Laundry Hint

I have been meaning to share this on here for a long time and I keep forgetting...about 6 weeks ago I came across a recipe for making laundry detergent...It is from the Duggar family, the family that has ALL those kids and has their own tv show. I read a ton of reviews about this stuff and decided to give it a try...I have been using it exclusively for about 6 weeks or so and I love it! Can't really tell any difference at all with our clothes. It smells very clean when you pour it in, and when your clothes come out of the dryer they have no smell at all. You can add a few drops of essential oils to the recipe if you want your clothes to have a scent like vanilla, lavendar, etc. I highly encourage everyone to try this out! It is CHEAP as heck and good for the environment too!

Here is the recipe and the link to the original post:

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ 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 is dissolved. Fill 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 rest of way with 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 Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!


http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value

I found the soap, washing soda, and borax all in the laundry section at good ole Wally World. You can by all the ingredients for around $7 and you will have lots of borax and washing soda left over for the next rounds.

Elizabeth's Birthday

I suck-it has been well over 1 month and I have not blogged about Elizabeth's first birthday party! Well, better late than never! We had the party the Saturday after her birthday, which was December 10th at Aunt Janie's church (where we have always had Gabriel's parties). The theme was cupcakes and of course Elizabeth had an adorable cupcake dress I found on et$y. I made a giant cupcake for Elizabeth, then bought pink/purple cupcakes for the guests. We actually ended up feeding Izzie one of the smaller ones so it would not be so messy! She got lots of awesome presents, including a ride on toy, adorable clothes, pink cowgirl boots, little people stuff and even some Strawberry Shortcake stuff! She really enjoyed herself at the party! This party should be the last one that we do at the church...next year, we should be all moved into our new house and can have her 2nd birthday party there!!!

House Update

Friday January 6th was a BIG day! The roof trusses were set by crane, which was very exciting to watch. A big thanks to Uncle Marshall, Dwight, and Parker for coming to help with this. It ended up being a ton of fun (at least for me!) and Uncle Billy even came by to check it out. Mom stopped by to see what was going on during her lunch break. Gabriel got to help hook one of the trusses onto the crane and even got to sit in the crane after all the work was finished. He wanted the crane to hook him and take him up in the air and I am sure he would have done it! Elizabeth kept pointing up in the air to the crane and was excited by it too. She was worn out by the end of the afternoon and fell asleep in the swing with Bock Bock (aka Uncle Marshall) and Unkie Zach. So sweet!


The huge crane carrying over the trusses-dad, Zach and Marshall set them with help from Dwight, Parker, and Ceddy


Gabriel hooking a truss


Dad and Marshall up on the roof


Grammy came by on her lunch break to check things out!


Getting the last truss attached


Izzie enjoying the attention from Uncle Billy


Gabriel "driving" the crane!


The view from the front of the house-the window for my office and the 2 in the garage have not been cut out yet


Hanging out after the work was done


Izzie asleep on Unkie Zach

Last week, Dad and Zach got the plywood put down on the entire back side of the house. It is really cool when you go in now because it seems like you are actually in a house. Ceddy was able to work with them on Monday of this week and they are putting on the front side. Here is a pic from last Friday, January 13th. On a side note, dad had a little accident last Friday too, he shot his hand with a nail gun! He went to urgent care and is doing ok. This is the first time he has ever done this, daddy-please be careful!

My Baby is Four Today

Gabriel turns four today, wow...when did my baby become a little boy? Looking through some of these old pictures brings tears to my eyes. Man I am such a sap but I cannot help it. My life forever changed the day that he was born, I went from just being a woman into being a mom. No more was it all about me. It has been all about him and now Elizabeth from the moment they were born. It is funny, I remember going shopping all the time with my mom before I was a mom and she was a grandma...We always looked for clothes for ourself, stuff for the houses, etc. But now, all we do is look for stuff for them-clothes, toys, books, you name it. We have to almost make ourselves look in our department, so funny!

Gabriel is quite the little man these days. He goes to school 3 days per week and enjoys it once I can get him up and there, he is not a morning person at all and would prefer to sleep in and then cuddle with me for 1/2 hour or so before getting up. Not that I mind cuddling with him one bit (I love it too)--but on days when I am working, it is a little tough. He is a creature of habit for sure and eats the same breakfast EVERY DAY...a brown sugar cinnamon poptart, a few Cheese Nips, and his 2 gummy vitamins--he used to call these "hitamins" but now can say it correctly which makes me a little sad... He loves to play outside-riding a bike (which he can now do a little without training wheels thanks to Grandma Dot who taught him!), playing in his fort at Papaw's, jumping on the trampoline, playing cowboys/Indians with Jackson, riding his four wheeler, climbing trees, and the list goes on and on...He has a wonderul imagination that I hope will stay with him as he gets older. When he takes his baths, he pretends to be a scuba diver and I am a mermaid...He dives under water and then pretends to bring me back gifts. He begs me to "wrestle" with him on our bed each night and most night we do. He is Spiderman, Wolverine, or some other hero and I am the Green Goblin, Venom, etc. I hope he never stops asking me to do this with him. He loves to have me rub his back while he falls asleep. I would have to say that he is a momma's boy, but that is alright with me.

