Whew! April has been a crazy busy month for me, and I’m kind of glad it’s over. Maybe May will be a bit more laid back, and I’ll have time to breathe some.
This past month, although it’s been busy, has been a fun one. Our family has spent a lot of time together outdoors which has me looking forward to summer a bit more. We’re also finishing up our homeschool year which is nice seeing how I have a love-hate relationship with homeschooling. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I hate it. LOL! I’m also finalizing the official launch of Herb Folk which has been a monthly to-do for me this year, but it is SO close to being ready. Hallelujah!
Below, you’ll find 5 of my favorite things from this past month. I hope my sharing these things with you is encouraging to you in some way, and as always, thank you for being a part of Growing Up Herbal and supporting me in all I do here! I love ya!
xo, Meagan
Favorite Memory
Like I said earlier, we’ve been spending a good bit of time outdoors this month, and most of it has been spent in the woods, which I love!
One of our adventures this month was spent hiking a small portion of the Appalachian Trail near our home. This was the first time we’ve taken the boys on a longer hike (just over 7 miles total) with several tougher areas as far as hiking goes. They did great, and everyone had a good time. We hiked back to a waterfall, had a picnic lunch, and then hiked back out. On the way we spotted birds and snakes, we saw deer and bear sign, we identified a lot of wild plants, we stopped to snack on some sweet violets and chickweed along the path, we cooled off in the creek, and we met a lot of nice folks on the trail. All in all, it was a great day for our family!
I’m looking forward to more hiking and camping adventures with the boys as they get older! You never know, maybe one day we’ll hike the entire Appalachian Trail together!
Favorite Book
I recently took the plunge and purchased the Botanical Safety Handbook which is a huge book all about the safety of herbs. It covers things like using herbs safely when you’re on medications or when you’re pregnant and/or nursing. It also gives safety information on the herbs themselves and what their safety category means. It’s written by experts in the fields of herbalism and integrative medicine, and there’s a lot of evidence-based, clinical information in it.
I bought it so that I could be really thorough and careful with the herbal information I teach inside of Herb Folk. We’ll have a wide variety of members all in different stages of life, and I want to be sure I’m providing them with up-to-date safety information so they’re well informed when using herbs on their own.
Favorite Herbal Recipe
I’ve recently started making the boys some herbal tea to sip on while we do our group reading during school each day.
The homeschool curriculum we follow is considered a Charlotte Mason/classical homeschool style, and it’s very heavy on literature… and lots of it. Some of the books we use are audio books, some books the boys read on their own, and others, I read out loud to them. During the times where I’m reading, I’ve found that it’s best to have them busy doing something so they pay attention and aren’t distracting. Plus, the lessons in these books are great, and I really want them to hear them.
So, a nice hot cup of herbal tea, some blank paper or a notebook, and our art bin have been the perfect solution for us. I read while the boys drink tea and draw pictures of what I’m reading.
Here’s the tea blend we’ve been drinking lately. I created this using the information I teach in my tea blending mini-course! Check it out right here. I promise it will simplify herbal formulation for you whether you’re making tea, a tincture, or a powder!
Chill Out & Focus Tea
Ingredients:
- 7 teaspoons chamomile
- 2 teaspoons oatstraw
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Directions:
- Blend herbs together and store in a labeled container.
To Use:
Steep 1 teaspoon of tea mix in 8-ounces of just-boiled water for 5 minutes. Strain, sweeten as desired, and enjoy!
Favorite Person
Ezrah is turning three on Sunday so, of course, he’s my favorite person this month! I recently got around to writing his birth story (finally) which brought back a lot of memories. Does it make me want to have another baby? Not really, but hey, you never know what the future holds.
Ezrah is a lot of fun, and he’s sweet. He likes to hold my hand, tell me he loves me, and give me kisses every now and then. He likes to be cuddled and loved on, and he still comes to sleep with me and Dean occasionally in the middle of the night. I’ve have noticed that he’s trying to exert his independence a lot more lately which is a little bittersweet because it means my “baby” isn’t so much of a baby anymore. I’m really thinking I may need to get a lap dog soon!
Okay, so enough about how my baby is growing up. Happy birthday Ezrah Daniel! Mama and Daddy and your bros love you very, very much!
Favorite Herbal Product
We’ve been dealing with some nasty infections this month. I’ll be sharing more details out infections with my Letters To Natural Mamas email list this Sunday (as well as a recipe for an herbal wound powder) so if you’re not already subscribed, sign up ASAP so you don’t miss any of the good stuff I share there!
One of my favorite remedies for discouraging minor wounds from getting infected is Wounded Warror! I love it! My husband actually introduced me to this product when we were dating. He’d used it for anything that looked as if it were getting infected from potential ingrown toenails to cuts to minor animal/insect bites. It’s made of a variety of strong antibacterial herbal extracts which have been added to an aloe base. We always keep a bottle of it in our natural medicine cabinet and use it as needed. We get ours at our local health food store.
Goals To Shoot For In May
So, although I completed a lot of the things I set out to do this past month, some of it got pushed out. Let me first share how I did with this month’s goals before moving on to my goals for May.
As for April goals, I decided to not launch Herb Folk here on the blog yet. Instead, it will be launched to those of you who’ve already finished the free trial next month. I also didn’t buy any plants for inside my house, but I did buy a lot for the outside of the house. Does that count as meeting a goal? I got our Easter outfits together, but I totally forgot about the family photo. Oops! I completed another unit of my Advanced Herbal Studies over at the Herbal Academy, and I read 2 books off my reading list! I have 10 more to go, but I’m almost finished with 2 of those so really, it’s more like 8 to go! The man and I did not make our date, but we did finish the Dr. Quinn series. We decided to start Star Trek next. We’ve actually never seen any of the older Star Trek shows (only the newer movies) so we’ve decided to watch the whole series in order of star date instead of air date (thanks to this handy guide I found online). We’ve planned a field trip for the boys next month, and Ezrah’s Hungry Caterpillar birthday party is all planned for this Sunday at Mum-mum and Pop-pop’s house.
Whew!
Okay, so, onto May goals. I think I’m going to keep things super simple this month!
This month I’d like to:
- Launch Herb Folk to those who’ve finished the free trial
- Finish up our homeschool year
- Get a family picture on Mother’s Day
- Complete another unit of the Advanced Herbal Study course from the Herbal Academy
- Get gutters put on our house
- Finish 2 books from my 2017 Reading Challenge list
- Plan Judah’s birthday party
And that’s it for this month’s Things I Love post! I hope you had a great April, friend, and as always, thank you SO MUCH for reading Growing Up Herbal!
Can you link to the Star Trek guide? I’ve been watching TNG, with Patrick Stewart as captain. It’s my favorite Star Trek.
No problem, Lisa! I added the link to the post!