these guys off to bed. We're starting school (finally!) tomorrow and I need them to get off to an early start. It's going to be quite different this year with me working part-time. My goal is to be completely finished each day before I leave except for any independent work they may need to do. We'll see how it goes! Blessings,
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Today my sweet Hannah Rose (Posted in This and That
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My sweet daughter sent me this video from Godtube.com. It's an amazing reminder of just how much Jesus loves us. Enjoy! www.godtube.com/view_video.php (P.S. I tried to embed the video, but couldn't get it to work. If anyone knows how to do this, I sure would appreciate any help!) |
Posted in A Day in My Life
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Thanks to everyone who prayed for me this week. I have been diagnosed with kidney stones in both kidneys. This didn't really surprise me because I am so BAD about drinking water, or anything really. I have to consciously make the effort to drink throughout the day because I just don't think about it. In another way it was a surprise because I really should have been in much more pain than I was. My dh and brother have had kidney stones and are in tremendous pain with them. My back never hurt at all like Keith's does; however, my brother's never hurt him. Except for the soreness in my side and the big huge pain that I had on Monday morning that caused me to nearly faint, I really haven't been in that much pain. Praise the Lord! Needless to say, I have been drinking A LOT. I have done some research and this is what I am doing to try to dissolve and/or pass them: 1.) I am taking two Hydrangea Root capsules and Marshmallow Root capsules twice a day. I may up the Marshmallow Root to three times a day. Hydrangea Root is known to dissolve stones and Marshmallow Root is mucilaginous and soothes and softens tissues, helping with inflammation and easing the stones out. 2.) I am doing a three day apple juice/steam distilled water fast. You can drink up to one gallon of organic unsweetened apple juice a day and up to a gallon of steam distilled water. However, my little body could never take that much and I am not going to push it to! So, I have been drinking two quarts of apple juice and two quarts of distilled water throughout the day. Believe me, this is not easy! I do well on a good day to drink one quart of anything! Yesterday was my second day of the fast and I felt that I just had to have something to eat, so I have been eating watermelon throughout the day. Watermelon, as you know, has a high concentration of water in it, so it is a natural diuretic. 3.) Tonight will be the hardest thing to do, I think. When it is time for bed, I am going to drink 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Gag! As you can see, I have done a lot of research. I believe strongly that everyone should be in charge of his/her own health. I'm obviously not perfect, otherwise I wouldn't be having kidney stone problems, but it is very important to me that I try natural remedies. I believe with all my heart that our amazing God has provided us the answers to all our problems through nature. It's just a matter of learning (and lots of prayer!) what we need to do to take charge of what ails us. I still plan on making an appointment with an urologist sometime to make sure I am on the right track and that my body is making the right responses. Please don't get me wrong; doctors are wonderful, but they are not God! If you are having any kind of health related issues, pray for direction and research your problem. That is one reason I absolutely love the internet - there is so much information right at your fingertips. I honestly believe that there is a reason for every health issue out there, and it is up to us to find out what we need to do to correct it. God bless!
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Posted in A Day in My Life
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The truck was never found, so we got the insurance money for it. The problem is that the truck was good; what we really need was a new van for me to drive. Ours is 12 years old and about had it. So, Keith is thinking we will probably go ahead and get me a used vehicle and he will use the van for his work truck for a while or until it dies completely on us, lol. We are thinking about either an Expedition or a Freestar van. Any Last Friday I started working part time at our church's CDC. I have worked there on and off through the years, but it has been a LONG time since I've done any kind of work, so it'll be an adjustment. I wanted to be able to still homeschool in the mornings and work some in the afternoons so I can help Keith pay off some bills. However, now it looks like I'll be adding TO those bills. Saturday morning I started having some pain in my lower right abdomen and has continued through today. It's not a constant pain, but hurts when I take a deep breath or change positions. It's sore to the touch, too. This morning I had an extreme pain that went from my right side and spread to the middle. It made me feel sick to my stomach and I thought I was going to pass out. I went to the doctor this afternoon and they think it is either an ovarian cyst (which I've had before but never had any pain with it) or appendicitis. So I go tomorrow for a CT scan and we'll see from there. I have no insurance so they called around to get the cheapest place for me to go to, but it still will cost $412. All this just as I was starting a new job! Oh, well. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28), right? Blessings,
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or 
about either of these? Posted in A Day in My Life
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Psalm 136:1 "O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever." Early this morning, we were victims of theft. I couldn't sleep, so I got up and sat at the computer for a while. Somewhere around 12:00 or so (I'm not really sure because I wasn't looking at the clock) I heard a truck start up - and thought it could be my hubby's. I got up and went to our sliding glass doors to listen, but couldn't tell if it was coming from our back driveway or from the alley. Our neighbor across the alley also has a diesel pickup truck. I noticed the light over the garage was on, and thought surely no one would be stealing the truck if the light was on. I went back to the computer, shaking, not sure of what to do. I didn't want to wake Keith up for nothing since he had to get up earlier than usual at 4:45, but I sure didn't want to go outside and check it out for myself! So I waited a while. About an hour later I decided to turn in, but thought I had better check on the truck. As I looked out the back door, I noticed the garage light was out. That's when it hit me - that light is a motion detector light and not usually on. I went out into the garage and opened the door about a foot to look out - and sure enough, the truck was gone. I woke Keith up, he called the police and made a report, and we tried, in vain, to go back to sleep. Keith uses his truck for work, so he had several hundred dollars worth of tools and equipment. Not only that, he was going to his mom's house today to work; that's why he was getting up earlier. The plan was to be there by 7:00 a.m., and it takes an hour to get there. Our mom had been using our baby bed for my little great-niece that she takes care of, but no longer needed the bed so Keith had wrapped it up and put it in the truck to store at his mom's. It was an expensive, heirloom-quality, beautiful sleigh crib (at least in our own opinion) that my parents had bought us when we were expecting Shera nearly 15 years ago. We had planned on keeping it to pass down to our children to use for their children. Gone. Another thing was that yesterday I had found Hannah's gameboy that she had misplaced several months ago. The kids are at my mil's this week, so we charged it up for her and Keith put it in the truck to take to her today as a surprise. And the last, probably worst thing, was that Keith had a couple of paycheck stubs in his truck, so the thief could actually commit identity theft as well as auto theft. I was feeling pretty bad last night, or I guess I should say this morning. I was kicking myself for not waking Keith up, or calling 911 to make sure everything was okay, or whatever. So I began praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 popped into my head, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." So I thanked God for whatever reason He allowed this to happen, asking that it would bring glory to Him. I even prayed for the salvation of the thief. In doing this, my burden began getting lighter. Soon, another verse came to mind, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose," Romans 8:28. Another reason to give thanks! My self-incrimination soon gave way to joy and peace, in spite of a stolen truck. I just wanted to encourage each one of you that stops by today to choose joy. No matter what your circumstances - sickness, death, debilitating disease, a rebellious child, financial problems, a stolen truck - God is there for you. He loves you, more than you could possibly ever know. And remember, dear brothers and sisters in Christ: we are not of this world! Worldly treasures mean absolutely nothing in the scheme of eternity. Make God your treasure - not your life, health, children, spouse, possessions. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:19 - 21. Thanks for stopping by. May your day be truly blessed! Carol |
Posted in This and That
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I got this email from my daughter. Thought I'd pass it along! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -If Wal-Mart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing in the store is free yet? Blessings, Carol,
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