{the truth about homemade laundry soap}

Remember this post?

Liquid Laundry Soap-Family Sized Batch

Water

1 bar grated Fels Naptha soap {2 1/3 cups}

5 gallon bucket

1 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda

1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

4 1/2 gallons water

Put grated Fels Naptha in saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until dissolved, stir occasionally. Pour mixture into a five gallon bucket. Add about 1/3 of bucket with boiling water. Stir to combine. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax and mix well. Fill bucket with more HOT water (I add enough water so it reaches the rings near the top of the bucket) As it cools, it will thicken.

If mixture becomes too thick, add hot water to thin it to desired consistency. May be used immediately. Mix well before each use. Use 1/2(normal) to 1 cup per load (heavy).

Cost per load .04

TIPS:

I put my soap into a used Fabric Softener bottle. The little bit of fabric softener left in the bottle will give your soap a nice clean smell. Shake well before each use.

Found over at The Rachel Berry Blog. I have changed a few things to my liking :)


Well I can honestly say that homemade laundry soap is not what its cracked up to be at least for me.  I gave it a shot and it just wasn't the same as regular detergents.  I ended up having to wash some loads twice and they still were not coming out as clean as they normally would with regular detergents.  To me it wasn't worth the extra time, water, and effort to save a few pennies.


Another thing I wasn't too happy with was the smell.  I am a huge fan of things that smell good and this smell just didn't do it for me.


So there you have it.  I am not a fan of homemade laundry soap!


Has anyone else had the same outcome as me?

{works for me ~ rerun}

What are some of your back to school traditions? It could be from now that you are a mom or from when you were younger and going to school.

• Every year before the kids go to school Darian gives them a Father's Blessing. The kids really look forward to this and I know that they are blessed throughout the school year because of this.
• I love taking the kids school shopping. The girls and I go together and then I take the boys at a later time. We shop and then go to lunch. I look forward to spending this special day with the kids.
• Every year on the first day of school I measure the kids on the back of the front closet door. I write their name along with the date and what grade they are in. The kids really like looking back and seeing how much they have grown the past year. I am so glad taht I strated this when they entered kindergarten.

{works for me: conversation starters}

Do you sit down at the dinner table with your family every night?  I wish I can say that we do but we don't.  Between sports, trains, plays, and meetings we just aren't able too.  It's not that we are busy with bad things it's just that were busy and it's our reality.  So when we do get to eat together I enjoy it.

I wanted to make up some fun questions to have at the table so that we can have some fun conversations.  My teenagers aren't always wanting to talk about things or open up so I knew I had to do this.  I found these white glass vases at Michael's.  I cut out the question mark with my cricut and stuck it on the front to add some fun.  I printed out some questions, cut them out, then folded them, and stuck then in the vase.

Now all we have to do is take turns pulling questions out and the fun begins.

