He walks!

Up until two days ago, all Austin could do was fall flat on his face if we let him try walking with this without our holding onto it to slow it down. I thought about how I could put tennis balls on the wheels to slow it. Today, though, he learned enough balance that he can do it on his own!

Domestic And Loving It!

I make my own laundry soap. I never thought I'd say that. The craziest part? I love doing it! I decided to document what the process looks like for me as a way of encouraging you to try it yourself. (Plus, I've wanted to do something with the blog in mind rather than the other way around, and this was my first chance to try out that thinking/process/way of doing things.)

the ingredients

The first part is really easy: I pour 1 cup of one powder and a 1/2 cup of the other powder into the container.

1 cup

1/2 cup

Here's where the real work begins. I open the bar, cut it into pieces and then stick the pieces in the Magic Bullet. It takes me 3 or 4 batches to get it all ground up.

1 bar

The Magic Bullet is wonderful for this project!

I combine the two powders from the first two steps with the powder from the Fels-Naptha bar, and this is what it looks like:

The finished product. (of a double batch)

The recipe is from The Dugger Family recipe. If you look at the recipe, you'll see their single batch recipe. I always make a double recipe. I feel like if I'm going to go through the hassle of getting out the ingredients and of grinding up the Fels-Naptha, then I'm going to make enough to last me quite awhile. 

The single batch is supposed to do 40 loads. I, however, because of the extra large capacity of my washer (perhaps I should do a whole post on why I love my washing machine....), almost always wash what would be considered an Extra Large load. Therefore, I use two scoops rather than one, and a double batch then lasts me about 40 loads. Which is about 3 months, give or take some spit up. 

Seth and I have calculated the cost to be less than 10% the cost of Tide, so even though I'd consider myself a sale and coupon shopper, we are certainly saving money on laundry these days. Which is an even bigger deal than normal when you have a Super Spitter Baby like we do! All told, I think the process of making a double batch takes me approximately 20 minutes. That's 20 minutes well spent given the cost savings! 

I use a plastic sherbert container to keep it in. It's a half gallon container and holds a double batch perfectly. I use a scoop that comes with baby formula which is a good tablespoon scoop, and as I regularly have these scoops in my house, I'd be happy to send you one if you'd like.

HUGE THANKS to Susan Windsor for getting me started down this path!

A $4 wreath and a 40-cent hat

A couple weeks ago, I awoke to a wonderful email from my even-more wonderful husband. "Spring clearance is now 90% off. Good time to buy that spring wreath you want." I immediately called him to see if he knew which area store had the biggest remaining selection. He said that the Lewisville store and the Hurst store were both good options. Given that Lewisville is closer, I fed Austin breakfast and we were on our way north!

I got there and found that they had zero selection of custom-made spring wreaths. They had tons of summer ones, and lots of pre-made spring wreaths, but none of the big ones which were now 90% off. I did end up buying a few things, though. I mean, I was at Michaels. How could I not!? I bought Austin a Smurfs book (for his birthday, I'm telling myself) and a hat. 

While cruising around looking at all the different wreaths, we kept passing this stand of 4th of July stuff (which was all on clearance), and it wasn't until the umpteenth time that I noticed Austin eye-ing this silly hat. I picked it up and put it on his head. After laughing like a crazy person, I checked the price, and with it being on clearance, it was $.40. I HAD to get it. I told myself that even if he wore it one time, just for a picture, it would be worth 40 cents. It has been well worth it because not only did I get him to pose for a picture, but Georgia too! (Good thing their heads are about the same size!)

But, having set out on this journey to find a spring/Easter wreath, I decided to head to Hurst. Being still relatively new in the area, I don't have a good sense of where things are located. I knew that Hurst was west of me, but how to get there, and how long it would take was beyond me. I was unable to pull it up on my phone because the map would only show the Michaels whose parking lot I was currently sitting in. I called Seth and he gave me rough directions; enough to get me on my way, thinking I would pull it up later. Turns out his 'rough' directions were exactly perfect!

About a 1/2 hour later, I was walking into the Hurst store. I found a helpful employee who showed me the 90%-off section of wreaths, and there. it. was. A big, beautiful wreath with tulips draped on either side. Perfect for Easter. The only problem in my mind was that it had a tinsie baby pink bow. I set off to the ribbon section, sure I could make another one myself. When I passed the custom floral section, however, I saw a big, bright, gorgeous yellow ribbon just waiting for me. The wreath, with the 90% off, was $4. The bow was $12. I don't care. I love it. 

Come over next spring and see my great find!

Georgia Mae hates posing for pictures. 

She really hates posing for pictures when Momma puts things on her like a 4th of July hat.

Austin's turn to pose with the hat!

It turns out that Austin doesn't like posing with silly hats on his head either. 

He'd rather chew on them.

He's an Inchworm!

Will he ever crawl?

Why we thought he'd never crawl...