January has been a big month for us. Lots of up and downs, and lots of doctors appointments. Here's the summary:
-Found out Josh has Melanoma. Got sent to M.D. Anderson(cancer hospital in Houston).
-Joss had her 3 month post cast check up for her leg. X-rays look amazing and her femur is healing up perfectly. Unless a problem pops up with her leg, or she breaks another bone(Please, God, NOOOOO!), then we are done with the leg doctor.
-Danil had his hearing tested at Texas Children's Hospital. Perfect hearing. That's not common for kids with DS. Another little miracle for my little guy.
-Joss was refferred to a hematologist at Texas Children's because of some abnormalites with her blood. We loved her hemotologist. He went over every possible concern that we have about her and addressed each and every thing, and then did some very detailed blood work. Everything came back excellent and the abnormalites with her blood are caused by her medicine. Absolute best case senario. Oh, and her abnomality is with her red blood cells. Apparently they are enlarged, but that is a side effect of her ARV meds.
-Danil had his 2 month check up after getting his glasses. Glasses are working great and the Rx hasn't changed, so that's a good thing.
-Kellen got off paci's. AND we took down the baby bed. *tear*
-Ray had a bladder and kidney ultrasound. This is a one year follow up after finding out that she has bladder reflux(her urine flows from her bladder back up towards her kidneys). She was supposed to have another bladder test done on the same day, but that test is done under sedation and I had accidentally given her a banana that morning so they wouldn't do the test. We are going back to TCH, yet again, next Monday to have the other bladder test done. If she still has the reflux, then she will probably be having a bladder surgery in the near future.
-Danil had an echocardiogram done. We will get those results next Thurs when Alik, Danil, and Joss have an appointment with the dr at TCH.
-Josh had his appointment for the melanoma, at MD Anderson. We got the GREAT news that it was caught early!! Josh has an outpatient surgery at MD Anderson on March 1st, and no other treatment is needed! What a relief to get that news!!
-My brother got stabbed 7 times on the way to his car a little over a week ago. Like I said, a lot of ups and downs. He is out of the hospital and recovering at home. All stabs missed vital organs and it a miracle he is alive. Two cyclist saw the incident and broke it up and called for an ambulance for my brother.
-Luke turned 9. N.I.N.E. Wow. Where did nine years go already?!
-We are in full swing with the therapies. Joss has speech therapy once a week, and Danil has speech, occupational, and physical therapy once a week.
-Alik. Don't really have any news on him, but didn't want to fully leave him out.
-We have a few more doctors appointments next week, then I'm hoping our year slows down some.
-Alik and Ray started doing some kindergarten work.(I guess I did have some Alik news). They are doing great doing Saxon K math and Get Ready for the Code for phonics, but both their motor skills aren't quite kinder ready, so we're taking it slow. They LOVE school though.
-I've been making more and more of my own household and beauty products. Lovin' it. My list of the things I've made has gotten kinda lengthy, so I'll probably just do a blog post that has all the links to the recipies I've used.
-Josh and I did a partial fast for part of January. We did some "spiritual" house cleaning during that time. We got rid of about 100 cd's, 20-ish dvds, 13 video games, several books, toys, clothing, and other "junk" that we had let creep into our home. For the most part it felt really good to let that stuff go.
-I fasted from Facebook and TV for over 3 weeks. I do have to say that I was much more productive while I was "un-plugged". I didn't feel like either of those things took up alot of my time, but I did realize that I used them as fallbacks to avoid doing things that I didn't feel like doing. Like laundry.
I'm sure I forgot something, but for the most part that sums up our January. Hopefully, I will get back to blogging before it is time for a February summary.....
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Friday, December 23, 2011
It's a Vapor
This morning my kids were getting on my nerves. Yep, my beautiful, lovely, perfect children were annoying the mess out of me. I'm not particularly a morning person. I don't necessarily wake up irritable, but I don't hope out of bed all bright eyed an bushy tailed either. I wake up quiet and slow, so it takes a few minutes of moving about the house for me to be awake enough to do certain things, like carry on a conversation. My days always start best when I get up before the kids and have some time to shake the cob webs loose from my head, and get the right perspective. When I'm up first, not only am I in a better mood when my kiddos start waking up, but I get a few minutes of hugs and snuggling with each one as they start rolling out of bed one by one. That makes for a good start to the day for me, and for them.
This morning the kids started waking up before I did. And they woke up with a plethora of needs that, in their perspective, had to be met at that very moment. They were either dying of hunger, or dehydrated, or freezing to death, or had to potty really bad but the bathroom was already occupied by another sibling who was apparently constipated.
As the morning progressed there were more urgent needs. Like, not being able to find matching socks, or the right shorts(to which I wanted to say, "It's two days until Christmas, just put on some pants!"), or un-tying the double knots in shoes that apparently had been tied by the incredible hulk.
Yes, my children are as dramatic as I am.
I was really starting to get annoyed. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and I was still in my pj's, still had dragon breath, and still needed coffee somethin' fierce. At some point I threw a mini-tantrum and said that if one more person asked me for something before I was dressed that everyone was going to sit on their bed until I made coffee!
While I was getting dressed I checked the news and facebook, only to learn that a 3 year old in a near-by town had been accidentally run over by his father and killed. Another 3 year old had drowned in a pond. And a 22 year old local girl, Emily Riu, had been killed in a car wreck. While I didn't personally know the girl that was killed in the wreck, she was a family member of people whom we do know. All three of these events are such a tragedy.
