Homemade laundry soap

Hey all! I've been a busy, busy bee today! Gotten a lot done and that's always awesome for me! I was able to get the floors vacuumed and mopped, dusted, watered outside and even made our own laundry detergent! Yep the kids and I just finished and it was so fun to do. I got the recipe from my friend Tara (thank you friend!)and got what I needed today at the store! Here's the reciped for those of you who want to try:

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap-Front or top load machine-best value:

4 cups- hot tap water

1 fels-naptha soap bar

1 cup- arm & hammer super washing soda *

1/2 cup Borax

-Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and borax. Stir well until all powder if dissolved. Fill a bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill the rest of the way with tap water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 cup per load (approx. 180 loads)

-Front load Machine-1/4 cup per load (approx. 640 loads)

*Make sure you buy Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda NOT detergent. It must be sodium carbonate!

Ours is now sitting overnight to thicken. I'm going to add some oils to it make it smell oh so pretty! And then we'll try it out! It was a fun experience for us. Weve never made our own detergent before so its always a good learning adventure for all of us!

Anyways, let me know if you try it!

Love and Blessings,

Heather

And he laughs...!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We did despite the yucky weather...I'm sure happy the sun is starting to shine again! Well I got Joseph to laugh yesterday. I've been able to get some chuckles out of him but last night I was getting him to laugh and Jonathan got him on video... (please go to the bottom of the page and pause the music on the playlist to better hear the video, thanks!)

Last night Chris made a cake for dessert and gave someone a taste of the frosting...

He must have loved it because he was licking his lips for a long time afterwards! :-)

Blessings!

Heather

Life sure is busy when your....busy

Hey everyone! Again, yes, I am still alive and well! Very busy though. But no excuse to not get on here and keep everyone updated. Let's see whats been happening. We've been working alot around the house. Trying to get the patio, that did leak horribly during the rains we got. We sealed it off today and are beginning to empty it out. Were going to have carpet put in there, but before that were painting. Yay! Yes that's not sarcasim, I love to paint. We picked the color out today and I hope to get started on that very soon, maybe within the next week! We also picked out the carpet and should have the estimate done this week hopefully too. I'm super excited about that. Eventually our current living room furniture will go out there and a tv too so the kids can play their playstation and stuff out there and not in the living room! It'll be nice to have that extra space.




And yes, our newest addition, Bailey. She's doing great also. A rough couple of nights at first, but the crate training is doing really well and she is too. The kids are having a great time with her although, the "pooper scooper" job is still a fight! (Big surprise though right?)

Joseph is doing great also. Growing like a weed! He'll be 5 months old in about 4 days! I cannot believe that. He's giggling and smiling all the time, blowing raspberries, making all kinds of sounds. He's still my cuddle bug, ( a very nice way of saying that he loves to be held :-) ) He also is eating cereals, pears, bananas, applesauce and carrots. His favorite by far is pears though!

Otherwise were all doing fine. Happy and healthy. I could use prayer though. I'm feeling really lead by the Lord right now and really could use prayer for my heart to be sensitive to His voice. I'll get into it a little more when I know more, but would covet your prayers greatly!

Love and Blessings to you all!

Heather

something this pretty could only come from God

"Every good and perfect gift is from above."

I have this thing for clouds....they're mesmerizing to me.....something so perfect and beautiful could only come from God!

Blessings!

I'm still here...

Hey everyone, yes I am still here...just busy I guess. The kids have had science projects, some have been sick, Joseph's been inseparable from mommy, and with the rain our patio has some leaking issues were dealing with. Today were bringing home our puppy, yes, I said I"d never do it I know, but were really gonna try hard and make this one work. She's a 7 week old basset hound and we've named her Bailey. I have a pic on my cell but I'll take some today when we get her and post them. The kids are on a 4 day weekend from school and super excited, so you can imagine the excitement level of the house right now....!

Weve got some family coming over tomorrow to hang out, church sunday and then dinner with the fam monday evening! So it should be a fun and busy weekend. Have a safe and blessed day everyone!

Blessings,

Heather

Multitude Monday

(my cousin Emily)

(My neice Katie)

These two picture speak to a mulitude of blessings. Both of these little girls were very sick in 2009 and both are very healthy in 2010...

7~Prayer-2009 was a year where my faith was really put to the test, and when you back is against the wall you truely find there is only one place to turn.

8~Healing-it's not always God's will but when it is, it's beautiful.

9~Family-a gift of being surrounded constantly by people who understand you when your okay and when your on the floor in grief. A soft place to fall...

10~Church-a priceless tool. I would not have been able to cope hadn't I had church. Knowing I had a place full of God's people was so comforting.

11~Compassion-it's hard to see compassion unless your suffering. I was given a gift through "bad stuff" of `09 to get to see true compassion in people's eyes. People really, really care and you dont get to see that layer of people very often, but its still there....

12~Internet-I was able to update, vent, and give and get A LOT of information with the internet. When used properly it's a wonderful asset!

13~Doctors and nurses-Wow! I could not do what these people do, but I am so thankful God has gifted people to take care of our medical needs. Especially since medical problems are usually when were left completely helpless.

14~Technology-Awesome!

15~The Great Physician-Our Jesus who worked through the hands of doctors, nurses, friends and family to get us through a difficult year!

16~Happy endings-Doesn't always happen, but to have one and not tell it would be a crime! And these little girls stories were both very happy endings!

Blessings,

Heather