Homemade Laundry Detergent

{Above pictures are the little favors that my sister and I made for our MOPS moms. The theme for the month was HELP - helping moms share the load, so we thought this would be cute! :)}

I've had several people show interest in how I make my own laundry detergent. I basically go off the Duggar's recipe, {The Duggars have 19 kids, and I'm sure they are washing laundry 24/7!} however, I have calculated it so that it doesn't make such a HUGE batch. My laundry room is not HUGE, so I'm not thrilled with having a 5-gallon bucket in that room, so I stick to the smaller bottles! ;)

I saved old bottles from store-bought laundry detergent and just re-use those.

Aimee's Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe:

1/3 bar of any type of bar soap {grated}. The Duggar's use Fels-Naptha bar soap, however, I've found that really any type of soap works just fine.

1/3 cup Borax

1/3 cup washing soda {I buy Arm & Hammer brand, and this can be found in the cleaners aisle of your grocery store.}

Mix Borax and washing soda together and then use 1/3 cup of that for the bottle you make. So this amount will actually make 2 bottles, however I have no idea what 1/2 of 1/3 is!;)

{All of the above items cost me less than $6, and it lasts for a LONG time, so plan on making a lot of detergent with these products! ;)}

1. Boil 16 cups of water

2. Add grated bar soap, washing soda and Borax. {make sure you have mixed the borax and the washing soda and used 1/3 cup of that mix.}

3. Dissolve ingredients completely.

4. Use a funnel {if you don't have one, you can just pour it} and pour into used laundry detergent bottle. I do this in my kitchen sink, so if I miss the bottle a bit, it just goes into my sink.

5. Let cool. Again, I just let the bottle sit in my sink until it is cooled off. It may take a couple of hours.

6. Shake up the bottle, and you are good to go!

I have found NO difference in the cleanliness of my clothes, however, the smell isn't as strong as regular laundry detergent. To fix that, my friend said that you can buy essential oils and add a couple of drops, or I just add a fabric softener sheet in the dryer.

I've found that it costs just about $1 to do 1 bottle of laundry detergent, and something about it makes me feel happy when I make something myself! Love it!

I know these directions are a little sketchy, but this is the way I calculated it to fit into one bottle, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask away!!

Good luck, and let me know if you give it a try.

{Yields about 68 ounces of detergent.}

Loved this

Before Chloe's accident, she was struggling a bit in reading and math {here I go with the Before and After again}. Of course, while she was home I helped her a lot with her homework, and I think that one-on-one time with her really helped.

I was so happy to find this in Chloe's graded papers folder yesterday:

Missed

For those of you who don't know. My husband moved his office home in September of 2009. Overall, it's been good for us. It's kinda fun to have him here throughout the day. He's upstairs, so it's not like he's all in my face all day or anything! ;) It's also fun to have lunch with him most days! And the kids love that he's home - even though it means they have to be quiet when they go upstairs during the work day.

So the other day, I went to my friend Kate's house to get my haircut. I had car pool that morning, so I left my house at 7:15 and just headed to her house from there - no sense in coming all the way home when I could hang out with her until our hair dresser arrived! ;) {Nothing like a game of Super Mario Bros. for Wii with your best friend! ;)}

Ryan called a couple of times that morning. Then a couple times in the early afternoon. And then finally at one of the calls, it hit me. He misses me!!! So I said to him, "YOU MISS ME!!! That's why you're calling me so much!" And he was all "yeah, I do."

And you know what?!? That made my heart glad.

Struggling with my Emotions

I'm struggling.

Picture this:

All three kids with no shirts on. They each have a straw that is under their armpit. While they blow into the straws, it makes a sort of farting noise. They march around the house blowing into their straws and making these farting noises. It's annoying, to say the least. I let it slide for a bit, cause they are happy and having fun, but then it's just too much.

I tell them to stop. All done now. They continue to blow into the straws. My voice raises a bit and tell them again to stop. Still more blowing. Then I blow up! "I've had enough of the fart noises! Put the straws in the trash!"

And then I look at Chloe. She's got a scar from her collapsed lung, and I can see it cause she still has no shirt on. It's a constant reminder for me of how bad things really were.

I lose it.

Why can't I just let the stupid fart noises slide? Why does it bother me so much? Why do I get upset so easily?

