So if you follow me on Facebook you know I had to make my lil man an onion chest poultice in the wee hours of the morning due to his cough. He wasnt happy and I needed a quick fix without running for the over the counter stuff. We do have Hyland's Cough and Cold which I do approve of because of the all natural ingredients... But grandma gave it to him daily while hubby and I were out of town on business. So I kinda want to step away from that. It doesn't feel right giving him so much of something over a long period of time.

So... A chest poultice... Usually made with fresh onions. Super easy and super quick... Here's what I used:

1 large onion (This amount will change depending on what size chest you are applying the poultice to)

Olive oil

Flour

Old T-shirt or piece of cloth you don't mind ruining

I coated the bottom of a pan with olive oil... I would say it ended up being about 2-3 tablespoons. I chopped the onion and put them in the pan on high heat (I had a coughing lil man I had to tend to!). At this point as I was stirring the onions I had to stop myself from reaching for the spices!

After they become fragrant and translucent, I turned the stove off and added a few spoonfuls of flour... Just eyeballing it until it became less oily and more of a paste.

I grabbed an old tshirt and layed it on the counter and spread the poultice on the t-shirt. I folded the t-shirt over trapping everything inside, put it on a plate, and ran to my coughing lil man.

I took his shirt off and had him lay flat on the bed... I placed the t-shirt with the poultice inside on his chest (FYI I waited for it to cool down enough to place it on his skin but the key is to have it be as warm as the person can stand it without it burning them). Then I placed a towel over that to help keep the heat in. Ideally you want a hot water bottle between the poultice and the towel but we don't have one (ummm....).

He said he didn't like the smell but once I told him it would help his cough and that it was medicine he was very cooperative... Poor baby will do anything to get rid of that stinking cough!

After about 10-15 min he began to settle down... His cough became a little less intense and less frequent... And then... he was asleep. <3

He seems to cough the most when he wakes so I imagine I'll be doing this again in a couple hours... Oh and I also gave him tea made from chamomile and plantain which I know helped as well.

Tonight I'm going to put garlic oil on his feet and with everything combined... I'm hoping he'll be back to new come Monday. Here's hoping!!

 
Picture

Isn't it beautiful!? It's my new medicine cabinet! I didn't have a designated area for medicines and vitamins... We had them in the herb cabinet which was fitting since I use herbs medicinally as well... But hubby has some big 'ol fat bottles of men's vitamins, fish oil... My lil man has his gummie vitamins... And like I've said before we aren't against modern day medicine so I have the few basics like Children's Tylenol, regular Tylenol, Excedrin (yuck!) and arthritis relief. Those last two are for grandma who always chooses them no matter how much I offer her my herbal remedies.

I also want to be accommodating to my guests... Not everyone knows that I use herbs and even those who do... They aren't all believers. So if someone comes over and ask for Tylenol for a headache... I want to be able to accommodate them.

So anyway... I didn't like seeing all those mainstream meds sitting in my herb cabinet alongside my pretty mason jars of herbs and teas. So I found this beautiful cabinet and guess what was the first thing it reminded me of? Anne of Green Gables!!! Remember the scene where Diana runs to Anne's house because her little sister is horribly sick... Anne runs back with her and they go to this little cabinet hung on the wall filled with dark glass bottles and she grabs the epicac. Of course as I just mentioned it won't be filled with dark glass bottles since its for all the over the counter stuff but it DID inspire me to start making tinctures! One shelf for OTC stuff and the other shelf for awesome dark glass bottles! (By the way Anne saved the little sister... In case you haven't seen the movie).

 
Okay so maybe that's a bit extreme but that's all I could think of to title this post.... How about we call it a separation... a permanent separation with visitation rights with my smartphone, tv and laptop during nap times and occasionally on the weekends.  Yeah.... that's better.  Now here's why...

