Sick and Tired

That's the best way to put it, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.  My family has been fighting illness since November. That's 5 months y'all!
It started the week before Thanksgiving when Chris has a 3 week long battle with allergies that finally turned into a sinus infection and he was able to get antibiotics to knock it out. Next up was allergies that turned into a trip to the minor emergency clinic for Emma and her ruptured ear drum, antibiotics and ear drops for her. Somewhere overlapping that was Eli with a nose running like a broken sink, something like 7 boxes of tissues, and a swollen lymph node. That took two rounds of antibiotics, eye drops and nose drops then it finally went away about two weeks after Christmas. After that there was another earache for Emma and everyone was handed a sore throat and a couple bouts of coughs we controlled with OTC meds (until we didn't.) Chris' crud turned more serious and he was dosed with a Z-pac. Another serious double ear infection for Emma which she has antibiotics for, about two weeks ago. That brings us to now, we all have congestion and sore throats that we can't seem to kick.
I'm so over it!
I've decided that I'm taking a stand. I'm the type of parent that believes "take 'em to the Dr. and get the meds. Knock it out and be done." But, I've never fought this kinds of ongoing battle and all the meds just aren't doing the trick. To be honest, I'm starting to feel a little guilty about pumping my kids for of medicine all the time. My "get the antibiotics" approach was fine before because we were never a sick family and I was rarely giving them.
I've decided the offense isn't enough and its time for team defense to enter the game. I've been doing a ton of research and here is my plan of attack:
Added mattress protectors to all the beds
Wash all the pillows in hot water every two weeks
Vacuum at least twice a week
Claratin through April (its always been a rough month for them)
Vitamins, everyone!

I've chosen the men's multi for Chris, Flinstones Multi with immune support for the Kids, and B12 for myself. 

Stay vigilant with filters (a/c and vacuum)
Purify the indoor air with plants

I had no idea until I started researching just how much the right house plants, and the right amount can do for you. One thing I read is that organic pollutants can be 2 to 5x higher indoors than outdoors -EPA website. Thats crazy to me, but I never knew. So we would go about our business, say mow the grass. Emma's eyes get itchy, so I send her inside (to my more polluted house) to fight her allergies. How does that work? Obviously, its not, well not yet.
Plants can zap 90% of VOC's from your home. 90%!  Isn't that crazy. Once I started reading more on it I decided this was a serious defense barrier for our family. Some common household VOC's. I linked up what I have read about them in case you want to know more (be fairly warned it's kind of scary to read about.)

• Acetone
• Benzene
• Ethylene glycol
• Formaldehyde
• Methylene chloride
• Perchloroethylene
• Toluene
• Xylene
• 1,3-butadiene

 Like I said, reading about these pollutants can be kind of scary. I'm not all into scare tactics and it is my belief that exposure to these as a VOC is probably in very small amounts.  I doubt that I'm going to go into cardiac arrest at any given moment due to the air pollutants in my house but I am certain they aren't playing nice so I'm giving them the boot.
Earlier I told you the right house plants will fight your battles for you. Remember they will eliminate a whopping 90% of all that nasty stuff listed? OK so there are tons of lists and I picked my first four based on my green thumb and their location.
I picked lavender for my kitchen, I have failed at every attempt to grow it outdoors so why not the kitchen window. I love lavender and if I can grow it I will be so happy. Try French Lavender, it grows best indoors. Here is a list of air purifying herbs and another with more specific details.
I bought an aloe plant for Chris' office. It filters benzene and formaldehyde, but my main purpose is that it needs very little water. Im hoping I can remember to remind him to water it once a week or so.
I bought ferns for the kids bedrooms. I know I can grow these well and the lighting is good for them in there. Plus I read really great things about them filtering a lot of air more quickly.
I have yet to buy for the rest of my house, I need a little more research. Im looking into smaller plants to be kept in darker places...bathrooms and such. I really love the Peace Lily and it seems to be a super plant, also highly poisonous to people and pets. So there is a lot to find out before I reach my goal of plants in every room but we're on the way!

Are you fighting these same battles or have you fought them in the past? Please comment here with tips and tricks to share with other sufferers... thanks