I know I'm just being a mom, and sometimes, I just get frazzled, but I have a hard time drawing the line from being a mom, and being a mom of a daughter who nearly died and I am reminded of it every time I try to discipline her. Shoot, I'm reminded of it every day I look at her! She's a miracle!

I feel like, how dare I yell at my daughter who IS HERE!!! SHE'S HERE! She could be dead, and she's not, and I'm choosing to yell at her!?!? What is my problem!?!?!

I need to find a balance, and I just can't! I feel guilty EVERY time I discipline my kids, and I know it's probably wrong to feel this way, but I just can't help it! Not sure what to do about it either.

Here I go again...

Another one of those long random posts! ;)

Here goes:

Chloe's doing really good - minus some headaches, which the neurosurgeon's nurse said she will have for quite some time. It's a bummer really, but if this is all we have to deal with after her accident, we'll take it. She's also pretty bummed that she can't play outside at recess. The weather has been getting so nice out, and all she wants to do is play outside. Apparently, yesterday she played on the sidewalk at recess time, and I had no idea she did this. I've told her to sit on the bench. Ugghhh!! It's just such a hard decision. If we let her play and she falls and hits her head on the sidewalk, we've got a huge problem. I hate living my life in fear, but if we can try to prevent something bad from happening, we will!! So, it's back to the bench for her.:(

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My mommy is here to spend the weekend with us! :) I just love it when she is here with me! Lots of time to chitty-chat while folding the never ending pile of laundry! She always seems to enjoy folding the laundry. I wish a little bit of that would rub off on me! ;)

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Today, I was the VIP for my nephew Bennett's preschool class! :) I was second pick. First, being his daddy. I was completely flattered that he chose me!!! He was so excited when I walked into his class - grin from ear to ear! We had a fun time doing crafts and playing games together - something I don't get to do often with JUST him! Love you Benny Boy!

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I got my hair cut yesterday. I was planning on having it grow out, but absolutely hated the growing out process, not to mention, I really just like my hair short. Before I got it cut, I ran to Jewel and got a box of hair dye. Yeah, I only spent $0.46 on it! ;) {I used some left-over catalina's!} Gotta love that!

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Speaking of Jewel...kinda glad that week is over! Phew! It was a whirlwind of Catalina's, but good nonetheless. Looking forward to a couple weeks of "regular" shopping before another Catalina surge like that one! Was it just me, or was it hard to keep all the deals straight!?!?!

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Alrighty! I think that's it for now!

Wordless Wednesday

Tackle it Tuesday

I've decided to go ahead and do a "Tackle it Tuesday!" I'm sure all of us have something in our lives that we need to "tackle."

Well, for me, I needed to tackle my laundry. It was seriously getting out of control! I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but I'm going to anyway. I've had about 4 or 5 baskets of CLEAN laundry sitting in my family room since Saturday. I've got no problem washing it and drying it - it's the folding and putting away that I absolutely loath!!!

I didn't get a proper BEFORE picture, because I had already started to fold the laundry before I decided to do this post:
And here's the in-between

And as for the after? Well, let's just say I'm...Ahem...still "tackling" that! ;) Really, I am!!

Celebrate Chloe

So, on to Chloe's party - that was on Valentine's Day!! Yes, I'm a bit behind. ;)

It was so great! We had close to 100 people who attended! It was just so nice to be able to thank everyone for their support - we had so much support, it was crazy, and awesome!!!

Chloe and her Auntie Mel

Me and my girl!

The Cake Pops I made

The Rice Krispy Treats that my mom made - Chloe told her what to write on them! :)

The awesome cookies my friend Shawnie made! They were so good!!

4 of the best friends a girl could have! LOVE them!!
Chloe and all of her friends! :)
This is Kelley. She was the trauma nurse on the helicopter the night of the accident. To make a long story short, My friend's friend knows her. I got her cell phone number and asked her to come to Chloe's party. SHE AGREED!! She was so sweet for taking time out of her day to come and meet my girl wide awake! {The last time she saw her was when she was in the coma.} It was so nice talking with her! Thanks again Kelley for coming!!

Part of the sweet table. We had so many good sweets! I wish I could've tried them all!

Thanks again to all the people who came out to Celebrate our girl! We love each and everyone one of you and appreciate all the support you gave to us!

Green Couch, Red Couch, Brown Couch...

This lovely love seat was the first piece of furniture that Ryan and I purchased together {along with it's matching sofa, of course}. Ya know, young and in love, getting our apartment ready for when we got married. I remember the day - we headed out to Darvin Furniture store {I'm not even sure if it's still in business} and bought our first set of furniture together! It was SOOO much fun!!

