Eczema Lotion Bars

Marie has terrible eczema. She has it all over all 4 limbs and her face and if I don't keep a steroid on it, then her spots will crack and bleed. I wasn't comfortable putting that much steroid cream on her so often and for such a long time but, so far, nothing else has kept it under control. We have been using aquaphor in the big blue tub and that has helped a little but we don't like it. I don't like using petroleum products on her any more than I like the steroids and I hate how it feels so greasy and slimy and gets under my fingernails. In an effort to improve her skin with safer products, tonight, I made my very own eczema lotion bars! I found some basic recipe ideas online and after researching the properties of different oils and creams, I came up with my own recipe.

Here it is:

1 part beeswax

1/2 part coffee butter

1/2 part shea butter

1/2 part avocado oil

1/2 part hemp oil

about .2 carrot seed oil

about .2 comfrey oil

.05 potassium sorbate (preservative- I may skip next time)

a squirt of flavor oil. It was supposed to be fragrance oil, but I grabbed the wrong bottle. Next time, I won't do that. I might not add any fragrance because I think it smells ok as it is. I was worried that Marie would reject the natural smell and had bought the fragrance to make her happier.

So- first, measure everything with a scale. Combine the comfrey and carrot seed oil and mix it with the potassium sorbate. This will take a while and was still grainier than I would like. I'm not sure if mixing longer would help or if I should have tried dissolving it in some water first. Then, melt the beeswax, coffee butter, and shea butter on very low heat. Stir constantly. Once everything is melted take it off the heat, add the avocado and hemp oils, stir well, and then add the carrot seed mixture. You can add colors or fragrance here if you want. It smells nasty at this point but once it solidifies, I think it smells ok. Keep stirring quickly because it doesn't take long to harden. Quickly pour everything into wherever you want to store it. I used silicone cupcake liners but a nice deodorant or other push up tube or something like that would work well too. I stuck them in the fridge for about 5 minutes and then popped them out and stored them in a jar.

I tried it on Marie and it goes on really nicely. I just rubbed it on her and it didn't leave me or her greasy. I took some before pictures and I'll know in a day or two if it actually heals her spots.
They looked like this:

Old Yeller

Xander read Old Yeller a few weeks ago and we watched it tonight. Greta, just before Old Yeller died, "Sometimes movies make me cry." Marie, right after Travis shot Old Yeller, "Uh oh..........where's Old Yeller?" Grace, when Travis and Elizabeth are at the grave, "What's under those rocks?" Poor kids. I thought with everything being off camera that the girls might not catch on but they knew what was up as soon as they saw the wolf had bitten him. Greta told me she's better now, though. They want to watch Savage Sam next, or Old Yeller 2 as they call it. I've never seen that one. The puppy doesn't get killed in that one does he? They want to know why there's no Old Yeller 3 before they watch it.

First Grade

Since Xander has been doing so well with homeschool, we decided to bring the girls home as well about 2 weeks ago. I thought I'd share what curriculum we are using for them too.

Reading-
Alphaphonics; They do a few lessons a day. We started it this summer and are picking up where we left off so they are already more than halfway through it.

Climbing to Good English First Grade; They do a few pages of this every day. It has phonics practice, spelling, and basic grammar lessons.

Finally, they also read a chapter of a book that is their level out loud every day. Right now we are reading the second of the first grade Pathway Reader, More Days Go By. They are getting really good with this and when we finish this book we will move on to regular early chapter books.

Spelling-

All About Spelling- This is a very different type of spelling program than I am used to but so far we like it. Right now, the girls are just memorizing the different sounds each letter makes. For instance, when they see the "ch" card, they will need to say "ch, k, sh" in that order to show that ch says ch as in cheese more often than it says k as in school, which is more often than it says sh as in chef.

Handwriting-

They are practicing their print right now and we may move on to cursive in the spring. I will add in copywork (Bible Verses) for them next week.

Spanish-

They are joining Xander in La Clase Divertida. They need to catch up to him but we are working through it quickly. I think it is one of their favorite subjects!

Math-

Math Mammoth First Grade. They are doing really well with this math program. I think they have struggled in all of the other math programs they've used at home and school in the past but this one is making it click for them.

Science-

Singapore EarlyBird-

Geography-

Map Skills 1 and some geography games with Xander

Art-

Artistic Pursuits with Xander.

History-

Mystery of History with Xander

Music-

They are learning how to play the recorder and to read music. They have small fingers so it is hard for them to completely cover the holes to play it correctly but they love this! Xander is sitting in on this with us too.

PE-

They do yoga in the morning with Xander and we count their taekwondo as PE too.

So far, we are having lots of fun and getting everything done!

A little late

I'm about 6 weeks late with this, but Xander really did turn 9 in August! It's hard to believe that he's really that old. I used to think he would never, ever, ever, ever, ever fall to sleep on his own in under 2hrs without screaming. And now he doesn't scream about it anymore but he still takes forever to fall asleep. I used to wonder if he would ever eat solid food and now he is always wanting more. It really does all go so fast.

