Homemade Laundry Soap for HE Machines

I was at an activity the other night and someone brought homemade laundry soap.

I have been wanting to this for a while. I was so excited that it was a recipe that can be used 

on HE (high efficiency) machines. When I came home that night 

I realized we were almost out of laundry soap. Perfect timing, right?

I got the Mr. on board with it and bought the stuff. We did this as a family activity. 

You will need the following to make this.

1 (4lb) Box of Borax

1 (3lb 7oz) Box of Super Washing Soda

2 (5.5 oz) bars of Fels-Naptha

5lb baking soda

Essential oils for smell if you choose (we did not use this.) 

Something to put the laundry soap in

The bars of soap looked like cheddar cheese. 

We had to tell Ava it was not and that she couldn't eat it. 

1.) Grate the Fels-Naptha soap, use a cheese grater. Ava helped with this part. 

Once it is grated you can put it into a blender or food processor. You do this to make it as small and fine as possible. We used the blender first and it just clumped together and then we added baking soda to see if it would help. It did a little. My blender kept getting really hot and the soap started melting together at the bottom. So we moved it to the food processor and only put a half a cup in at a time. This worked so much better. You can see in the picture above that the plate has the clumped soap from the blender and then what it looks like in the food processor. Maybe my blender is just a crappy one, I am not sure. I would definitely use the food processor first.  

2.)Mix all the powders  into a bucket or tub a ware. We used a Tupperware 

that fit nicely on top of our washing machine.  

3.) Mix the Fels-Naptha with all the other powered stuff. Mix well.

4.) Use 1 to 3 tablespoons of laundry soap per a load. I have tried 1, 2 and 3 tablespoons and I just prefer 1 tablespoon. 

Here are some benefits of making your own laundry soap.

• If you do use essential oils, mix the powders and then split it in half. Put twenty drops or so of your favorite essential oil and mix it. Then add the other half of powered and mix it well. 
• It is suggested that you mix however many tablespoons (you choose to use) of laundry soap with a little water before  if you are using an HE machine. I put the laundry soap directly into the main wash spot of our front loader and have not had any problems.  
• The smell of the laundry soap in the tub a ware is strong. This had me worried at first. By the time you wash and dry the clothes it does not have a strong scent. It is a light clean smell, which I like. 

The Very Existence of Super Mom

I had a whole blog post written that I have been working on for a few weeks that is some how gone. I was just working on it and then it was gone... It was about Super Mom.

Have you ever read a blog or website that states "I am Super Mom"? I haven't, so here is your chance to say you have seen it on a blog. I am super mom! Who am I kidding? I know and you know that Super Mom doesn't exist.

I love this picture for so many reasons.

 It truly captured how we both felt in the moment. 

I feel that lately, I have read articles about simplifying our lives (most of these are geared towards stay at home moms). In numerous of these articles it says super mom doesn't exist. They have clearly observed she does not. Yet I hear, read and am told in these same articles about websites where someone is super mom. In these articles someone is assuming someone else is pretending to be super mom. I ask again have you read a blog where some mother thinks she is super mom? I sure haven't. If you have, please share. 

You know what I have read about? People who share there talents, they are great at cooking, crafting, doing fun activities with their kids and so on (I am going to refer to these types of blogs as happy blogs). You know what else I have read? I have read on blogs about people who are dedicated to writing about the struggles they are going through.Some included infertility, divorce, single moms, someone that is single, living with depression or grieving something (I am going to refer to these as tough blogs). You know what the happy blogs and tough blogs have in common? They are writing about something they love, about their life and things that happen. They get to choose what they share. Some people are open to sharing difficulties some are not. BOTH options are okay. Heck you may even have a blog or website that dose not fit into happy or tough blogs and that is okay.  

Now that I have admitted that. I will say sometimes I avoid reading blogs, take breaks from pinterest and even Facebook. Why? Because it leaves me feeling bad about myself all the things I am not doing. Guess what that is okay. I choose if I am going to read those blogs or websites. I choose to get on Facebook. These are all my choices. I use to think people posted only the great things in their life and that they didn't have problems. I was clearly wrong because everyone has something. I use to refer to those blogs as super mommy blogs and I wished I could be more like them. Always happy, doing things with my kid, exercising, making great health meals and the list could go on.

I am that mom, I am the super mom I thought all those other people were. I found this out a hard way. I post lots of fun things I do as a stay at home mom. I post them to Facebook, instagram and blog about them. Well a few months back, a college friend from Snow sent me a text saying she deleted me from Facebook. I asked why, and she responded with "you always have so much fun and post about all these great things you do and it makes me feel bad". Talk about a knife to the heart. I never intended to give an impression that I live a perfect life; but to someone that is exactly what I was doing.  