I was whispering a prayer for the family members and friends of those who died, when my mind wandered to the fact that this will probably be the worst Christmas these families have ever experienced. And worse than that, every Christmas will mark the anniversary of a very sad time. Lost loved ones are already missed terribly at Christmas, and compounded with the fact that only a few days before Christmas will mark the anniversary of a tragedy, I can't imagine the pain that the holidays will bring for these grieving families.
It hit me what a vapor life really is. In James, life is referred to as a mist. James 4:14b says, "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
If I knew that I or one of my children wasn't going to be here on this earth tomorrow, would running around meeting all their many, seemingly trivial needs annoy me? Absolutely not. In fact, not only would I not be annoyed, I would be honored and joyful that I have the special opportunity to be the one who meets their needs while I had the chance. I suddenly wasn't so annoyed with my kids. When I went in to the bathroom to put on my make up, instead of shooing Josslyn, who is my shadow, out of the room so that I could have a minute of peace, I brought her in there with me and sat her down on the stool. While I put my make up on I put a little blush on her cheeks and was blessed by her giggles. Then I pretended to put eye shadow and what not on her as I put mine on, and was blessed again when she said, "I'm pretty! And you are pretty too, Mommy!" Yes, baby girl, you are beautiful, make up or not. I love her joy in the simple things in life.
When Danil pressed the button on his kitty keyboard to play the song "Oh where, Oh where has my little cat gone?" for the 945,215 time, instead of getting annoyed, I sang along for a couple of verses and had the pleasure of making Danil laugh so hard that it made me laugh. And then he clapped for me. Which is the opposite reaction I usually get from folks when I sing. I love his love for music.
When Luke brought me a lego creation, that looks very similar to his last 37 lego creations, instead of sighing and saying, "Let me guess. It is a car that can transform in to a spaceship, right?", I stopped what I was doing and let him tell me all about it. And then I gave him a big long hug. I love his creativity.
When Alik knocked a framed picture off the wall and it broke in to bits because he was trying to see if it could "shake", instead of yelling, "Why would you do that?! Of course it can shake, why else do you think it is always crooked?! NOW look at it!", instead I took a deep breath, which gave me the perspective to realize that he wasn't trying to break the picture frame and his behavior didn't have ill intentions but was just innocent childish curiousity. I could tell by the look on his face that he felt bad and wasn't going to be "shaking" any more picture frames. Once I realized that I wasn't upset anymore and had the opportunity to show grace instead of griping at him now and regretting it later. He is sensitive, and I love his sensitivity towards others.
When Ray melted down because she couldn't decide if she should wear short sleeves and a jacket or just long sleeves, instead of snapping, "Oh just pick one! It isn't a life altering decision!", instead we went and stood on the porch for a minute to see what the weather felt like. I love her funky style and uniqueness that shows even in the clothes she wears.
When Kellen happily held his arms out to me, yelling, "UP!", which is what he says when he wants to be tossed in the air repeatedly, instead of saying, "Not right now, Mama's arms are still tired for the last UP.", I threw my chubby toddler up in the air a few more times. He is growing so fast and it won't be long until he is too big for UP. I love his zest for life and his love of adventure.
If I knew that I or one of my children wasn't going to be on this earth tommorrow would I be annoyed by having to meet their many, seeminly trivial needs? Absolutely not. Not only would I not be annoyed, I would be honored and joyful to have the opportunity to be the one who meets their needs while I had the chance. Life is a vapor.
My prayer for you and me is that over the next few days, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, is that we remember to focus on who and what is important and let the trivial things fall to the wayside.
Merry Christmas!
This morning the kids started waking up before I did. And they woke up with a plethora of needs that, in their perspective, had to be met at that very moment. They were either dying of hunger, or dehydrated, or freezing to death, or had to potty really bad but the bathroom was already occupied by another sibling who was apparently constipated.
As the morning progressed there were more urgent needs. Like, not being able to find matching socks, or the right shorts(to which I wanted to say, "It's two days until Christmas, just put on some pants!"), or un-tying the double knots in shoes that apparently had been tied by the incredible hulk.
Yes, my children are as dramatic as I am.
I was really starting to get annoyed. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and I was still in my pj's, still had dragon breath, and still needed coffee somethin' fierce. At some point I threw a mini-tantrum and said that if one more person asked me for something before I was dressed that everyone was going to sit on their bed until I made coffee!
While I was getting dressed I checked the news and facebook, only to learn that a 3 year old in a near-by town had been accidentally run over by his father and killed. Another 3 year old had drowned in a pond. And a 22 year old local girl, Emily Riu, had been killed in a car wreck. While I didn't personally know the girl that was killed in the wreck, she was a family member of people whom we do know. All three of these events are such a tragedy.
I was whispering a prayer for the family members and friends of those who died, when my mind wandered to the fact that this will probably be the worst Christmas these families have ever experienced. And worse than that, every Christmas will mark the anniversary of a very sad time. Lost loved ones are already missed terribly at Christmas, and compounded with the fact that only a few days before Christmas will mark the anniversary of a tragedy, I can't imagine the pain that the holidays will bring for these grieving families.
