Anyone who has wrapped ice cubes in a washcloth for little kids to hold, knows how convenient it is to have an ice bag. I used to have an ice bag, it somehow got a little hole in it, and would leak water everywhere as the ice melted. Little kids who are already wounded don’t appreciate getting wet, too. Yeah, I know from experience.

I’ve tried the “bag of frozen vegetables” ice pack. It does work, but it doesn’t stay cold very long.

I searched online and found out how to make your own ice pack. Here’s a picture of the one I made:

Homemade Ice Pack


Here’s what I used:

1 cup rubbing alcohol
2 cups water
Quart sized freezer bag

It’s really simple to put together. Just pour the alcohol and water into the freezer bag, seal, and freeze. Clearly label the bag, so no one thinks it’s available to eat. lol

Here’s a close-up of the bag:

I’ve used Tea Tree Oil for a couple of years for skin problems such as poison ivy. We’ve also used it to make our acne soap for several years. This soap works really well on my daughters skin. They can tell a difference when they stop using it.

I’ve been battling sinus problems for several months now. So I’ve been researching tea tree oil. Here are a few links that I found helpful:

Melaleuca and Tea Tree Oil are the same thing

– Information, they also sell it, but it is easy to find locally. My Walmart even sells it. And of course, your local health food store will carry it, but it’s cheaper at Walmart.

Information from Wikipedia

More information

An overview of tea tree oil by WebMD

The benefits of tea tree oil

How you can be sure to get a quality oil

Tells how to use for a sinus infection

*None of these links are affiliate links*

It just amazes me that food companies can get away with deceptive labeling. What happened to the FDA? They must all be napping, all tired out from eating all the junk food that they have labeled as “healthy”.

We don’t buy very many processed foods and we always read the labels carefully. We read the ingredients, and not just the front of the box. The kids even turn the boxes over and read the ingredients. 🙂

Labeling food “trans-fat free” when there IS actually trans-fat in it, is the one that bugs me the most.

We should be able to pick up a box, and find out what’s in it, without being detectives.

To learn more about ridiculous food labels visit 13 Ridiculous Food Labels that Might Be Fooling You

I remember when M was a baby, and we lived in Massachusetts, I had stopped breastfeeding. Her pediatrician prescribed flouride drops because they didn’t add flouride to the water. I didn’t give them to her. K & M still ended up with a few white spots on their teeth from using too much toothpaste. I need to check up on the little kids more often, to make sure their not using too much toothpaste.

This is a great video about too much flouride.

This is an interesting article titled Sugar is Back on Food Labels – This Time as a Selling Point

I really prefer my family to eat less processed food. So I have read labels looking for HFCS, and we do try to avoid it. The kids also read labels, and it’s great to be in the store with them and hear them say “We can’t buy this one!” 🙂 If we are going to eat sugar, then I would rather we have sugar, than HFCS.

I do use some Splenda for D’s lemonade and ice tea. Since he’s a diabetic, he can’t have sugar of any kind. I do have some stevia, (and some seeds to grow my own!) that I’m going to try in his ice tea this summer. As long as it doesn’t have a taste, he won’t care.

When D was diagnosed with diabetes, and we went to a nutrition class, the nutritionist did say that if your going to use artifical sweeteners, that Splenda was a better one to use. After doing research, none of them are good for you. I don’t let the kids have anything with artifical sweeteners in it.

While we do lots of things right with our diet, we still have areas of improvement. Less sugar use, being one of them.