I have my own set of trials and struggles. Some people are open about these kinds of things. I am somewhere in the middle. If you ask, and I know you well enough, I will tell you. I, however am not okay with posting it on my blog for everyone to read. Maybe one day I will be, but I currently am not. And that is okay. So does it make me a super mom because I don't blog about all the crap in my life? Absolutely not, she doesn't exist.     

Bear Claws and Monster Face

Oh you know tonight after dinner we decided to go to Arctic Circle to get ice cream, It sounded like a great idea.... As we entered the play area a girl about nine asked the little miss what her name was. Ava responded and asked the girl in return what her name was. She responded with "I am Kelly but you can call me princess (it's a nick name)."  I thought it was odd but as long as she wasn't bratty towards my daughter I was okay with it.

After about twenty minutes of playing at the play place. The girl kept looking at me then talking to Ava, so Bryce and I strained our ears to listen. She was telling Ava she couldn't go down the slide. Bryce went and talked to Ava and told her she could go down the slide and that it was okay. The girl kept following my three year old and I was getting a little annoyed, so I stuck by Ava's side. When I went back to sit down the girl went to Ava and said go tell your mom to buy us all fries... Ava looked uncomfortable, it surprised me that my little miss sassy pants wasn't saying anything back to this girl. I went over to the girl who referred to herself as "princess" and said " stay away from my daughter.

Well she did, thank goodness and Ava started playing with kids her own age. A few minutes later princess' younger brother who was about six was playing with Ava when suddenly he drops his pants and underwear in font of my daughter. IN FRONT OF MY DAUGHTER. Bryce grabbed Ava and I went and spoke to his Dad. Who happened to be starring at his phone intently and prior was out in the foyer area talking on his phone. Not watching his kids.

He yelled at his son in front of everyone and then the son started crying so he cuddled his son and then yelled at him again and then cuddled him..I don't claim to be a perfect parent and I don't like to tell others how to parent, but I was livid. I was livid about what happened to my daughter and how the dad was responding to his son. As we left I couldn't help but judge the dad and his parenting skills. I felt bad about judging a man I didn't know, but how do you not in that case? I am far from perfect and in rare instances do I actually judge someone...

On the drive home Ava was upset because she thought she did something wrong because we left so quickly even though we explained to her it wasn't her fault. During the drive a million things raced through my mind

1.) Will I ever pull my phone out while we are at a park playing again?
2.) How do I talk to Ava about both incidents?
3.) What would I have done if it was my son?

As for question one I don't know but at this time I have no intentions of doing so. I don't think I have ever been bad at this,Yes I have pulled my phone out numerous times. Yet I still play with and watch my child. Maybe I play with my phone more then I should, maybe I don't play with it as much as I think. I am not sure I have ever judged another parent for playing on their phone while being out and about. I know for myself some days it is my only interaction with the outside world. That being said you should still know where your kids are and who the are playing with at the park and most importantly watching them or playing with them. When other kids are around I usually sit back and let Ava play with them. When it is just her and I we are playing together with few exceptions.

For questions number two we talked about it when we got home. We talked about what happened. Why it was not okay and what we should do if it happens again. We kept it short and simple. but I can assure you we will be talking about good strangers and tricky strangers a lot more. We have already begun talking about people who you listen to and those that you don't. We will be having lots more social stories at our house.

As for question three I would hope that if I was the parent whose child was acting inappropriately I would handle it appropriately. I really hope that it never happens but if it does, I hope I do a good job and teaching my child why it was wrong to do that.

What are your thoughts?
What would you have done?

My Mama Bear claws are a lot sharper, now. 

This is really my Monster Face that Miss A thinks is hilarious!  

A Little Magic

 Whew, I haven't blogged for ever..but whatever I am blogging now and that is what matters. I don't really have any excuses for not doing so, I just haven't. Glad I got that off my chest.

Now back to the real reason why I am blogging. It about Magic (and all the super powers I have) not really. Anyways a couple of nights ago Little Miss A asked me to draw the Nativity scene... Oh man I usually draw stick figures, but because I didn't want to disappoint Ava I agreed. This is what the finished product is, You can call me Van Gogh from now on.