It hit me what a vapor life really is. In James, life is referred to as a mist. James 4:14b says, "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
If I knew that I or one of my children wasn't going to be here on this earth tomorrow, would running around meeting all their many, seemingly trivial needs annoy me? Absolutely not. In fact, not only would I not be annoyed, I would be honored and joyful that I have the special opportunity to be the one who meets their needs while I had the chance. I suddenly wasn't so annoyed with my kids. When I went in to the bathroom to put on my make up, instead of shooing Josslyn, who is my shadow, out of the room so that I could have a minute of peace, I brought her in there with me and sat her down on the stool. While I put my make up on I put a little blush on her cheeks and was blessed by her giggles. Then I pretended to put eye shadow and what not on her as I put mine on, and was blessed again when she said, "I'm pretty! And you are pretty too, Mommy!" Yes, baby girl, you are beautiful, make up or not. I love her joy in the simple things in life.
When Danil pressed the button on his kitty keyboard to play the song "Oh where, Oh where has my little cat gone?" for the 945,215 time, instead of getting annoyed, I sang along for a couple of verses and had the pleasure of making Danil laugh so hard that it made me laugh. And then he clapped for me. Which is the opposite reaction I usually get from folks when I sing. I love his love for music.
When Luke brought me a lego creation, that looks very similar to his last 37 lego creations, instead of sighing and saying, "Let me guess. It is a car that can transform in to a spaceship, right?", I stopped what I was doing and let him tell me all about it. And then I gave him a big long hug. I love his creativity.
When Alik knocked a framed picture off the wall and it broke in to bits because he was trying to see if it could "shake", instead of yelling, "Why would you do that?! Of course it can shake, why else do you think it is always crooked?! NOW look at it!", instead I took a deep breath, which gave me the perspective to realize that he wasn't trying to break the picture frame and his behavior didn't have ill intentions but was just innocent childish curiousity. I could tell by the look on his face that he felt bad and wasn't going to be "shaking" any more picture frames. Once I realized that I wasn't upset anymore and had the opportunity to show grace instead of griping at him now and regretting it later. He is sensitive, and I love his sensitivity towards others.
When Ray melted down because she couldn't decide if she should wear short sleeves and a jacket or just long sleeves, instead of snapping, "Oh just pick one! It isn't a life altering decision!", instead we went and stood on the porch for a minute to see what the weather felt like. I love her funky style and uniqueness that shows even in the clothes she wears.
When Kellen happily held his arms out to me, yelling, "UP!", which is what he says when he wants to be tossed in the air repeatedly, instead of saying, "Not right now, Mama's arms are still tired for the last UP.", I threw my chubby toddler up in the air a few more times. He is growing so fast and it won't be long until he is too big for UP. I love his zest for life and his love of adventure.
If I knew that I or one of my children wasn't going to be on this earth tommorrow would I be annoyed by having to meet their many, seeminly trivial needs? Absolutely not. Not only would I not be annoyed, I would be honored and joyful to have the opportunity to be the one who meets their needs while I had the chance. Life is a vapor.
My prayer for you and me is that over the next few days, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, is that we remember to focus on who and what is important and let the trivial things fall to the wayside.
Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
DIY Dogfood
I know that I've been totally lagging in posting my DIY posts....and really blogging in general. I thought I'd do the dogfood making post all on it's own so that those of you who either don't have a dog or are not the slightest bit interested in making dogfood, could just skip this post all together. I will only be talking about dogfood in this post, so here is your ticket to just stop reading now if that isn't of interest to you. My next DIY will be about dishwasher detergent, rinse aid, and maybe a few other things thrown in there.
Dogfood:
I first got the idea in the back of my head to possibly make my own dogfood a couple months ago when my sister told me that she read that the average life span of a dog is something like 12 years, but dogs fed a completely organic diet had an average life span of 30 years. Wow. Now, while I have done no research whatsoever to try to find out how accurate these statistics actually are, it still got something going in the back of my head. That information from my sister just kinda sat in marinated in my brain for a while until I finally sat down and did some reading about the possiblity of making my own dogfood. First off, I want to make this clear: We love our dogs. They are great pets. They are great with the kids. They help me feel safe when Josh is working nights, yada, yada, yada. But they are just that: dogs. We don't treat our dogs like they our other children or anything like that. I'm not bashing folks who do treat their dogs like that, but we already have 6 young kids, so our dogs are our pets, not our other children. So don't start thinking that just because I now make our dog's dogfood, that they must be spoiled dogs that go around sportting diamond studded collars, ride in doggie carseats, and receive royal treatment...because they don't have/do/receive any of these things.
Now that we've got that out of the way, I'll get back to the dogfood business. So, when I started thinking about how much healthier REAL food must be for dogs, it got me to wondering about the cost effectiveness and effort required to do it. After doing some research and reading I decided to give it a shot. Much to my shock an amazement, it was MUCH easier than I anticipated.
Dogs are primarily carnivors. Dogs are meant to eat a diet composed mainly of raw meat. Domesticated dogs haven't eaten raw meat for so long that they have mostly lost the digestive enzymes to properly digest raw meat, therefore, all meat fed to them should be fully cooked. My dogfood is about 40% meat, 30% grain, 30% veggies. I don't measure these percentages, I just eyeball it. I pretty much make sure it looks like I am serving the dogs equal parts of all three, and then I just add a little more meat. It isn't a science.
I have made my dog food for three weeks now. Every batch I make has lasted right at a week. We have 3 dogs(one small, one large, and one medium sized puppy that will probably be med-slightly largish when full grown). I make all three parts of my food at once and it takes less than an hour.
