Madison, Clifty Falls, and Louisville Slugger Museum

Irony

Building a toilet paper tower in a room full of toys.  :)

home remedy gone smelly

We have been so blessed this summer to have spent MANY days at various pools with friends.

While this is SERIOUS summer fun we are having.  My hair has taken a beating.

What does this have to do with mayonnaise?

Well...

I have heard that when your hair is extra dry, you can use mayonnaise as a conditioning treatment.

The other day we were all out of conditioner.  And since I am making a HUGE effort to not run out for things, because of my lack of planning in between Friday's, I decided to give the mayo a try.

I washed my hair in the shower, towel dried it and made my way to the kitchen.

I am a girl who LOVES a little mayo on a sandwich.  Add some mayo to a veggie dip and I am in heaven.  But the thought of smearing this beloved condiment into my hair made me nauseous.

Reminding myself that I am TRYING to be more resourceful, I pressed on.

I smeared it in my hair.  I covered my head with a baggie and wrapped a towel on top.

It wasn't so bad really.  Then I rinsed it and re-washed it.

My hair was really soft!  and smooth!  I was pleasantly surprised!

I dried it, styled it and thought I was pretty smart.

Then I went outside to water flowers.  Something about walking outside into the major heat and humidity made me get a big whiff of mayo-hair.  I rushed back inside to spray my grape-scented hairspray to cover up the mayo smell. 

Needless to say, I think this really works.  My hair was softer and smoother, but I smelled like a sandwich.  I may try again with Olive Oil, because if I had to choose, I think I would rather smell like hummus, than mayo. 

Hugs and happy home-remedies!

When my kids read this in years to come they are going to think I am crazy :)

Homemade Laundry Soap

We do alot of laundry.

Apparently 4 people can generate alot of dirty clothes and it seems that we use about 14 towels per day (slight exaggeration).

I saw an episode of "19 Kids and Counting"  where they made their own laundry soap.  I was inspired but it was a BIG process with boiling water, dissolving soap into gallons of water, etc.  So when a friend shared this recipe I was so excited!  

2 cups grated Fels-Naptha bar ($.97)

1 cup washing soda ($3.36)

1 cup borax ($3.24)

(these prices are from Wal-mart)

mix well, store in air-tight container.  Use 2 Tablespoons per full load.

I estimate that we currently spend  $10-$15/month on laundry soap and softener.  These ingredients cost $7.57.   I will need to buy a new Fels-Naptha bar each time I need to make a new batch.  I'm anxious to see how long the boxes of borax and washing soda last, (they are good size boxes!) but we may be down to spending about $20 for a YEAR of laundry.

How well does it work?

I tested my first load on stinky, moist towels that had been sitting in laundry room for 2 days.  They came out smelling clean and WONDERFUL!!!  AND they come out softer, so I haven't been using fabric softener.  My theory is that this detergent mix rinses out cleaner than the commercial laundry soap. 

I don't think I will EVER buy commercial soap again. 

Hugs! and happy laundry day!

Bowling

Bowling with our neighbors was ALOT of fun!  We got lots of balls stuck 1/2 way down the alley but the kids had a ball!  Apparently there is a program for kids, where the kids can bowl 2 games for free every day in the summer!  So cool!  A great indoor activity on a super hot day :) 

Snack

Every now and then we run COMPLETELY out of groceries before grocery day.    (not really, we always have food, but I like use what we have, learning to be creative instead of making extra grocery trips.)

The other day I was trying to come up with a fun snack for the kids with the remaining groceries we had.  And I came across this Kettle Corn recipe.  The kids LOVED it!  We take it in the car, take it to the pool and have it home.  I'm so excited!   I think it would be fun to add peanuts and maybe Goldfish. 

I love that it is a whole-grain snack.  We ran out of our non-GMO popcorn and had to substitute with what we could find on our side of town.  The first batch I used regular white sugar, but then bought some cane sugar and the flavor is wonderful. 

