12 Natural Tips to Prevent a Cold (my friend Stephanie Lorick emailed this to me last flu and cold season, all stuff I know, but a great reminder. I wanted to post this for everyone. Its a great reminder to everyone!- the sauna tip I didn't know!)I felt it was worth reposting this year. I had posted last year on my Health blog.

There are no known cures for colds and flu, so cold and flu prevention should be your goal. A proactive approach to warding off colds and flu is apt to make your whole life healthier. The most effective way for preventing the flu is to get the flu shot. It may not be natural, but it works better than anything else. But there are other strategies you can employ as well. WebMD went to Charles B. Inlander, president of The People's Medical Society, for suggestions you may want to try:

#1 Wash Your Hands
Most cold and flu viruses are spread by direct contact. Someone who has the flu sneezes onto their hand, and then touches the telephone, the keyboard, a kitchen glass. The germs can live for hours -- in some cases weeks -- only to be picked up by the next person who touches the same object. So wash your hands often. If no sink is available, rub your hands together very hard for a minute or so. That also helps break up most of the cold germs. Or rub an alcohol-based hand sanitizer onto your hands.

#2.Sneezes and Coughs With Your Hands
Because germs and viruses cling to your bare hands, muffling coughs and sneezes with your hands results in passing along your germs to others. When you feel a sneeze or cough coming, use a tissue, then throw it away immediately. If you don't have a tissue, turn your head away from people near you and cough into the air.

#3 Don't Touch Your Face
Cold and flu viruses enter your body through the eyes, nose, or mouth. Touching their faces is the major way children catch colds, and a key way they pass colds on to their parents.

#4 Drink Plenty of Fluids
Water flushes your system, washing out the poisons as it rehydrates you. A typical, healthy adult needs eight 8-ounce glasses of fluids each day. How can you tell if you're getting enough liquid? If the color of your urine runs close to clear, you're getting enough. If it's deep yellow, you need more fluids.

#5 Take a Sauna
Researchers aren't clear about the exact role saunas play in prevention, but one 1989 German study found that people who steamed twice a week got half as many colds as those who didn't. One theory: When you take a sauna you inhale air hotter than 80 degrees, a temperature too hot for cold and flu viruses to survive.

#6 Get Fresh Air
A regular dose of fresh air is important, especially in cold weather when central heating dries you out and makes your body more vulnerable to cold and flu viruses. Also, during cold weather more people stay indoors, which means more germs are circulating in crowded, dry rooms.

#7 Do Aerobic Exercise Regularly
Aerobic exercise speeds up the heart to pump larger quantities of blood; makes you breathe faster to help transfer oxygen from your lungs to your blood; and makes you sweat once your body heats up. These exercises help increase the body's natural virus-killing cells.

#8 Eat Foods Containing Phytochemicals
"Phyto" means plants, and the natural chemicals in plants give the vitamins in food a supercharged boost. So put away the vitamin pill, and eat dark green, red, and yellow vegetables and fruits.

#9 Eat Yogurt
Some studies have shown that eating a daily cup of low-fat yogurt can reduce your susceptibility to colds by 25 percent. Researchers think the beneficial bacteria in yogurt may stimulate production of immune system substances that fight disease.

#10 Don't Smoke
Statistics show that heavy smokers get more severe colds and more frequent ones.
Even being around smoke profoundly zaps the immune system. Smoke dries out your nasal passages and paralyzes cilia. These are the delicate hairs that line the mucous membranes in your nose and lungs, and with their wavy movements, sweep cold and flu viruses out of the nasal passages. Experts contend that one cigarette can paralyze cilia for as long as 30 to 40 minutes.

#11 Reduce Alcohol Consumption
Heavy alcohol use suppresses the immune system in a variety of ways. Heavier drinkers are more prone to initial infections as well as secondary complications. Alcohol also dehydrates the body -- it actually takes more fluids from your system than it puts in.

