Homemade Laundry Detergent

My official "stirrer" isn't she adorable?

Well, with Jeremy's job changes I have been re-inspired to try and be extra frugal. When Stephanie and Lindsay and I got together for our girls day they mentioned homemade laundry detergent. So, I started doing some online research and decided to give it a try. After feeling totally overwhelmed with all the different recipes and ingredient ratios I finally decided to use a recipe I found on the Duggar's website. I figured who is more economical or experienced with doing lots of laundry than the Duggars? Basically most recipes include three key ingredients Borax, Washing Soda (not to be mistaken for Baking Soda), and Fels-Naptha soap. I was able to find the Borax at Wal-Mart and the other two ingredients at a local grocery store. I also purchased a new 5-gallon bucket & lid from Wal-Mart. I didn't want to reuse one due to the chemicals.

We made our first batch while Grace was at her first day of school. Faith enjoyed being my official "stirrer" for the project. It was really easy and probably only took like 20 minutes, which would normally probably be ten. I am excited to try it out and see what I think. I will let you know. I am also contemplating making frugal "dryer sheets" and baby wipes.

If you are interested you can find the recipe I used here.

First Day of School

Some of you probably know that we were planning on Grace starting "school" this fall. Our Parents as Teachers program has a free class that meets Tuesday & Thursday mornings. We had started talking about her going to school, and my parent's bought her the "First Day of School" Leap Frog movie . But, due to a miscommunication we found out last minute she hadn't made it into the class. She would be first on the waiting list, but there weren't any spots left. It was a pretty big disappointment and especially hard on me as a mommy. I felt really bad I had pumped her up for school and then had to disappoint her.

I had really thought about wether Grace needed preschool and finally decided it was a good idea because she was missing her friends due to many of the circumstances in our life. So, this change of plans really caught me off guard. But, after praying about it I felt like even though it was hard and I didn't exactly understand it was God's best choice for Grace for right now. To be honest we had pretty much just quit thinking about school or it even being a possibility. Then on Monday we got a surprise. A student had dropped the class and Grace could start on Thursday if we were still interested.

Well, I feel like this is God's perfect timing. I only have one more week of daycare before I am taking a break till the first of May. Which means I will be able to take her to class & pick her up. (a requirement) I will also be free to volunteer once a month in her classroom (also a requirement) While I know this will be a challenge with a new baby I am looking forward to those mornings to do errands or walk with only two kids versus three. While Grace has missed having her daycare friends this fall I have watched her and Faith's friendship blossom as Faith gets old enough to play & interact. (something I've also prayed for!)

Grace was SO excited for school it was absolutely adorable. She woke up at 6:30 a.m. because she was so excited. She kept telling her sister, "Hurry up, I can't be late for my first day of school." On the way there she kept singing a song she made up, "Its my first day of school. I can hardly wait..." She loved it. The hardest part was getting Faith to leave, she wasn't convinced that she couldn't stay too. So, we came home and did our own "special project." We stirred up a batch of homemade laundry detergent (more on that later...)

She loved school and can't wait to go back. I am so thankful God brought this opportunity into our lives at just the right time. She told me all about her class. Her most interesting observation, "Mom, we didn't pray before we ate our food!!!" Just a glimpse of things we will navigate when she starts school for real.

Below: Grace's First Official School Paper, it had real goldfish crackers glued to it so I thought this was the best way to preserve it.

Surprise Baby Shower

On Tuesday our small group surprised us with a baby shower. Faith had the flu so we almost stayed home! But, Jeremy convinced me I should at least go and take the opportunity to get out of the house, and he would take care of the girls. (I figured he was in on the surprise-but he wasn't he was just being a great husband) Emily made this super cute cake of a baby. I will have to add a picture later since I didn't come prepared with my camera. It was a diaper shower so we got lots of diapers for the baby. Which is such a blessing on our tight budget! I brought home one of the wrapped boxes so the girls could open it up the next morning since they missed the party.

One of the couples got us a gift card for Wal-Mart. I was super excited about this because I was having a mommy dilemma. With Grace we had all sorts of cute outfits from her showers. Then with Faith I took Grace on a special shopping trip to buy an outfit for Faith to wear at the hospital. It was something fun we did together to prepare for her arrival. I wanted to do that again, but was having trouble justifying the expense. We didn't really need a new outfit, but a part of me wanted to continue this fun event and for the baby to have its own special outfit. The gift card was a great solution. I took the girls this week and they had lots of fun picking out a girl and boy outfit. We also choose some "boy" hats since we didn't have anything like that. I explained to the girls that we would return which ever outfit we didn't need. It was so hilarious. Grace kept saying, "Yeah, but we will keep the girl one mom." She is very determined this baby will be another sister. She says, "Mom, we love girls at our house." I continue to assure her we will love a baby boy or girl. We will see...