Essential Oils

I started using essential oils about 10 years ago when my oldest child was about 18 months old. It was at that time, that I was beginning to question everything that I had always known … because now I had a child whose health was of primary importance to me. I couldn't afford to get it wrong! It was 10 years ago that I started thinking about health and nutrition differently than I ever had before. I sought to learn as much as I could about natural health and healing. I had a friend who taught me about essential oils and I began using several different oils for prevention and for healing. The oils that I have used the most over the years are oregano, lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, and melalueca(tea tree oil). I have used those oils faithfully and have faithfully received excellent results. At the beginning, I was so excited about them, that I would talk about them to others. It became clear very early on that most people didn't really want to hear about them. It was just a little too much. I would get blank stares. So, I continued to use the fabulous oils, but stopped talking about it. Recently, I went to a meeting about doTerra oils that opened my mind even more to the use of essential oils. As much as I already knew about them … there was still so much more to learn. I have now added several more oils to my repertoire of oils and use them on a daily basis. 

Interestingly enough, over the past couple of years social media has allowed the word to get out about how beneficial these oils are. The word has spread like wildfire and there are people using essential oils that I would have never guessed would have gone that direction! I've read wonderful testimonials about how the oils have worked for so many different ailments. In my own experience, in the past ten years with 4 children, I've only taken 2 of the 4 children to the doctor for a sick visit. 3 total sick visits in 10 years. 2 of the 4 children had ZERO sick visits in 10 years. (1 of those children is about to be 5 yo - so technically wasn't around for 5 of those years … but she's never had a sick visit!) Can you imagine having 4 children, with only 3 sick visits between the 4 of them in 10 years? 

You can get your hands on essential oils at whole foods stores, health stores, and online, but the quality of the oils is not the best - and quality matters! Not all oils are safe for internal consumption. Not all oils are pure with no added fillers. So, while you can acquire essential oils at health food stores and the like - I don't recommend those oils. I have used several different oils over the past 10 years - and know from experience that not all oils are created equally. I am very pleased with the doTerra oils that we now use and want to tell you all about them too! 

The oils I use the most are:

Peppermint: fever reducer and headaces

Lemon: detoxifier and tastes great in water!

Wild Orange: run directly on belly when my little ones complain of a tummy ache (also detoxifies and tastes great in water!)

Lavender: rub on the feet to help relax, rub on the throat for a sore throat, take internally with lemon and peppermint for allergies, acts as an anti-inflammatory, place directly on cuts and scrapes

Melaleuca: use topically for any type of fungus, put drops in shampoo for itchy scalp and dandruff, a couple drops in water and gargle for sore throat

Frankincense: topically for skin inflammation, internally with on guard and oregano for colds, flu, and other upper respiratory illnesses

On Guard oil blend: apply topically to feet and spine for daily prevention during cold and flu season, take internally with oregano, frankincense for cold and flu.

Deep Blue: topically for aches and pains

Past Tense: topically for headaches

Breathe Oil Blend: topically for asthma attacks, rub on chest, feet, and under nose for congestion and coughs

Digestzen: rub on the belly for tummy aches (I haven't had to use this one very much - thankfully!)

You can also diffuse the oils in the room for health benefits as well. There are so many uses for the oils. I barely scratched the surface!

I am going to post a link to how you can purchase doTerra oils if you are interested, but also will post a button on the side of my blogs so that you can come back later and still get to the doTerra site without having to search out this particular blog post.

doTerra oils

You can order directly from the link above and get retail prices. Or you can order a kit and qualify to get wholesale prices which is 25% off your order every time you order. If you are interested in that - send me an email and I can get you signed up for that deal!

If you would like to find out more about essential oils and how they work click here.

Busy, busy, busy

It's been a ghost town here at Holland Happenings! We are fully in the swing of the 2013-2014 school year and we are staying busy! We are already 13 weeks into our school year! It's flying this year. Everyone is doing well with their school and so far attitudes have been great too! Jonathan has finished a full phonics program and has now moved on to emerging readers and I'm so happy with his progress. He has struggled a great deal with learning how to read which is completely unlike my first two boys. Jonathan and I both have had a learning curve with this reading thing!  

She can make me crazier than all three boys put together  - and yet she can have me laughing and crying tears of joy within 10 seconds. This girls is a truly a bundle of joy. She can hold her own with the boys and can play soldier games like none other - but she is as girly as they come and tenderhearted to boot. She is quick to challenge me when she doesn't what to do what I ask, but is just as quick to say how sorry she is for how she acted. I'm so blessed that she is mine.