I use 5lb ground meat
2 cups brown rice(that is 2 cups dry, so it comes out to more than 2 cups when it is cooked)
carrots or potatoes(I make an amount that looks like the same amount of rice. For the carrots that is about 3lbs for the potatoes I just eyeball it. When I am doing carrots I steam them until they are tender, for the potatoes I bake them in the oven until tender and then cut them up, skins and all.)
For the gound meat I either use 73/27 ground beef or gound turkey. I do not drain the fat, I just cook it, let it cool, stir in the grains and veggies, and refrigerate.
You will have to adjust the amount of food you cook based on the size of your dogs. This batch lasts all three of my dogs a week. I am using half dry dogfood and half homemade dogfood. I did this in the beginning to help their digestive systems switch over to the new food. They never seemed to have trouble digesting the new food. In fact, the LOVE it. All three scarf it down in mere minutes and then lick the bowl. I usually put the dry food and homemade food in the bowl and then sprinkle it with some brewer's yeast and diatomaceous earth(2 tsp for the two bigger dogs and 1/2 tsp for the little dog). A couple of times a week I crack an egg in to the two bigger dog's food and then grind up the shell and stir it in. Every other day or so I sprinkle a little wheat germ on their food. I also drizzle a little olive oil on their food about once a week, as a treat. When we steam broccoli for supper, I save the stem and grate in into the dogs food the next morning. I also throw in some spinach stems when I add spinach to our eggs. The only things I know of that you should NOT put in your dog's food is chocolate, onions, grapes, and garlic. Dogs also don't usually digest dairy very well, so stay away from adding that to your dogs food.
In less than two weeks I noticed a BIG difference in how all three of my dogs looked. Our little dog, who was a super skinny very picky eater has filled out to a healthy weight and looks the best she has ever looked. Our part australian shepherd puppy that was a stray found on the side of the road by a friend, has filled out to a healthy weight and her coat looks great. She has shed her unhealthy hair and her new hair is so much softer and shinier. She also had an skin irritation in her armpit that cleared up when we started the new food. Our biggest dog is also our newest dog. She was a dog that we agreed to foster until her owners found a home for her. She turned out to be great with the kids, great with our other dogs, and a great watchdog when Josh works nights. She also became best friends with our puppy, and provided a great outlit for all that puppy energy. We fell in love with her and decided to keep her. She had been well taken care of by her previous owners, so she came to us in great shape. She was used to being fed the "good" dogfood, while our dogs were used to eating Old Roy. I have seen the least amount of changes in her, which is a testament that the good dogfood is really much better than the cheap stuff. That being said, I have seen changes in her, just not to the extent of our other two dogs. Her coat is shinier, her eyes brighter, and she just has a healthy glow to her.
Cost efficiency: Making my own dogfood probably comes out to the same price as buying one of the more expensive brands of dogfood at Wal-Mart, but cheaper than, say, Science Diet from the vet. I plan on continuing to feed them 1/2 dry food and 1/2 homemade food. The reason for this is so that if I am ever not able to feed them the homemade food(emergency, illness, HURRICANE EVACUATION, etc) if won't make them sick to have to just eat they dry food.
Gotta run for tonight, but hopefully I'll get a chance to post my other DIY things I've been experimenting with soon!
Dogfood:
I first got the idea in the back of my head to possibly make my own dogfood a couple months ago when my sister told me that she read that the average life span of a dog is something like 12 years, but dogs fed a completely organic diet had an average life span of 30 years. Wow. Now, while I have done no research whatsoever to try to find out how accurate these statistics actually are, it still got something going in the back of my head. That information from my sister just kinda sat in marinated in my brain for a while until I finally sat down and did some reading about the possiblity of making my own dogfood. First off, I want to make this clear: We love our dogs. They are great pets. They are great with the kids. They help me feel safe when Josh is working nights, yada, yada, yada. But they are just that: dogs. We don't treat our dogs like they our other children or anything like that. I'm not bashing folks who do treat their dogs like that, but we already have 6 young kids, so our dogs are our pets, not our other children. So don't start thinking that just because I now make our dog's dogfood, that they must be spoiled dogs that go around sportting diamond studded collars, ride in doggie carseats, and receive royal treatment...because they don't have/do/receive any of these things.
Now that we've got that out of the way, I'll get back to the dogfood business. So, when I started thinking about how much healthier REAL food must be for dogs, it got me to wondering about the cost effectiveness and effort required to do it. After doing some research and reading I decided to give it a shot. Much to my shock an amazement, it was MUCH easier than I anticipated.
Dogs are primarily carnivors. Dogs are meant to eat a diet composed mainly of raw meat. Domesticated dogs haven't eaten raw meat for so long that they have mostly lost the digestive enzymes to properly digest raw meat, therefore, all meat fed to them should be fully cooked. My dogfood is about 40% meat, 30% grain, 30% veggies. I don't measure these percentages, I just eyeball it. I pretty much make sure it looks like I am serving the dogs equal parts of all three, and then I just add a little more meat. It isn't a science.
I have made my dog food for three weeks now. Every batch I make has lasted right at a week. We have 3 dogs(one small, one large, and one medium sized puppy that will probably be med-slightly largish when full grown). I make all three parts of my food at once and it takes less than an hour.