#12 Relax
If you can teach yourself to relax, you can activate your immune system on demand. There's evidence that when you put your relaxation skills into action, your interleukins -- leaders in the immune system response against cold and flu viruses -- increase in the bloodstream. Train yourself to picture an image you find pleasant or calming. Do this 30 minutes a day for several months. Keep in mind, relaxation is a learnable skill, but it is not doing nothing. People who try to relax, but are in fact bored, show no changes in blood chemicals.

Feel Your Boobies Girls! Just ran across this pic and wanted to post it again. Don't forget to do your self exams. They are so important no matter your age!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Little Gymnast

Caroline was so excited about going to Gymnastics today!!!!! She has been looking forward to this day for two weeks. Momma, when is Thursday? when is gym day? is it in two days? tommorow? how many days momma??? How many days? She was so excited to get this new leotard. Isn't it so cute on her!!!! She loves it! She has been practicing her tumbling. Then had such a great time today and came home and showed her momma everything she did. What a sweet little girl! I love her so much. Here are some pics her Daddy took today:

SNOW DAY!!!!!

School Was Canceled!!!! VISIONS OF SNOW DANCED IN THEIR HEADS...... they were up at the crack of dawn, so excited!!! and what did they find... WEll
enough to make snow angels on the deck atleast! In SC that will due. We are easy, we never see snow! Then we scraped it off the car and had a snow ball fight. Minutes later...ITS COLD OUT HERE MOMMA, and in we went! Now a

whole day of no school to fill up......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MLK

Jack learned about Dr. King at school and make this book to celebrate the Birthday of MLK.

THANK GOD FOR MY DVR!!!!!!!!!!!!.....

at 2am! I am so sick of not being able to sleep. INSOMNIA is so much fun!!! Late night TV is not so great... What would I do without my DVR? catching up on tv shows that I tape during the days.
I never really set New Years Resolutions, but I never really do. But maybe I will list some things that
I thank the Lord for over the past year for:
1. On my mind, thank you for the material provisions you have allowed us to have, INCLUDING my DVR.
2. My amazing husband.

3. my health (this one I have a hard time being Thankful for, am in continual prayer for, but as the Lord says ask me in prayer and then start thanking even before results)----but there have over the last year been many results---brought me through the "sickness" last fall, then the surgery in May, then the pleurisy....now I am currently working on getting healthy in general!

4. My support system, my extended family, my friends--- We are so blessed here!

5. My children and their thriving selves, they all had wonderful years!!! Grew so much, each one of them.

6. The lessons you taught me about TRUST in you and in my husband, one I continue to struggle with but have learned sooooooo much regarding.

7. My church family

8. My SEAT WARMERS, sounds strange maybe but that is one luxery that am truley Thankful.

9. the prospect of my new job, which sounds PERFECT for my family, and for the knowledge that the Lord will PROVIDE... all the stress surronding the situation is a huge prayer request, so Thank you in advance God for whatever direction you take us. I will trust you and have faith that I will be and am exactly where I am supposed to be now and in the future.

VIEWER BE WARE...DOGGIE BITE PHOTOS

I have been meaning to post these pics for a while. A little before Xmas my friend Dawn's son called us and told us his friends dog had bitten him. We hurried and met him at the ER.
Graham of course was rough housing with Scottie (the dog) and got himself bitten on the ear. Thanks to the dogs large overbite his ear did not get completley bitten off!!!!!
KIDS BE CAREFUL WITH DOGS! THEY BITE!
Graham, here are your pics! You made my blog! You are in the big leagues now boy.

I've got the Blues.....the Job not Starting Blues...

