Home School Kansas

Just because I was googling what exactly to write for my withdrawal letter for my oldest to homeschool this week and had trouble finding a letter example for Kansas.

Kansas Homeschooling Laws info, Here and Here.

Kansas education laws and statutes do not specifically mention homeschooling. However, in 1996, the Kansas legislature did pass a Parental Rights Act that reads, in part: “It shall be the public policy of this state that parents shall retain the fundamental right to exercise primary control over the care and upbringing of their children in their charge” (K.S.A. Section 38-141(b).

In Pierce v. Society of the Sisters, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "the fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments of this Union repose excludes any general power of the state to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the creature of the state."

If you are going to home school, first:

Non-Accredited Private Schools (Home Schooling)- register here with the Kansas Dep. of Education. It is very easy, simple and fast to do online.  Save the file on your computer for future reference and print a copy for your records AND for whatever school or schools you are withdrawing your children from if the currently attend somewhere else.

If you are leaving a school either mid year or just not returning for the new school year, you must let them know and an email letting them know doesn't seem to be enough.

You will want to send them a copy of your Registration and a formal withdrawal letter.  We are going to sign ours.  The school requested document or proof that our child was enrolled in some online program.  But I researched and it's a withdrawal letter that is needed here and you do NOT have to explain why or what curriculum you are using. Just that you are withdrawing them and give them registration info so they can remove your child from their records.  Otherwise after 3 consecutive days not in their school they will get reported to the truant officer.   I researched a few things and found this helpful to know!

Example withdrawal letter:

Your name                                                                     date
Address

Child's name


Dear Principal Someone:

Please be advised we will be withdrawing the above child from Some School  effective as of  Date, when she/he will be privately educated.

If you have any questions, please send them to us in writing.  Thank you.


Sincerely,

parent's signature and date

It all sounds very simple once I type it but when you have to come up with something out of nothing really it feels like a lot to have to figure out how to word correctly.  Or maybe that's just me.
update: the school office said it was exactly what they needed and best wishes in success at homeschooling!
Looking for totally free Christian curriculum online?  Complete, All Free Curriculum 

Some quick words on vaccines and exemptions.

It's been a really long time and probably because I'm rarely on the big old computer but I have been typing up letters for school purposes.  In my quest I was googling examples of some various letters I would need for homeschooling and vaccine exemption for Kansas, so I thought I would at least pass my info on in case it would help anyone.

First of all, know the Vaccine laws and exemption for your particular state.  They can be a little different.  I will give the Kansas info. Here and here.

First of all, what gets put in your child's body should be the parent's choice and as parents we want to do what we feel is best for our children based on our own research and convictions.  There have been times I have thought about just caving and saving myself the trouble, but it felt so wrong to go against all the information I now had that I could not forget or ignore.  So if you have decided not to vaccinate or partially vaccinate or delay then I just wanted to help by putting my research and letter example out here.  I'm not interested in arguing about vaccines or that lining up to get vaccinated is what the Lord wants.  I just don't have time for that.

Kansas has Medical and Religious exemption options.

K.S.A. § 72-5209. Health tests and inoculations; certification of completion required, alternatives; duties of school boards.

(a) In each school year, every pupil enrolling or enrolled in any school for the first time in this state, and each child enrolling or enrolled for the first time in a preschool or day care program operated by a school, and such other pupils as may be designated by the secretary, prior to admission to and attendance at school, shall present to the appropriate school board certification from a physician or local health department that the pupil has received such tests and inoculations as are deemed necessary by the secretary by such means as are approved by the secretary. Pupils who have not completed the required inoculations may enroll or remain enrolled while completing the required inoculations if a physician or local health department certifies that the pupil has received the most recent appropriate inoculations in all required series. Failure to timely complete all required series shall be deemed non-compliance.

(b) As an alternative to the certification required under subsection (a), a pupil shall present:

(1) An annual written statement signed by a licensed physician stating the physical condition of the child to be such that the tests or inoculations would seriously endanger the life or health of the child, or

(2) a written statement signed by one parent or guardian that the child is an adherent of a religious denomination whose religious teachings are opposed to such tests or inoculations.

My religious conviction based on Scripture is not to violate my conscience.

"..to go against conscience is neither right nor safe."  -Martin Luther

Romans 14:23.

James 4:17  Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Acts 5:29 " we must obey God rather than man"

These are our spiritual convictions on this matter, I do not impose them on anyone else.

Also the fact that many vaccines have aborted baby cells in them doesn't make this decision hard for me,  the more I read and research the further I am convinced. I also have seen how much healthier our family as been since no more flu shots and vaccines. And to think I used to be on the other side, fearful and judging those who would not vaccinate.  Anyway, this isn't a post to convince anyone, only to help those who are wanting help with letter info.

Letter example:


Your name                                                                                                date
address


To Whom It May Concern:

In compliance with Kansas State Laws, I am writing this letter on behalf of my child(ren),names  who will be attending Some School, Date.

I am writing this to state that we adhere to a religious denomination whose religious teachings are opposed to such inoculations. The practice of vaccination is contrary to our beliefs and would violate our religious principles.

By declaring these convictions and presenting them in writing to you,  I am complying with the immunization exemption provisions in K.S.A. 72-5209.


