We are back at it..... Homeschooling 2017-2018

You read that right. We are back at it! I am very excited about this.

We had to stop and send kiddos to school because when I had Drake baby #5 then shortly after him I became pregnant with baby #6 I honestly couldn't homeschool anymore. I started having seizures and I didn't want to hinder my children's learning. So off to Public school they went.

I then decided to go back to school myself. Yep you read that right too. I am now a licensed Cosmetologist!! This is something I wanted to do since I was young.

Now on to more important things.

The kiddos that will be home with me are Croix (10) Drake (4) and Reece (2). Croix will be in 5th grade and Drake will be doing PrK. Drake did PrK at his daycare while I was in College during the year and I will be doing it again with him this year.

So for Drake his school will consist of play, library story time, ABC Mouse (app on Ipad) and Rod and Staff    We used this program for Croix and I loved it. It needs to be used with play too.

For Croix

Reading - he will be using a free homeschooling site All in one Homeschool

Language Arts- will be from the same site here is the link to his lessons

  Now the next subjects can be found here

Social studies

Science

Math

Everything I have here I had on hand for Croix. We actually started schooling today. We will be doing 2 subjects per day since we are starting in the summer. I am doing this because I am now working in a salon.  go in at about noon and am there until around 7pm. But on my days that I will not go in I will have him do more Subjects or we will have hands on those days.

As for Drake I have the first workbooks that we didn't use with Croix. He was ahead of those books when I bought them for him. He will be doing lessons daily on ABC Mouse and then we will go from there what we will do. It depends on how he is that day. He is only 4.

Reece we will play and read and if he can join in with anything I will have him do so.

I am so excited for this year! I will try to post at least weekly.

I am hoping to encourage moms or dads who will be working and still want to homeschool. I will post about the hard times and the good times. I hope there will be more good times then hard.

God Bless,
Jen

Has it really been a year?

I didn't realize it had been a year since I last posted.

There has been a lot that has happened in that year.

But right now our main thing that is going on, is I started college!

Yes you read that right I started college. I decided to do what I always wanted to do ever since I was a little girl.

Cosmetology!

I absolutely LOVE school. Its like a slumber party every day.

I am so blessed to be able to go. This was actually my husband's ideas of you can believe that. *smile*

It's hard but I know it will all be worth it in the end.

Now that I have a phone new enough to post from I will be able to post easier.

I am excited to share this adventure with you all and in hopes I will encourage others to know that your never too old or have too many kids to go back to school!!
God Bless,
Jen

Natural bug repellent

We are a baseball softball kind of family. So bug spray is necessary here. We as a family are really trying to use ess and less chemicals. We have done really good on the inside of our bodies now we are working on the outside. The things like bug spray and sunblock are all that's left for us to change.

I used 3 essential oils but there are many that you could use. I will share my recipe that I used. 

NATURAL BUG REPELLENT 

4oz spray bottle

Water

TerraSheild from doTerra 25 drops

Lavender 15 drops

Lemongrass 15 drops

In the spray bottle add the essential oils you will be using, then fill the rest up with water. I have seen and heard of using witch hazel or aloe but I want to keep it as simple as possible. 

Make sure to shake before each use. 

Now go and enjoy your chemical free bugs spay that you will feel comfortable using on your kids.

God Bless,

Jen

DIY natural furniture dusting spray

I'm guilty, I love the smell of pledge. 

Yep I do.....

Well as most people who know me, I am super cheap and toxic chemicals are something I try to keep out of my house. 

So I made this dusting spray and I really like it. And I think you will too. It smells so yummy. 

What you need. 

I used a 4oz spray bottle I had ordered a few from mountain rose herb store. They have a really nice fine mister on them. 

Water

Castile soap

Essential oils (I used lemon and wild orange)

Directions -

Fill the spray bottle almost to the top leaving about an inch from the top. 

Add 1/2 tablespoon of Castile soap

16 total drops of essential oils. I did 8 of each. 

Shack before each use. 

Now enjoy!

God Bless,

Jen

Easy homemade natural deodorant

I  This is a super simple recipe. You honestly need only three ingredients. And the best part is it's all natural.

I have been using natural deodorants for a few years now. It was no fun at first. You have to kind of go through detox. That can mean a lot of sweating and lots of stinky pits. Yuck! But it honestly only lasted a couple weeks. Totally worth it!

One thing you do have to remember when using natural deodorant is that they don't keep you from sweating. That is actually the aluminum that you get in your deodorant at the store that keeps you from sweating. I will let you do your own research on aluminum and the fact that it can have on your body but trust me it's not worth the deodorant. The goal of deodorant is to keep you fresh. Sometimes you may have to apply it more than once a day. But really that's only a few seconds out of your life. 

Okay so let's get down to business.

Super easy natural deodorant 

You are going to need. 