Last week it just dawned on me that I've become too darn dependent on our TV... Now I'm not against watching TV... not in the least in fact.  I love TV.... I'm EXTREMELY picky with what my son watches and I think he's learned a lot from the shows he sees.  But since the baby has been born it's kinda been an every day all day kinda thing.  Plus the baby is catching some views of the TV just because it's always on and that I really don't approve of that.  I never even let my son watch TV till he was two.  So that was my first clue.  I really don't want my newborn being entertained and missing out on the real life lessons all around because of a TV screen...  and hey you know what?  That goes for my son too!

My next clue was how I was treating my almost four year old.  When I stood back and looked at the situation I saw myself being too short with him and too detached.  I reminded myself that HE was my job.... nothing else but him and my new baby girl were the only things that deserved my utmost attention during the day with the next in line being our home.  So I made the decision right then and there that we were going to just stop.... No more TV during the day and no more smartphone for me unless the kiddos are napping or playing with their daddy on the weekends. 

Today is our second day trying out this new system.... Our first day was last Friday... and we are LOVING it.  The thing I noticed the MOST is I haven't lost my cool with my son... which actually makes me super sad because it makes me realize that the reason I've been losing my cool with him in the past is because he's been seeking the attention that I was giving to the internet.  Ugh.... shaking my head in shame over here...  Okay... brushing it off now.... because I'm changing it.  I've ALREADY changed it and I am proud of myself for recognizing that something wasn't quite right. 

You know what's icing on the cake both Friday and today?  My house is getting CLEAN!!!  Our priorities are better... I'm making things fun... and we're getting things done! 

I didn't realize how much could be missed by the simple act of checking things like Facebook and Pinterest in a day.... I was missing out on my child's life.  They grow so fast and before we know it I will have wondered where all the time went.  I don't want to look back and say it all went to my phone.  NOTHING is more important than my babies.  I am so excited.  For all you homemakers out there... if things aren't quite right and you're not accomplishing what you feel you should... take a step back and see if maybe you check in on the internet a bit too much... it may be something you can try to give up as well! 

Oops! GOTTA GO!!! My precious boy is awake! ;)
 

So if you you've been with me a while you've seen the recipe I posted for homemade laundry soap... Well this is the same recipe (sort of) but this time I'm including a little picture tutorial.

Here's the recipe:

1/4 bar of Felps soap

1 bar of Ivory soap (I didn't use this last time)

2 cups of baking soda

2 gallons of hot water (not boiling)

What you'll need:

Cheese grater

Medium size pot

5 gallon bucket (or a container that could easily hold two gallons)

Something to stir with (I used a paint stick)

Last time I just used a full bar of Felps soap... This time I wanted to try a bit of Ivory since it works well at getting out stains simply by itself... however a bar of Ivory soap isn't as large as a bar of Felps so I used a 1/4 bar of Felps to make up the difference.

Last time I also wasn't quite prepared... So we scoured the house looking for something that would hold two gallons and we ended up using a small trash can... This time I went to Home Depot and grabbed myself a 5 gallon bucket for I think around $5. This was MUCH easier... Oh and I grabbed a handful of paint sticks on my way out. (FYI they have about a zillion uses so I always grab some when I'm there!)

First... We grate the soap... I got tired out after a bit so hubby helped me out.

Then you put the grated soap into a pot and fill with water just enough to cover the soap.

While the soap is melting over medium heat (stirring occasionally) I filled the 5 gallon bucket with two gallons of hot tap water. By this time soap is melted and I add it to the bucket with the water. Then finally I add the baking soda and stir.

You should end up with a bucket full of liquidy goop.

I then used a funnel and filled two empty gallon jugs with my new laundry soap. Remember to label those containers!!! Oh and pour slowly and keep an eye out for overflowing bubbles!! I did a little at a time to let the bubbles settle.

So there you have it! Easy peasy! A little goes a long way and keep in mind this will not give you suds... But that doesn't mean it's not doing its job! I add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup depending on the size of the load.

This batch seems to be working out just fine... However, for some reason that I cannot pinpoint yet... I think I liked it better when I used the full bar of Felps with no Ivory. If you haven't heard of Felps it can be found in the laundry aisle at Walmart.

Oh and have I mentioned that I throw in about a 1/2 cup of vinegar to the load as well as a fabric softener and static reducer? It works wonders!!