Thank you.

parent signature                          date


I modified a letter for New York State .  Notice I made sure to include the proper wording needed for Kansas.  I thought about using more of the letter's wording as I preferred it but I figured I better stick to more exact wording.  Maybe that is me but I just wanted to make sure.  I am so thankful however at enrollment the lady that helped me was so kind and helpful and never made me feel like a societal delinquent. Other things I read online was you do not need to explain yourself or your religious details to the school or in the letter.  In hind site, I would have had this letter written and ready to turn in with all my other paperwork at enrollment.  So I will have to drop it by before school starts.

Some info if you are interested:

http://www.mommypotamus.com/vaccine-illusion/   Immunologist challenges current vaccine theory. I have heard this lady talk some before.

http://www.mommypotamus.com/should-parents-who-dont-vaccinate-be-prosecuted/

http://www.mommypotamus.com/should-vaccines-be-mandatory/# 

http://www.thankyourbody.com/why-we-chose-not-to-vaccinate-our-child/

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/01/18/history-vaccination.aspx  forgotten history of vaccines.

Some Doctors against vaccines.

Dr. Tenpenny D.O.
Dr. Mercola D.O.
Dr. Susanne Humphries M.D.
Dr. Toni Bark M.D.
Dr. Jack Wolfson Cardiologist
Dr. Tetyana Obukhanych PhD Immunologist

All Natural Sunscreens

Yes, I'm still here, I've been a bad neglectful blogger... Summertime is here and here are some sunscreens I like that are all natural and very comparably priced to the chemical junk you can get the store. Dr. Mercola, Natural Sunscreen, with Green Tea, SPF 15, 8 fl oz (236 ml)  Why just spf 15??  It blocks 94% percent of the rays.  He also offers an spf 30.  Looking for a stick for little faces?? Badger Company, All Season Face Stick, Sport Sunscreen, SPF 35, Unscented.  The Badger company even says theirs is NonNano.  I would assume mercola's is too as it both sunscreens you have work a tiny bit harder to rub in the white, but that is the price you pay a little with the natural sunscreens sometimes.  I felt like I have had chalkier natural sunscreens before so I'm ok with this stuff.  Short post, but it's something. :)  Needing to post how to make deodorant soon...

Poison Ivy

I'm posting this while it is in my head to do it.  This fall my son's ball rolled into my parent's neighbor's poison ivy.  He got the ball and ran in to tell us the ball rolled into it, and it was one of those big huge balls.  I freaked out slightly and made him wash his hands immediately as I know you want to get those oils off you asap.  We have never dealt with it before, I have never had it, nor my kids.  Anyway, a couple days past and he mentioned his forearms being itchy, there were red and a little bumpy a little welty.  I should've taken a pic.  All I saw was a little rash on his arms, and I didn't think much of it.  Till bath time came it was all up his arms, underneath his upper arms, welts bumps, his neck back of legs and behind, belly and back.  The smart thing would've been to shower the kid and change his clothes and wash them in hot water.  Duh.  I am thinking, oh crap, we are in for a fight, the google results of poison ivy pics were HORRID, but I did come across only a few that looked like him so he seemed to have a mild case, even though he was itchy and it was widespread. 

Something he did on his own that night that I read actually does help, was, he took a really hot bath.  You would think it would irritate and inflame, but I read online that it helps the rash feel better.  Which is funny that naturally, he did this for himself.  Check out this out from modernsurvivalblog. 

Then in my flustered freakout frenzy,I gave him some Zyrtec ( which I only use if someone is getting a full body rash) and I had put some cortisone cream on his wrists, but didn't like the idea of putting it all over him as even topical steroids can weaken the immune system.  I then got out my food grade aloe vera gel, just a little, maybe 3 tablespoons or so, and added a few drops each of essential oils of peppermint, eucalyptus, and rosemary and I put that everywhere the rash was.  If you can believe it, as I still can't, the next morning, his rash was nearly all gone, I could only see a little left on his wrists.  I put more on him that morning and that night and he was fine.  I thought I would need to keep him home from school but no need.  A strange fluke, I don't know, but I DO know it could only have been poison ivy, a mild case perhaps, but this is what worked for us, for what it is worth.

source for picture: www.modernsurvivalblog.com

Natural Help for Coughs and Ear Infections

Since it's that time of year I wanted to share a product that I didn't learn about till this year.  Our pediatrician told me about buckwheat honey, that it's proven to be just as effective as guaifenesin for coughs.  My son had been struggling with a cough for a few weeks and we had been using the mucinex for kids, I was desperate one night and pulled it out, he would cough to the point of puking.  Anyway he did end up on a round of antibiotics ( as much as I love to avoid them) but the dr also told me about Zarbees, it's flavor is more appealing than the molasses taste of buckwheat honey and the nighttime version has melatonin in it!  We've had some pesky coughs around here again and I have not had to be up in the night with anyone coughing, if I someone is not getting to sleep, we use the Zarbees, then it takes a little bit and sleep ensues.  SO nice to know I'm giving the kids something healthy and natural with no additives in it.  I also use a humidifier with a few drops of ecucalyptus oil. 

From SustainableBabySteps.com: "Eucalyptus oil uses have long been known to include anything regarding the respiratory system, including during asthma attacks, bronchitis infections, colds, and more. But there are dozens more little known uses for this essential oil." check out more here.

My other go to item is Wally's Ear Oil.  Refer to this post if you'd like to read how we kicked my son's ear infection without antibiotics last year.  We were able to avoid the dr. twice!