I use 5lb ground meat
2 cups brown rice(that is 2 cups dry, so it comes out to more than 2 cups when it is cooked)
carrots or potatoes(I make an amount that looks like the same amount of rice. For the carrots that is about 3lbs for the potatoes I just eyeball it. When I am doing carrots I steam them until they are tender, for the potatoes I bake them in the oven until tender and then cut them up, skins and all.)
For the gound meat I either use 73/27 ground beef or gound turkey. I do not drain the fat, I just cook it, let it cool, stir in the grains and veggies, and refrigerate.
You will have to adjust the amount of food you cook based on the size of your dogs. This batch lasts all three of my dogs a week. I am using half dry dogfood and half homemade dogfood. I did this in the beginning to help their digestive systems switch over to the new food. They never seemed to have trouble digesting the new food. In fact, the LOVE it. All three scarf it down in mere minutes and then lick the bowl. I usually put the dry food and homemade food in the bowl and then sprinkle it with some brewer's yeast and diatomaceous earth(2 tsp for the two bigger dogs and 1/2 tsp for the little dog). A couple of times a week I crack an egg in to the two bigger dog's food and then grind up the shell and stir it in. Every other day or so I sprinkle a little wheat germ on their food. I also drizzle a little olive oil on their food about once a week, as a treat. When we steam broccoli for supper, I save the stem and grate in into the dogs food the next morning. I also throw in some spinach stems when I add spinach to our eggs. The only things I know of that you should NOT put in your dog's food is chocolate, onions, grapes, and garlic. Dogs also don't usually digest dairy very well, so stay away from adding that to your dogs food.
In less than two weeks I noticed a BIG difference in how all three of my dogs looked. Our little dog, who was a super skinny very picky eater has filled out to a healthy weight and looks the best she has ever looked. Our part australian shepherd puppy that was a stray found on the side of the road by a friend, has filled out to a healthy weight and her coat looks great. She has shed her unhealthy hair and her new hair is so much softer and shinier. She also had an skin irritation in her armpit that cleared up when we started the new food. Our biggest dog is also our newest dog. She was a dog that we agreed to foster until her owners found a home for her. She turned out to be great with the kids, great with our other dogs, and a great watchdog when Josh works nights. She also became best friends with our puppy, and provided a great outlit for all that puppy energy. We fell in love with her and decided to keep her. She had been well taken care of by her previous owners, so she came to us in great shape. She was used to being fed the "good" dogfood, while our dogs were used to eating Old Roy. I have seen the least amount of changes in her, which is a testament that the good dogfood is really much better than the cheap stuff. That being said, I have seen changes in her, just not to the extent of our other two dogs. Her coat is shinier, her eyes brighter, and she just has a healthy glow to her.
Cost efficiency: Making my own dogfood probably comes out to the same price as buying one of the more expensive brands of dogfood at Wal-Mart, but cheaper than, say, Science Diet from the vet. I plan on continuing to feed them 1/2 dry food and 1/2 homemade food. The reason for this is so that if I am ever not able to feed them the homemade food(emergency, illness, HURRICANE EVACUATION, etc) if won't make them sick to have to just eat they dry food.
Gotta run for tonight, but hopefully I'll get a chance to post my other DIY things I've been experimenting with soon!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The 2nd installment of, DO IT YOURSELF:
I LOVED hearing all your comments after my last blog post, especially when you shared your own DIY goodies! I have already tried some of the things you have suggested! So far, this making my own products has been really fun. Tinctures making is my next adventure, but since that requires alot of waaaaaiiitttinng while the tincture sits, I think continue to experiment with some of your ideas while I'm waiting.
I want to quickly update on how things have been going with my last to DIY adventures.
Laundry Soap: I am really liking it! The 1/2 cup measurement seems to be working for us. If I were to wash a really soilded load I might add more, but I haven't needed to do that yet. When you first make the laundry soap, and it cools, it forms a thick gel. Jello like, but a different texture. I have found that the soap needs to be re-stirred every 5 or 6 days. If not, you get some watery sections of soap. In the bucket, the soap has a strong clean scent, but the clothes just come out smelling clean, not with a strong scent at all. In fact, there is pretty much NO scent, so if you want scent you will have to add essential oils. If you happen to not like the smell of the Fels-Naptha soap, then you can substitute ivory bar soap for the fels-naptha when you make it.
Toothpaste: Still lovin' this! Once my batch got low I made another one and also made a batch for the kid. I was going to wait until their toothpast ran out, but they were excited to try it so I just went with the momentum and threw out the half empty tube they had and started them on the homemade kind. No looking back. Shockingly, there were NO COMPLAINTS, not even from my child that likes to complain about everything. Score! Another thing about the toothpaste I want to mention is that it has made my lips so soft. Seriously. I guess the coconut oil gets on my lips while I brush my teeth so my lips are all nourished and hydrated. The only other time they have felt close to being this soft is when I exfoliate them with the Mary Kay lip exfoliant followed by the Mary Kay lip balm. The awesome thing about this is though, I don't have to use a product with chemicals and my lips are getting soft while I brush my teeth! NICE!
All done with the updates, on to the new stuff!
For this edition of DIY we will be moving to the bathroom for some easy, Do-It-Yourself beauty products and tips.
Shampoo:Here is the recipie for the shampoo I tried.
1T Baking Soda
1 Cup warm water
1T Dr Bonners peppermint liquid castille soap
Massage into scalp for 1-2 minutes(2 minutes if you hair is oily), and then rinse. You can rinse with a 1:1 mix of apple cider vinegar and water for some extra shine, if you like.
