- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
366 Laughs- January 30, 2016
10 years ago
Thursday, April 7, 2011
I saved 57%!
It was worth the extra time spent clipping coupons to get everything for $37.
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Respect, Responsibility, and Right Choices!
Today, Toby had his school award ceremony. I could not be any more proud of his very first "R" club award. This is given to kids that demonstrate the ability to be respectful, responsible, and make right choices. I see him capable of these virtues everyday, but to be recognized for them at school is an honor. Way to go Toaster!
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Cross, loop around, push through, and pull!
Motivation: a powerful tool for getting a six year old to do undesired tasks.
Last night, he begged me, "Momma (yah, his brothers make fun of him for calling me momma.), please, please can I have some new shoes? Please! These are the only ones I have ever wanted!"
Momma says, "Sorry my man, but you aren't of the shoe tying human variety yet."
Alex says, "I'll learn, I pwomise!" (No spelling error. The boy has a speech issue too cute for words sometimes.)
Thus, a bargain was formed and sealed with a high five. The white and blue tie shoes belonged to Momma until he was a shoe tie-er.
We sat together at the desk, one shoe each, and worked step by step on our project last night. After a mere hour of quiet tears of frustration and gritted teeth, there was success!
"Mom! I did it!"
Yes! My youngest son is ready to join the league of shoe tying boys.
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
Last night, he begged me, "Momma (yah, his brothers make fun of him for calling me momma.), please, please can I have some new shoes? Please! These are the only ones I have ever wanted!"
Momma says, "Sorry my man, but you aren't of the shoe tying human variety yet."
Alex says, "I'll learn, I pwomise!" (No spelling error. The boy has a speech issue too cute for words sometimes.)
Thus, a bargain was formed and sealed with a high five. The white and blue tie shoes belonged to Momma until he was a shoe tie-er.
We sat together at the desk, one shoe each, and worked step by step on our project last night. After a mere hour of quiet tears of frustration and gritted teeth, there was success!
"Mom! I did it!"
Yes! My youngest son is ready to join the league of shoe tying boys.
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Play Ball Kids!
Saturdays at the baseball park with my friends and family make me happy. Especially when I can come home and throw these dirty, grimy kids in the pool.
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Cleaning Au Natural
Thanks to a friend's suggestion, I googled a recipe for homemade powdered laundry detergent, and put it to the test on our dirtiest baseball pants, stinkiest socks, stained shirts, grease saturated work shirts, and my own delicate items. Here's the breakdown:
The Recipe:
1 cup Borax
1 cup Super Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda. I find the Borax and SWS near the usual laundry supplies, but typically on the bottom shelf)
1 bar Zote or Fels Naptha soap (These two were both found on the top shelves near the fabric softeners. They are great for pre-treating stains, so the theory is that with this included, I won't need to shout out those baseball stains! I hear rumor that Ivory or Dove can be used as well.)
The Directions:
Grate the bar of Zote or Fels Naptha and allow to dry out over night for easier crumbling. Once dry, measure in the remaining ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or your finger tips, which seemed to work just fine for me. I used Zote for this load, but I currently have 2 bars of Fels Naptha in my possession for the next batch.
I used 2 Tablespoons of my mixture per average size load. I operate my washing machine with only cold water to save on electrical expenses, and I've always had an okay turnout. For this sample load, I pretreated nothing and threw in an assortment of our everyday washing items.
The Results:
I'm both pleased and unimpressed. It worked, and I would say well; however, it didn't take out the baseball stains as well as the recipe had promised. With that small drawback, it was a great money saver for us because we do an unreasonable amount of laundry, and the clothes still came out clean. The smell is a little lemony from the Borax, which both Luke and I like. I washed the baseball pants with the shout sprayed on them, and they came out great the next time around. I have two sensitive skin men in the house, so another test was to see how they reacted over the week. No spots or itchies!
I spent $2.50 on a 4 pound box of Borax, $2.00 on a 3.5 pound box of SWS, and $0.99 on the bar of soap ($1.97 for a double bar of Zote). Considering I only use 2 Tablespoons of the mix, it seems safe to say this is budget friendly.
Ultimately, if the cost of powdered detergents makes you groan and you can spare about 10 minute to make your own, it's worth it.
Next, I read an article about how the aroma and fumes from traditional household cleaning chemicals can put us in a bad mood more often than not. With that in mind, I found a quick recipe for a dusting/furniture polish.
The Recipe
1/4 cup organic apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon of oil (I used jojoba just because it never goes rancid, and I have a bottle leftover from soap making. Olive oil would be a great second choice.)
The Directions
Mix and store in a closed jar, such as an old spaghetti sauce or mayonnaise container.
The Results
Wow - what a fabulous cleaner! The apple cider vinegar, while stinky at first, left no aroma behind whatsoever. What it did do was dig deep down into the wood pores and pull up all the dirt left from grimy hands and fingers. The oil was just enough to leave a shine behind, but no greasy residue to speak of. Today is day 2 after using the homemade polish, and my wooden tables are still dust free and clean. I'm anticipating using this weekly, so if we can go a week without dusty shelves, it's a winner in my book.
The Recipe:
1 cup Borax
1 cup Super Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda. I find the Borax and SWS near the usual laundry supplies, but typically on the bottom shelf)
1 bar Zote or Fels Naptha soap (These two were both found on the top shelves near the fabric softeners. They are great for pre-treating stains, so the theory is that with this included, I won't need to shout out those baseball stains! I hear rumor that Ivory or Dove can be used as well.)
The Directions:
Grate the bar of Zote or Fels Naptha and allow to dry out over night for easier crumbling. Once dry, measure in the remaining ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or your finger tips, which seemed to work just fine for me. I used Zote for this load, but I currently have 2 bars of Fels Naptha in my possession for the next batch.
