Wet Sock Treatment

So my lovely and open minded readers... I would like to share with you something really useful today! If you or your kids feel stuffed, are coughing, or have a fever, this remedy will help release the symptoms and it will help you sleep better. You don't have to buy any icky over the counter medicines or decongestants... just trust me on this one. (However, I am not a doctor and all is based on my doctor's recommendation and my own and my friends' many years of experience with this method)

This hydrotherapy technique works for flu symptoms, earaches, soar throats, sinus infections, cold symptoms, upper respiratory infections and anything else related. 

You will need:

Pair of Cotton socks

Pair of Wool socks

Towel

Very warm water in sink/bucket (as warm/hot as you can handle)

Very cold water

RIGHT BEFORE BEDTIME...

Make sure that you are comfortably warm, dressed in something you will be going to bed in. Prepare the COTTON socks by soaking them in very cold water. Then put your feet in warm water. The water should be as hot as you or your child can handle. Soak your feet for about 10 minutes. The trick is you don't want the water to cool down so don't stay there longer than 10 minutes. Then pull your feet out and right away dry them with towel. Squeeze all the water out of the cotton socks (very cold/freezing) and put them immediately on your nicely warmed up feet. Put dry wool socks over them and make your way to bed right away. Avoid getting chilled!

Keep the socks on overnight, you will find the wet socks dry in the morning.

So how does the wet sock treatment actually work?

Instead of medicine, your body is doing all the work in healing your symptoms. As your feet cool down, the veins constrict and send good nutrients into your body. And as your feet start slowly warming up, the veins expand and the bad stuff is disposed off by your body. The alternation of hot and cold stimulates your circulation and puts your immune system into a hyper active mode.

Some extra tips:

• Repeat this therapy for at least 3 days of your sickness
• When my kids were babies, I used to give them a warm bath instead of the foot bath - it was recommended by my doctor at the time
• I used cotton socks and footsies for my babies as wool socks wouldn't stay on over night
• My little kids don't like the feeling of cold socks on their warm feet but over the time they learned that this really makes them feel better and helps them sleep so they now do it without complaining
• Make sure you go lay straight down as this works best when your body is in horizontal position and is warm

As an immune system boost during the time of sickness I always use echinacea tincture for the whole family.

Make Time...

Hello everyone! I hope that you are having a great month of January! Things have been very busy around our Little Backyard Farm and I am glad that we have been able to take few family walks with the kids, despite the cold temperatures.

We all might start having those winter blues and they are not pretty - kids are getting antsy and crabby and let's admit it - so do we. Try to get yourselves and the kids outside as much as possible!

And generally this is not only about the mood... it is also about family time. Times are busy and we get caught up in life, work, and technology. Make some time for the kids and bring your phone along only to snap pictures...

Make memories...

Notice the small things... that are really the big things...

Kids don't remember their best day of television...

... so go outside and do something you all will remember!

I hope you all have a great time making memories...

~ Monika ~

Our week in photos - InstaFriday

It was a special week over at our backyard farm! It started with a Birthday weekend that was just too much fun!

My special people got a great morning ready for me... It was full of sweets, flowers, handmade cards, and hugs and kisses! What else could birthday mama want?

The same day my special sister-in-law/awesome friend took me downtown to a Nutella Bar and also to meet this inspirational lady - Alejandra from the Home Organizing YouTube channel. 

What would be a weekend without a trip to an ice cream shop?

And on Tuesday we had a special visit in our art class from Georgia O'Keeffe! Even though the kids knew she wasn't real, they acted so giddy and shy ;-)

My girl and I are trying the magic of selfies ;-)

Hello ladies! They miss us during the winter not causing a riot in the yard.

At some point we took a family walk/bike ride. Please Spring, bring us some warmer weather finally!

What is left over from all the snow. The girls are so scared of that white stuff that this is the first time they were out of their coup for months. And look, they are still hanging carefully in the crowd, trying to stay away from it ;-)

Today, Friday, I got lucky that Whiney let me pick her up... She is usually shy but now she is sitting on eggs so this is supper easy. But of course, not good for her at all - poor girl thinks she is going to be a mama. So I enjoyed the backyard stroll with my girl in my arms.