I mixed all the ingredients in an empty body wash bottle and shook vigarously. It also needs to be re-shaken before each use. You can make if without the castille soap, I just added that for some lather. You can also add essential oils, if you like, if you either don't add the castille soap or use unsented castille.
Now for my review of the shampoo....
It is hard to get used to rubbing my hair with a shampoo that doesn't lather. Even with the castille soap there really isn't much lather. While it did clean my hair well(and seemed to do a great job of stripping build up), I'm not sure what I think about the texture of my hair afterwards. Jury is still out on thise one. I'm not scrapping this particular shampoo, but I think I am going to play around with some other recipies. To be completely fair though, I read to give your hair two weeks to get used to this shampoo.
Conditioner: I tried conditioning my hair with 1T of apple cider vinegar mixed with an egg yolk. I massaged in to my hair and let it sit for about 2 minutes. When I got out of the shower I got a small bit of coconut oil on my hands a lightly rubbed it on the length of my hair, not near my scalp.
My reviewed: Liked it, but I think my hair is malnourished right now and needs some deeper conditioning than the egg yolk/apple cider vinegar. I plan on experimenting with some deep conditioning hair masks. This seemed to be a great every day type conditioner.
Body Moisterizer:
After showering I rubbed a thin layer of coconut oil all over my body like lotion. It takes a few minutes to absorb, and don't over do it or you will come out looking like a grease ball. All I can say about this one is, SCORE. I loved it! It made my skin feel so soft.....for days! I tend to have dry patches of skin, especially in the winter, but I hate putting on all that lotion because of the chemicals. You skin is the largest organ in your body and you don't want gunk it up with chemicals. I really recommend trying the coconut oil as a body moisterizer. Just don't over do it because if used in excess, coconut oil can have a drying effect.
Eye Make-Up Remover:
Here is another one that I am just in love with! There are alot of different things you can use as a natural eye make up remover. Several years ago I used olive oil for a while. It worked great, but it left under my eyes greasy so my eye liner would run the next day. I finally stopped and went back to traditional eye make up remover. I don't like putting chemicals on that sensitive skin under my eyes though, so I went on mission again to find something natural that worked for me. I came across a recipie for eye make up remover that called for one part olive oil and one part witch hazel. Witch hazel is a natural astringent, so I thought that maybe it would cut the oiliness of the olive oil down. I got a travel shampoo bottle, filled it half way up with witch hazel, and the other half up with extra virgin olive oil. Shook vigarously, poured some on a cotton ball, and gave it a try. LOVE. It is working like a charm! Underneath my eyes doesn't feel or look greasy, my make up isn't running, and I don't have to rub chemicals in to that delicate skin under my eyes!! Whooo hooo!!!
Side note: The eye make up remover needs to be shaken before every use.
I tried a couple of other things, but I've run out of blogging time, so you will just have to wait. Hopefully, I gave you enough to get motivated to try making something of your own.
Coming up next week:
Next week we will be moving in to the kitchen, where I tell of my dogfood making adventure! I will also share a few of the little health habits we have here in the Carlin house. They are simple additions to your diet that can have major health benefits. But after next week, dooooon't think I'm done yet! I've got everything from lip gloss to dishwashing detergent in the works!
I want to quickly update on how things have been going with my last to DIY adventures.
Laundry Soap: I am really liking it! The 1/2 cup measurement seems to be working for us. If I were to wash a really soilded load I might add more, but I haven't needed to do that yet. When you first make the laundry soap, and it cools, it forms a thick gel. Jello like, but a different texture. I have found that the soap needs to be re-stirred every 5 or 6 days. If not, you get some watery sections of soap. In the bucket, the soap has a strong clean scent, but the clothes just come out smelling clean, not with a strong scent at all. In fact, there is pretty much NO scent, so if you want scent you will have to add essential oils. If you happen to not like the smell of the Fels-Naptha soap, then you can substitute ivory bar soap for the fels-naptha when you make it.
Toothpaste: Still lovin' this! Once my batch got low I made another one and also made a batch for the kid. I was going to wait until their toothpast ran out, but they were excited to try it so I just went with the momentum and threw out the half empty tube they had and started them on the homemade kind. No looking back. Shockingly, there were NO COMPLAINTS, not even from my child that likes to complain about everything. Score! Another thing about the toothpaste I want to mention is that it has made my lips so soft. Seriously. I guess the coconut oil gets on my lips while I brush my teeth so my lips are all nourished and hydrated. The only other time they have felt close to being this soft is when I exfoliate them with the Mary Kay lip exfoliant followed by the Mary Kay lip balm. The awesome thing about this is though, I don't have to use a product with chemicals and my lips are getting soft while I brush my teeth! NICE!
All done with the updates, on to the new stuff!
For this edition of DIY we will be moving to the bathroom for some easy, Do-It-Yourself beauty products and tips.
Shampoo:Here is the recipie for the shampoo I tried.
1T Baking Soda
1 Cup warm water
1T Dr Bonners peppermint liquid castille soap
Massage into scalp for 1-2 minutes(2 minutes if you hair is oily), and then rinse. You can rinse with a 1:1 mix of apple cider vinegar and water for some extra shine, if you like.
I mixed all the ingredients in an empty body wash bottle and shook vigarously. It also needs to be re-shaken before each use. You can make if without the castille soap, I just added that for some lather. You can also add essential oils, if you like, if you either don't add the castille soap or use unsented castille.