His favorite toys right now are Imagin#xt stuff, pirates, and super heros. He loves to dress up in costumes, I finally had to get a big container for all his outfits-Spiderman, Batman, pirate, knight, cowboy, space astronaut...He likes watching the Backyardigans, Berenstein Bears, Diego, super hero stuff, and his favorite Christmas movies this year were Elf and Home Alone. He likes to play games such as Candy Land, Go Fish, and his Goofy Letter Game. He loves to spend the night at Grammy/Papaw's and with Aunt Janie. When he leaves to go there, he says "Dream about me Mommy".

Gabriel is "deep"..and when I say that, I mean he really thinks a lot about everything. He asks me questions about heaven, creation, dying, God, science, electricity, etc and I do my best to answer him. I told him the other day I think that he needs to go and have a chat with our preacher because he is asking questions that are hard for me to answer, such as "Where is heaven". When he asks detailed scientific questions, I say "Go ask daddy". He prays each night and at church this past Sunday, when he finished praying his eyes were wet. No clue what he was thinking about during the prayer. He really pays attention to what our pastor says. He can recite the Lord's Prayer. I really would not be suprised if he ended up a minister to tell you the truth.

Oh how I love this boy of mine. I just want to make time slow down so I can savor every moment with him. I just want to be able to remember all the adorable faces he makes, funny things he says, the way he looks, etc. This year he was talking about an octupus having tentacles and he called them "testicles"...both Cedric and I were trying not to crack up and explained to him the difference. Yes, some times he makes me want to pull my hair out. He can be stubborn-wonder where he gets that from? But man, I wouldn't trade one moment of my time with him for the whole world.

Happy 4th Birthday Gabriel Ryan Moore, your mommy loves you more than you will ever know.

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

Here is a recipe that I found on Pinter@st and I gave it a try Monday night....soooo good and sooo easy....I tried not to eat many of the dumplings b/c I am watching my carbs, but they are delish, almost as good as the real thing! You gotta try this one!

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 4 medium sized)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans chicken broth
1 onion diced
1 tablespoon dried parsley
4 grands flaky refrigerator biscuits

Place chicken in crock pot. Add butter, cream of chicken soup, broth, onions, and parsley. Cook on high for 4-6 hours.

After cooking time has elapsed, take a fork and break up the chicken into pieces. Now, cut biscuits into 9 pieces. Stir into hot chicken and continue to cook for 30 minutes. Serve hot. YUMMO!

I made peas/carrots to go with this on the side. I am thinking next time I will go ahead and put the peas and carrots in when I add the biscuits. You could also do mushrooms (noone else in my house likes these) or mixed veggies.

Bloggy Break

I guess I took a little "Bloggy Break" the last few weeks, with my last post being on Christmas Eve. I was off with the kiddos the week after Christmas, and our first day back at school/work was yesterday. We all survived, but it is rough getting back into the swing of things after more than a week off. Christmas was a ton of fun and of course the kiddos got WAY too much stuff...Baby dolls, bat caves, pirate island, little people, etc...they are very spoiled! I need our new house with its basement to be finished so I have a place to put everything. We really didn't do a whole lot over the break..slept in, watched a bunch of movies, played with all the new toys, and jumped on the new trampoline that Papaw and Grammy got for the grandkids. We took all the Christmas stuff down the Tuesday after Christmas. I like getting it down and put away early, so that I can enjoy the rest of my time off without having to have it hang over my head...

Mom and I went furniture browsing, then we went out to the place where we will order our furniture on Saturday with Ceddy and dad. It is very exciting to pick out new stuff! I cannot wait for this house to be finished! Here is a pic, they have been finishing up with the framing and hope to have the roof trusses on by the end of this week.



We did get some very bad news right before New Years. My uncle Gary Parker had been feeling bad and went to the doctor. He has been diagnosed with kidney cancer and it has spread to his brain. He begins radiation today. I would really appreciate it if you would add him and his family to your prayers and to your prayer list at church if you attend. This is my mom's brother and he is only 57 years old. He is married and has 2 daughters, one is still in college and the other works as a choral instructor in a middle school. Thank you in advance for your prayers :)

Other than that, I am back to blogging...I agree with Susan that I feel like my blogs are really dull these days...I am going to try and spice them up a bit with some craft ideas, recipes, etc. My new addiction is Pinter@st...if you have not signed up for this, check it out. Great place for decorating, organization, crafty ideas, and recipes.

Happy New Year to All!