Natural Help for Crepey Dry Skin

Ah, getting older, isn't it grand?  Just when you face clears up, you look in the mirror in just the right lighting and think " what?????????"  This fall I noticed some crepey wrinkleness in the area of my cheeks below my eye, not right under the eye but below.  Needless to say my vanity kicked in and I wanted to kill those wrinkles... I wanted to accept them because it's part of aging but they didn't seem like they should be THERE of all places... smile lines maybe not there.  The skin seemed to pull and be thin and crepey, it only looked ok right AFTER I put on something moisturizing.  So I googled and I googled.  I came to the conclusion that I was over drying my skin and that skin needs humectants, which I'm not entirely sure oil provides.  Oil does nourish and protect, but humectants hold the water in the skin.  Humectants would be something like honey, glycerin or hyaluronic acid.
This would make sense that the Madre Magic worked better for my mom than the straight almond oil.  It contains honey.  Being in the freakout stage I was in, I bought two new products to add to my winter repertoire.  The Madre Magic and Andalou Naturals, Hyaluronic DMAE Lift & Firm Cream, Age Defying, 
ingredients :
Aloe barbadensis juice*, argania spinosa (argan) and simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) oils*, glyceryl stearate, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter*†, fruit stem cell and bioactive 8 berry complex*, helianthus annuus (sunflower) oil*, DMAE, glyceryl monolaurate, hyaluronic acid, resveratrol, ubiquinone (CoQ10), bisabolol, tocopherol (vitamin E), magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (vitamin C), panthenol (pro vitamin B5), allantoin, cyamopsis tetragonolobus (guar) gum*, borago officinalis (borage) and oenothera biennis (evening primrose) oils*, camellia sinensis (white tea) and hibiscus rosa-sinensis extracts*†, phenethyl alcohol, ethylhexylglycerin, agathosma capensis (buchu) oil, citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) oil*
* Organic
† Fair Trade.

I have been using the this twice a day, oh I love it, my skin is doing so much better and this stuff actually seems to firm and plump.  Sometimes I will use a little glycolic acid cream before I put this on.  This was very soothing.  And the final help is just on my extra crepey area, I use the Madre Magic and my skin has improved more than I thought it would.

One more note for dry skin.  I have traded salt scrubs like the sea salt and baking soda for sugar since salt can pull water out.  So far so good, it never occured to me that sugar could contain glycolic acid!!  So I've been using sugar mixed with my oil on my face.  If you want to amp it up with more exfoilating add some fresh squeezed lemon, a wedge would be enough for one application, I still like to add a drop of oil or two... just cause it's winter.

So there it is, I wanted to share in case anyone else is having similar issues!!

I've also recently bought some Now Foods Vegetable Glycerine, haven't it used it yet! But it will be used it whatever random moisturizer I make next, I'm still trying to perfect my foot oil...

Hair Products ands Tips

Ok as much as I like to save money making beauty products, sometimes, I'm tired of it, I'll admit it, some things really aren't that bad to make, others take longer... like when I was looking up how to make my own hairspray.... too long, no thanks.  I really like this product, as usual I get it off iherb.  They really should pay me for these plugs but my audience isn't that big so oh well....


Andalou Naturals, Hair Spray, Perfect Hold, Sunflower & Citrus,

 

I hadn't used hairspray for a really long time because of the chemicals and sometimes, my hair does need it.  I love this, it smells great, decent ingredients and has great hold if you ask me. Unless you're looking for Aqua Net...;)  I have been using Andalou Naturals, Styling Cream, Sweet Orange & Argan for a long time.  I may try the hair gel next.  All these smell really good, as does the shower gel that I just got not long ago, and the conditioner.  Though I don't think I can afford to keep getting the shampoo or conditioner.  I checked out these ingredients once upon a time and they were ok.

Another hair tip.  Soft water.  We got our old one going again and I hated my hair a whole lot less. ;)  It seems to get cleaner, softer and is easy to comb out.  I noticed a difference in the kids hair too.  If you don't have soft water and hate your hair.. I do believe they sell shower heads that soften your water.  And never under estimate the power of getting your ends trimmed.  I still can't tell you I have found the perfect shampoo, price, ingredients and performance as I struggle with scalp build up issues.  I just have to spend a lot of detailed scrubbing time when I wash.  At this point I use Nature's Gate which is what I consider a lesser evil but not perfect in ingredients, it was it has fragrance but it's phalate free fragrance.  I would rather it be all out NATURAL fragrance.  And speaking of making crap, I DID make some hair serum that I am pleased with actually.

Hair Serum Recipe:

2 tbsp. Aloe vera gel ( the kind you can eat)

1 tbsp. coconut oil

2 tbsp. almond oil

a few drops of peppermint oil and rosemary.

  Shake each time and use sparingly and not too far up towards the roots, you can use on wet or dry hair.  I mix it with my styling cream sometimes too.   AND  I have in the past few days started using some on my face since it's been such a dry winter... so far so good but I am not to the point where I would say forsure put it on your face!!  But it's something you wouldn't need to rinse off your hands and if you have some irritated itchy skin, it works pretty darn well.






Natural Face Products

Here are some products that I get off iherb that I wanted to throw out there.  First off is a moisturizer I got for my mom, who has had rosacea in the past, and was using almond oil for her skin, but it just wasn't cutting it for her this winter.  After one night of using this, her face felt much better and very soft. Ingredients: Olive (Olea europaea) Fruit Oil*, Beeswax (cera alba)*, New Zealand Manuka Honey, Bee Pollen Extract, Royal Jelly, Bee Propolis Extract, Glycerin (Plant-Derived), Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Tocopherol (Non-GMO).