Now for my review of the shampoo....
It is hard to get used to rubbing my hair with a shampoo that doesn't lather. Even with the castille soap there really isn't much lather. While it did clean my hair well(and seemed to do a great job of stripping build up), I'm not sure what I think about the texture of my hair afterwards. Jury is still out on thise one. I'm not scrapping this particular shampoo, but I think I am going to play around with some other recipies. To be completely fair though, I read to give your hair two weeks to get used to this shampoo.
Conditioner: I tried conditioning my hair with 1T of apple cider vinegar mixed with an egg yolk. I massaged in to my hair and let it sit for about 2 minutes. When I got out of the shower I got a small bit of coconut oil on my hands a lightly rubbed it on the length of my hair, not near my scalp.
My reviewed: Liked it, but I think my hair is malnourished right now and needs some deeper conditioning than the egg yolk/apple cider vinegar. I plan on experimenting with some deep conditioning hair masks. This seemed to be a great every day type conditioner.
Body Moisterizer:
After showering I rubbed a thin layer of coconut oil all over my body like lotion. It takes a few minutes to absorb, and don't over do it or you will come out looking like a grease ball. All I can say about this one is, SCORE. I loved it! It made my skin feel so soft.....for days! I tend to have dry patches of skin, especially in the winter, but I hate putting on all that lotion because of the chemicals. You skin is the largest organ in your body and you don't want gunk it up with chemicals. I really recommend trying the coconut oil as a body moisterizer. Just don't over do it because if used in excess, coconut oil can have a drying effect.
Eye Make-Up Remover:
Here is another one that I am just in love with! There are alot of different things you can use as a natural eye make up remover. Several years ago I used olive oil for a while. It worked great, but it left under my eyes greasy so my eye liner would run the next day. I finally stopped and went back to traditional eye make up remover. I don't like putting chemicals on that sensitive skin under my eyes though, so I went on mission again to find something natural that worked for me. I came across a recipie for eye make up remover that called for one part olive oil and one part witch hazel. Witch hazel is a natural astringent, so I thought that maybe it would cut the oiliness of the olive oil down. I got a travel shampoo bottle, filled it half way up with witch hazel, and the other half up with extra virgin olive oil. Shook vigarously, poured some on a cotton ball, and gave it a try. LOVE. It is working like a charm! Underneath my eyes doesn't feel or look greasy, my make up isn't running, and I don't have to rub chemicals in to that delicate skin under my eyes!! Whooo hooo!!!
Side note: The eye make up remover needs to be shaken before every use.
I tried a couple of other things, but I've run out of blogging time, so you will just have to wait. Hopefully, I gave you enough to get motivated to try making something of your own.
Coming up next week:
Next week we will be moving in to the kitchen, where I tell of my dogfood making adventure! I will also share a few of the little health habits we have here in the Carlin house. They are simple additions to your diet that can have major health benefits. But after next week, dooooon't think I'm done yet! I've got everything from lip gloss to dishwashing detergent in the works!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Toothpaste and Laundry Soap
Well, my blogging has been lagging a great deal lately. Several reasons for that, 1. Sick kiddos. Nothing real serious, just lots of snot and barking coughs that lasted a good week before spending another week or so tapering off. 2. The time change kicked our hineys. It took several days to find a new groove that worked for us, so before we did I was one exhausted mama trying to parent whiny, exhuasted, half sick kids. 3. Our computer/computers have been having some major issues. Our laptop caught some sort of virus not long after we got back from Ukraine. It has periods where it works fine, and then for a while it won't work at all. When Josh isn't working, he can usually mess with it and bring it temporarily back to life. It has been getting worse though, and seems to be pretty much out of commission for good now. The mouse on our desktop went out, and since we've been busy, it took several days to actually get to the store to get a new one. So we spent several days without the internet. 4. I found a fiction series that peaked my interested. About 30 pages in to the first book I was hooked, so I spent all last week spending every single free moment reading. I finished the whole series in a week, so I guess I now have to face reality again.
All that to say, those are my excuses for not blogging lately. I also want to preface this blog post(although at this point I don't think that preface is the right word) by saying that it really SHOULD have pictures, but it doesn't. I'm going to share my adventures in making my own toothpaste and my own laundry soap. Those kinds of posts really should have pictures. BUT our desktop doesn't have a memory card slot, so I don't know how to get the pictures from the memory card to the computer. Alas, you will jut have to use your imagination.
Like I said, I have been experimenting with making my own toothpaste and my own laundry soap. It is something that I've been wanting to do for a while, but I guess I have just been lazy, or pre-occupied...
Let's start with the TOOTHPASTE:
This was SO easy. It litterally took me five minutes from start to finish.
The ingredients are COCONUT OIL, BAKING SODA, and PEPPERMINT ESSENTIAL OIL.
I put 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a small glass bowl. I added one teaspoon of baking soda, and 10 drops of peppermint essential oil. I took a butterknife and mixed it all up. Coconut oil is soild, but soft at room temperature. Once it was all mixed it put it in a small plastic container that has a lid. I keep it in my bathroom on the shelf. When I brush my teeth I stick my took brush in the container and scoop some on to my toothbrush. Out of habit, I wet my toothbrush before brushing my teeth, but you don't have to.
