I am still plugging along on my 3 goals for the Change 3 Challenge this month.  I’m not going to lie, it AIN’T been easy!

What about you? Are you working on your 3 goals?  If you are like me and have a long list of goals you want to achieve, try paring it down to just 3 to focus on. 

It is not to late to write down three things you want to change or healthy habits you want to instill in your life.  Even though its is fall, October is a good time of year to get in a few positive life changes before the holidays and year end. 



Here is a RECAP of my 3 goals for the challenge:

Goal #1:
Read my bible daily, and if possible do it first thing in the morning. I would like to start each and every day with scripture, songs of praise, and prayer.

Goal #2:
Drink more water. I want to hydrate my body with water and flush out toxins.

Goal #3:
Play a game or some physical activity outside for a few minutes everyday with my kids. 




My Weekly Progress Update:

Progress on Goal #1
Here is a verse from Psalms about daily prayer: 

And I love this verse that talks about how God’s mercies are there for us each morning:
“The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning“.  Lamentations 3:23

And this verse encourages us to spend time with the Lord:

“Let’s do our best to know the Lord. His coming is as certain as the morning sun; he will refresh us like rain renewing the earth in the springtime”.   Hosea 6:3

These verses have encouraged me this week to continue with my goal of spending time with the Lord in the mornings before starting my day.


Progress on Goal #2
Have you ever made a goal that seems so monumental, you are not sure you will reach it?  Or somehow, even though you want to achieve it, you seem to continually sabotage the goal?  Oh yeah!  This happens to me all the time with two goals that seem to be life long efforts of two steps forward, three steps backward: drinking more water and loosing weight.  Yikes! 

So this week I had some good days of getting in plenty of water, and several bad days of not near enough water.  Still working on this goal.


Progress on Goal #3
The weather here is getting colder and colder.  Nights have been dipping below freezing, and now some of the days are too.  Today we woke up to our first snow.



I knew I was cutting it close setting a goal like this so close to the end of nice weather and start of winter weather.  But I wanted to maximize my time outdoors as much as I could before it became too difficult.  It looks like we’ve been cut short of reaching this goal between the cold rainy days, and now the wintery weather setting in.  We will just have to play it by ear and see how the rest of the month turns out.

Several of my kiddos came down sick this past week.  It was no surprise.  Everywhere we have been lately: Sunday church, Wednesday church,  homeschool coop, the park, gas station, etc, everywhere everybody seems to have the cold flu.  Folks are coughing, and sick, and run down. 

4 of my 6 kids have come down sick and each one came down sick about three days apart from each other.  There are still two kids who have not had the heavy day of fever, so I am not sure if it is over or if they will get it next.  So this past week we have been lounging around the house, covered up in blankets on the couches and living room floor, reading books, and watching our favorite shows, doing some school work if they felt up to it, and lots of sleeping.



It started with a run down feeling, and painful headache, and my daughter also complained of a lower backache too.  Then within 24 hours they ran a fever of 101.5 to 102 degrees F.  The fevers lasted about 24 to 36 hours.  During the fevers, they were not hungry, but I made sure to keep them hydrated every few hours. 

First I gave them 2 tbsp of elderberry extract, followed by 6 oz of Amazing mango citrus juice blend.  To the juice I added EmergenC powdered vitamin C packets in the tangerine flavor.  These contain 1,000 mg of Vit. C plus other vitamins and minerals.  They make the juice carbonated and taste like orange soda pop which is very appealing to the kids.   No one refused it! 

Normally if our family is coming down with a sickness, I would give the kids a 1-2-3 regimen to knock out a cold and flu virus: (1) Broth, (2) raw milk, and (3) elderberry.   Broth (made with water, sea salt, leftover chicken bones, garlic, and lots of veggies, simmer on low heat for several hours, then strained and use just the clear broth) and raw milk to help stay nourished and hydrated during an illness.  Broth made this way only costs pennies per serving, and contains minerals dissolved in easy to digest liquid form and the body uses it to fight infection and rebuild strength.  Raw milk also contains natural vit C, vit D, vit A, CLA, live enzymes, protein, minerals, healthy fats, and oligosacharides that boost the immune system and bind with viruses killing them or rendering them unable to replicate.  Did you know your immune system is rendered useless and broken without nourishing fats? Most folks don’t realize how important this is.  You must have these essential nutrients to fight infections.  Elderberry extract binds with virus and renders them unable to replicate.  So only the virus cells already living can do any damage, and future ones are stopped, leaving you with a much milder or no existent symptom outcome.  Fever also kills virus and reduces its attack and outcome on the body.  As long as a fever does not climb too high (over 103-104), or last too many days (over 3) it is best to let the body run it’s course and fight infection.   I did not have any broth or raw milk on hand this week and no finances to buy them either, but I did have a bottle of elderberry extract.  