Here is the recipe:

1/4 c. veg oil

1/2 c. popcorn kernals

1/3 c. sugar

salt

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, stir in the sugar and popcorn. Cover, and shake the pot constantly to keep the sugar from burning. Once the popping has slowed to once every 2 to 3 seconds, remove the pot from the heat and continue to shake for a few minutes until the popping has stopped. Pour into a large bowl, and allow to cool, stirring occasionally to break up large clumps.  Stir and add salt.

Easy. inexpensive. lovely.

Hugs! 

(Stay tuned for my post on homemade laundry soap!  I am seriously hooked for life. )

VBS~a summer favorite!

This year the kids went to 2 VBS's.  The first at our church, was held in the evening and was a "Family" VBS, so I got to stay with the kids.  The first night their group was called on stage to help lead worship. 

 The following week the kids went to VBS at another church we know well, where we attend MOPS and some Bible studies.  This VBS was just like VBS when I was little.  They loved it and I LOVED it too :)  The last day was a petting zoo and pony rides for all of the kids.

 It was about 150 degrees that evening  so we went for ice cream  :)

A little clip of reflection...  :)

Greetings!

Our kids may have mis-matched clothes (we have always encouraged their independence through allowing them to pick out their own clothes)

*

They may have on short sleeves in the winter and long sleeves in the summer (we give an idea of what would be appropriate for the day but the final decision is theirs.  We do pack extra clothes as they learn for themselves the appropriate clothes for the season and often need to adjust once we are out of the house)

*

Olivia does her own hair - I can't tell you how much I LOVE her creativity.

*

Logan's basketball shorts may be on backwards, but he dressed himself (the sense of accomplishment far outweighs the fact that his shorts are on wrong)

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BUT

*

They will have clean noses

and

They must do their best to return a greeting.

Those are my 2 "things"

Recently we have added the importance of showing respect and God's love through eye-contact. 

After MAJOR coaching on the way, Logan's recent Dr. appointment went like this:

Dr:  "Hi Logan!"

Logan:  "I'M FINE THANK YOU!"  (big proud grin)

AND he made eye contact. 

AND his nose was clean.

yay Logan :)

My purse

My purse.

  I put off cleaning it out for days. 

Embarrassed at the check-out lane at the store because I have to go through all of the STUFF to find my wallet. 

 I search FRANTICALLY for the hand sanitizer after one of the kids puts his/her hands all over something germy (like public water fountains.  I ALWAYS carry water because public water fountains freak me out.  Yet the kids LOVE to turn them on and watch the water.  cute. but germy.)

So this morning when I couldn't find my lipstick in the purse-mess I dumped the contents and decided to organize.

  I wonder what the contents of my purse will be in 10 years. 
 20 years?

I want to remember.  At age 5 and 6, what "treasures" from my blessings from heaven, ended up in my purse.

*A pair of Olivia's sandals - even a 6-year-old needs wardrobe options when we are out.

*A GIANT McAllister's cookie coupon from VBS

*Left-over suckers - from the summer reading program at the library.  Laserpops to be exact.

*Name tag from church - I remember the first time we took each of you to church.  Loved seeing their precious names on the name tags.

*Olivia's change purse - we took all of her change for VBS offering

*Orange paint swatch from the new play room

*a tennis ball - from our last trip to the courts

*3 bottles of sanitizer - because you can never have too many

I love this stage of mommy-hood.  I always say every stage is my favorite, and this stage is too.  I'm melancholy when I think that in 10 years my purse will just have MY stuff in it.  Now having an organized purse doesn't sound so great. 

Thanking God for helping me cherish each moment.

Hugs :)

My dearest...

My dearest Logan,

Mommy likes to wear sundresses in the summer. 

Sometimes the fit of a sundress is a little different

than other clothes.  For the 100th time,

I do NOT have a baby in my tummy.

Love,

Momma  :)