 Also if you're looking for a great alternative to Burts Bee's 2.99 lip balm. Sierra Bees, Organic Unflavored Beeswax Lip Balm   This brand is great for less than a buck.  They have many other scents that are naturally scented if you prefer.

Another all time fave of mine that I started using often at night, after toning and before using oil as a moisturizer, is Reviva Labs, 10% Glycolic Acid Cream.  I used it years ago and came back to it for quite a few nights a week, the ingredients are simple and glycolic acid exfoliates.  It can be irritating as you're getting used to it.  They have a 5% version too.

And here is one more. Abra Therapeutics, Alpha Enzyme Peel If you are looking for a glycolic peel to try, this was one is nice and all natural, 6% glycolic acid. It doesn't take much, just a thin layer.  I did try leaving it on all night, but my face got irritated and little itchy in places.  The jar says 15-30 mins I think. I use this about once a week,  leave it on for a couple hours, then rinse it off with a wet washcloth, skip toner and moisturize as usual.  ( it makes my skin feel very soft) I do NOT use my glycolic cream after this, I do my Mychelle Serum, or if I do this in the day, I do my daytime moisturizers, my almond oil mix ( essential oils added) then spf moisturizer which I have blogged about previously.  Check the labels if you're interested in that.


*and in case you were wondering, no, I don't get paid to endorse any product and I had to pay for the products.  I just spend way too much time researching and shopping around reading ingredient lists and reviews and pass along my opinions and faves to you.

Greener Cleaning

One of the last things to go for me was my blessed Comet Bathroom spray.  Nothing could compare to it's cleaning abilities, or so I thought.

This is going to be a hopefully a not too fancy, not pinterest worthy, no pic post.  Most of them are. ;)

What I have in every bathroom:

Spray bottle with half vinegar half water.  I like to keep them in the shower to spray a little afterwards too.  Vinegar is antifungal and combats mold and hard water and odors.  Don't like the vinegar smell??  Well you get used to it, really, and it fades away to nothing once it dries.  And let me tell you, you won't build up toxic fumes that weaken lungs and immune systems in your home.  You can even add some antibacterial and or antiviral essential oils, like clove, grapefruit, lemon, tea tree, the list in endless (and some essential oils are very affordable, to your spray bottle).  The bottle I have with essential oils I under the sink to protect it from light.

Washing soda and/or baking soda.  I recentely saved the lid of a shaker of parmasean cheese and put it on an old mason jar with a half and half mix of baking soda AND washing soda,  it works amazingly well at grime!!  AND natural!! No more pausing to hack up a lung and open a window while I clean.  And no lingering toxins.

Windows:

Half vinegar half water.  Old hand towel.  You will think at first, THIS isn't working!! But it does it really does, as good or better than windex.  Just don't get your cloth overly damp.

"Armorall" for vehicles:  A little water, a drop of dishsoap, and a little olive oil.

Cleaning and shining up your wood table( mine gets a water film and this brings it back to rich shiney life):  Half vinegar/half sunflower oil.  Olive oil is fine too.  Wipe with the wood grain.  Test a small area first just to be safe.

Hand soap:  this I have been doing for 5 years now, and it's so easy and doesn't dry out your hands and you are avoiding all that junk we talked about in the hand sanitizer post.  You will need a foaming hand wash dispenser and castile soap.  I do about a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch in the bottle with castile soap then fill up the rest with water, shake and voila!  As you can see, I avoid exact measurements at all costs if I can, it wastes my time. ;)  You could also add germ killing essential oils if you prefer. 

*A note on Tea Tree oil:  I have read not to let boys use it as it can disrupt their hormones.  So for something that the whole family is using often throughout the day, you can choose from many other essential oils.

Laundry:  I have gone back and forth with making my own with kirks unscented castile soap and using ALL free and clear.  The best homemade I ever made was with the borax, washing soda and Dr. Bronners bar of soap.  But that wasn't cost effective enough for me.  And darn it, it takes TIME when you make your own stuff.  I have practically eliminated fabric softener.  1/4 cup vinegar in the rinse.  I have also read that if you dry on a lower setting, it doesn't get so staticy.  Sometimes if I have a load that's real bad in the winter. I'll use a sheet of unscented.

Ok, that's all I can think of at the moment. 

A documentary if you have the time.

Laundering Your OCM Washclothes

Once again, story of my life blogging, I've been meaning to post this for a while and blah blah blah.  So if you do OCM cleansing you have probably discovered how the oil can build up in your washclothes and start repelling water like a duck's back.  I had searched online and hadn't found any good advice on this, so I had to trial and error it on my own. 

What I did that finally worked for me:

Whatever towel load you usually wash the clothes in, start with just the washclothes on your longest sturdy washing cycle, small load, HOT water.  I use All free and clear detergent ( yes I know, not homemade but I keep coming back to this...) use what you would for a full load especially if this is your first time getting the oil build up out, you may then be able to decrease the amount you use once you are getting them properly clean everytime and also depending on how soft your water is.

Use about a half cup of Washing Soda< not to be confused with Baking Soda, they are NOT the same, but it is natural.  I had been using oxyclean free, but I discovered that not only did this work better, it was cheaper too.  I didn't measure, I dumped some in and I''m guessing I did about that much. ;)  It's an excellent degreaser and it works wonders dry on a damp sponge to get that brown dirt, oil goo build up off your washer tub.  And the ring around your bathtub.

