Inspiration is everywhere!

I am open to finding authentic beauty and allowing it to bring bliss into my life.

When I look for the positive, I always find good things & feel amazing. I adore the world in which I live and I love being a part of it.

I feel thankful and fresh and alive. It is with joy that I be in every moment. It is with peace that I approach my day. It is with openness that I see myself and others and it is with a heart full of gratitude that I allow the universe to bring good things to me.

I see myself happy, full of light and fun.

I see myself creative, wanting to do things and feeling accomplished. I see myself content. I see myself enjoying the world and finding inspiration everywhere.

Much love!!
Sadie @allnaturalme

Today we explored numbers and counting by using my old muffin tins. I placed a square in each one with the numbers 1 through 12 & We did two exercises – One with rolling dice and matching the numbers accordingly and then by placing the correct number of beads in each spot.

What’s your favorite cooperative game?  They are the best, aren’t they!  Especially for little rowdy kids who hate to lose and really need to learn sharing & taking turns, lol.

We found this gem of a board game at a local homeschool book sale.  It’s called Back to the Farm, published in 1977 by Animal Town Game Company.  Okay, okay – I only knew that ‘cuz I saw it on Board Game Geek ha!  I don’t actually have that information floating in my noggin, but sometimes, it is fun to sound like a nerd.

And it is always fun to play!!

So here’s to wishing you a fun Sunday play day ~ love those littles up!!

My super fantastic mama friend, Mama B, hooked me up with some fun crafty loot that included the book: Happy Gloves: Charming Softy Friends Made from Colorful Gloves

It’s all about how to take gloves & repurpose them into plushies!

There’s quite a few character ideas, pretty simple instructions & now that I have more than enough gloves to get started… I may just have to try this out! This may be a great craft for my son & I to elf for the little sisters for christmas!!

Christmas giving is right around the corner it seems ~ what cool handmade holiday gift ideas are you dreaming up?

As timed passed & mother continued to offer reminders to leave it alone & we used MittiHeal to help the body heal…

By golly, it did heal!

And today, sitting here harassing the kid to focus on his math work, the skin looks pretty good!

Considering how deep the wound was & that it was infected, I’m pleased with the healing time and happy I had a product to use specifically for it.

Now, to hook up one All Natural Me Fan with a box of MittiHeal for their healing. You definitely want this for a natural medicine cabinet, and you can always order it from mittiheal.com.  And remember, MittiHeal is very easy to use!  See my post on that – HERE!

I can’t wait to ship this to you. Here’s how to enter – JUST COMMENT All that extra stuff just gets you extra entries… don’t do it unless you REALLY want to win! And yes, you may tweet every day for extra chances to win! Good Luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

When MittiHeal sent the wound care powder of Calendula, Arnica Montana, Mint & Sandalwood for us to try – it was just so timely that my son had a seeping boo-boo that was looking infected.

Yep! It was gross ~ Lucky us!!

MittiHeal is a pleasant smelling powder & comes in a package. No secrets here – I love the aroma! After I opened it, I found an clean empty container to store the extra in, as a little bit goes a long way!

Applying it was easy – I just sprinkled a small amount onto the wound & patted it in. All that pus held it in there, but I could’ve moistened the area if needed.

Now to get healing!!

Intrigued? Looking forward to more gross wound pictures!?! Yes! Tomorrow I’ll fast forward time & show you the healing progress AND….

(drumroll)

We are going to have a MittiHeal Giveaway!!! Be sure to visit tomorrow to find out how to enter!! This is a great product to have in your natural healing medicine chest!

One thing that I like about child led homeschooling is that you can pick up where you left off from the weekend – tie it into the school day and forget about what you had previously planned. (screw those nursery rhymes for the day)

The girls had pulled these vintage children’s books off the shelves for Sunday story time and there was no way I could just put them back without continuing on. There are boundless lessons in each little book – and they’re ridiculously adorable.

I imagine we’ll read the entire series today & then do a craft with shapes. It’s not totally out of the question that the girls themselves will think of their own craft to do & if so, that makes mama happy as we’ve hit the bullseye of child led learning.

It’s always fun to see what arises ~

~ but for now I think I will enjoy the last 15 minutes of quiet before the littlest of Littles wake & arrive with their own agendas… That may or may not be as peaceful and serene as mine!

How often does this even happen?

Once a week if I’m lucky! *wink*!!

*sweet vintage apron from Back to Simpler Times*

So, I woke up this morning to the kitchen remains of a serious bake off – several batches of Amish inspired banana cupcakes happened last night and a Banana cream pie with 4 mile high meringue!

(I’m still advancing slowly on the cleaning bit)

Fluffy white clouds of fun to slather on ~

As pretty as it was, when it came down to the taste test, the meringue sucked, BUT – - it LOOKED impressive, lol

I guess I need to study the “art of meringue” a little better… At the time though, in my new apron, I was in love with the whipped textured beast.

Oh well, all was not lost – All of my banana cupcake customers were extremely pleased.

They came back again & again for more! They really were more tasty than my regular banana bread recipe – amazing what an extra half cup of sugar can do!

And, I can’t wait to test out the other two new aprons that have homed with me from Back to Simpler Times

I have a bag of oranges + a bag of potatoes which should = two more nights of crazy cooking kitchen fun!

