How to make your own laundry detergent

This is how I make my own laundry detergent, thanks to a great friend!

This is a bar of Fels Naptha laundry soap. It is usually hard to find at Walmart, I have had better luck at Grocery stores. There are other laundry soaps out there, and any bar of that would be fine too. And, if you can't find laundry soap, then even washing soap will be fine. My first batch I made was with Dove soap, and I can't tell any difference between the dove and the laundry soap....in fact, next time I think I will go back to the Dove b/c it was easier to grate.

You grate one bar of soap with a cheese grater

After you grate the soap, you grind it up in a food processor, or I use my little cheap food chopper.
Add 1 cup of Super Washing Soda
Add 1 cup of Borax

And, mix it all up! It is that simple!

1 batch fits perfectly in one of Z's used formula cans, and a scoop from that is the right amount for a load. Or, it would be 1-2 tablespoons. It doesn't make any suds while washing, but it will still do the job! It has saved a ton of money! Brandy

is better than me, and figured up how much this costs per batch. I can't remember what she said, but I know it was less than $2 a batch, and that lasts a long time. It lasts me 2-3 weeks, but I do a lot of washing.

Free picture!

My friend chickadee had a giveaway week to celebrate her b-day. She gave away something different each day, and I entered to win a free 16x20 poster print sponsered by Online Poster printing at this post here back in march. Well to my great surprise, I won!! I just got my print in the mail last week, and I love it! It was so fun to win something!

Counting to 100 lapbook

Rachel and I put together this lapbook to help her with her counting. It has numbers from 1-100 and has cute ways to visualize the numbers.

Manatee Lapbook

The Manatee lapbook was fun, b/c none of us knew much about Manatees, but we saw them when we went to Sea World, so it was neat to learn all about them.

Revolutionary War Lapbook

Noah has become a huge history buff this year. When we go to the library, he purposely goes to the nonfiction section, and checks out books on presidents, and wars. I am not sure where this has come from, and he will even just start spitting out random history facts in conversations. Clay and I just look at each other like, "who is this kid"? He didn't get that from us. So, he decided he really wanted to learn about the Revolutionary War. I searched and searched for a lapbook already made up for this, b/c I need a guideline, and things spelled out for me. I wasn't able to find one, but I did find one from http://www.currclick.com/ that was on sale for $2 to go along with the book below, so I purchased it. I LOVE the Magic Treehouse books. We have a bunch of them, and both Noah and Leah love reading them. This book only covers the final battle of the War, when Washington crossed the Delaware river.

After completing the above lapbook, I decided that we needed to expand on it, so I searched the internet for info and photos, and composed another lapbook, that gave an overview of the whole war. This is the first lapbook I have done on my own, I usually find free ones on the internet that already have all the pages to them that I just have to print out.

I found these free paperdolls online to print out that were all characters from the Revolutionary War. I printed them on cardstock, and Noah loves these. http://www.paperdali.com/index.html

Noah loves to draw. For all these pictures, he just sat down on his own and drew them. I wish I could have been that way as a child. It was always such a chore for me to draw anything. Not Noah, he would rather be drawing than writing. There are so always so many little details in his pictures.

Panda Lapbook

Leah did this lapbook on her own. She loves panda bears, and we really enjoyed learning more about them. It was exciting to us that we were able to see them at the Memphis Zoo last year, so I included several pictures in our book that we took while we were there.

my other blogs

I am trying to get some pics loaded to my other blog, and I have finally gotten some. Go check out my other 2 blogs, and I am going to try to continue to update the school one, I am so behind! I have a place on there to follow me too, if you are interested. And, if you aren't a follower in this blog, go ahead and add yourself!

www.blessingsforthegoodlife.blogspot.com

http://thedrapersschooliscool.blogspot.com/

Food

While cooking supper tonight, I became deep in thought about food. It was sparked by the tomato soup I was cooking. I have never in my life, until lately, eaten tomato soup. Since we have been married, Clay has loved Tomato soup...one can, cooked with one can of milk, poured over Fritos. I think this is something he ate growing up. I used to really turn my nose up. One, day, I was desperately hungry, this is as recent as living in Maumelle, and I tried it. I loved it. Now, I am the one in the house that eats it. I keep tomato soup and fritos in the cabinet, and have been known to get upset when someone eats my fritos.