Put about 1/4 cup of white vinegar in the softener dispenser.

I then start the timer for 9 minutes and let the washer clean the crap out of washclothes.  When the timer beeps, I move the water setting to warm, and load size to a full size and then put in the rest of my towels and launder as normal.  The cycle on my washer still has another 10 minutes or so, so the towels didn't miss regular clean time. 

Aw yes, I get my washing soda at Walmart.

Homemade All Natural Hand Sanitizer

 Sick season is upon us, well it's upon our family ALL freaking year long- anyway,  homemade hand sanitizer it is!!  First of all why not just use the crap alcohol gel at the store, read this from  The Holistic Mama:


"They are harmful to the Environment. Most anti-bacterial products contain Triclosan, an antibacterial agent that kills bacteria. Some scientists are calling for the removal of triclosan from consumer products because it is building up in the ocean’s food web. One-third of the bottle nose dolphins tested off South Carolina and almost one-quarter of those tested off Florida carried traces of triclosan in their blood. The concentrations found in the dolphins are known to disrupt the hormones and growth and development of other animals. Studies in bullfrogs found that triclosan disrupts the endocrine system – blocking the tadpoles’ development into frogs at concentrations found in the environment. In addition, a 2008 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention three-quarters of people tested in the United States had triclosan in their urine. A substance that can cause hormone disruption and growth problems isn’t something we want in the human body, or in animals for that matter.

They are damaging to your immune system. Hand sanitizers kill bacteria on your hands. The problem is that there are good bacteria and bad bacteria and the sanitizers aren’t selective. Some bacteria may be the cause of getting us sick but other bacteria actually protect our immune system. 
Killing off the friendly bacteria can damage our natural defenses against other infections. We definitely don’t want to kill off that bacteria. In regards to the bad bacteria, or the ones that can cause sicknesses, it’s not certain that its in our best interest to kill them either. There is considerable evidence that some exposure to bacteria in the environment is actually beneficial because it helps the immune system develop. Some studies have shown an increase in allergies and asthma in people who were raised in an overly sterile environment. Mothers are always trying to keep their kids away from germs but some exposure is not bad. That’s not saying that kids shouldn’t wash their hands but using a harsh hand sanitizer even a few times a day probably isn’t helping a child’s immune system.

They might cause superbugs. In some countries, like Canada, the use of anti-bacterial products are not recommended because of resistance. Resistance is already a problem with antibiotics because they have been overused. Triclosan is thought to cause a similar resistance especially because it is very widely used. The concept is easy to understand. If a product doesn’t kill all the germs, it’s the susceptible ones that get killed first, leaving the hardier ones behind. These can multiply and eventually outnumber the susceptible bugs."

Let me say first thing , that Clove Oil is my new favorite essential oil. " Clove essential oil killed more than 60 types of bacterial strains, 15 strains of fungi plus several viruses (Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2004)" And like I say, that's just scratching the surface of it's uses, I have a friend that used it for her baby's teething and it gave him relief!!  And it smells spicey good.  I even put it vinegar water spray to kill a puke virus in our house and it stayed to only 2 out of the 5 of us, thank You Lord!!  It's also a very warming oil.  When I was coming down with a cold a couple weeks ago, I took my vitamins, zinc, caprylica acid, etc etc.. I also put some of this on my wrists and breathed it in a few times in the day, the cold never got a chance to really materialize and fizzled out... so placebo, who knows, but I'll try it the next time I'm fighting off something.  I read if you put some on your skin it does get in your system.
Recipe:
 
You will need a 4 oz spray bottle, ideally, glass and amber or blue to preserve the integrity of the essential oils and protect them from light.

-Water

-2 tsp Aloe vera gel, the real kind you can eat.

30 drops of essential oils that are anti bacterial/ anti viral  I would be careful about using tea tree oil on boys, I read it can disrupt their hormonal system.  You can use any combo  I believe I used eucalyptus, clove and grapefruit.

Put your aloe and oils in the sprayer, fill the rest of the way up with water and as my 3 year old would say " voila!"

*I use a 2 oz bottle so you can half the recipe for a 2 oz bottle for on the go.

All Natural, Alcohol free Citris Toner

My apologies for not having a smartphone for better pics and being too lazy to take pics with my camera and upload them, so this is better (maybe) than nothing...  so here I am, FINALLY posting my toner recipe.  The ingredients are simple.  I use a  4 oz bottle so I will post the recipes in "parts" vs. measurements.  It's water, lemon juice, from a freshly squeezed lemon, and Thayers Alcohol -Free Witch Hazel.  Oh yes and grapefruit essential oil.

- Lemon juice helps lighten dark spots and helps to cleanse and exfoliate the skin.  Do put on sunscreen as it can make you more sun sensitive.  Avoid your eyebrows... unless you're looking to lighen them. ;) I found that out this summer, nothing drastic but I could tell... oops. 

-Witch hazel helps to sooth the skin and reduce inflammation and is an astringent.

-Grapefruit essential oil unlike other citric oils this does not make you sun sensitive.  It is anti bacterial and anti fungal < a common cause of acne.  Just google it, essential oils have a wide array of uses.  I'm barely scratching the surface!  It will smell citrisy good!!

Recipe:

1/2 bottle with witch hazel

1/4 bottle with real just squeezed lemon juice. ( no big deal if seeds or pulp end up in there)

1/4 bottle with water

a few drops of grapefruit essential oil.