My go-to place for great deals & high quality supplements is definitely Swanson ~ AND, I just placed this order & it’s here already!! So quick, i didn’t even have time to wonder about it – Love it!!

Hooray! Now, to quickly switch the laundry so I can get to opening my new supplements & cream. I am excited!

Happy Sadie Days

It’s a lifestyle shift honoring the earth. Crafty people are leading the way to a cleaner world one vegan bath soap and handmade greeting card at a time. The ever-growing online resources for ideas on making homemade crafts are slowly educating people about the importance of keeping our supplies, once considered trash, out of landfills. Some of the most common items that are turning into super cute crafts include buttons, empty jars, egg cartons, cardboard tubes, old CDs, corks, candy wrappers and even wooden shipping pallets.

What can you do to do your part? Begin simply by recycling. Use recycled products. When crafting, whether creating projects with the kids or refinishing a piece of furniture or picture frame, these non-toxic tips can help you breathe easier.

No VOC

Are you changing the color of your kitchen and want to turn those white barstools into bright green ones? Consider the varnish. When it comes to paint, adhesives and inks, be sure to use VOC (volatile organic compound) free supplies. If you don’t, the volatile, nasty little solvents evaporate into air, form smog and damage our precious ozone while secretly hovering, trapped in our own homes.

Non-Toxify It

You and your kids can begin your play day by making your own art supplies. For example, use a Planet Pals recipe for non-toxic water colors by creating a baking soda, cornstarch, vinegar, sugar water, corn syrup mixture then add food coloring. Wait three hours and you can officially paint your way into an eco-friendly day.

Rip and Reuse

From recycled cardboard paper towel rolls helping to make a horn (along with waxed paper, a rubber band and a pen) to an empty oatmeal box cover assisting in the creation of a drum (with yarn, a pen, two pencils, two spools, construction paper and crayons), paper and cardboard top the list of handy dandy craft making. When thinking of your next project, don’t forget your pets! Cats love cardboard and paper. Create a fun kitty playhouse with old boxes that you have no use for. Once they tear that up, send it to the recycle bin.

Take it From Your Refrigerator

Planet Pals offers another fabulous idea using colored fruits and vegetables right out of your pantry or refrigerator. By boiling beets, you can safely color items like T-shirts and Play-Doh. Add some vinegar and give the items a little longer shelf life. But remember, the color is plant-based so it will eventually fade away; your kids will be tired of that color anyway … try blueberries next time.

Stick with Glue

Free your glue from the addition of animal elements, toxins, chemical dyes and additives by purchasing the natural stuff. With so many crafts needing this specific adhesive, it might be the single most important element to making your craft box earth friendly.

Awareness of the importance of using eco-friendly materials is swiftly growing. It’s not too late to save this green earth from toxic chemicals and irreversible air quality. Remember to work with eco-friendly craft supplies. According to Hug A Tree With Me, keep it green with organic, synthetic free, recyclable, post-consumer, all natural or biodegradable alternatives to the conventional craft materials.

~ * ~

Yes, indeed! Many thanks to our guest author Robin Harrington!

You may find the recipe here: cropsharerecipes.blogspot.com

Blogging from my phone so the pictures maybe a bit out of order – but you get the idea I’m sure! One of the pies will have a lot of cantaloupe cream and the other one is kind of shallow but that’s okay for us meringue & graham cracker crust lovers… We could care less what’s in the middle!

Now, I just have to wait 10 minutes for the pies to brown up. And since I’ve been taste testing the ingredients all along, I’m sure it’s going to be fantastically yummy.

I’m convinced, play clay or play dough – can literally be made out of anything.

This morning, as the sun was just thinking about rising, I was planning play dough. I knew most cook recipes called for cream of tartar but if we had any, I couldn’t find it. I also had this lower quality box mix that makes biscuits & pancakes that because of its hydrogenated oil and aluminum baking powder, I didn’t really want to eat it but thought it might work for my play clay experiment.

So I used:

2 cups crappy flour mix
1 cup all purpose flour
Maybe 3/4 cup salt
Couple spoonfuls canola oil
3 cups warm water with a
Big honking scoop of dried beet powder for color
2 dumps of White vinegar (approx 3 tsps)
A bit of Vanilla extract
Lavender essential oil to massage in when it cools

I mixed everything but the lavender oil in a big pot & stirred & cooked it til it turned thick and pulled away from the pan. I let that big pink blob cool and then worked in some good smelly essence to infuse love & calming energy. And a benefit of some early morning mama handwork time, the play dough’s appearance improved making it more smooth & pliable.

We all enjoyed our beet colored play dough time & actually the littlest bears are still playing peacefully at the table while I sit with my cyber student (here mostly for moral support & to cuddle).

My thoughts drift back to cooking play dough & wonder if I could infuse some rye flour in my next batch. There’s a bunch of that in the cupboard. I wonder if it will work? Sure, why not! This may be a good way to use up the old flours indeed!

Then to decide – Make it yellow with turmeric or green with spirulina?? Decisions!!

Mama Bear is anticipating a good first day – visualizing peaceful productivity, magic, wonder, sweet moments & a satisfying homeschool day.

Play-dough clay needs to be made for the littles and a no pressure atmosphere for the cyber learning.

Remembering always that we Love to Learn and we “never let schooling get in the way of our education”.

Mr.  Kate!!  Love her!  And this is a way better way to make a tee shirt scarf than the way that I was doing it…

So Awesome!!