Simply Earth June Essential Oil Recipe Box || Oily Aid Kit

May 31, 2020

This month's Simply Earth Box came in and it's all things Oily Aid! Consider it your crunchy "first aid" kit. 

With a house full of boys and it being the beginning of summer... (I know I say it often) but this one was timed just right! 


This month's box included:


Aloe Vera Gel
Dried Calendula Flowers
Cardamom Essential Oil
Lavender Essential Oil
Timer Blend Essential Oil
Bumps & Booboos Blend Essential Oil


The Timber blend is new to Simply Earth and they yet again hit it out of the park. All my slightly crunchy friends will understand what I'm saying when I say this... it smells like the best smelling crunchy earthy health food store you ever went in. In the best way possible. 

I say that as someone who thinks the smell at Whole Foods should be a candle! 

This new blend is intended to be calming (which it totally is) and supports skin health. 


You probably noticed the other blend that was included -  Bumps & Booboos. 

This blend is a germ killing and skin healing blend (see that EO First Aid theme coming in) This is a kid safe blend for 2+ and has strong notes of Tea Tree. It basically smells like everything my mother slathered on me as a child. 


Now for the recipes! 

With this kit you get a burn salve, skin healing gel, and an infused oil all with the purpose of skin healing. You'll see in the video that I made the burn gel and infused oil. 

There is also a Digest Help Roll On recipe and a No Stress Blend diffuser recipe. 

I diffused the No Stress Blend and let me tell you it is going to also be a roll on, it smells so amazing. 


I'm going to pop the video in at the very bottom, but as always don't forget to use the discount code when you purchase your own box! 

Head >> HERE << to get you box for June and as always don't forget to use code LABRIDEFREE to get a $40 giftcard with your first subscription box and bonus box.



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High Five for Friday!

May 29, 2020

Last night I realized I hadn't blogged once this week. Maybe my brain just thinks I should be camping and went off the grid on its own. Who knows? 

I'm currently trying to figure out a better way to organize our days. With a toddler who naps from 12-3 a good chunk of the middle of the day is spent not doing much. I almost feel like we have to compromise school work for a hiking activity. 

To which you might tilt your head and say "school work?" Well friends, we are slowly but surely becoming more confident in letters and their sounds over here. It seems late, but in the hard reality of a speech delay he only became conversational last June - we started PreK in August - and in January he was mid year tested and hadn't absorbed what I would have liked to have seen on his own. 

So Mama Boot Camp it has been since March 16. 

And let me tell you, with the one on one he is doing amazing. 

I know I should have done more during the school year, but some things fall behind in major life changes. Sadly my idea to see what he would pick up without me pushing didn't work. 


Yesterday Jeremy had to run up to work on his day off to mess with a projector or something. He's getting stuff together to do a outdoor movie night for our youth. He also took the kids.

So after I got myself showered I headed up their to retrieve kids and let them have a picnic lunch at church, because after 400 days of quarantine it's fun to eat anywhere that isn't your own house.


I said it on IG last night, but he LaCroix summer flavors this year are amazing! Sam's Club is selling a flat pack of all three flavors if you're out and about. 


There's a reason Elliot always has bumps and bruises. 

Harrison made them a bed in a laundry basket, standard right of child passage. 


Elliot fell out. 

This is minor compared to him falling into a bush the other day. This is going to be my ER bill child. 


The kids got an indoor bath last night as well. 

Indoor bath you say? Well. The past two nights I've just thrown soap at them while they were in the kiddie pool. It's summer. 

Now for a few things I don't want to forget that I can't seamlessly smash into this post:
- Elliot thinks washing his hands is hysterical. 
- Elliot also answers everything you say by shaking his head yes or no. He is pretty accurate but it's hilarious. 

Maybe I need to do a year and a half update on this child. That could help. 

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Bird Leaves, Takeout, and Toddler Selfies

May 19, 2020

We're still home. 

Here's a compilation of things the kids have recently said to me... or done. 


"Mama, I don't like honeybuns anymore."

After eating an entire honeybun and running out of said honeybun. 


"Look Mama, it's a bird leaf!"


The children didn't say anything here. But I've been scrambling to do things in the evenings on Tuesday's and Wednesday. On those nights Jeremy has a Zoom bible study with the youth and Wednesday is the livestream of his weekly lesson. You might think "how involved can that be" but let me assure you keeping two kids off Daddy after he's been at work all day is no easy feat. 

These kids have appeared on camera naked after baths. Screamed bloody murder during prayer. And generally caused havoc during this time. 

If you've been on a women's call at any point and wondered where I was... I was dead to the world after wrangling this mess and cooking dinner. 

So last week I went way out of my norm and ordered catering... it was gloriously easy that Wednesday night. 