1/4 cup aluminum free baking soda

1/4 cup arrowroot powder (you can use cornstarch but it's better all around to use arrowroot)

6-8 Tbls coconut oil

3-6 drops of essential oils (optional)

Enable add your arrow root powder and your baking soda. Now mix it up. Then add your 6 to 8 tablespoons of coconut oil. Now you can use a fork which works the best to blend well.

This is what it look like when I was mixing it.

It looks kind of like frosting when you're done mixing it. This is when you add your essential oils if you would like. I used lavender in this recipe. 

Make sure to give it a good stir after you add your essential oils. 

Then you will need to put it in a container. You can reuse an old deodorant stick. Just clean it up. This is what I did. 

As you're putting it into the deodorant stick you kind have to bang it on the counter a little bit to get it to you even out. I had a little bit left over and I just put it in another jar for later use. I've been stuck it in the fridge to make sure it's nice and solid. Coconut oil will melt becomes a liquid at believe it's 72°. So during the summer those hot months you may have to just put your deodorant stick in the fridge. 

There are many other recipes for natural deodorants. I just thought I would share one of the easiest ones with you. Maybe I will share some other ones with you later on.

I hope you enjoyed. 

God Bless,

Jen

Coffee cake

This is one of the easiest cakes to make and it doesn't have any weird ingredients that you have to go search for. 

Quick Coffee Cake

You will need -

1cup sugar

1-3/4 cups flour (I used fresh ground while wheat)

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 Tablespoons butter

1 egg lightly beaten 

1/2 cup milk

1 Tbls sugar w/ 1/2 t cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 375. Butter 8 inch square pan. Mix 1 cup sugar, flour, and baking powder in large bowl. Work in butter with a pastry blender, fork or fingers until the mixture resembles course meal. Add egg and milk and blend. Spoon into pan and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture evenly over the top. Bake for 20 minutes.

Now enjoy. 

I just made this this morning and I'm thinking that I would like to have a tea party with my girlfriends. Or maybe it was just my kids. 

I hope you enjoy.

God Bless,

Jen

DIY- Natural Hand Sanitizer

It's that yucky time of they year, where it seems that everyone around us has some kind of cold. And I don't know about you but if we get sick here it's just no fun when it runs its course through 7 people. We usually have 1 or 2 that seem to miss it.  

I am one of those moms that cleans the grocery cart before I put my hands or my little guy in it. I don not alt all like to use those harsh sprays or chemical filled wipes. I do use them if I forget my sanitizer spray. I just make sure it drys completely before I put my little one in the cart.

So what today's post is for is to help with keeping our families from getting sick or spreading their sickness. For those times when you don't have a sink around. 

This recipe is for hand sanitizer. It's safe to use and not worry about all those harsh ingredients in the commercial brands. You can also use it on small scraps and boo boos you get when away from home. 

Natural Hand Sanitizer 

Here is what you will need. 

Aloe Vera gel

Witch Hazel

Essential oils (I used germ fighter from Plant Therapy) lavender and tea tree oils work great for this. 

And a glass spray bottle. I used 4 oz bottle I ordered from Plant Therapy. 

I don't really measure when I make this. So what I do is first add the aloe Vera gel. I fill the bottle 1/3 full with it. 

Next I add 15 drops of essential oils. If you are using lavender and tea trea I would use 10 drops of lavender and 5 of tea tree. 

Now fill it the rest of the way up with witch hazel. Add the lid and shake well. 

I shake it each time I use it. 

Now if you are using Young Living oils you would use Thieves  oil. The Germ Figher is the Thieves of Plant Therapy. 

Fun Fact: the story behind Theives oil or Grem fighter is it was used by robbers and thieves (why the name is thieves) during medieval times to protect them from the plague and othe diseases of their victims. 

Interesting huh? 

If you are wondering what oils are in the Germ fighter and have them on hand you can just add them. They are lemon,clove,eucalyptus,cinnamon, and rosemary essential oils. Make sure to use pure essential oils. Not the fragrance oils. 

I love using essential oils for many things. I am always hoping that more and more families will start using natural products instead of the yucky stuff filled with chemicals that research is still unsure of long term effects when used for long periods of times. Yes, essential oils are I guess chemicals but we know where they come from. The plant parts. They are very strong and very concentrated so you will need to do a little research of your own before you use them. I will never recommend putting them directly on your skin unless diluted with something like a carrier oil. There is one I do use without a carrier oil and that is lavender. I have done some research and found it is safe for an adult to do so but before you do this do a test spot. Well that was a little info on some essential oils. If you want to know more research it buy some books and don't get sucked into the hype of you have to buy a $50 bottle of essential oil to know it is pure. There are a few companies out there that sell high quality oils for affordable prices. I am not affiliated with any of them but here are a few I use. Plant Therapy, Barefut, and Young Living. 

I hope you enjoyed this DIY post. 

God Bless,

Jen