So I substituted EmergenC vit / mineral powder packets instead. These packets contain a fine dissolvable powder you can mix into any liquid.  They have Vit. C 1000mg, Thiamin, Ribloflavin, Niacin, B6, Folic Acid, B12, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium 50mg, Phosphorus, Magnesium 60mg, Zinc 2mg, Manganese, Sodium, Chromium, Potassium, ALA, and Quercetin.  These are a lot of the same minerals in bone broth and raw milk.  So it is a viable substitute to get these nutrients into your loved one when you need it.



I did try making an herbal tea for the first child who came down sick and she refused it, so I had to find a plan B to keep her hydrated.   I was really worried about dehydration with her, and her lower back pain as a possible sign.  She did not want water or anything else to drink. 

Searching frantically, I realized I had some Amazing Mango juice blend in the back of the fridge (mom’s stash out of site for kids, sometimes I use a small glass mixed with KeVita to get in some extra nutrients and probiotics, but I was out of KeVita for a while and saved the mango juice in the back of the fridge so it didn’t “get gone” by the kids).   Amazing Mango contains Vit A, Vit C, Selenium, Calcium, Iron, Protein and some Fiber.  It also contains some beet juice, and beets are a blood purifier. So I thought it was worth a try to get her to drink it.



Ingredients in the Amazing Mango Juice:
APPLE JUICE FROM CONCENTRATE (WATER, APPLE JUICE CONCENTRATE), MANGO PUREE FROM CONCENTRATE (WATER, MANGO PUREE CONCENTRATE), VALENCIA ORANGE JUICE FROM CONCENTRATE (WATER, VALENCIA ORANGE JUICE CONCENTRATE), BANANA PUREE, PINEAPPLE JUICE FROM CONCENTRATE (WATER, PINEAPPLE JUICE CONCENTRATE), LEMON JUICE FROM CONCENTRATE (WATER, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE), NATURAL FLAVOR, VITAMIN C (ASCORBIC ACID), VITAMIN E (D-ALPHA TOCOPHERYL), CALCIUM (CALCIUM LACTATE), VITAMIN A (BETA CAROTENE), IRON (FERRICORTHOPHOSPHATE), SELENIUM (SODIUM SELENITE), RED BEET JUICE CONCENTRATE (COLOR).

I wasn’t positive this was going to be something she would want, but decided I had to try something.  It is a little thick, like a smoothie, so I added just a little water to thin it, and added the vit. C pa
cket.   She was hesitant at first.  It took a lot of patience on my part to hold the glass a long long time until she finally was willing to try a small taste.  She like it and said it tasted like Orange Soda Pop and she drank it down then took a nap.  This juice / vit C blend did the trick for her, and so I used it for the rest of the children when they showed signs of fever too!   I gave each of the children the elderberry extract, followed a few minutes later by the juice / vit C blend every 4 to 6 hours during the day, and let them nap as desired, and let them sleep through the night.  They had a bottle of water next to them too incase they needed more to drink, but for the most part, they drank very little water. 

I am so pleased with the outcome!  Their side effects following the fevers are so mild, you might not even know they have been sick.  The first 24 hours after the fever they have a mild sense of feeling run down, and then a little bit of nasal drainage and mild cough that lasts about a week.  But the symptoms are so mild that they might only cough 4 or 5 times for the whole day.  They are not congested.  Yeah!  We beat the virus!  Their bodies are managing the virus and its side effects so amazingly well.  

In total, each child received approximately 8 tbsp of elderberry extract, and 24oz of Amazing Mango juice blend with water added, and EmergenC added.  That was 4,000 additional units of vit. C plus additional vitamins and minerals that come included in the powder mix.  All of this was evenly spaced out during their fevers. This gave their bodies all it needed to stay hydrated during the fever, boost their immune system with lots of vit C to help the white blood cells fight the infection, special properties in elderberry that stop the replication of the virus, shorten the length of the illness, and combined together help the body manage the illness very well.  They did not eat, but did drink water as desired.  Following the fever, they resumed a normal diet.  Seriously, they have handled this so well, if you took them somewhere, no one would even guess they had just been sick. 

Well the medicine / herbal cabinet needs refilled as I used all the elderberry extract and EmergenC I had on hand.  It goes quick with this many kids.  I try to buy the bulk or bigger sizes and it helps to bring down the cost per serving this way.  Elderberry extract costs about $12 for a large bottle (or $8 for a small bottle), and EmergenC costs about $8 for 24 packets.   A large bottle of Amazing Mango costs about $6 (or $3.50 for a medium bottle and $2 for a small bottle).   Grand total cost of health care for this flu illness for four kids was $26  divided by 4 equals $6 each person.  (cheaper than a doctor’s visit for sure!)  But I am so thankful I had these items on hand and this remedy worked!  I didn’t have my usual go to remedies available.  This was an awesome substitute!  

Whew!

                        
Be sure to check out what other moms are doing for the Change 3 Challenge!
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Have a great week and BE BLESSED!