I call this photo "If you step in that gumbo mud Mama just said to avoid I'm going to make you walk your muddy feet to the creek so Daddy can wash you off as you complain the entire way." 


This photo series is what I'd like to call "don't leave your phone unattended during nap time." There were about 50 more I deleted. 


I don't know how I've convinced them, but they will play nicely in the floor and let me run on an elliptical for 1 mile. I can't physically think about more than one mile. But thank goodness they allow me one mile. 

See also... how did two kids get me so out of shape? 


And this friends is photo proof I exist outside of a selfie. Harrison took it. It's not frame worthy. But it's me, being mama to the kid that will sit in anyone's lap that sits on the floor. 
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Elliot Does Not Approve of Your Music

May 11, 2020

 I've been trying to get back to drinking bone broth.

[Read that as I drank it once last week.]

I use to make a really good bullet proof bone broth back in the Paleo days. I don't know what happened though. That Keto phase reintroduced cheese into my life and I never looked back. Then I got pregnant and rice was the only thing that tasted good for a long time.

Now.

NOW.

There's no helping me, I've gone too far and lost my will power.


Incase you were curious, Elliot doesn't approve of Jeremy's old Christian bad  playlists that include... who am I kidding I don't remember the name of that band. 

Either way, Elliot wasn't amused.


I've quarantined enough. 

Enough was enough. 

I ran out of Trader Joe's freezer meals in March. Before the quarantine. Legit the weekend I was going to restock was the weekend everything froze. 

So I said screw it and went to Trader Joe's this weekend. 

Give me tasty freezer meals, or give me death! 


Jeremy, coincidentally, was on his death bed with a virus for Mother's Day. 



So we went out for a walk + ice cream that was supposed to end in Poke but alas Ono Poke was closed. 


The daiquiri ice sorbet from Edgewood Creamery was the bomb! I want to swatch this blue and paint everything this color.


No poke means sushi, which coincidentally, cost more. I might come down with something over father's day, ya never know do you. 


Funny enough I have had a few items (a lamp large enough to not make me feel like we live in a cave at night, I can't stand the overhead lights in a living room.) in my Target cart and decided to finally use some blog cash to buy them. Jeremy came out of his death bed to thinking his account had been hacked. 

No sir, that was your wife. 

I promptly sent that money to the bank account lol! 


Anyone else almost use the bug spray instead of the cooking spray while camping? 

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Hey Wednesday!

May 6, 2020

It's Wednesday.

I'm just gonna blog and think about the positives, because that big negative that's looming over my head is a tough one at the moment.


First off we've been trying to get our and go walking more in the afternoons after Elliot is up.


I love that their are so many creeks in our area as well as tons of options for walking paths. 



I had to laugh at Elliot here, he wanted to throw this stick in the water really bad... but didn't want to lose the stick. So he kept going through the throwing motion and not letting go. 


On the hunt for festival food I came across my 1955 edition of Acadian Bi-Centennial. The old Cajun recipes for Turtle and what I am assuming is fish that I've never heard of had my cracking up. 


In my quest to update my Instagram highlights I came across this... a week before delivering Elliot. Why can't we all have pregnancy lips all the time? Holy smokes though at that puffy about to deliver face! 



 Birmingham Moms Blog had a Zoom call this week and when it was about my time to speak I panicked. Y'all I've been talking to myself on Insta for YEARS  but hearing that husband playback is always dreadful.

All the bloggers know, blogger husbands are an indifferent group that pick on you for talking to yourself.

So yes, after 11 years of blogging I quickly hid in the playroom with the door shut so no one could hear me.

Blogging is a strange outlet that allows you to journal but skirts the area of narcissism.


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Things That Make Me Say Yay!

May 1, 2020

It's been too long! 

How have I not done a TTMMSY! in 2 years people? 

So for quarantine, let's work through some YAY topics and not just weekly favorites. I'll try and do this every Friday - and I'd love for you to comment and let me know what you are saying YAY! about this week! 

If you've got topics you'd like to see me cover, drop those below too! 

This week I'm talking all things little learner and what I'm using to help Harry learn his letters and sounds while we are home through the summer. 






Linky Links

Learning Dynamics - the phonics/letter recognition program I'm using to teach Harry his letters and sounds. This is also used to teach just flat out reading. We're working towards that but letter and sounds are my priority right now. 

Peachie Speechie - Youtube speech practice channel! 

Foam Letter Mat - this is the play mat in our play room that I use to identify letters as well. 


The Letter Factory on Netflix by Leap Frog


Aww! I almost forgot my friend Kirsten and her IG page - go follow @bringingupbeary - she has a ton of adorable ideas for kids activities!


the few items I'm using that I forgot about 

ABC Duolingo App

Khan Academy Kids App - I pick the letter we are doing that day and let him work it. He also likes to read books and do any number practice on this app. 


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