Looking back at Insta - my week was pretty blessed! Here is to another. If you would like to follow me I am @littlebackyardfarm

InstaFriday - our week in photos

What a week of crazy weather over here at our little backyard farm! We finally got to 50s, only to go back down and get some good snow storm in the middle of the week. By today, the snow is nearly gone again ;-) Take a look at how we managed to have fun thought all this.

Drive to the city! We were taking the kids on a field trip!

A photo from the Museum of Science and Industry... kids think it's the coolest place on Earth - as think the mothers ;-)

Here comes the fresh snow. Our little backyard farm got completely covered - only for 2 days...

Another great excuse to get out of school, but how can you say no? This might be just about the last time we get to sled before the spring comes. They both finished school work fast and we went out to have some fun.

... and we got to snuggle our girls! They are due for some attention ;-)

I hope your week was as blessed as ours and have a great weekend everyone!

I am joining the InstaFriday over at LifeRearranged. 

Our week in photos

This week I am a day late with my InstaFriday post... but at least I made it. These are not in the order they were taken (I am in a rush)

Yes, I went out there with my kids' chair just to take a photo for fun. I just liked the idea of a contrast that the red chair would create with the snow. Well, at least I provided some entertainment for the neighbors ;-)

I finished this leg warmer, which is a gift for someone ;-) My first time doing embroidery... EVER! Now I want to do that on every single of my creations - it gives the leg warmer some spark, doesn't it?

My name is... (I am a part of #fmsphotoaday on Instragram)

This week the kids and I finally planted our seeds. It should have happened at least a week ago but again, at least it happened. The weather is pushing us back a bit.

First time I made home made tortillas! I had this on my mind for at least a year so why did it take me so long? Good question. These were awesome! I will make them fresh from now on!

Like the Yoga Girl says - "Yoga Every Damn Day"... I wish... but I will take what I get :-)

That's it for our lives this week... we were too busy, having too much fun, work, and homeschool... Have great weekend!

Our week in photos

We are pretty much over winter around here but the winter is not saying good bye to us :-( We are suppose to get more snow in the next 2 days. We are trying to beat the blues, go on with our school and hang out with our friends. Here is a peak into the past week at our little backyard farm. 

We got some oranges from my friend so I pulled out this good old fashion style juicer ;-) 

I collect postcards... now if I could just find the best place to display them... Take a look at the Postcrossing website if you are interested in receiving some awesome snail mail ;-)

It was time for field trip! We always look for free days at local museums and other attractions for kids. This time we went to the aquarium.

The best dog in the world! He lets the kids do whatever... But I wouldn't want to be a stranger coming up to our yard ;-)

School in pajamas... telling time... Eeboo games are the best! Homeschooling rocks!!!

InstaFriday

This is my second week joining the InstaFriday over at Jeannett's blog. Please, follow me on Instagram - I am Monika at littlebackyardfarm

I make this awesome homemade oven baked bread but I just can't manage to get the shape right. 

I love this little guilt drink from Trader Joe's.

I can't take a picture with this guy for the life of me, he licks my face every time I try 

I have an ongoing battle with my office/craft room. It's a love/hate relationship of constant organizing and reorganizing. This is the most stable spot in here.

The weather warmed up a bit - so we got done quickly with school and went out to enjoy it!

Happy 100th Day of school to us! Building LEGO structure using 100 pieces. We had a fun time celebrating!

InstaFriday

Hello everyone, and welcome to my little backyard farm. I am joining InstaFriday over at Jeannett for the very first time. While you are here, please stay a while and look around. If you would like to follow me on Instagram I am Monika over at littlebackyardfarm

I love when B wear pins in her hair. That happens so rarely that I almost always take  a picture of it. #thepleatedpoppy (who is sadly closing her shop)

I am ready to start researching crop for this year. There is no end in sight to this winter so this is bringing me closer to Spring. 