Job Starting Blues...yep, I've got the Blues............to the tune of when in the world am I actually going to start this new job??? (and the song is in my head, yes!)
I think I have had a handful of soft dates and now one firm date now gone. January 12th is not going to happen. The boss man swares he will have a start date for me by next Friday...SO WE SHALL SEE.
I think I have just had more than enough anxiety this week. I want to be trusting in you Lord. I feel tht I am, then I realize all of this anxiety, axst that is withen me. Will I ever get there?? Will I ever really trust, ever be free of this anxiety???? I know I said BRING THE RAIN... and I still mean it. I want to learn to trust in my Lord. I truley do, but I feel like I am a really really really really poor student.
I heard the bad news yesterday about the job starting a few weeks later and I went into a downward anxiety spiral immediatly. I even caught it, prayed, but still my emotions were haywire..
Does anyone else feel this way???
Lord, I know you are in control. i know you have a plan. Again, aloud I state that I am Trusting in your plan. You will take care of my family with our without my job starting when i think it shoud. My big fear of it falling through, its so irrelevant in your big picture, in your big plan. It matters so much more how I react, how I serve you and glorify you in the process. I feel like I blew it yesterday.
I don't know if anyone reading this can relate, or if I am making sense, but please join me in praying that I will react better to my next challenge, actually even in this one as it continues. Thanks friends and family that read this and pray for me!!!!

To all of my friends (and family) in Miniflock:

Jason and I feel blessed to be a part of this group. This last year has been great, through all the not so great books, to the great studys, to the YUMMY FOODS, to just all the time spent together getting to know each other better. I feel like we have really meshed as a group this year, we just FIT!!!

We look forward to spending another year laughing, loving, praying, studying and praising our Lord together with you all!!!! We love you all!!!

with that, I forgot to take many pics at our AFTER CHRISTMAS PARTY....but here is what I have:

Please Pray!!!!!

I just got a call that my best friend Beck was just in a horrible car accidient. Luckily I got word straight from her. But still, I am soooo shaken up. She was driving to Minnisota to the Mayo Clinic for a doctors appt (actually her aunt was driving) and they hit an ice patch possibly, ran off the road, flipped numerous times, four or so we are told and landed in a ravine. The cops said they were amazed they survived.
God, thank you for keeping them in your loving and protective care. You have brought Beck through so much and I know you are not done with her yet. I just know it.
Her Aunt in Intensive care...please pull her through. Please be with them. I know Beck is all alone, scared, in pain...Please wrap your loving arms around her Lord God.
Anyone who reads this, Please go kiss your family, make right any squabbles or disagreements...Life is so fleeting.
I mean I was all consumed today in my little stomach bug, wanted to be just left alone. I never left my bedroom. Then BOOM, I find out Beck could have died tonight. God, I know you are in control of everything.
You are SUPREME!!!
Our life goal here is to glorify you and thats really it.
We must FEAR YOU, HONOR YOU, TRUST YOU...I get so caught up in every day life, in ME ME ME...that I forget my PURPOSE. So easily I forget my purpose. You also put my beautiful family here for me to take care of...I can take that for granted so easily to, thinking of ME first comes so easily. Please help me to "SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD"...each and every day, and to focus on being loving and patient with my family. On finding JOY in my life, REJOICING IN ALL because all is what you put here for us...I am just bursting with emotions, thoughts.....I don't know if I am even making sense but I needed to get this out.
We always think there is time, but what if there isn't???? I know God is in Control of that to. I need to not let that fear take over.
PEACE,not anxiety erika. REST IN YOUR LORD ERIKA. OK, thanks for listening.....
I am gonna go kiss my babies,even though its midnight and they are all asleep.
I am not gonna be sleeping with this stomach bug tonight much I don't think.

School starts in the am....hope no one else in the house gets this, surely they will though...Hope AW is better by am. I don't need a sick momma and still a sick baby. Luckily my amazing parents took the kids Sunday, since J and I were both sick, as well as baby AW.

Man,so much to think about, to learn, to strive towards, its just OVERWHELMING!!!!!!!
Lord, calm my heart tonight please. and again, love on Beck, may she feel your arms around her right now.
Erika