Why? What You Want and Are Pirates Extinct?

Andan

Isha. Look at his hands. This is what he does

when asking, "Why?"

If you are a parent, you have no doubt been through that stage where your child asks "why?".

Isha is at that stage right now. He has a "why" for everything!!!

"Don't throw your milk!" (me)

"Why?" (Isha)

"Momma's going to take your picture!" (me)

"Why?" (Isha)

But I almost fell over the other morning when his daddy called him to get his shoes on and Isha said, "What you want?"

Andan, being five, has more complex and thought provoking questions, like:

"Are pirates extinct?"

No Andan. Sadly, they aren't.

And a conversation Andan and I had a while back:

"Mom, why do old people die?"

"Well...to make room for the new babies (Oh gosh, couldn't I have come up with something better...like the truth!)." I said.

"Is the earth crowded?"

" Yes, it seems to be getting that way (I'm digging my own hole here)." I said.

" Why don't we just move all the old people to Mars? Nobody is living there!"

Good answer son!

Reading

Sisters, INK

By Rebeca Seitz

I love to read. Sometimes life can get so busy that it leaves no time. And sometimes life is busy, I have time but I don't want to put too much thought into it. In other words, I want an easy read. Not something that has to have an action plan to go along with it (for instance The Five Love Languages or Love and Respect). Sisters Ink is a great easy read. I discovered this series just by browsing my local library. I'm surprised I haven't heard of it from my fellow christian scrap pals. Sisters Ink is a story of four adopted sisters who are all at different stages in their life. Yet their faith, scrapping and love for each other brings them together. The book has a light mood even though the characters go through some difficult life circumstances including the loss of their mother to cancer, infertility issues and tough career choices. I love how this fictional book combines so many things that are important to me in my life. Faith, family and scrapping!

Oh...and I am also reading those books that require a plan of action....more on that later.

Jared and Justin

Jared

Justin

Jared and Justin are the oldest two boys in our family. Jared is an easy going young man who is growing up fast. We don't have to motivate him to do well in school or with his study's. For that we are grateful.

Justin is down to earth, yet has a very creative side. He likes to build, draw and create things. Once he starts something, he usually sticks with it until it's completed.

Pizza...It's What's For Dinner

Supreme Pizza

Andan's Creation

Isha's Pizza "soup"
He is waving his hand back and forth. This was his baby sign
for "hot". He still uses the sign while he says "hot".

My family loves pizza! When I was pregnant with Isha, the obg nurse told me the worst thing to eat while I was pregnant is pizza. I thought, "oh boy, either I'm in trouble or my family is." Well, I didn't give up pizza during my pregnancy. My family still loves to eat it, including Isha. But for a family of 7, three being growing teenage boys, pizza can get expensive. When we buy frozen or eat out, we need at least 4 pizzas. So I started to make pizzas at home. The advantages are obvious. I can get by with making 3 LARGE pizzas. I can buy fresh ingredients all for just under $15. Roque and I get to have a supreme pizza. Andan gets to have a hand in helping with dinner. Isha's imagination is sparked by watching big brother. Mmmmmmm............

I still don't understand how pizza can be so bad for a pregnant woman...bread, cheese, tomato sauce, pepperoni, and vegetables. Isn't that all of the food groups?

Homemade Laundry Soap

These are the ingredients that you will need.

I had to order the fels-naptha online. I bought 5 bars(plus shipping!) for $9.90.

The Super Washing Soda(not baking soda) and the Borax, I purchased at Albertson's

for $4 each, approximately.

Ivory Soap...I got at Target. 3 bars for $1.

I bought a five gallon bucket, lid and funnel at Home Depot for $5.

Total cost: $24

This what it looks like.

I used an empty one gallon water bottle to funnel a gallon at a time.
This is the 1/2 cup measuring cup we use per laundry load.

First, let me tell you that I didn't know it was possible to make one's own laundry soap. It never crossed my mind! I was reading Jenn's blog a couple of weeks ago where she explained that she had just made her first batch after running out of the batch that her friend, Hannah of Lima, had made for her.

We were just about to run out of our 2 years supply of Tide (we got SUPER cheap) and were not going to be able to get more. So this was definitely something that I wanted to look into and give a try for our family of 7.

Half of my battle was finding all the ingredients. Our local Walmart and Target do not carry any of these ingredients minus the Ivory soap and the borax. But once I was able to locate and purchase what I needed, I realized that I was set for the next 8-12 months.

So...I made the soap. It was very simple. Grating the soap was easier than grating cheese! Here's the step by step directions.

1. Grate one bar of Fels- Naptha and one bar of Ivory soap. The smaller you grate it, the easier to melt.

2. Add soap together with 8 cups of water in large pot.

3. Simmer and stir until soap is completely melted, keeping water under boil (mine formed foam on the top, this was fine).

4. Add one cup of Borax and one cup of Washing Soda. (next time I m doubling both of these ingredients!)

5. Continue to simmer 30-60 minutes. It's supposed to thicken~ mine didn't until it cooled completely(the next day).

6. Remove from heat. Cool.

7. Pour into five gallon container.

8. Add 2-3 gallons of warm water and stir mix well.

9. Let sit over night and stir again.

Ok. A couple of things...I did some research here and found out that 1. there are many different recipes for liquid and powder and 2. that I may not have used enough borax and washing soda.

I also found that the soap does not clean quite as well as Tide (which may be because I need more borax and washing soda!).

But all that said, Was it worth it? YES, I believe it was. My laundry smells clean...not perfumey...just clean or fresh. And I am going to save a laundry load of money. This is a non-sudsing soap and works well in front loaders.

I will definitely be making this again...In about 3 or 4 months!

Summer Fun Beach Challenge

This LO is was for the Sassy Blinging Babes monthly challenge which was to create a beach or vacation layout. I wanted to create a wave pattern in my lo to mimic the water. I originally thought I was going to create a single page...but I always seem to have photos that I don't want to omit. So I went with it and created this 2 page layout. This was Isha's first summer that he was big enough to enjoy the water, semi independently. I used sand on the bottom 4th of the layout and shells that we actually picked up on our first visit of the summer.