I was cooking Ramen Noodles for the kids b/c they are sick, and my mind flashed back to when I was 16, and babysitting Clay and Lydia Rice. Their mom would leave Ramen Noodles for me to cook for them pretty often. Until that point, I had never heard of Ramen Noodles. Now, when I cooked them, I always think of that summer. That memory also reminds me of a time, sitting in their kitchen floor talking to my Clay on the phone. We were only friends then, but that was the summer we got really close. To this day, I still remember the joy I felt that he called me to invite me to go play tennis that evening. (we used to do that a lot with friends)

Grilled Cheese....my parents always cooked cheese toast...just melted the cheese on some bread in the oven. Well, my best friend growing up, made grilled cheese, in the skillet with butter. I had never heard of that until I met her, and that instantly became a favorite of mine. Then, a few years later, the guy I was dating, his mom, Mrs. Lou would make that grilled cheese and serve it with Chef Boyarde Spaghetti. I had never thought of combining the 2, but it was so good when she would fix it, so to this day, I feel like when I have one, I should have the other. Don't even get me started on the fried chicken and potatoes she used to cook. I have never known anyone that could cook that like she did. For at least 3 years of my life, I ate her cooking as much as my own mom's cooking. I also steadily gained 10 lbs every year too. Haha

I think I have talked about maccaroni squares before. That, and coconut pie...I got those recipe from Clay's mom, and they are 2 of my favorite things to cook now. In fact, almost every recipe I use, I got from someone. I very seldom use an actual purchased cookbook.

My friend Suzanne introduced me to Nestlequick chocolate powder to make my chocolate milk. Oh my, that is so good to me, I literally can't have that in the house b/c I gain major weight drinking that.

My sister got me addicted to Strawberry Cheesecake with cream snowcones. Sadly, I can never find them here in Little Rock. I have to still go back to Monticello to get me one!

I can't leave my own mom out. I do a lot of things that she did, and when I branch out and do things differently from what I remember growing up, it feels weird. Does that make sense? Just like buying the different type of chocolate for my milk. She always got Hershey's syrup, and until Suzanne, I had never even tried a different kind. I always loved how my mom made tuna fish salad, and I still make it that way. I have finally gotten Leah to decide she likes it.

Growing up, I can remember going to Red Lobster once with my parents, and pouting big time b/c I didn't want to eat there. That is the only time I remember us going there. I also hated Taco Bell. What was I thinking? I now love both places. Although, my love for seafood...mainly shrimp came much later in life. I can remember being on a trip to the beach in college, and a guy with us had to peel my shrimp for me b/c I was freaking out that is wasn't peeled....and he felt guilty b/c he had recommended it.

This post has turned out longer than planned, but I just kept thinking of things as I went along. You would think I was hungry writing this, wouldn't you? I actually just got finished with my tomato soup and am full. haha I have tried all day long to do photo posts, but I finally gave up, and this is what ya get.

So, what type of things have influenced the food in your life?

Look how they've grown!

I took these pictures the day after we got Hunter. He was 7 months old, and Zachariah was only 2 months old.

They were so funny crawling around the house together Saturday. Zachariah was following Hunter everywhere he went. It was so fun to watch them!

Zachariah had just woke up, and was sure what to think at first.

And here they are almost 8 months later. They are such big boys now. Zachariah was ready to play with him...Hunter wasn't so sure of it. Hunter can now stand on his legs, and put weight on them, which I am glad for, b/c he still couldn't do that at a year old, the last time I saw him. Bless his heart, he still has a long way to go. Hunter pulled himself up on his knees, and I said, "lets look and see if he stands up." Hunter didn't stand, and a while later Zac crawled over there, and pulled himself up right beside him. Zachariah, being 5 months younger, has now passed him up in just about every way. It makes me that much more appreciative of what Zachariah can do, and sad for Hunter, but I am also glad to see how far he has come from that little boy that still didn't have good head control at 7 months old.