How does a train stay on the track?
What is your favorite movie and why?
If you could change your name what would you change it too?
If you had one superpower what would it be?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
How many kids do you want?
What are you going to name your kids?
If you could invite a famous person to dinner who would it be? What would you talk about?
What is the most important thing about being a good friend?
What do you want to be for Halloween?
If you were president of the U.S. what would you change?
If you had 10 million dollars what would you do with it?
If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Where would you love to go on vacation?
If you play any sport professionally what would you play?
What college do you want to go to?
Where do you want to serve a mission?
Who has it easier children or parents?
What’s your favorite family memory?
What will you do different with your kids than we do with you?
What princesses are you most like?
What superheros are you most like?
If you could be any character at Disneyland which one would you be?
Which of the seven dwarfs are you most like?
Where would your perfect birthday party take place?
What is one thing you would like to change in your room?
Who are the three people you admire most?
If you could switch places with anyone in the world who would it be?
Who has been your favorite teacher so far?
Has anyone ever said anything to you that a affected a decision you were going to make?
Which teacher or coach has had the most impact on you and why?
If the house was on fire what would be the first item you would want to take with you?
What did you have for lunch today?
What is one thing about each of your family members that you love?
Who is your favorite person from history and why?
Who is someone you admire and why?
What would you do if someone gave you a thousand dollars?
If your pet was sick and no one was home, what would you do?
What would you do if you found a big bag of $ at the park?
Which distant family member do you wish could join us at dinner today?
What is your favorite childhood memory?
What is one book that you would have with you on a deserted island?
What is your biggest fear?
What would you do for a job if money were no object?
What did you do to be kind today and what will you do tomorrow?”
What was the best and the worst parts of your day?
If you could have anything you want for supper, what would you have?
If I gave you $10 to spend on just you what would you buy?
If you could do anything for one day, what would it be?
What was your HIGHLIGHT of the day?
What scares you?
What makes you nervous?
What would you do if you were invisible?
If your Dad could change jobs what would other job would he have?
What is your favorite ride at Disneyland?
What is your hobby?
What is your favorite TV Show?
What is your favorite cartoon?
If there was an earthquake and Dad and Mom were not home what would you do?

{works for me ~ homemade laundry soap}

Liquid Laundry Soap-Family Sized Batch

Water

1 bar grated Fels Naptha soap {2 1/3 cups}

5 gallon bucket

1 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda

1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

4 1/2 gallons water

Put grated Fels Naptha in saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until dissolved, stir occasionally. Pour mixture into a five gallon bucket. Add about 1/3 of bucket with boiling water. Stir to combine. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax and mix well. Fill bucket with more HOT water (I add enough water so it reaches the rings near the top of the bucket) As it cools, it will thicken.

If mixture becomes too thick, add hot water to thin it to desired consistency. May be used immediately. Mix well before each use. Use 1/2(normal) to 1 cup per load (heavy).

Cost per load .04

TIPS:

I put my soap into a used Fabric Softener bottle. The little bit of fabric softener left in the bottle will give your soap a nice clean smell. Shake well before each use.

Found over at The Rachael Berry Blog. I have changed a few things to my liking :)

{works for me: apples for lunch}

Kaidee loves having apples in her lunch. The only problem is she want them cut because its easier for her to eat them that way. You have seen what happens to apples that our cut to early, they turn brown. This is our solution.

1. cut your apple



2. put it back together



3. put a rubber band around it

there you have it. One cut apple that doesn't turn brown as fast.

{Works for me: nickel auction}

Lynda has been telling me about the Nickel Auction for a while now. What you do is you bring anything that you want to get rid of or don't need. Your stuff should be good quality and clean, you wouldn't want to give junk. They have it once a month and everyone takes a turn hosting at their home. Everyone takes turn showing their stuff and then you bid on it. It can be anything you want. You can also say that the bidding starts at $5, $1, $10, etc. It just depends on the item. My sister has got some pretty amazing things from attending.

I can't wait to start this when I get back to California. So to all my California friends start going through your stuff and let me know if you are interested.

{works for me: decorating with candy}

Decorating with candy is an easy way to dress up your home for a holiday. It doesn't cost a lot of money and it looks beautiful. I just have one rule though, you can't eat any until the holiday is over. I bought these glass containners at Tai Pan.

{works for me: buttons}

At our house we play lots of sports. And because we play a lot of sports we have a lot of buttons. Here is what I do with my buttons. Put a magnet on the back of the button then stick it on the fridge. I like to rotate all of them because I have no where near enough room for all of them. I will even bring out years past to see how much they have changed. The nice thing about the magents is that they come off and you can just stick it on the next button. No need to buy 200 magnets.

{works for me: Christmas card display}

I love getting the mail in December because everyday we usually have at least one Christmas card waiting to be opened. I love looking at pictures of both old and new friends. Some have moved far away while others are still in town.

