NaturalFamilyJourney.com

Whew, a lot has been happening in our household, and I hope to get a lot of posts up soon!  We’ve been making strides on our journey, just haven’t been blogging.  I admit, I haven’t really gotten into it, seems like a chore, just another thing to add to my ever-growing list these days.

Spring is in full fling, garden is mostly in, kids are playing outside, and the garage is overflowing.  I guess those are all nice signs of spring in our house!

Some blog posts I hope to have up soon include:  laundry detergent making, deodorant making, dishwasher detergent making, a post on chicken raising, bunny housing, granola and granola bar recipes.  Whew, that sounds like a lot doesn’t it?

See you soon!

Another book is on my shelf to be read. The Coconut Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife is ready and waiting. I’ve heard here and there how wonderful coconut oil is for the body. I’m excited to find out first hand the benefits from this natural source can have on our bodies!

I came across a website that sells an amazing assortment of natural products.  It is http://www.luckyvitamin.com.  They have great prices and shipping is free if you spend $100.  So save up for your next order and stock up, or purchase some gifts!

Face wash, night cream, moisturizer, etc.  I’m not a huge fan of these things, but I have used a facial moisturizer for years, about 14.  I’ve never really thought about the safety of the products I’ve been using.  Mostly I’ve just heard good things about certain products and tried them.  Some I liked, others I didn’t.  I’ve been using Aveeno Ultra Camling daily moisturizer for the past few years, and have liked it fairly well.  I haven’t noticed that it’s taken the redness out of my face, but it does a great job of moisturizing my skin, and has been non-irritating for me.

Since we’re trying out new products that boast of being natural and organic, I thought I’d try some face lotion, since it is one of the products that I use daily.   So a quick search on Amazon brought me to the Kiss My Face line, which had wonderful reviews.  I found that they have a starter kit, which is great since face products are so expensive and it’s nice to be able to try them before making the investment.  Their line of face products is called Kiss My Face Potent and Pure.

The kit contains: Start Up Exfoliating Face Wash, Cell Mate Facial Creme and Sunscreen, Under Age Ultra Hydrating Moisturizer, and Intensive Repair Night Creme.  The kit also included a bonus organic cotton face cloth.  So far I love all the products.  The cleanser is soft and doesn’t feel like it dries out my skin.  The facial creme is nice, and non-oily.  I have fairly dry skin, so it’s not quite enough for me, but would work great for someone with normal or oily skin.  The Ultra hydrating moisturizer made my face feel nice and smooth, not feeling tight from dryness.  The repair night creme felt heavy and intensive, just like it is supposed to!  The cloth was a little bit small, but would be great for an overnight bag.  The whole kit would be great to buy as a gift, or to keep at the gym, or at a house you visit often.  Even the small bottles would last for several applications.

I intend to buy the Exfoliating Face Wash, and the Ultra Hydrating Moisturizer.  I wish the ultra moisturizer had sunscreen in it, but at least over the winter that shouldn’t make too much of a difference for me.  Summer skin is more oily, so perhaps by summer I can use the Facial Creme and sunscreen.

If you are looking for a new, natural facial care set, this line is great.  I’m glad I found it, and feel that I can trust the product to not cause damage to my body, or skin.

 

 

We’re still here, still journeying, just have been very busy with life lately.  I’m anxious for a “quiet” season to come upon us sometime, but doubting I can count on it.  I have so many books I want to read, lessons to do with the girls, things to research, recipes to test, and not to mention cleaning to do.

 

Toothpaste for our kids, has been one thing on my mind lately. The girls don’t do a good job of spitting out the toothpaste, so day after day, they are eating the toothpaste when they brush.  I wanted something that I could trust would be ok for their little bodies, so I searched for the most available natural kid’s toothpaste.

I found Tom’s of Maine,  natural care, anti cavity fluoride toothpaste at Target.  It was priced just slightly above the other ones, but was on sale, so it was actually cheaper!  Tom’s sells many healthcare products, and this toothpaste is ADA accepted.  It boasts that it has no saccharin, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colors, or flavors, or any animal ingredients.  It still contains fluoride, which I’ve always been told is good, but I will research it sometime and see what I find.  Both the girls have had cavities, so this is an area that I’m listening to the experts.

The toothpaste uses calcium and silica to clean the teeth, and fluoride to prevent decaying of the teeth.  Natural fruit flavor is used, I bought silly strawberry, and it’s quite yummy!