Every Tuesday we have pasta for dinner and this week we were actually out of pasta. There was only one option for me since I had the house full of kids - pull out my magic machine. It always turns out that making homemade pasta is actually so easy and I should do it more often. 

The girls are laying again! Molting is over, bring on the omelets!

 Kids were having good old fashion fun with some blankets... Starting school will be pretty painful ;-)

I love listening to her telling me stories. This sequence puzzle is perfect for that.

It's Valentine's Day everyone! We love our backyard birds - we made them some peanut butter treats during our Valentine's Day Party!

This is it for me! What a wonderful week we had! Now if only the cold would give up ;-)

What I am reading this year and other New Year's Resolutions

Every year I set myself some kind of "New Year's resolution" and I try to go for something I know I can actually stick with and something that I know would not be too overwhelming. Two years ago it was to run the Chicago Half Marathon - and I did it, together with my friend, neighbor, and a running partner - all in one person ;-)

(She keeps on running and completed 2 marathons this past year, you can find her inspirational blog by clicking here - I am not able to run long distance anymore - doctor's request)

My last year's resolution was to become more organized, as I am a person who wasn't born with such ability and it is difficult to do what I do everyday and not be organized. I ended the year ok but not great... That year I had one more resolution - to try Yoga. I used to hate it - too slow, too boring, too long. Guess what - I did it and I am LOVING it!!! (No picture here, maybe when my poses don't look so awkward ;-)

This year my goal is to cut on TV even more (we have not had a TV provider for the past year anyway) and read more books. The catch to that is to not read fiction but read non-fiction books that will hopefully educate me on some useful subjects. I love reading fiction but I find non-fiction mostly boring. For some of you this might be an easy task, but not for me. Here are some titles that were recommended to me by my friends...

1. The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein - yes I know, this one is a fiction but I thought I would start this off easy :-) This book was HIGHLY recommended to me by my husband and by now I am finished with it and I have to say - READ IT! I loved every word of it and so did he.

2. The Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey - I would like to educate myself further about money and future and our awesome church uses Ramsey's program to help people get themselves to better financial future.

3. I Just Want my Kids to be Happy, by Aaron Cooper - Don't be fooled by the title... the subtitle goes like this "Why you shouldn't say it, Why you shouldn't think it, What you should embrace instead" - yes, I find that to be a problem of this generation of parents and I am guilty as well. 

4. How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough - the author is Chicago based so I hope this will give me an inside into my husband's job as well.

5. Be the Miracle: 50 Lessons for making the Impossible Possible, by Regina Brett - This was recommended to be by my friend who has the best library in the world

6. Start Something That Matters, by Blake Mycoskie - This story is about starting the shoe company Toms, which donates shoes to people in need all over the world. And who wouldn't want to make a difference, right ;-)

Anyway, wish me luck - and even read one of these (or all) and let me know what you think. I gave myself 2 months per book but I am hoping to finish them earlier.

Behind the scenes - Say hello to the farmers

This year I finally decided to have my friend take some professional pictures of our family and our little farm ;-) Usually it's me who is behind the lens so it was time for to switch. I will use some of the pictures for our Christmas card, some for my Facebook page profile picture and blog profile picture, and couple for canvas prints that will help decorate our house.

Yes, we got some good ones but I simply had to share the funny, behind the scenes photos that came with it ;-)

How is this one for a farming bliss?

Trying to catch our pet chicken Brownie since I so desperately wanted her to be in at least one shot... No, T doesn't want to smack her over her head with a plastic bunny... he is just trying to be helpful and removing obstacles that are in my way ;-)

And she didn't make it into any of the pictures...

Is it really that difficult to hold a chicken for 5 minutes? Apparently yes ;-)

And this happened after I said to my husband to hold her because the kids will surely let her go lol

No way can this family photo happen without some wing flapping

Look who is in the spotlight now...

Here is some turkey love!