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One of my childhood memories is getting out of a really hot shower and having my mom rub Vicks all over my chest before wrapping a big fluffy towel around my middle and sticking me in footie pajamas straight from the dryer. I don’t remember how sick I was, or how old I was, but I remember feeling loved, cherished, and less miserable.
And up until recently, my recipe for a nasty cough, a case of the sniffles, or just a general ugh was a hot shower, that blue jar, and pajamas. But then I started learning about essential oils and how easy it was to use them. And more importantly how I could make my own vapor rub without petroleum products. I made my first batch following this recipe in February and have since made it a few more times tweaking it toward our own family “tastes”.
With cold and flu season just around the corner, I knew it was time to make some more and I posted a very messy picture of my kitchen on instagram. A few of my friends had questions, so I thought I’d share my recipe here.
You’ll need:
A double boiler or (like me) a glass pyrex in a larger pan
1/2 cup {organic} sweet almond oil (coconut oil gives it a thicker consistency in the tin but melts down on application so we use that if I don’t have almond oil)
2 Tablespoons Beeswax (either grate some up or use pastilles)
Essential oils (eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary, lavender)
Containers (I use these tins in either the 2oz or 4oz size and lip balm tubes for baby foot applications but a jelly jar would work great)
Directions
Melt your beeswax and oil in the double boiler.
Remove from heat.
Add essential oils:
Full (grown up) strength:
Add 25 drops eucalyptus
Add 20 drops peppermint
Add 10 drops rosemary
Add 10 drops lavender
*Some essential oils like eucalyptus are not recommended for young children, please research/use accordingly*
Pour into containers, let set. Cover. Store in a cool, dry place. Rub on chest or feet when necessary.
Another perk: I feel a lot less greasy the next morning than when I used the store bought stuff.
As for which oils I use: As you can see I have both Young Living and Mountain Rose Herbs bottles on my {messy} counter. I started ordering from Young Living a little over a year ago and I’m quite happy with them but I’m also happy with Mountain Rose Herbs – I get my beeswax and a few of my oils from them in addition to containers. I have some friends who are huge fans of DoTerra and while I haven’t tried them, I certainly wouldn’t be afraid of recommending them. I’m a little skittish of purchasing essential oils off the shelf at a grocery store, but if you have a brand that you use and trust, I say give it a try.
**I am not a doctor and am not qualified to treat illness or prescribe medications. Please see your doctor for any medical questions.**
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1. “It” really does do go by faster than you could imagine. Abram turned five. Violet, seven. All three of us are heading back to school in September and it seems like just yesterday that they were babies. It seems like just like yesterday I was a baby.
2. I don’t enjoy reading out loud. I’ll do it – especially if one of my little’s ask – but it makes me a little crazy because it’s so sloooooow.
3. I’ve been purling the first stitch all wrong for the last two years (and now I know the right way to do it).
4. I should never buy another piece of jewelry. I wear my diamond earrings, my Stony Lake necklace, and the ring Jesse bought me when I had Abram. And that’s it. All the rest just makes a big mess in my jewelry box.
5. I like road trips with my kids.
6. If Jesse isn’t around, I really can remove a fish from my hook without cutting my hands or squealing like a girl. But only because I have to.
7. When the doctor tells me to take it easy and rest, I really should take it easy and rest.
8. Birkenstocks are really, really supportive shoes. (And I guess they are fashionable?)
9. I like jersey sheets. Except for folding them or making the bed with them. So basically, just sleeping on them.
10. We have hummingbirds in our yard.
Linking up here.
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The third day we were there the waves were high (undertow warnings) and the air was cool but the water was warm and wave jumping is fun – so we spent quite awhile playing in the water. There is a video of us all running in together – but between the undertow and my bum foot, I spent more time falling than running, so I’ll just share this picture to give a taste.
I wish I could say I took these pictures (they are some of my favorite from the trip) but on our last night there my foot was really bothering me (way too much walking the few days before) and I didn’t want to traipse the stairs. My sister captured a great sunset and LOTS of great pictures of Violet and my niece.
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We just got back from a week long vacation. The hardest part is the 10+ hour ride getting there and back. We like to break up the ride some but no matter how you slice it getting ready for a 10 hour road trip with a seven and five year old can be tricky. I’m willing to do some maneuvering when at the end I’m burying my toes into Lake Michigan sand. One of the must have essentials on every trip is each kid’s entertainment backpack and binder.
The backpack contains the iPad (and headphones), a brand new coloring book (that they pick out and I save) and crayons, a new notebook with a few pre-drawn doodles that they can color in, a few books, and their binder.
In their binders, I like to put classic road trip games and a few surprises as well. Here are links to the sites I use:
Coloring sheets
Made by Joel (my favorites)
Crayola
Dabbles and Babbles (she has some great coloring pages if you look around a bit – her robots and monsters are awesome)
Worksheets (math, handwriting, school refreshers)
Dad’s worksheets – Violet did these as time trials last year at school, so I thought I’d add them as refreshers.
Worksheet Universe – they have lots of great activity sheets for younger kids (preschool-first grade)
Paging Supermom – an overabundance of awesome
Handwriting Worksheets
Games/Mazes
Mr. Printables – great mazes
I Spy (travel), Slug Bug, and Alphabet Search
The License Plate Game
Paper/Pencil Games (like hangman, tic-tac-toe, dots & boxes)
I like to put everything but the coloring sheets in page protectors and give them each a dry erase marker. To keep the coloring sheets tidy, I use a plastic envelope that’s made for 3 ring binders. I’ll also put stickers and other odds and ends (a coupon for an hour of radio control for example) in there as well.
We’ve had a lot of success with them. Violet even spent one evening “just working on math problems” when she needed a little down time (in this she is NOTHING like her mother). What are some of your road trip tricks? Do you have games or activities you can share with me?
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