After finishing the picture Ava told me how wonderful and amazing it was. It's defiantly not a Van Gogh picture, but it is something I  think I will keep (maybe frame to pretend like I am an artist). I dunno though. After putting Ava to bed that night, I kept thinking about the picture and how happy it made her and that made me happy. It was way out of my stick figure comfort zone, but nonetheless it brought Happiness to our home.

As I pondered more about all the little things that make children (my child) happy, I wanted to be more like her. Every time we plug in the Christmas tree she says "Mom, it's magical and beautiful". It has snowed a lot the past few weeks and each time she wants to play in it. Sometimes I agree and we bundle up others time I will do almost anything to avoid it. Each time we are out there she says how great and wonderful it is (I am thinking I can't feel my bum anymore) but I agree and we play a little longer. This morning as we were leaving for preschool she started dancing in the snow and singing. Oh man did that melt this Mommy's heart.

So the purpose of this post was to brag about my amazing artistic ability  talk about how the little things really do matter to kids and sometimes we (for me) I need to put down the phone (stop trying to take the perfect picture)  and enjoy these amazing moments with my child. I am sure at some point I will ask her to dance in the snow with me and she is going to roll her eyes at me.

I hope this season we can all take time to enjoy those little magical moments.

You also notice that I now have ads on my blog after some thought I am in the works of growing my blog and maybe making some money. But we will see,  I don't want to have to spend to much time figuring it all out. I am also not sure if I want it to keep it as my family blog or something a little different. You can send me your idea if you want. So for now it will be slow process. In the mean time, if you would like to have guest post on my blog I would love it. Also if there is topic or something I can write about for you let me know. You can email (click here to email me) and I will get back to you. ( I love Suggestions). And Apparently parentheses.

What...The Hail?

Yesterday we spent the day at he Dinosaur park in Ogden. Ava woke up in the morning asking to go, we think she meant the Utah Museum of Natural History, but this was closer.

When I pulled out my phone to take pictures, Ava said "put that away, no pictures". I took some anyway, someday she will thank me. At least that is what I am telling myself.

*As we were digging for fools gold, I wanted to stop Ava and tell her it's worth very little to prevent the heart break in a few years. 

We rock roar at family photos

One the way home we decided to stop at the store and by the time we got there Ava was out. Bryce headed into the store and I waited in the car. I looked out the window and saw a few dark clouds and then checked my phone. A friend had posted about a quick micro burst that happened. No sooner had I looked up to see raindrops on the window. Suddenly out of nowhere it was hailing, the wind was roaring and our car rocking back and fourth. The noise woke up Ava and she mentioned she was scared, so I climbed in the backseat with her and secretly I was too. Normally I love storms but not when my car is rocking and carts are tipping over. Bryce came out soon and the storm mellowed, by the time we got home the rain was sprinkling. After a minutes it started to rain a little more and I asked Ava if she wanted to go play in the rain. She was hesitant at first but was okay once we got her hello kitty hat and umbrella. We splashed, laughed, giggled and raced through puddles.

The floating umbrella

She "had" to take off her shoes to play in the water. 

Ava Heard Thunder and was very concerned. 

Splashing in a Puddle

Today has been one of those really good days. I slept horrible last night and was surprised when Ava came into my room, this morning and I wasn't cranky (so was Bryce). We got up watched some cartoons, made breakfast and headed to the gym. When we got back home and there was a puddle in the parking lot so I let Ava play in for a while. So was soaked and loved it.

My favorite of the photos I took.

After that we came in and she got a much needed bath. We had lunch and then made cookies (she had been asking for a few days). We then built a fort, ate a cookie and read Dr. Seuss books.  Her friend and her are currently playing, while I blog and listen to Cold Play. Oh and it's raining and thundering, so the windows are open. I love a good rainstorm.  Days like this make me happy because I feel like they are far and few in between. Maybe I just need to work on enjoying more of the smaller things. 

Day 8, Motherhood!

Eight years ago you could have walked into my bedroom and everything would be cleaned and organized. I like things to be tidy and in their places. I was what they call a neat freak" (just ask my family) When I had roomies I did dishes frequently and picked up others messes because I like living in a clean space. At the end of the night and I want to be able to go to bed and know that when I wake up everything is nice and orderly..

After I got married, I was still the same dishes done every night, bed made everyday our place was clean...