He didn't get to do much for his actual birthday because he tested for his deputy black belt. He was very excited about it and so proud. The next day he went to a jumpy place with his best friend and then we had pizza and cake at home with just us.

He's still usually the best big brother to the girls and very good about playing with them and looking out for them. His favorite subject in school is Greek and he likes to learn all about the myths and history. He is still very creative and loves to make up stories and games and ideas for inventions. He's lucky to have a friend who gets all of that and they will get together playing games I can't even understand. The biggest one is the "Game Creator" and he even has the girls and a bunch of other kids from his old school sucked into playing it. I have no idea what it is or how it works but the girls get very upset if he tells them they have lost power points or whatever. Maybe he can explain it to some of you if you ask.

Here's some pictures from his birthday!

Preschool

Marie has been going to preschool for about a month 2 days a week for 3 hours a day. She loves it! She's going to the same school at our church that Grace and Greta went to when they were 4 and it is nice because so many people remember her from when she used to tag along with them. Her class is very small- there's 6 kids total in her class; 2 boys and 4 girls. Marie sees a few of them in Sunday School too which makes it better. She has 2 little friends that she is always talking about and their teacher says they play together all day. Marie isn't shy at all at school and I think she may turn into a real leader. Of course, she already tries to play the leader with Xander, Grace, and Greta, but it is interesting to see how the other little kids in her class will follow her around too. These are some pictures of her first day. She picked her backpack out herself and even though it is almost as big as she is, she insists on carrying it herself!

Report Card

It's time to do a review of Xander's first 6 weeks with homeschooling! Overall, he has done really well. He does his work without complaining and seems to be trying hard. I'll give his report card in the order he usually does his work.

Handwriting- P, for progressing-His handwriting is improving but not where I'd like it to be. He is easily learning his Bible verses during his handwriting time, however, and that makes it all worth it even if it had no effect on his penmanship. He is almost done with his basic letter practice and soon we will start copywork.

Spelling- A- He has had 6 spelling tests and has gotten 95-100% every time. Many weeks I am sure on Thursday night that he will bomb the test but somehow he has pulled it off every week.

Math- A- He has completed his first unit in math which was on addition and subtraction. Xander told me that he was "very impressed" with his math and that he had never done math problems like these before. I have seen him advance a lot in his ability to do math quickly and in his head. He got a 94% on his first chapter test. Now, he is beginning a chapter on multiplication and moving very quickly.

Grammar- A- He has completed his main grammar book and did very well on his review and test sentences. Now, he will be analyzing the parts of speech and parts of sentence for one practice sentence a day for the rest of the year.

Poetry- A- He is almost finished with his poetry book. This has been one subject that he has really enjoyed and we've had a lot of good discussions. He has written some pretty good poems that I hope he'll put on his blog and we'll continue by analyzing and reading a poem a day for the rest of the year. Once this book is finished, we will move on to a vocabulary unit.

Greek- A- He has almost finished his first Greek book and we will begin the next level this week. He now knows the alphabet and can write English words phonetically using Greek letters and the reverse fairly quickly.

Spanish- A- He can speak and understand the Spanish in the lessons that we have covered. We're going to spend the next 2 weeks reviewing so that Grace and Greta can catch up.

Science- I- incomplete- We haven't had any reviews or tests yet so I'm unsure how much he is retaining. So far, he seems to really be enjoying the science and experiments. We have covered the parts and functions of cells in our body, the respiratory system, and the circulatory system, in addition to some detective skills and techniques.

History- A- We have gone from Creation to Early Egypt so far. We will be taking a break for a week or two so we can spend more time on Ancient Egypt which I think he may find very interesting.

Reading- He's read a variety of books and while he still prefers his action and adventure stories, he is getting better about reading my choices of fiction and non-fiction for him. Right now, he's reading Old Yeller and says he hates it but maybe he'll change his mind towards the end.

Art- C- completeted- We've been having good discussions and he is enjoying looking at the pictures from our set and making his own.

PE- He got his deputy black belt so I think he must be doing something right!

And that's all I can think of for now! He really is doing better than I had expected. He's doing so well that Grace and Greta will be joining us next week. I hope the girls have just as much fun and do just as well as him!

Marie is 3!

Marie turned 3 last week! She didn't have a big party but we took her to the aquarium and had presents and cake and a little party at home. She wanted a Phineas and Ferb party and we found a Phineas balloon that is bigger than her! This week, she had her 3yr check up and although she has gained an inch and 3lbs, she still is well below the 3rd percentile. She was 21.5lbs and 33.5in. Her Dr is not worried about her being small because she is consistently growing at her own rate and she looks fine. Developmentally, she does everything a 3year old is supposed to do and more! She knows she is awesome and, just like everyone else, we love to be around her.