Proud Moment

As some of you know, this past school year I spent one day a week with Maddie (one of my best friend's daughter) and we would craft, sew, paint....create.  See the Article THURSDAY'S WITH MADDIE.

Maddie's family as well as my own are Homeschooling families, and although I do creative things with my son, I do not have a daughter so this time provided wonderful use of 'girly' things.  We learned and had fun each week.

We have not been together over the summer but Maddie and her Mom Emily just sewed a very cute summer shirt and skirt that I had to share because it IS so cute, and I AM so proud!  You'll notice in the photo that she even sewed herself a matching headband as well! 

To read about their project, go to Home2learn's Blog:

Yay Maddie! 

Canola Oil - Natural Hair Conditioner

Looking for a fast fix for your dry or frizzy hair that doesn't require a trip to the salon or pricey hair treatments?

I am happy to report that there is likely an item that you have right in your kitchen that will do just what you need.

Canola Oil

Canola oil is a particular type of rapeseed oil, identified by its low--less than 2 percent--erucic acid content. Canadian rapeseed oil producers coined the term "canola" in the late 1970s as an abbreviation for Canadian Oil, Low Acid. According to the "Alternative Field Crops Manual," canola oil is high in both oil and protein--two ingredients that play a role in restoring hair's health.  This is a great Hair Conditioner!  

Directions: 

• Heat the canola oil to a warm (not hot) temperature...about 1/2 to 1 cup, obviously if you have extra long hair you will need more oil.  (1 cup is usually good for shoulder length hair, adjust accordingly)
• Apply it to your hair, roots, and scalp and massage it in generously.  For safety, you should do this over a sink as oil dripped in the tub can create a dangerously slippery surface when showering.
• Put on a shower cap or wrap plastic wrap (several layers is best to keep the oil in) around your hair making sure it is completely covered.
• Wrap an old towel around your head over the plastic wrap.  This will help to trap in your natural body heat and keep the oil warm.  Leave it on for at least 20 minutes, an hour is better if you have the time. For deeper conditioning you can substitute the dry towel for a hot damp towel.
• You may want to place another old towel around your shoulders to catch any dripping.
• Rinse your hair and then wash with shampoo.  You may need to repeat the shampoo process, just be sure when shampooing to massage shampoo into your scalp and cover all of your hair.  You will also want to be sure you do an extra good job of rinsing out the shampoo.

This treatment should last about a month, so although it is a process, it is definitely not  one that needs to be repeated daily or even weekly.

**If you get an oil stain on something important, try using regular corn starch.  Sprinkle the dry starch directly on the oil stain and gently pat it in.  If it starts to clump up, sprinkle a little more as this means it is working.  I personally leave it overnight, then brush off the corn starch and wash as usual.  It is recommended that you would wash these items separate from your regular wash.

Getting Rid Of Hiccups

Have you ever had a terrible case of hiccups that you just can't get rid of?  I have had several occasions of hiccups that seem to last forever.  Not only are they annoying but after a long period of time, your muscles start to get sore and this can actually become painful.

A couple of days ago, my husband had the hiccups for several hours.  And similar to how I discover most of the things that I post, this came out of need.  My suggestion to him of "Just hold your breath" wasn't working....so I decided to look into other options.  

Of course there are tons of so called 'cures' ranging from eating a spoon full of sugar, drinking water upside down, to .... standing on your head.  And although I was tempted to ask my husband to stand on his head...I didn't.  :-)

 

Here is what I found that was the only thing that seemed to work, it is called the "Hughes/Green HiccupsCure"© 1997.

The basic instructions are: 

• Take a large glass of water
• Hold your breath being sure to sure to PINCH YOUR NOSE CLOSED
• Slowly take 10-20 swallows of water (keeping your nose pinched while holding your breath)
• Don't stop drinking until you have a sensation that you cant breathe at all and if you continue, you would drown. (I know this sounds bad but it doesn't work if you don't do it long enough)
• When you've reached that point, stop drinking, you will automatically gasp for air.  Take a deep breath and relax.
• For tough cases, you will need to try to EXHALE before taking your 10-20 swallows of water. 

For more information you can follow the link above.  

According to the "Hughes/Green HiccupsCure"© here is why it works:

Hiccups are caused by an uncontrollable spasm in the diaphragm, (the "breathing" muscle). Often, this spasm is triggered by irritable conditions in the smooth muscles of the stomach or the esophagus. The "Hughes/Green Hiccups Cure" forces an increase in the carbon dioxide levels in the diaphragm itself, as well as in the stomach and esophagus. By swallowing, you are making the muscles work -- so they use up their available oxygen and replace it with carbon dioxide. By temporarily discontinuing to breath, you prohibit new oxygen from entering your body and thus create an anaerobic condition in the spasming diaphragm muscle. When the spasming diaphragm and stomach are deprived temporarily of oxygen and encounter the higher levels of carbon dioxide ... you feel that scary drowning sensation! BUT this causes the spasming muscles to relax! The hiccups go away! Essentially, you are "tricking" your body into thinking that it's drowning ... and it decides to use it's resources for something other than hiccuping. The rather "scary" drowning sensation caused by this method is NECESSARY for the method to work. If it's not just a little bit difficult ... it doesn't work. 

For my husband, his case was so bad that this method had to be repeated about 5 times throughout the day as his hiccups kept returning.  Neither of us had ever experienced such a bad case of hiccups, but this method was the only thing that worked.  And even though it had to be repeated, it worked immediately after he did it.  I imagine with a 'normal' case of hiccups, this process should cure them with one try.