I wanted to display my cards in a way that is both cute and not to formal. I have tried taping them to the door, taping them in the walkways, hanging them on my fridge with magnets, etc. I have never been happy with any of those ways. So I came across a this blog and she taped a ribbon on each of her kitchen cabinets and then used clothespins to attach the cards. Brilliant!

I love how simple it is. It allows people to take them off and look more closely rather than just peeking from a distance.


I now have found my new way to display Christmas cards.
Here is the not so pretty back of the door. We don't have a lot of cabinets so I filled up our garage and front closet doors. Paisley was good and never touched them.

{works for me: packing and school outfits}

Last week Darian and I went to Utah with the two younger kids to attend my cousin's wedding. The older kids had already started school and I didn't want them to miss three days so I left them with some of our friends. Whenever I have to leave my kids I try to make things as easy on them as I can. So when it comes to packing this is what I do.

I learned about this from my mom. She did this when we went on trips and also when she went to someone's house with a new baby. It was one more thing that the new mother didn't have to worry about when getting her kids ready for the day.

In our house we try to do this for school. I have noticed that it makes our mornings so much easier. On Sunday night the girls and I get their clothes ready for the upcoming school week. We put everything including underwear and socks in the roll.

{works for me: beach}

Most of you know I am not a big fan of the beach but when I do go there is one thing that I have to bring. Baby powder! I read this a while ago in my family fun magazine and it is amazing. All you do is sprinkle the baby powder wherever you have sand, rub and then it comes right off. No more waiting in line at the showers or hearing your kids cry because the waters too cold. Next time you go to the beach or anywhere with wet sand try it. I promise you will love it just as much as I do.

{works for me: birthday party in a box}

While visiting cousin Jill she told me about this idea called Birthday Party in a Box. Here is how it works. At the beginning of the year you put together a package that includes a cake mix, frosting, candles, balloons, sprinkles, a gift for each child, and a gift card for the parents. You send the gift to your family and they will get to open it all together and everything for a party is included. I love it because you only have to send off one package, so you save money, and you only have to make one trip to the post office. You also don't have to worry about forgetting somebody's birthday.

I know my family reads this blog so I didn't post any of the gifts that they will be receiving. I am so excited to start this tradition in my family. I have not been a very good Aunt when it comes to birthdays so hopefully now this will make up for it.

{works for me: a new way to color Easter eggs}

This year we colored our eggs a new way. We used Sharpies. We will now be coloring eggs this way every year.

• kids loved it
• no mess
• easy clean up
• creative
• fun
• fast
  

Even Darian was coloring with us.

Chase drew a self portrait.

Cole did a lot of scribbling. Here he was trying to draw Yoshi.

Some of my creations.

Our family. Everyone was here but Garrett he is with his mom.

{works for me: easter baskets}

This is what a typical Easter Basket looks like at our house. I am all about practicality. I am not big on candy so I try to come up with other things. Besides candy comes from the Easter bunny, right?

Easter seems to be the start of the warm season for us here in Southern California or in other words beach season. Our Easter baskets always have the stuff we need for summer. I have to get this stuff for them anyways so I might as well give it to them in their Easter Baskets.

I give them stuff that is age appropriate too. The basket in this picture is for Cole. I didn't want to post the girls because they like to look on this blog. They know the basket is from mom and dad but the Easter bunny brings them the candy filled eggs that he hides on Easter morning.

Here are a few examples of what I put in their baskets:

Every year they get:

a new swimsuit
sunscreen
a beach bucket

These are things I have added throughout the years and they change every year depending on things I find or that they need.

coloring books
crayons
new beach towel
toy
games
chap stick
hair accessories
swim goggles
nail polish
wiffle balls and bats
cars
bandaids
stickers
markers
socks
swim suit cover up
bath toys
pool toys


The older boys:

swim trunks
sunscreen
goggles
(no basket)

Paisley gets:

baby food
swim suit
baby sunscreen
hat
hooded towel
baby soap
puffs

Like I said I am all about being practical. So whatever they need at the moment is what they get. I hope this helps you to fill your Easter baskets.

