HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT....NO GRATING NEEDED!!!

Three simple ingredients, no grating, and cheap...perfect laundry detergent!

The Inspiration!

I found this great detergent HERE!

All you need is:

3 Tablespoons of Borax

3 Tablespoons of Washing Powder 

2 Tablespoons of the Blue Dawn

Mix the Borax, Washing Powder and Dawn in a microwave safe container, add four cups of boiling water and stir the mixture.  

Why did I say microwave safe container...well because if you buy a cheap container to use as a dispenser for the laundry detergent and then add the boiling water well...this happens!

Jerm, Monkey and I laughed our butts off watching this happen, luckily the container was in the sink so it didn't even make a big mess!

After the mixture cools, place it in the container you wish to use (gallon size) and fill the container with cold water.  If you add the water at an angle the mixture doesn't bubble as much.

Use 1/2 cup to 1 cup per load. I paid a total of $8.00 for the ingredients and each box contained 3-4 LBS of powder while the detergent only uses 3 Tablespoons per batch of each!  The blue Dawn only used 2 tablespoons and Dawn lasts for a while in my house! See super cheap!  I have washed a few loads of clothes and they have all come out super clean and smelling so fresh. It's a nice clean smell!!

OUR VERSION OF THE SHRIMP PO'BOY SANDWHICH!

 

We live in Kentucky now but for the first three years of Monkey's life he and I lived in Alabama. Monkey knows what a Shrimp Po'Boy Sandwich is and I sort of do, but the rest of the family has never heard of them.  Well, now they have! Jerm thought I was crazy when I was describing them to him, but now he knows, and he loves (our version ) of them!

Ingredients:

4 Cups Cole Slaw

1/2 Cup Ranch Dressing

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

Thinly Sliced Tomatoes

Fried Shrimp ( I am lazy and used the boxed kind)

Hogie Rolls

 

 

Mix the cole slaw, ranch dressing, and garlic powder in a bowl.  Thinly spread cole slaw mixture on the hogie rolls, and layer desired amount of tomatoes and shrimp.  That is it!  It's not your classic Shrimp Po'Boy but it's yummy and unless you live in the Southern Southern states no one will know the difference!

 

 

DAD'S ARE GETTING SMARTER!

Happy Father's Day Jerm!

 

Today is Father's Day, a day to celebrate all the wonderful daddy's out there that keep the children under watch, relieve the mommies from too much stress and simply make all our lives that much better.  Reading all the great comments that people have been writing about the dads in their lives I realized that dads are smarter than us moms! That is right I said it! I have never heard one dad put another dad down because of the way they are parenting.  I have never, not once ever heard or seen them dicourage each other.  Mommies on the other hand do it all the time!  Proof that the dads are smarter than the moms, they know that encouragement is the key to surviving parenting!

 

What do we mommies fight about?

 

Working mom..Stay at home mom...work from home mom?

Family dynamics are so different from each other. Many factors influence rather or not mom is going to need an income.  There are options for a mom who needs an income she can look outside the home for work, or she can find a way to work from home.  I have worked outside the home, been a sahm and there was a time that I only worked outside the home for two days a week allowing me to spend the rest of the week with my family. Then there are the families where mom doesn't need to work, so she doesen't or she does.

 

Breastfeed or Bottlefeed?

I breastfed my children, for different amounts of time.  They were also all bottlefed with breastmilk and formula.  There were reasons for this, some medical, and some were financial.  I did what I had to do.  All of my kiddos have pretty great immune systems, I think they are smart, and they are all at the weights they should be.

 

Co-Sleeping or Independent Sleeping?

While I was breastfeeding my kiddos slept with me, because it was easier.  When the kiddos switched to the formula I put them in their cribs. I also only rocked my kiddos to sleep occasionally if they were sick or I just wanted some one on one cuddle time.  Most often I would lay them in their crib and they would go to sleep.  If they were cranky and cried I would pat their little backs and either make hushing sounds or sing.

 

Only Child or Siblings?

I have four children, three that I gave birth to and one who I have been blessed with through my marriage.  I was an only child and couldn't stand it, I always wanted siblings.  My kids argue, they fight and they drive my husband and me insane.  They also love each other, stick up for each other and have adventures together.  I was spoiled with time and materials because I was the only one in the house. My kids don't get as many material items and sometime Jerm and I have to work hard to ensure we get that one on one time with each child.

 

Attachment Parenting or Something Else?

Attachment parenting is all over the media recently and honestly I have no clue what it is.  I know that it was created by a Dr. Sears and it encompasses his 7 Baby B's.  I just stumbled though everything with my oldest son, and use what I learned with the following three kids.  Some things I changed and some I still use.  I also noticed that what works for one kiddo doesn't always work for them all...so we do what we think works.

 

Home School or Public/Private School?

My kids go to Public School, two different School's for now.  Babydoll attends one in her mom's area, and the boys attend our school..both are ran by the same county.  I like the Schools, the Teachers and the way things are ran.  I also believe that it isn't just our Schools that should be teaching our children I believe parents have a role too.  You don't blame your macanic when your car breaks down because you didn't keep up with the maintnance! I work with the kids during the summer on things that they learned the year before, and things they should expect the next year.  I want to pull my hair out sometimes while working on School work and could never do it all year.  My kids would grow up to be idiots because I would quit!