Then I had a baby and continued school....., my house was clean for the most part not always to my standards but it had to be good enough... I have been done with school for seven months... I had assumed once I was graduated my house would become spotless...Oh boy... was I in for a little shock.... Here is the thing I once enjoyed doing dishes... Now I look at the sink and think "run, runway". Coming into my home your likely to find toys all over the places, a sink full of dishes, laundry needing to be folded on the couch and trash needing to be taken out. What have I been doing all day, you may be wondering? I have been doing puzzles, having tea party's and folding clothes when I have a chance only to have a "helper" knock them on the floor. Oh I vacuumed that morning, but crackers have been crushed on the floor since. I am pretty sure I washed dishes yesterday or was that two days ago. crap I can't remember. when did I start this batch of laundry? eww they stink. I restart the washer only to be told it's time to dance so we dance. I realize it's lunch time.Only to have food thrown on the floor and milk spilled. I clean it up. By this time, I am tired and want a nap (can I please just have a time out for mommy).

Someday's I don't get a shower and can't remember if I brushed my teeth. It takes everything I have not to scream because the flour just got dumped on the floor I vacuumed. I look online only to feel worse about myself because Mrs. Fake has worked out, showered, cleaned the house, dinner is in the oven, done a craft with the kids and manged to blog and look on pinterest.  My conclusion to that is some day's we can get all that done and yay for those days, they are far and few between.

Why do I do this? Sometimes ( a lot of the time) I find myself wishing that the house would stay cleaned, that Ava would play by herself more, so that I could read a book.Then I start thinking, maybe I should get a job it's so hard to be a homemaker, to be cleaning up messes, to deal with tantrums, and end up feeling like the worst mom ever because I  got frustrated over spilled milk.

 Some days feel like this... all day

Only to have my thought interrupted by Ava saying " Mom come cuddle". I remember then that I have chosen to stay home with Ava. That this is the hardest thing I have ever done, but to be by her side as she discovers new things, to get hugs, kisses, to chase her and hear her giggles reminds me it is worth ever minute of it. I don't want someone else enjoying those moments with her, I want to be the one. Because I want to be the one and am selfish about it, I have the the hardest job I have ever had a play at home mom. I am grateful that I have chosen to the stay home. I am also grateful I have the opportunity to do so.

  

Mommy Mommmmmy

This week we have been potty training. Ave has done excellent. After nap time she got a reward for not having any accidents this morning and staying dry during nap time. A few minutes later I hear her in the bathroom, so I go and check. She looks at me and says "mommy mommmy, my pee pee crotch is broken, it's not working" she had gone pee a few minutes before and wanted to pick from the prize bag.  Seriously though I couldn't stop laughing.

Vertigo, A Piece of Humble Pie Served Up

Bryce has gotten headaches and migraines throughout his life. Since we have been married these haven't been a problem, they came infrequently. That was until about a year ago. He has gotten headaches almost daily and frequent migraines. He has been working with a doctor to try to get them taken care of and progress has been made, thank goodness! He still gets them frequently which means we limit what we do because being busy seems to make them worse. After a migraine he needs sleep.

As if the headaches were not bad enough in June he started getting really dizzy. He woke up one Sunday and  fell over. He was so dizzy that he started throwing up. I quickly got a sitter and took him to instacare. The doctor there suspect that he had vertigo, but because of his migraines wanted him to see his normal physician. His normal physician recommend he go see a specialist. After six doctor visit's, ten hours at various doctors and  multiple tests they said he for sure had benign positional vertigo ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002393/ ). He then had to do a physical therapy treatment to start the healing process. This was done in mid July. He is still healing from it. During the worst of it my little sister came and stayed with us to help out. Aside from work Bryce was not able to do much.

During this whole process I have had moments of frustration. They ranged from the actually situation to not being able to do something. At the same time, I have also had moment of growth and been humbled. On Saturday night, I started complaining to Bryce about how done I was with headaches, migraines and the dizzy spells.  I expressed my frustration about carrying so much more of load in our marriage right now, things about my side of the family, and I also said sometime during my frustration "that I wanted to know where our blessing were" this has been going on forever and I just wanted to be done. I kept telling myself, I learned everything I needed to from this trial, I had grown so; Why wasn't it over?

Notice the problem here? It was all about me, what I wanted and what I thought was enough. I knew I shouldn't haven been feeling this way, but I did. Even though I know that Bryce's illnesses must be harder on him and it takes almost all the energy he has to get through work. I was still so concerned about me. The difficulties with my sisters, nieces and nephews is hard on me, I want to fix, change and make things better. I can't even imagine what my one sister is going through as her heart is breaking again and again. She has had to make huge decisions that will change her life forever. And I Am Thinking About Me. The awkward positions and choices I have had to make concerning the situations.