This is a normal day at my house, folks.

I'm so thankful. 

This is just a bonus picture...because she's just so darn cute.

We've had a busy couple of months. School is intense this year in the amount of time required of me. It's good, though. It's so very good. I do have days that I wish that I did not have to teach - and we have plenty of days when attitudes are not the best. I struggle with my own attitude on days like that and I have urges to chase the school bus down, so that someone else can assign them their dreaded work. All that said - when my attitude is as it should be - I am always so grateful that my children are at home with me.  They are the blessings ... I am the blessed.

Martin's first deer

(Written by Rich)

Martin has gone with me on several deer hunting trips over the past three seasons. This year, for  his 11th birthday, I got him a Weatherby Vanguard Synthetic Youth model in 7mm-08. I put a Redfield scope on it, and we made several trips to the range over the summer.

Martin is a very good shot. He is patient, takes his time, and only pulls the trigger when the sights are on target (exactly on target). Our last trip to the range was this past Tuesday, and his final three-shot group of the night at 100 yards could be covered with a nickel.

Rifle season opened today, and since I wasn't sure of the weather (the forecast had changed several times over the past 48 hours, but it looked like it might rain), I picked a box stand we have in the woods on one of the properties we hunt. The stand sits along what used to be a logging road, but is no longer used for vehicle traffic. The area is covered with tall grass, and sits just about 40 yards from a creek where the deer are known to bed and travel. The deer often pass by the stand as they are coming and going from their home base to other parts of the property.

Sunrise was at 7:16, which meant legal shooting hours started at 6:46. We got up early, ate breakfast in the truck during the 40 minute ride to the property. Once we got there, we parked about a half mile from the stand and walked in. By the time we were settled in the stand, it was 6:00.

About 6:30 it started getting light enough to see, so I was busy looking around for deer. Last year I caught a buck at about that same time coming up out of the creek, so I expected to see deer moving before it was legal to shoot. All of a sudden, I hear very heavy breathing coming from about 2 feet away. I looked over, and Martin was leaning back against the wall of the stand, head tilted back and mouth wide open - sound asleep. I poked my finger into his chest (which startled him a bit), and said, "What are you doing?" 

"I'm very tired," he said. 

I said, "Do you want to go home and sleep?" 

"No!"

By 7:15 I was starting to think that we wouldn't see anything this morning, and that we were likely in for a long day. But just as soon as I had that thought, I heard a rifle shot from the neighbor's property. That told me that the deer were on their feet moving around.

At about 7:30 I was staring intently down the lane where I expected the deer to come out. I happened to glance over to a different spot, and there were two deer there! It is a narrow lane only about 60 yards long, with woods all around it. The stand was the only thing in between the deer and the creek bed where they were surely headed. I didn't know it, but earlier in the week, one of the other guys put a bunch of corn out in that spot, and the two young bucks had stopped for a quick snack.

I said to Martin, "There are some deer right there." The once dreary-eyed, barely awake boy jumped to life. "Where?!?" He could barely contain himself.

He stood up and got the rifle ready. We had spent enough time at the range, and talking about it, that I didn't need to worry about the gun. I knew that he knew what to do. So, I was able to concentrate on the deer.

He was so excited that he literally could not stand still and could not hold the rifle still. I made him slow down and calm down. I kept making him take deep breaths to relax. He was so excited, and at one point he said, "Daddy, can you please help me stand still?"

The coolest part about it before he took the shot was that the two bucks started sparring with one another. One pawed at the ground ... the other approached with his head down. They locked antlers and pushed each other around just a bit. This was obviously just "practice," but it was really neat to watch.

Martin managed to calm down enough to be looking through the scope and talking about which one he was going to shoot. Several minutes went by, and I kept saying, "Whenever you are ready and comfortable with the shot, go ahead and take it." I said it several times.

As the deer turned, moved, and shifted position, Martin knew that he had to wait for a good broadside shot. One of them moved close to the woods and was not really in a good spot any more, so that narrowed things down real quick. Martin took aim at the remaining buck and was getting ready. The safety clicked off, and the buck began to walk toward the woods. I thought we were going to miss our chance. I said, "Martin, it has to be now."

I let out a short, sharp bleat, trying to get the buck to stop ... and it worked. He picked his head right up, looked our way, and stood perfectly still.

I said, "Right now, Martin."

POW!!!

The buck arched his back, jumped straight up, kicked his legs out behind him, and disappeared into the woods.

Martin looked at me with the widest eyes I have ever seen! He could barely contain himself, and if I hadn't stopped him, he would have jumped down from the stand and ran over to that spot right then.