 

 

So you see we do things differently and you have your reasons and I have mine.  Do you think that my kids are being deprived in some way or form?  Am I a perfect parent....heck no!!! I send my kids to school in missmatched socks because no matter what I do we never have enough matching socks. My kiddos get angry with me and I get angry with them.  Our house is sometimes spotless and sometimes....no visitors allowed! Jerm and I love our babies, they are some of our biggest joys and yet sometimes we put ourselves first and do something nice for ourselves (mainly our yearly 3 days vacation just him and me) Then there are the times that Jerm and I go without something to ensure that the kids have what they need, or sometimes just something they wanted.

 

Ladies all I really wanted to say...or beg is please "live and let live" lets take a que from those daddies and encourage each other to make the choices that fit our own families, the choices that will make our families thrive.  I will never agree with everything that you do, but I can agree to be positive, uplifting and supportive of what you do.  As long as your kids and my kiddos are not neglected or abused then there is nothing that we are doing wrong.  Child specialists are specilists who do not live with you, know you, or know your children....but mom does so listen to your gut!

 

Happy Father's Day Daddies....you're smarter than us on this one!

(there that was your gift for the day)

 

 

 

 

 



PARTY SUPPLIES MAKE THE ORDINARY DAY...A LOT BETTER!

My babysitter not only watches my kiddos (Monkey, Bubby, Babydoll, and Baby Boogie) during the day but her daughter's two children (Little Miss #1 and #2) as well.  These six children range from 10 years old to 2 years old.  Now with school out (for three of them) they are pretty hard to entertain.  On nice days she takes them outside to run off a little bit of that extra energy, you know the kind we would all like to bottle up and sell.  The kids love the slip-n-slide she bought for them and they have too many toys to play with, but they still get bored sometimes.

Parachute to the rescue!!

This Parachute can be bought at Birthday in a Box,  http://www.birthdayinabox.com/party-supplies.html a great party supply site that has EVERYTHING you could think of for parties, costumes, and items to turn everyday into a lot better!  I remember parachute day being one of my favorite days in gym class and I couldn't wait for our parachute to be delivered so my kiddos could enjoy it too!  The delivery was super speedy, Birthday in a Box promised by ten days time we would find the parachute in the mailbox. I honestly think it was more like 6 days! The package was small enough to fit into my mailbox easily, and arrived in this little blue drawstring bag for storage.

( It now has a permanent home in the back of my van so we can take it to the park with us)

The Parachute is a great size, there are 12 handles which means that all our kiddos had two a piece.  I know that when we have birthday parties our guest list is normally about 10-15 kids, so then everyone would get one handle each.  We may have to take turns, sometimes!  Now, the age group for the parachute is 3 and up, so baby Boogie and little miss #2 didn't really understand what we were doing.  Baby Boogie and little Miss #2 didn't seem to mind too much and were laughing just as much as the bigger kids.

Games...you can play games with the parachute. 

The kiddos were playing Grand Old Duke of York in the above picture.

The Grand Old Duke of York

He had ten thousand men

He marched them up to the top of the hill (parachute up)

and he marched them down again (parachute down)

He marched them to the left (walk to the left)

He marched them to the left (walk to the left)

He marched them to the right (walk to the right)

He marched them to the right (walk to the right)

He marched them up (parachute up)

He marched them down (parachute down)

Oh what a silly sight (shake the parachute really fast)

Name Game

(in the tune of Row, Row, Row your Boat)

Up, up, up it goes

Down, down, down it comes

If your name is_____(put in a child's name)

Now it is your turn to run

Follow the directions of the song, up and down for the parachute.  When the child runs have them run under the parachute, while you slowly lower it trying to trap them under the parachute.

After the Name Game the kiddos decided they just wanted to run under it at that point.  The older kids had a blast running as fast as they could and my babysitter and Monkey tried to trap them as fast as possible.  The parachute took a pretty bad beating during this rough housing, but it held up great.  No rips, tears or crying kiddos, they just ran their tiny butts off! If a toy can last through my kiddos playing rough with it, the toy is dur-ra-ble!!!

After about an hour of playing it started to rain.  Babydoll, Baby Boogie and Little Miss #1 thought that the parachute would make a perfect tent for the rain.  I think they believe all that sugar and spice stuff, and they might melt if they get wet.  Well the parachute only repelled the rain for so long, then we had to head inside. So no it's not water repellent.

We love the parachute! The kiddos have played with it multiple times and I have found a long list of other games that we can play with it, which allows us to change it up enough not to get bored.  I can't wait to have the next Birthday party and see how we can utilize our parachute!

Pros: Fast delivery, multiple uses, up to 12 kids can play, dur-ra-ble!

Cons: not rain repellent (yeah that is about all we could find)

*this is a review for Birthday in a Box, all the thoughts and opinions are honest and my own*