On Sunday I woke up and to help with my fast I read an article on fasting http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/10/the-blessings-of-a-proper-fast?lang=eng . After reading the article I got ready for church. Bryce wasn't able to come, so it was just Ava and I. Two minutes into sacrament Ava started throwing a huge tantrum. After being in the hall for 50 mins and her still being upset. I left frustrated. We came home and I made her a snack got her something to drink and headed back. During RS I was served a huge piece of humble pie, from the lesson that was taught as well as some very good comments. That left me wondering why I had been so selfish and what was i going to do about it.

One of the most touching and humbling moments was when a sister in the word told a story about having a ticket for Holland. In life we plan a trip to Italy to the very last detail we bored the flight and when we arrive we are in Holland. We then get upset, we want the ticket we planned for, but are stuck in Holland. We get frustrated and eventually over time we start to notice the beauty of Holland and to see what it's truly like. Once I got home, I looked around and as if a slap to the face realized that we are blessed and have received blessing during this hard time. It still is not over yet and I am sure I will have more humbling experiences. I am excited to grow from them individually, as a couple and a family.

May Happenings

When we had the solar eclipse, Bryce made this nifty thing to help us see it! One of the many things I love about him. 

We also went to Grandma and Grandpa Nash's earlier in the month

Eating Popsicle's with Aunt Taya and watching trains. 

We had a stake regional conference at the conference center. It was amazing and it was great ti be in the conference center and to hear kids playing in it. 

After the conference we went to see Dusty and Haley. 

Once we arrived home that night we started our garden. (like the shovels)?

Recently Ava has taken an interest in wearing my shoes. I happen to think it is silly and very cute. 

Clear back in May

I had gone to the store and on the way home, I saw that the horses were out and close to the fence. I called Bryce and told him to Ava and himself ready, because we were going to see some horses. 

Ava telling the horse "don't do that" It tried to eat her hair. It was so cute 

July 4

For the the fourth of July we took it easy.

We had a picnic at Farmington pond and ended up swimming in it. After swimming in the pond for a short time we came home and went swimming in apartment pool.

As you can see we were not prepared to swim. so I took off Ava's diaper and we played in the water. I am that mom that got in with the kids because they wanted me too and I wanted to play with them as well. oh and I had jeans on... 

Before the three of us got wet the girls enjoyed just sticking their feet in. 

 On the third we went to a BBQ with some friends and watched an awesome firework show. 

Watching the fireworks

Bryce protecting Ava. She was a little scared and just wanted to cuddle with her Daddy. I just love this picture for so many reasons. 

The weekend following the fourth we went to Bryce's parents house to go camping sleep in there yard. It counts as camping if we have a tent, a fire pit and are in the middle of nowhere. (Right)?.  

Ava helping Grandma collect strawberries 

Ava at the picnic table. 

We slept outside in a tent. We also had a fire pit to roast hot dogs and made smore's.  Ava did well. Although she did wake up and insist on going on a drive at midnight, so we did.

The following day we went to the lake with Bryce's family. We had intended on going boating, but the boat had some complications. so some of us just played in the water and ate lunch.  My little sister had never been swimming in a lake before. So I naturally tipped over her floating device a few time and told her that the fish were going to suck her toes. While at Bryce's parents house we also taught her how to drive a four wheeler. 

It's a miraculous: Ava swims

After Ava turned one, we started taking her to the pool. She wasn't a fan so I put her in swimming lessons... Which she hated for the most part.. Since then we have occasionally gone to the pool, but it usually means we are just sitting on the edge with our feet in. I know it shouldn't have been frustrating, but it was. In Feb we got her to play a little in the pool, but beyond that no success. I really tried hard to encourage her and show her it was fun. It only seemed to make things worse and she wold have a tantrum. So I decided to let her go at her own pace. Guess what? As soon as I did make or encourage her to get in the pool. She got in. We are going to pretend like it was all my hard work the convinced her it was fun. Needless to say, I was one proud Mama! 

Her wanting to get in the pool! 

Once she started getting in the water we bought her this life jacket. She picked it out! This was at the lake this past weekend.

On the fourth we went to a pond in Farmington. The water was perfect. So we let her swim. We weren't planing on swimming. It a spur of the moment kind of thing. 

She sits like this all the times and says "I am relaxing". I just love it! It makes me smile 

All ready to go! 

She loves to float! 

This doesn't look comfy... but she was this way most of the time on the day this picture was taken.

I love that Ava has decided she likes swimming, we go almost everyday. I am not complaining, I haven't been this tan since I had her.