*if you find this is too strong for your skin, instead of a 1:1 ratio of water and lemon you can 2:1 ratio doubling the water and decreasing the lemon juice.

Shake before each use.  I love this and have been using it for I can't remember how many months now.  I won't go back...since over hauling my skin regimen, while a bumpy road... has been totally worth it. I don't think my skin has been clear since I was in the 6th grade!!

Some random thoughts on Skin issues.

I have been battling my skin since a teenager, I blogged about that previously.  But one thing that I think might actually be something worth noting is the candida(yeast) imbalance acne connection.  I am no stranger to yeast imbalance, aka my constant need to ward off my foot fungus, which I have made an all natural treatment for that, that is working better than anything else I've tryed and is chemical free.  I will post that hopefully soon.  Anyhow my point, overall my skin has been doing way better and I think part of it is the role of baking soda.  Baking soda is alkaline.  Let's talk PH balance for a minute, I'm no dr or expert, anyway the balance is between acidic or alkaline.  Yeast thrives in an acidic environment, we all have yeast on our skin and in our intestines, which isn't a problem, it's when the balance gets thrown off that the yeast overtakes.  A big part of helping the skin and immune system is maintain a healthy balance.  I have done so much research this summer because after mowing on a really humid day, I was so itchy from a sweat rash that I deemed candida because it would NOT go away after I cooled down for weeks.  So I tried to cut way down on sugar that feeds yeast, and take acidolpholis, caprylic acid, garlic oil, bentonite clay, aloe vera gel, apple cider vinegar.  Sound desperate? oh I WAS!!  I also made up aloe vera gel to put on myself with tea tree, and grapefruit oil.  At one point when it was disrupting my sleep, I ( and I quote my husband) went against everything I stand for and sprayed Tentactin on my back for a week.  I will still get a little itchy if I am out the humid heat for very long.... annoying.  But back to the point, from the inside out, yeast can be dealt with.  My body obviously wants to be acidic and yeasty.  ANYWAY back to this and acne.  I use baking soda on my face every night.  Sometimes, I have only been doing oil cleansing if I have makeup to remove but either way, I scrub my t zone with, only really scrub my nose and chin and smooth the baking soda all over my face and let it sit and wipe with a washcloths at the end of showering.  Anyway I am thinking it helps alkalize what I think is yeastyness that wants to thrive.  So random skin tip.  I have more... I just don't have the time to post them.

So coming up, someday,;) footfungus oil, face oil, astringent and the role of the all natural glycolic peel.

Citronella and Alcohol Free Bug Spray

Sorry for the low quality ugly pic on my ugly counter,  I should take pics on my table, I'm that lazy I guess.. but it gives a visual of the brands of products I used to make my own bug spray.  The skeetos, as my 3 year old calls them, have been bad this summer because of all the rain we have gotten.  I've looked over a couple bug spray recipes that I had pinned and ended up tweaking them and forming my own.  The field testing has been limited to just this weekend.  I sprayed my son who was getting bit and afterwards he said nothing was biting him.  And my husband who usually get attacked while mowing, said he was left alone except for one on his ankle at the very end of the long job of mowing and he said that's because he probably sweat it off.  Very humid.  So yes after a while of being outside if you are sweating it off you will want to reapply.  A lot of recipes call for citronella essential oil but I opted for other bug repelling oils as I read citronella can be cancer causing.  Didn't research it for myself it's just what I was reading as I was going over recipes online.  And there are so many anti bug oils to choose from it really wasn't a big deal.  I chose lemongrass, clove, peppermint, and eucalyptus oil, all around 5$ or so.  A sidenote, I believe clove is also an anti fungal, so if you're like me and struggled with ,what I self diagnosed myself with, candidal sweat rash this summer, you get that added benefit.  So here is the recipe, it makes 4 ounces and I used my old bug spray bottle, but in an ideal world, this would be better in a blue or amber glass spray bottle, because light deteriorates the essentials and essential oils can break down plastic.  So I keep it in the cabinet when we aren't using it.

Recipe:

2 TBS Witchhazel <alcohol free if you prefer.

1 TBS Aloe vera gel, the kind you can drink.

20 drops of Eucalyptus oil

10 drops Clove oil

10 drops Lemongrass oil

10 drops of Peppermint

Water.

I used my pirex cup so I could see the ounces,  I put in all the ingredients except the water, then filled the cup with water up to the 4 oz mark.  Shake before applying. ( I ordered all this from iherb)

Of course you can google all the different kinds of essential oils that repel bugs, these are what I landed on personally.

Tip: works for the 3 year old.  Bentonite clay for itchy bug bites.  (I keep a jar with clay mixed with enough water to make a mask-like consistency) 

I'm still here.