I was a little concerned, because I couldn't tell where the deer was hit. By his reaction, I suspected it was good, but because I wasn't sure, we sat still and quiet for several minutes. It was dead quiet, and after not too long, I couldn't contain myself, so we climbed down.

We crept quietly the 60 yards or so until we got to the spot where he was standing when Martin took the shot. I was really nervous, because I didn't see any blood at all. But I did see a very clear path into the woods that the buck surely ran down. If the buck was just wounded, I didn't want to go after him too soon and end up losing him. I told Martin to stand still, and I headed down the path just to see what I could see.

I didn't take three steps before I saw him laying there! He didn't make it 25 yards, and by then, I could see a good blood trail that we could have followed, if it had been necessary.

I was so relieved! I said, "Martin, there he is!" And the celebration began. There were hugs, shouts, and high-fives aplenty; and I'm not ashamed to say that I shed a tear or two.

It turns out that Martin had made a perfect shot ... right in the lower 1/3 of the chest, just behind the front leg. (You can barely see it in the picture, below.)

We had planned on hunting all day, but since the primary objective had been accomplished, we stopped at a local diner for breakfast and headed home.

Later on, Martin was talking about the experience with his two younger brothers. At one point, Aaron said, "Martin, you look taller."

I think he is.

"little" moments

LOVE!
My sweet girl feel asleep on the way to the restaurant on my birthday. She stayed asleep when Rich pulled her out of her carseat. She's getting so big. We cherish the times when she falls asleep like this - it's a "little" moment. She is growing up so quickly! We are so blessed by her sweet and happy spirit!

Treasured Friends

We have lived in North Carolina for over 10 years now. It's hard to believe it's been that long. We all love it here and can't imagine living anywhere else. We love our home, our yard, our neighborhood, our church, and our friends. One of the main ministries of our church is the Small Group Ministry. It took us a while, but we found a small group within our church that has been an excellent fit for Rich and myself, but also for our children. Once a week, we gather with our small group, share a meal at a home of one of the families, study our Bibles, have accountability, and prayer. Our children experience community and fellowship with the other children in the group. 

The idea behind the small group ministry is to "do life" with  your small group. On this particular day, we all gathered together on Labor Day and went swimming and cooked out. It can take a long time to develop relationships within the church. It requires a commitment to seek out those relationships and time to develop them to the point at which it's comfortable to seek out prayer and counsel for whatever it is that is going on in your everyday life. 

We are so thankful for our small group. We love the people in our small group and are continually blessed by them as we share our lives with them. Our entire family looks forward to going to small group each week. Years ago, after we were first married we were a part of a small group ministry and  Rich began a small group ministry at the church that he pastored. We have missed this ministry so much over the years! Our children are blessed by the friendships they are forming. 

I am not only thankful for the relationships that I see my children forming  - both within our church at large - and with the other people (both young and old) in our small group, but I am also thankful for the women in the small group who have become my dear friends. 

Aaron's Baptism

We gathered as a church at Falls Lake to worship the Lord through song, prayer, and baptism. It was a beautiful day! Aaron prayed to receive Jesus as his savior about two years ago, and it has been an on-going conversation since then. He has been asking and desiring to be baptized for the past year. He wrote down his testimony of faith and trust in Jesus and why he wanted to be baptized. He bravely got up in front of a large crowd from our church that had gathered together and he read what he had written down. Rich also spoke to the church about Aaron's journey in coming to know and trust in Christ as his Savior. 

My heart was already overflowing to hear my child child publicly profess his faith in Jesus! Then our church family walked to the waters of Falls lake and gathered on the shore to witness Rich baptize our son Aaron. 

It was a glorious moment to observe the symbolism of being buried in baptism and raised to new life in Christ. We have great hope in Christ!

Our family and church family rejoice with Aaron on his new found life in Christ. God is good and greatly to be praised!

Hands on Learning

Aaron is reading about the Desert in Science, and he came up with this fabulous version of a cactus! I was so impressed with it. He used air dry clay and tooth picks. 

In History, Aaron is learning about Egyptian hieroglyphics.  He used air dry clay to carve his own hieroglyphic. Aaron is a very independent student. He reads through his curriculum guide and easily follows the instructions and often has the projects done before I can even explain them to him. His independence is an enormous blessing to me since I have the younger two that need a great deal more attention from me.
He loves 4th grade. So far he is enjoying the content a great deal more than what we did last year in  3rd grade. I am so happy about that because it causes him to have a much better attitude!