homemade laundry soap

I am always looking for ways to save money and cut back my trips to the store. As a mother of two very active boys with a spouse in HVAC... Good laundry soap for the best buck is a must in this house!

After speaking with friends (Crystal Mays) and searching through pinterest along with a few tweets to the ingredients.... I came up with this.

Ingredients:

1 (4lbs) box of borax

1 (3lb 7oz) box of arm & hammer super washing soda

1 (5lb) box of biz ..... Or oxyclean, I used biz cause it was half the cost

2 (14.1oz) of zote

4lbs of baking soda 

3 bottles of downy unstoppable or whatever crystal scent boosting beads you like.

And a large container to mix this all in. I used a a trash bag.

Start by opening all you containers.....

With the zote, crumble it. I used my food processor... So much faster.... But if you don't have one, you can microwave the the bars for a minute to soften it up and crumble it that way.

Mix it all together, we'll and place in containers, jars, your downy unstoppable bottles, whatever works!

You only need to use 2 tablespoons per large load.

With coupons and using the off brand products, I spent about $30.00 making this. This should last about a year.

out of sight... out of mind

My youngest, Grayson's (16 months old) hair was getting too long. Tired of all the food in it every time he eats something, or plays with something, or gets into something or just sleeping! His hair was just crazy! So I pulled out some scissors and sat him on the bathroom counter and started cutting. Wish I would have taken a photo, but that was the last thing on my mind.

.... much better!

I'm a mom of boys, so when it comes to hair... I'm relieved that I don't have a girl... yet :)

Fast forward a couple of hours....
Remember to always put things back, not just out of reach of a 1 year old (which is what I did). Make sure you put it out of SIGHT! 

Devon (my 5 year old kindergartner) has school the morning. I asked him to get ready for bed; pajamas on, washed up, brush teeth, pick out a book for me to read to him and a book for him to read to me. I'd be in his room as soon as I'm done getting his brother in bed and picked up around the house.

So, Devon is hollering "MOM! tuck me in pleeeease." I of course, drop everything I'm doing to go tuck him in lay next to, lights out, lamp on book in my hand for me to read and one in his for him to read. He reads to me and I read to him. Night Night, I tuck him in again while he asks me a million questions, hugs and kisses good night.

I go finish picking up and head to the bathroom to pick up, I'm tired. I put everything away, hair in the sink, wiped that all up, didn't think much of it. Went to bed.

Fast Forward to next morning....
As I do my daily morning getting everyone ready, and breakfast part of my day...
I was styling Devon's hair (which I do about 5 minutes prior to walking out the door), I notice a spot on his bangs, he cut an inch off!!! OMG! what to do what to do. Can't really fix it without shaving him bald.... and no time. We will have to wait for his hair to grow out some more then fix it, a couple weeks or so.
Our conversation...
MOM "Devon why did you cut your hair?"
DEVON "Because I wanted a hair cut too, you cut Grayson's hair"
MOM "Why didn't you ask me to do it?"
DEVON "I don't know"
MOM "You know you are not allowed to touch scissors"
DEVON "Then why did you leave it out?"
     Oh, he's good..... little smart ass. But, he is right, I did set that up for it to happen. LOL
MOM "Devon, you knew better."
DEVON "yeah, but mom... you're the one that left it out"
MOM "We will talk about this when you get home from school"
And Devon gets on the bus to school.

Little stinker.
And another thank you to my son for adding another wonderful story to tell when he is grown.

MOMMY 101
-spend that extra second to just put things away... out of sight, out of mind.

I'm no professional hair stylist, but I think I did good job.
 
Who needs a certificate or a degree? I'm a mother and do it all!

BuNk bEd

My oldest son who is 5 1/2 is growing up so fast! He has just moved up to a bunk bed.
This was supposed to be a surprise for him later, but as we thought about it... after his surgery and most likely having to wear a double cast on his feet. He will probably have a hard time climbing up and down the ladder for awhile.
So he got the bunk bed early and the rest of his "surprise" gift will come after the surgery.

"uh-oh"

Grayson dropped a toy as I was putting him into his highchair and he says "uh-oh" before I get a chance to say "uh-oh." He was saying it over and over again.
So so far, at the age of 13 months. He knows the following words...
-mom
-mama
-dada
-baba
-buba
-uh-oh
-ki-e (kitty)

He also meow like our cat, Roscow and barks like our dog Iby.

Love it!

MOM LIFE!

mommy moment

So last night, like any normal night. Grayson was crying at about 1:00 am. I jumped to go get him, he cries because he wants to sleep with me. On the way to his room from mine, I fell 3 times due to my foot being asleep. The third time I fell on it wrong bending all my toes inward, OUCH! I laid there whimpering for a minute. Waiting on my foot to wake up before I grabbed Grayson. I don't want to fall with him in my arms.
My DL, Ryan asked me "Why didn't you just wait until your foot woke up?" And response to that was... "I was half asleep, and when one of kids cry I jump up regardless of my situation." I wasn't really thinking, my only thought was 'baby is crying, i have to go check on him.'

My toes hurt so bad today, it feels like I broke every single one on that foot! But I didn't, nothing feels broken, just bruised.

Memo to self.... Wait a minute before getting up, wait for your foot to wake up before walking on it. It's okay for the baby to cry for a minute.

MOM LIFE

feet first!

So my 13 month old, Grayson just figured out how to climb on the couch. I wonder how many falls it will take for him to figure out feet first. I swear! It's like he has no concept of falling.
I am very happy that he learned something new, but at the same time... it's a headache. I don't want him to fall... But I feel if I keep coming to him and pulling him off the couch, he will think it's a game and it will be never ending. And if he realizes the he will fall on his own, he won't do it anymore or as much. I don't know. We will see how this goes. I can't compare him with my 5 year old when he was that age, because their personalities are very different from each other.

Wish me luck with this new phase :)

diaper rash

I have tried every single diaper rash cream/ powder there is. The only ointment that has worked for me and my boys, is Aquaphor. It prevents, relieves and clears up all the diaper rashes in less then a day.
I ran out a couple days ago, I had other creams laying around from the baby shower as  gifts. I used to prevent the rashes... The only thing it did was... NOT WORK! poor baby, his bottom was reader then an apple and his scrotum had an open sore on it from it. The past couple of days just reminded me why I haven't used anything else. And the only reason why I didn't go out and buy some Aquaphor, is because it's so expensive! about $15.00 depends on where you go and what sale the store has on it.

So in the past couple of days I used aveeno, destin, butt paste to knock off brands of these. NO GO!
I went out late last night to go buy some Aquaphor. By noon today, his rear was completely cleared.
Definitely worth the money I would have to say. Just don't use so much. All you need is enough to cover the area where he tends to get the rashes in 2 layers. Probably just 1/2 teaspoon to prevent. And if he does have a nasty rash, used twice that amount (1 teaspoon) to protect the area until healed.

The wonderful thing about this product, is that... not only does it do an excellent job at preventing, he heals at the same time. It also works on chafed cheeks, cuts, sores, scratches and even available for chapped lips!
This is one product that I will always make I have on hand in my home.