So have you done your kids Easter Baskets? If so what have you put in theirs?

{works for me: in the car}

When I was a kid my mom always kept a box of trivia cards in the car. My mom was a big fan of talking rather than listening to the radio and we were never allowed to wear headphones. I have this same rule for my kids.

A few weeks ago I found a couple sets of trivia cards at DI. My mom suggested that I buy them and put them in our car. One was a sports edition and the other was a children's edition.

They now have a home next to the cup holders in the back seat. I love how the kids take turns asking each other questions while the others try to guess the answers. It creates great conversations as well.

{works for me: cord labeling}

Lately I have been on an organizing and decluttering spree throughout my home. I thought that as I am doing this I will share some of the things that I am doing with you.

In our home we have lots of electronics and because of this we have this problem. (see below)

So I took out my handy dandy labeler.

PS This is one of my most favorite things.
And I did this to all the cords.

This is one of the girls DSi chargers.
This is a car charger for my iPod.

A regular DS charger.

Our video camera. I have many more things like phone chargers, computer chargers, etc. but I didn't want to bore you with a picture of everything.

{works for me: summertime}

1. find some waterproof random stuff
2. place the stuff in a bowl
3. fill half way with water
4. freeze overnight
5. add more water
6. freeze overnight
7. place it outside with some water and medicine droppers
8. now your kids will be entertained for a while

I told them that they were not allowed to hit it, throw it, or pull the toys out. They could only use the water to melt the ice and as soon as the object was close to coming out they could only use one finger to get it out. This way they had to work a little harder at it. My kids loved it and they want to do it all the time now. This would be a really fun birthday party activity you could even use big plastic cups instead of a bowl.

{works for me: the best place to buy books}

Is Deseret Industries Thrift store or better known as DI. It is our church owned thrift store they are located in different places but I go to the one located in Colton, California. You have to look it up to see if you have one near you. I love going to DI for books and to look around to. I have found so many books for myself and my children. Some of the books I have purchased are the Box Car Children series, Junie B Jones Books, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Several Beverly Cleary Books, The Work and the Glory series (complete set), coloring books, and my favorite Little Golden Books (I collect them). These are just a few of the books in our family collection. Every book is priced between .25 and $1.00. I purchased just about all of my books for our 24 books of Christmas at DI for under $7.00. I have also purchased some of these books and donated them to my children's school teachers. If you love books as much as I do than you should make a trip you won't be disappointed. Another thing that I do with books is when I give a gift I will use a book instead of a card and if you purchase them at DI it is cheaper than purchasing a greeting card. Not to mention they will use it over and over and it won't go in the trash.

{works for me: making bedtime easier}

I don't know about you but bedtimes around here can sometimes be a little stressful. Because of our active lifestyle we are not always home for the kids to get to bed at 8pm. Between games, young mens, meetings, and Darians work schedule we come home at all hours. If we are home I try to start our night time routine at 7 which includes a bath, a book, and then bed. I tell the girls that if they are in their room by 7:30 then they can watch a movie on their TV. Usually this works out fine but then I will go in and they will still be awake at 9pm. So I have been thinking of different things that I could do to help them fall asleep and I think I have finally figured it out. I uploaded three books on tape to my ipod touch and now at night I just put the ihome in their room with the lights off and they listen to a story. The last two nights they have fallen asleep in just 20 minutes. Both the girls and I love it. So I thought that I would pass this on to you guys. The books range in price from .99 to 19.99. Depending on their popularity and how long they are. I downloaded Junie B. Jones books 1&2 and Superfudge.

{works for me: inexpensive Christmas gift}

This is what I have given to family members and close friends for the past two Christmas's. It is a calendar for the following year. I put stickers on all of the holidays and I write down every one's birthdays and anniversary's. This makes for a fun inexpensive gift that lasts the entire year. The calendars are $3 at Office Max.