School is just around the corner and I plan to get back to blogging, not just for the sake of blogging but because my skin has been doing so good over all and I want to share about that. AND I made my own deodorant that WORKS!!  I've made my own toothepaste, astringent and foot fungus treatment.  All of which I am very happy with.  The toothepaste I may tweak to be a powder but really, I'm happy with it... and I'll be back. ;)

A Word About Phytic Acid

Click on the picture to read the whole article about why grains are a natural part of our diet but you should avoid wheat and gluten.  Two things I have yet to do.... and I do not believe evolution is correct at all.  With that said, this about phytic acid was interesting:

"Some arguments against grains lament the presence of phytic acid, something that is said to block the body’s ability to use zinc and calcium. Not only does some research show that phytic acid serves a purpose in the human body (it works as an antioxidant, helping to protect against heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other diseases according to EarthSave), but once the grains are leavened, the phytic acid’s negative effects no longer apply.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, whole grain consumption “substantially lowers total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad) cholesterol, triglycerides, and insulin levels.” That means a decreased risk of heart disease. The fiber triggers anticoagulant production which then prevents blood clots, and the antioxidants interfere with an interaction between LDL cholesterol and oxygen, an introduction that could contribute to the clogging of the arteries. In addition, Harvard points out that the fiber decreases the likelihood of experiencing constipation and helps sweep toxic residue out of the body"

No Poo I Think I Hate You

 Argh, I have to say it, one, blogger screwed me out of what I just typed grrrrr. And I also have to say, no pooing, it poo crapped on my hair. I hate it. Ever since I colored my hair I can't get it to breakdown the build up. I had to rewash my hair before I could go somewhere yesterday cause I had no pooed just the night before and it looked so GROSS. Powdery junk and greasy awful. Why WHy WHY does the chemcially laden conditioner they give you with your box of haircolor have to make your hair so darned silky soft??? :( If I were rich I'd buy some all natural awesome stuff. So my next try will be using my kids Everday Shea Shampoo.  And see how it performs.  to be continued....

How I Beat My Child's Ear Infection Naturally

I meant to get to this post done a couple weeks ago while the whole deal was fresh in my mind but here goes anyway.  My son who is now 7 would get an ear infection about once a year, (none in his first year of life though)  Usually when he would get infections it would be him running 102.9 temp and one cough would make him lose everything in his stomach.  Once he puked 7 times in a morning and also at the dr's.  The ear infection before this last one I'm sure burst his ear drum because it drained for days once we got him on antibiotics and he was up crying in the night from the severe pain even while on ibuprofen (more often than he should have been).  And he has a high pain tolerance, as in, not even two and wouldn't cry for his flu shots.   Yes yes flu shots, this may have been our last year from what I've been reading lately.  Back to the point, a friend told me a while ago about Wally's Ear Oil, it's all natural with anti bacterial essential oils, you could use it even if your ears are just itching.  On his ear drum bursting infection, I got the oil in the mail too late in the game.  Let me back track a moment, LAST winter my son didn't have any ear infections, he seemed to grow out of them!! But then last spring he had another, and another this fall, and ANOTHER a few weeks ago.  Why?  Snot sniffing, constant packing of snot from a cold back in his ears of his own doing.  We have had LOTS of talks with him about this. 

Anyway, another cold, most of us got, but he ends up with an earache. I believe it was Tuesday late afternoon.  So we do some drops... no fever... yet.  The next day, low grade fever maybe 99.5 and ear pain, we keep up on the drops every 3 hours or so.  I also heat up a rice pack for him and make him rest on the couch, one thing I did differently this time around was refuse to let him play the wii, so he wasn't tempted to sniff, and use up energy, and also didn't give him tylenol unless he couldn't find relief with the drops and the heatpack and PBS. :)  I wanted to let the fever burn the infection as much as we could and let the fever make him feel tired enough to lay low. His fever got higher as the day went ( I did give him tylenol once inthe afternoon to sleep, and then he woke me in the night hurting so I gave him some then)  I really thought we were headed for the dr. I kept thinking I need to call the dr, antibiotics are the only way to kick this, but I thought, just wait another day.  Tuesday night and Wednesday night were rougher nights, the tylenol and ricepacks seemed to help him not be completely miserable and sleep  and we kept on the ear drops but I would do every four hours or more if he was sleeping and I did BOTH EARS because I think the infection can shift as it did in his ear draining infection.  We got up with him at 1a.m. on Thursday morning, he was hurting and I took his temp, 101.6.  I thought that's it, calling the dr in the morning.  Well, he gets up Thursday morning and says his ear feels a lot better!  I say, reallly?? let me touch your ear, usually he won't let me NEAR it.  He let me pull on it gentley.  I took his temp, 97.9.  Thank you Lord.  And he continued to improve the fever did not return, not even a little. I did do the drops a couple times a day for day or two, then just did them at night for a couple more days.  I have never had this happen so I was so encouraged to not have to spend the money, and put the antibiotics in his body!

Recap what I learned from this:

1. Wally's Ear drops, use them at the first ache in the ear, or if your child is prone to ear infections use them during the initial cold to prevent infection.  I used 2-3 drops every 3 hours, but don't wake the kid to the do it, I did not make him stay long with it sitting in there, about a minute then let it drain out.  Do BOTH ears.

2.Elevate the head with pillows so the ears can drain.

3.  Use a humidifier to thin mucus.

4. Hydrate with water, and eat healthy, he ate lots of fruit and we avoided crap foods and unnatural sugars.  Eat organic yogurt or something probioticy. ;)

5.  Rice packs ( so easy to make yourself, sew a rectangle, dump a bag of long grain rice in, sew it up, heat in the microwave for a few minutes) use as often as needed.

6. Rest and Sleep, make your child take a break from all tv and see if he falls asleep in his bed.  Sleep is critical to healing.

7.Tyelnol only when pain is too much or it's keeping patient from sleep.  Otherwise, let that fever burn.

8.  Know when to fold, if the pain becomes severe, fever gets high, ear is draining or puking is involved time to call the dr.

9. Do not put anything in a draining ear

10.  Go with your Mommy gut, don't have a hippie spaz freakout if your kid needs antibiotics, we do our best and that's all we can do right?  Right.