As you can tell in the picture, it's got a slip cover on it - a brown one. The original color of the couch is a sage green, and let me tell you - once we had kids it got all kinds of stains on it. In our old house it had a brick red slip cover, and since changing my comforter in my bedroom, it's now got a brown one to match.

This couch's home is now in our bedroom. There are many a day that I sit on it and talk with Ryan while he is working - just to the left of the couch. Or, the kids will sit and play their DS's or just chat with us if we're both at our desks. Since moving our office home, our bedroom doesn't have as much space for this little love seat, but I love that it's in our room - it's gives everyone a place to hang out and chat together! :) I plan on keeping it there for a while.


**This post is part of a writing assignment from Steph @ Adventures in Babywearing!**

Bike Helmet Poll

I've got a new poll on my sidebar that I would love for you to vote on.

Obviously, since Chloe's accident, we've had our eyes open quite a bit to helmet safety. I'm just curious as to how many parents make there kids wear bike helmets. We've never enforced the rule of bike helmets at our house, but all of the doctors at University of Chicago insisted that especially Chloe, but really the boys too, should wear them ALL THE TIME!

So, a new rule has been enforced in our house - No helmet - No bike. Simple as that.


Take a minute and vote - I'd love to hear your opinion!!

Cake Pops!!!

I'm just realizing that I never posted pictures from Chloe's party, or did I?! I gotta go check that out...

Nope, sure didn't!

I'll get to that...soon.

I made these adorable Cake Pops for her party though. Not only did they look cute, but that tasted so good!!! {Thanks Bakerella for the recipe! She's amazing, by the way - so don't compare my cake pops to hers!:)}


I was actually planning on doing a tutorial while I was making them so I took plenty of pictures. And since the party I've had quite a few people ask me for the recipe, so here you go:

**I made a batch with Red Velvet cake mix, and a batch with Strawberry Cake mix. While they both tasted great, I would say the consistency of the Red Velvet was better.**

Red Velvet Cake Pops
1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
lollipop sticks

1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate)
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Bakerella melts her chocolate in the microwave, however I put a glass bowl over a 8 qt. pan filled with water and that worked great too!!

6. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the chocolate bark and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)

7. Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up.

8. Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered, remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too. {My kids actually enjoyed with the cake ball fell off, cause then they got to eat it! ;)}

9.Place in a styrofoam block to dry. {I used floral foam.}








I wish my pictures were better, but I totally need a new camera.:( You get the idea though.

I must be crazy

So, we are headed to the Pinewood Derby Car Race at church this morning. The boys are so excited! Daddy made them a nice little silver bullet car for them to race down the track - it should be loads of fun for them.

Me, I'm trying to figure out a way to get to the Jewel just down the street from the church! I'm a bit bummed about my not so great trip there yesterday, and feel like I need to redeem myself! :)

I was talking to my friend Amy {Hi Amy! :)} this morning, who claims she needs therapy because she just can't stay out of Jewel, and she mention that she had a little bit of a mishap with the pudding yesterday too, so I'm kinda glad it wasn't just me! :) She's headed there now with a UPC list {this list is for the ConAgra deal - thanks to My Brain is Inside Out!}in hand! In fact, I just printed one out myself and I'll be heading over there while Ryan helps set up the track for the race! :)

Yes, I must be crazy, but I'm heading back to Jewel today! :)

Pure Joy

Tonight Chloe had a birthday party at a hotel for one of her friends. There was swimming and games, even Aloha Chicago was there to teach the kids how to hula dance. It was so much fun!!

While the hula dancer was up on the stage, the look on Chloe's face was priceless. She had a smile from ear to ear and was just in awe of this woman dancing. I couldn't take my eyes off of Chloe. I am almost a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I seriously was getting choked up. To sit there and look at my daughter with so much joy on her face was just so awesome!

I am just so thankful that I got to experience this joy with her!


***The above picture is the look of Pure Joy on Chloe's face when she stepped in the new American Girl store downtown! Man, I love this girl!!!***

Hubby just told me about this...

So apparently, Owen's picture has been on a website that he created for over TWO YEARS, and he just told me about it today!! What?!?!?!

I can barely remember him that little!

Check it out:

www.schillingconstruction.net

He's the 2nd picture that shows up!