The Middle Mom

My friend Chrisitie has written a book about her experience as a foster mom. She has been fostering for over 15 years. She is such a speical person, and I am so excited about her new book! It is even more special to me, b/c not only did I have the priviledge of taking the photos for this book, but Christie was also a foster mom to our baby for a couple of weeks before we got him. She is the reason he is with us, and I will forever be bonded with her for mothering this precious boy. She is having a book launch on Saturday, the day the book goes on sale. You can check out her website, and order a book through there too. www.themiddlemom.com

Look who came to visit!

Yay, we got to see Amber and Hunter yesterday!! I really thought I would never see them again. Their other foster mom, Jenny, had told their grandmother she would be happy to babysit, and the grandmother actually called her. Jenny had something to do part of the day, so she asked if we would like to see them for awhile. The kids were beside themself excited. They were SO happy to get to see them. I was too. It just felt good to lay my eyes on them, and know they are o.k. I think about them, and we talk about them everyday.

And look who got a haircut!! I knew it. I had asked permission to cut her hair, and I just wanted cut it to the middle of her back....so it wouldn't touch her behind when she went to the bathroom...and so she wouldn't cry everytime I brushed her hair. The mom said no, it was "against her religion". I can't remember if I blogged about that at the time. I was pretty urked about that. Mainly b/c she was bringing religion into it instead of just saying she didn't want it cut. I could go all day about the religious rules she has broken. Anyway...I just knew it would not take grandma long. Jenny did say grandma got chewed out for it.

Homeschool Easter Party

I am so behind on putting things on this blog. The week before Easter, we went to the homeschool group for an Easter party. It was a lot of fun!

The kids wanted to decorate their buckets with stickers, and my thrifty husband gave them them these labels, and told them to make their own stickers instead of going down to Dollar tree, and they were happy with that idea. They heard the story of Jesus and his Resurrection, with a visual of Ressurection eggs.

They made resurrection rolls....very yummy too! You flatten them put cinnamon, sugar, and butter on them, then put a marshmellow in the center. That represents Jesus, and after they are cooked, the marshmellow melts, and the "tomb" is empty.

They they had an Easter egg hunt

Aftwerwards, we played at the park. I was standing with my friend pushing her little one, and Noah told me I should let baby Z swing. I was standing right there holding him, and hadn't even thought about that! He LOVED it. He was just smiling and laughing.

Fishing at Pinnacle Mountain

I have been meaning to post these pics for awile, but the thing about Wifi, it doesn't always cooperate with uploading photos. A few Saturdays ago, when the weather was GORGEOUS, our friends call spur of the moment to invite us to go fishing with them at Pinnacle Mountain. In fact, it was so spur of the moment, they were already there, and wanted us to come meet them. The kids were so surprised and excited when we told them......Noah gave me a big hug and said "oh, thank you momma!" We had a great day, and the spot they had picked for us was just beautiful.

Noah found a bamboo stick that we thought was cool.

Noah and Clay fishing
The younger ones had fun digging up worms.

He is the only one that caught a fish....and he caught 2! Do you see how proud he is! The kids all got to look closely and touch the fish....I think that is the first time my girls have ever touched a fish

And, baby, as always, had lots of friends loving on him!

Aloha

My sister now lives in Hawaii! Her and her husband flew out last Thursday, and they came over to see us the night before. The kids and I turned it into a little mini "go away" (that is what Rachel kept calling it) party Hawaiian style. I started looking up Hawaiian recipes, but I am a very simple, not experimental cook, so I settled on Sweet and Sour chicken. It turned out to be very good, I was shocked! haha I also made a Pineapple Hawaiian cake that was really good too. We went down to Dollar Tree and got a couple of decorations and the pineapple straws to drink our Hawaiian punch, and the kids made a couple of signs to hang on the door. Yes, it was all cheesy, but it was exciting for us.

I am so glad they got to come over before they left. We hadn't seen Nick in a while, and the kids LOVE playing with him. He is so sweet to play with them, even Z. I love my sissy Kara, and will really miss her, but she is having a fun and exciting time, I am happy for her!

I like this one of Nick and Z

Noah took these pictures....they crack me up, and love the baby wipe box behind my head. Do you know, my dad slept through all this chaos!

I don't know what is up with these pics being so small....but this bottom pic, is so THEM....she will love me for posting this, I am sure.