I used 2 Tablespoons of my mixture per average size load. I operate my washing machine with only cold water to save on electrical expenses, and I've always had an okay turnout. For this sample load, I pretreated nothing and threw in an assortment of our everyday washing items.
The Results:
I'm both pleased and unimpressed. It worked, and I would say well; however, it didn't take out the baseball stains as well as the recipe had promised. With that small drawback, it was a great money saver for us because we do an unreasonable amount of laundry, and the clothes still came out clean. The smell is a little lemony from the Borax, which both Luke and I like. I washed the baseball pants with the shout sprayed on them, and they came out great the next time around. I have two sensitive skin men in the house, so another test was to see how they reacted over the week. No spots or itchies!
I spent $2.50 on a 4 pound box of Borax, $2.00 on a 3.5 pound box of SWS, and $0.99 on the bar of soap ($1.97 for a double bar of Zote). Considering I only use 2 Tablespoons of the mix, it seems safe to say this is budget friendly.
Ultimately, if the cost of powdered detergents makes you groan and you can spare about 10 minute to make your own, it's worth it.
Next, I read an article about how the aroma and fumes from traditional household cleaning chemicals can put us in a bad mood more often than not. With that in mind, I found a quick recipe for a dusting/furniture polish.
The Recipe
1/4 cup organic apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon of oil (I used jojoba just because it never goes rancid, and I have a bottle leftover from soap making. Olive oil would be a great second choice.)
The Directions
Mix and store in a closed jar, such as an old spaghetti sauce or mayonnaise container.
The Results
Wow - what a fabulous cleaner! The apple cider vinegar, while stinky at first, left no aroma behind whatsoever. What it did do was dig deep down into the wood pores and pull up all the dirt left from grimy hands and fingers. The oil was just enough to leave a shine behind, but no greasy residue to speak of. Today is day 2 after using the homemade polish, and my wooden tables are still dust free and clean. I'm anticipating using this weekly, so if we can go a week without dusty shelves, it's a winner in my book.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
#6 pizza just for the boy!
This lucky 6 year old picked homemade pizza for his birthday dinner.
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
Happy Birthday Alex James!
That kid Toby is in so much trouble, but it hasn't come to fruition for him yet.
Rewind to one hour ago:
I had high hopes that my newly 6 year old would make it safely to school with his pan of 21 homemade banana cupcakes. Although shouting out the door to Toby, "Walk slow so he doesn't drop his cupcakes!", left me with an ominous feeling in my gut.
My ESP must have been up and kicking because not 5 minutes later my phone buzzes with a text from Toby, "Alex is standing here with a pile of cupcakes on the ground."
I shoved my feet in my thongs and stormed out the door, still jammified mind you.
I keep expecting to come across a sugary slaughter, but at every approaching section of sidewalk there is nothing. No sad, birthday boy sobbing over the pathetic pile of banana and cream cheese goodness; no older brother who was in too much of a hurry to get to breakfast to slowly walk and ensure the safety of my baked goods. Every other neighborhood kid was there, just not mine, and none had seen the boys. Kids love a mom in pajamas FYI.
So I call the school secretaries since Toby has dutifully turned his cell phone off .
They discover Alex and his 21 homemade banana cupcakes safely in his kindergarten class. Just to rub it in, they add that he's beaming from ear to ear, and "Wow! Those cupcakes look delicious!" Thank you, I know.
I've been duped!!!! My own 9 year old played a ridiculously inconvenient joke on me. He succeeded in making his mother walk, no stomp, all the way to school, ready to school him good on the consequences of disobeying my "walk slow" orders.
I debated about returning the favor with an impromptu Pajama Mom classroom visit to take the cell phone from him in a ceremonial display. Instead I decided to keep it simple and let him mop all of my floors as if cupcakes had been smooshed into their crevices.
Lesson learned: don't mess with mom before 7:30am and coffee.
Anyways, happy birthday to my sweet Alex James!
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
Rewind to one hour ago:
I had high hopes that my newly 6 year old would make it safely to school with his pan of 21 homemade banana cupcakes. Although shouting out the door to Toby, "Walk slow so he doesn't drop his cupcakes!", left me with an ominous feeling in my gut.
My ESP must have been up and kicking because not 5 minutes later my phone buzzes with a text from Toby, "Alex is standing here with a pile of cupcakes on the ground."
I shoved my feet in my thongs and stormed out the door, still jammified mind you.
I keep expecting to come across a sugary slaughter, but at every approaching section of sidewalk there is nothing. No sad, birthday boy sobbing over the pathetic pile of banana and cream cheese goodness; no older brother who was in too much of a hurry to get to breakfast to slowly walk and ensure the safety of my baked goods. Every other neighborhood kid was there, just not mine, and none had seen the boys. Kids love a mom in pajamas FYI.
So I call the school secretaries since Toby has dutifully turned his cell phone off .
They discover Alex and his 21 homemade banana cupcakes safely in his kindergarten class. Just to rub it in, they add that he's beaming from ear to ear, and "Wow! Those cupcakes look delicious!" Thank you, I know.
I've been duped!!!! My own 9 year old played a ridiculously inconvenient joke on me. He succeeded in making his mother walk, no stomp, all the way to school, ready to school him good on the consequences of disobeying my "walk slow" orders.
I debated about returning the favor with an impromptu Pajama Mom classroom visit to take the cell phone from him in a ceremonial display. Instead I decided to keep it simple and let him mop all of my floors as if cupcakes had been smooshed into their crevices.
Lesson learned: don't mess with mom before 7:30am and coffee.
Anyways, happy birthday to my sweet Alex James!
- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress and my still beating heart.
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