No Poo, for You.

I do a lot of dumb things.  I research stuff, I do things my own way and sometimes it backfires... I have rubbed oil on my scalp and expected water and vinegar to wash it out.  Wow that looked great.  I've put straight powdered baking soda on my scalp, ineffective.  Back to my title, No Poo, it's all over the green living hippiville blogs online.


What is no pooage?  It's washing your hair with the following:

1 tbsp of baking soda dissolved in 8 oz of water.

Rinse with 1 tbs of vinegar mixed in 8 oz of water.

Let me tell you about my hair, more TMI but hey that's me.  Scalp= scummy, build up no matter WHAT or how much I wash my hair, oh I can do clarifying shampoos but then my hair ends up oilier.  Ends, dry, fly away, some of my hair is fine, my childhood hair, that never mutated with most of hair through puberty to coarse thick and curly, looser curls I guess you could say.  And I have plenty of grays so I color, which I hate that I do but I do and I have to because I hate grays.  Lately I have been trying to train my hair to go longer between pooing.  I could go 5 days.  Before shampooing I started rubbing castor oil on my scalp and then vinegar and letting sit for a few minutes, it did seem to licquify my scummy nasty build up and help some.  But like I say no matter what I would get some measure of white waxy gunk if I scraped my nails even right after shampooing and I was really scrubbing.  So, two times last week I no pooed  so I haven't used shampoo for over a week.  I am still working out the kinks but as far as step 1 goes, I'm a believer.

10 oz of water, 1 tablespoon of baking soda, a couple drops of tea tree oil and my nalgene bottle.  It will all dissolve into clear water. ( we do not have a working water soften btw) Shook up and carefully poured on my already wet head in the shower. I made sure to get every segment of my scalp soaked.  I then proceeded to scrub a few minutes, yes minutes, and some crazy cool happened just like one blogger said, I could see a very fine lather on my fingers, it's got something to do with how soap is made, one of the components of how soap is made with animal fats and how your own sebum acts a component in your no pooing and a tiny lather forms, so my relaying is as lay person and probably erroneous as it gets but all I know is, my hair oil mixed with the b.s. ;) made some lather. 

Scalp results?? I could FEEL water hitting my head, I guess I forgot what that felt like, gross and weird, I could feel the temp of the water.  My scalp shined, I could no longer scrape scum.  It was amazing!!!

No mind you that was only the first half, the second half is a work in progress.  I then sprayed my hair with my bottle of half water half vinegar.  The result was straw like awful frizzy poopy crappy hair.  my roots were swell and that was it.  Two days later, I did step one, step two and after vinegar put truckloads of Nature's Gate Hemp Conditioner in my hair. < not exactly green but a lesser evil.  I was very happy with my hair then.  One thing though that is just status quo with my hair is, it gets flyaway frizzy as the day goes and that still happened even with my "product" in it < which is also a lesser evil for sure, I'll post that sometime I can't remember the name.  So, 3 days later THIS is what I did, after the vinegar, I put a little of my OCM mix in the ends and rinsed it, then put much less conditioner in.  THEN when I got out, on the bottm half of my hair hairs ends I used my beloved grapeseed oil.  It was a gamble, church was the next morning.  I woke up with softer hair and it looked like I had product in it to make it look a little wet and it was really curly.  I curled my hair as usual and used no product at ALL. This pic is my hair 12 hours after I did it  I've slept on it and fried catfish, usually it's much more frizzy and way ward at this point in the day.

  And now check out the root of the hair... no shampoo for over a week, just no pooing.

Bottomline, I am on the right track I do believe, the next thing I am going to try is to actually just do the one cup of water to tbs of vinegar, and then do some leave in grapeseed oil and see how that goes.

(why the angle makes my head look like the Queen of Hearts from the new Alice and Wonderland I do not know and good gravy my eyeballs look HUGE here...)And while you're here, a pic of also my face so you can see how it's doing with the OCM, sure it's at the end of a long day, complete with like I said, some catfish frying and my makeup has been on 12 hours.  no touching up, no more powder, no dabbing of oil. perhaps a small amount of shine but 12 hours of make up, with my face that would have normally had little oil rigs bobbing up and down on it.  Another thing I'm trying... seeing if I can make it without my serum and just use some grapeseed oil mixed with my tea tree oil and see the same results.

Stupid Sebum Plugs

 

Whilest my skin has been doing pretty well lately, I was having this annoying problem which I had before I started OCM of sebum plugs on my chin and on the sides of my nose, SO annoying, nothing was getting them out!!  I even thought I would try my microdermabrasion scrub and that didn't even seem to help and it broke my face out.<idiot.  Dang, I can't believe how many products I am finding are obsolite in my quest for more natural skin care.  So I did a lot of running about on the web and had read before about baking soda for microdermabrasion.  sure... I thought, but I had nothing to lose so I just made a paste of it with some water and after I oil cleansed spent a couple minutes rubbing it on my face and paying special attention to my stupid pluggy areas.  Once I felt some tingling I decided it was time to stop, I rinsed my face with water, and checked my pores.  Smooth!! no pluggies!!  And my skin felt nice and resurfaced.  It was wonderful and surprising!! My best friend tried it too and it worked for her as well.  Now keep in mind the plugs do return and you have use your scrub every few days or so, but it's so nice to find something that worked, better than my 20+dollar microderm scrub.  So nice to put on makeup and not have it show off stupid plugs even more!! Thanks baking soda!