 

This is today’s lunch, Campbells Select Harvest. The label says 100% natural. Tastes pretty good.

Diapering is a huge part of those early years of parenting, it seems like there is always a diaper to change!  While we’ve always used disposable diapers, I’ve always been a little interested in cloth diapering.  Now it seems a little late in the game since we aren’t sure if we’re having any more kids to make the investment in cloth diapers, but if we were planning on more, I think I’d make the switch to cloth.  They seem to becoming more and more popular and I can see why, we all want to feel good about the things we do on a daily basis, and throwing diaper after diaper away, doesn’t really feel good. So, if cloth is out, what other options are there?  There are G diapers, a hybrid style, part is flushable, the other party is reusable.  Another choice would be to find a more natural brand of disposable diapers.  One brand we’re going to try is Seventh Generation.

They claim to be more natural as they don’t use chlorine in the manufacturing process, and use recycled materials.  They also are free of perfumes and dyes, and if nothing else “look” very natural!  They have no cute characters or bright colorful designs on them, just a plain tan diaper.

The diapers we have been using for all 3 of our kiddos have been the Pampers premium line, the Swaddlers and the Cruisers.  They seemed to be the only ones that prevented diaper rash and held in the messes of breast-fed babies.  So far, the Seventh Generation seem to be doing the job just as well!

The package says the pros of using a diaper that is free of chlorine is that they don’t contain a chemical called dioxin.  Dioxin has been linked to causing cancer, birth defects, environmental and reproductive disorders.   I’m pretty sure most parents would love to lessen their children’s chances of any of those side effects.  They do cost a little more, but if you can find coupons and sales, they compare pretty nicely with the other premium disposable diapers.

Seventh Generation has several other products, such as diaper wipes, laundry detergent and other household cleaners.  I’m excited to try other products they sell, and will post what I think about them.   I’m glad we gave these diapers a try, I think we may be hooked, and if they are better for the little guy, what else really matters?

Every natural family has that natural food store they love and trust, and for us it’s going to the The People’s Food Co-op in La Crosse.   We have been there several times in the past to look for specific things, but our last trip was our first one since starting our journey to natural living.  We mainly browsed, and compared their prices to what we’ve seen online, and just enjoyed our time there.  I admit, it was a bit overwhelming seeing the prices, and trying to know what items are worth the extra cost and which ones are not.  I still have a lot of research to do! We walked out of the store with a few items, they were: Kiss My Face body soap, Stacy’s Pita Chips, an organic avocado, Organic green tea, and some peppermint tea.  None of these products were really high on our list of priorities, but we needed soap, something to snack on, and have been drinking A LOT of tea as we enter cold and flu season.  I’ve been wanting to make some avocado baby food for L, so I grabbed one for him. I was also very  interested in checking out their bulk baking items.  I’m hoping to make homemade granola, and lunch buns in the near future, so I wanted to see what kind of ingredients I could get there.   I also noticed that they had bulk raw honey, which I have heard is very good for you, especially if you suffer from allergies.  I don’t know the entire scoop, but will research and get more information on it to do another post sometime, hopefully soon! I’m not sure that the prices could compare favorably when compared to Amazon.com, but I like the idea of supporting our local community.  There’s also something really nice about being able to see the product, feel it and smell it before purchasing, and then walking into the house with the product instead of waiting for it to be shipped.  I’m sure I will do a combination of online shopping and shopping at the co-op. If you are looking for a place to browse a great selection of natural and organic products, look for your local food co-op, you’ll be glad you did!

Simplicity seems to be a common thread among a natural life.  Simplicity in ingredients, simplicity in choices, simplicity in life.   I think this is a new way of living for me.  Things always seem to be so complicated, but I think the opposite is, or at least  should be true.    When choices are hard to make, if you look at them with natural living in mind, the answer seems much more obvious.  What is better for long term, or what is better for right now, both can be answered with a natural perspective.  What kind of decision would Jesus make, how would He answer the question, what would Jesus do?  It may have begun as a phrase, or slang, but the simple phrase What Would Jesus Do, really should be the focus of our life, or maybe rather, What Would Jesus Want Me to Do?  So, as we continue, or start, this journey, I’m going to look out for what Jesus would do, and what is the most natural, simple choice to make.