Homemade Throat Lozenges

With the cold and flu season upon us, I want to be prepared incase someone does get sick.

So, I made these throat lozenges from a recipe my friend, Courtney, told me about on

her website.  www.selahessentialoils.com  It is very simple to make.

 

 

First, you mix one cup organic coconut oil with two tablespoons of honey and add 20 drops of Armor

essential oil, and 20 drops lemon oil. (I added more lemon oil than it called for....about 40 drops.)

Mix it all together and drop onto a plate or wax paper and place in freezer a few minutes. Once firm,

remove from plate, and put in a glass jar and store in freezer.

 

 

 

Enjoy!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 Satsumas

 

Yesterday, Jaelyn, our oldest daughter sliced several satsumas and put them in the dehydrator.  This is the only way she will eat them. They taste like candy.....DELICIOUS!!!! We dehydrate them with the peelings on them because it is so much easier. You can pull the peelings of if you desire, but I eat peelings and all. Hoping to be getting an extra dose of Vitamin C.....lol. We are blessed to have several friends that give us satsumas every year. Last year, I canned some thinking they would taste like mandarin oranges, but we didn't care for them. So, we eat all we can and then dehydrate the rest.

 

Blessings

Give thanks always. I have shared with our girls several times lately that there is always something to be thankful for.....during the good times and bad. My family has been tremendously blessed the past week. No, I wasn't handed a wad of money....lol. Some of the blessings from this past week include: some nice, new clothes being given to our girls, jeans, which he desperately needed, being given to James, a few days at a friends camp at the lake, someone asking if they could help buy Christmas gifts for our girls, peaceful moments with my Father, and seeing God at work.

 

 Here a pics of a few other blessings.

 

We have been given a couple bags of satsumas already and today were given this basket full of satsumas. We plan to dehydrate some and juice some as well. 

 

 

The girls picked up a bag of hickory nuts at our Aunts house this evening. I am hoping to make a hickory nut cake with them around Christmas. I remember my mom making one when I was 10ish and I thought it was the best cake ever. Hoping she still has the recipe. Will share when I make it.

 

Also, we were given a deer neck, deer shoulder, and a bag of frozen dew berries.

 

These things may not seem like much to some people, but I feel blessed with by every gift of love I receive. These are amazing gifts for this country gal.....lol. I told James earlier that I feel like we are living the Little House on the Prairie.

 

Be blessed, my friends. Find something to be thankful for each day.

 

Pumpkin Bread and Elderberry Syrup

 

 

 

Our kitchen was a busy place last week. The girls baked and sold

a lot of Pumpkin bread. They bake it in coffee cans which are extremely

hard to find nowadays. I made elderberry syrup to try to build immune

systems from elderberries I had leftover from last year.

 

Hubby's Handmade Straw Baskets

James is not one to just sit still and being down has been really hard on him. He decided to make some baskets. He taught himself how to weave the baskets a couple years ago after seeing a display

of baskets at the visitor center at the Big Thicket National Forest. He made a couple baskets and then watched a couple youtube videos and changed his technique in which he likes much better. He has made several thus far. This is a tortilla basket. The lid fits well on the basket because he put a rim on the bottom side of the lid so it would fit into the basket.  He has done an amazing job.  Pretty impressive to this ol' gal.

 

If you look closely, you can see the rim on the lid. 

Update on the Henson's....

I am 10 weeks post op. My foot is healing well. I am able to walk in my tennis shoe some. I drove for the first time in 2 1/2 months yesterday. It felt great. It felt freeing.

 

James is still the same. He is learning to tolerate the pain a little better. He has had an epidural injection in his neck. It didn't help any. Plans are to have another injection in his neck and have a nerve stimulator place in his back sometime in December.

 

Jaelyn is doing well. She is enjoying youth group in our church. I am a little reserved about is still. She hasn't been exposed to a lot of things kids her age are exposed to. My desire is for her mind to stay pure and innocent at this young age.

 

Madison made a BIG decision on her own yesterday. She come to the realization that she wasn't truly saved and was in need of Christ. She accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. She made my mommy heart swell.

 

 

We are trudging along in school. Each day has it's problems due to our circumstances, but each day is a blessing from the Lord. I am priviledged to be able to school my girls at home.



Happenings and Grattitudes:

Four weeks ago, today, I had foot surgery and have been layed up since. It has been difficult the past couple of weeks because I am feeling much better and want to be up doing something. I have  been very obedient to my doctor. I layed in bed three weeks with my foot elevated and have spent the last week in our recliner with my foot elevated. I see my doctor on Thursday to have my hard cast removed and will then start therapy and begin wearing my walking boot. Honestly, this cast can't come off soon enough. This has been very difficult for my family with my husband being down as well. I must say that he has taken such good care of me even though he is in terrible pain himself. The hardest part for me other than the first week of pain has been to see my house so messy. It is never perfectly clean, but it is usually picked up and decent. We started school a couple weeks after my surgery. It has gone well provided the circumstances.

 

Even though our life has been CRAZIER this past month, we have been blessed. I cannot express the GRATTITUDE I have for our church family. We had meals brought to our house on a daily basis for over three weeks. We have people driving James and I back and forth to doctor appointments. We have people running errands for us and picking up our girls for church. We have people grocery shopping for us. You see my point. WE ARE BLESSED!!!!!!!! But, the most important part is that I have had people praying for me and my family. That itself has been our greatest blessing.