The first time I used it I didn't really know what to expect. It doesn't lather like regular toothpaste, but my mouth feels very clean afterwards. I really really like it! When I run out of what I have and need to make a new batch, I am going to go ahead a make a bigger one so it will last longer. I plan on using a little less baking soda and a little more peppermint essential oil. Peppermint can be STRONG, so it is best to start small and add more if you want. Next time I plan on using 4 tablespoons coconut oil, one heaping teaspoon of baking soda, and 20-25 drops of peppermint essential oil. This toothpaste is free of chemicals and it is all natural. It also has the added benefit of being very frugal. I plan on transitioning the kids over to this toothpaste too. Their batch will have less peppermint though, since my kids don't like "spicy" toothpaste. I have two kiddos that swallow their toothpaste, so this is a very safe alternative to regular toothpaste, which should NOT be swallowed. Also, you don't have to use peppermint essential oil. Clove, cinnamon, and theives would also be great choices!
Now, for the LAUNDRY SOAP:
This was super simple also, and only took about 20 minutes total.
I started by boiling one gallon of water. Once it starts boiling(or a little before, if you are impatient like me), you shave two bars of Fels-Naptha soap in to the boiling water, stopping every so often to stir. You can get Fels-Naptha soap on the laundry aisle at Wal-Mart for 96 cents a bar.
Once the Fels-Naptha was stirred in and melted, I added 2 cups of borax and 2 cups of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. Both of those items can be purchased on the laundry soap aisle at Wal-Mart. Once it was all stirred in together, I put one gallon of hot water in to a five gallon bucket. After that I poured in my soap mixture. Then I poured another gallon of hot water on top of that. I stirred it all up and then let it cool. It filled my 5 gallon bucket about 3/5 full, and once it has cooled it forms a very thick gel. Today is my first dy to use it, but I washed several loads using 1/2 a cup of the laundry soap mixture, and it worked great. The finished laundry soap has a very clean smell. If there isn't enough scent for your taste, then you can always add some essential oils to the mix. Lavendar is always an excellent choice for things like that. If you are looking for a chemical free and VERY frugal way to wash your clothes, THIS is the choice for you! Seriously. It was very cheap and easy to make. Once again, I am sitting here asking myself WHY I waited so long to do it!
So that's all I got for tonight. I have so other ideas that I am going to be experimenting with in the near future, so I'll let you know how that goes.
Night ya'll!
All that to say, those are my excuses for not blogging lately. I also want to preface this blog post(although at this point I don't think that preface is the right word) by saying that it really SHOULD have pictures, but it doesn't. I'm going to share my adventures in making my own toothpaste and my own laundry soap. Those kinds of posts really should have pictures. BUT our desktop doesn't have a memory card slot, so I don't know how to get the pictures from the memory card to the computer. Alas, you will jut have to use your imagination.
Like I said, I have been experimenting with making my own toothpaste and my own laundry soap. It is something that I've been wanting to do for a while, but I guess I have just been lazy, or pre-occupied...
Let's start with the TOOTHPASTE:
This was SO easy. It litterally took me five minutes from start to finish.
The ingredients are COCONUT OIL, BAKING SODA, and PEPPERMINT ESSENTIAL OIL.
I put 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a small glass bowl. I added one teaspoon of baking soda, and 10 drops of peppermint essential oil. I took a butterknife and mixed it all up. Coconut oil is soild, but soft at room temperature. Once it was all mixed it put it in a small plastic container that has a lid. I keep it in my bathroom on the shelf. When I brush my teeth I stick my took brush in the container and scoop some on to my toothbrush. Out of habit, I wet my toothbrush before brushing my teeth, but you don't have to.
The first time I used it I didn't really know what to expect. It doesn't lather like regular toothpaste, but my mouth feels very clean afterwards. I really really like it! When I run out of what I have and need to make a new batch, I am going to go ahead a make a bigger one so it will last longer. I plan on using a little less baking soda and a little more peppermint essential oil. Peppermint can be STRONG, so it is best to start small and add more if you want. Next time I plan on using 4 tablespoons coconut oil, one heaping teaspoon of baking soda, and 20-25 drops of peppermint essential oil. This toothpaste is free of chemicals and it is all natural. It also has the added benefit of being very frugal. I plan on transitioning the kids over to this toothpaste too. Their batch will have less peppermint though, since my kids don't like "spicy" toothpaste. I have two kiddos that swallow their toothpaste, so this is a very safe alternative to regular toothpaste, which should NOT be swallowed. Also, you don't have to use peppermint essential oil. Clove, cinnamon, and theives would also be great choices!
Now, for the LAUNDRY SOAP:
This was super simple also, and only took about 20 minutes total.
I started by boiling one gallon of water. Once it starts boiling(or a little before, if you are impatient like me), you shave two bars of Fels-Naptha soap in to the boiling water, stopping every so often to stir. You can get Fels-Naptha soap on the laundry aisle at Wal-Mart for 96 cents a bar.
Once the Fels-Naptha was stirred in and melted, I added 2 cups of borax and 2 cups of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. Both of those items can be purchased on the laundry soap aisle at Wal-Mart. Once it was all stirred in together, I put one gallon of hot water in to a five gallon bucket. After that I poured in my soap mixture. Then I poured another gallon of hot water on top of that. I stirred it all up and then let it cool. It filled my 5 gallon bucket about 3/5 full, and once it has cooled it forms a very thick gel. Today is my first dy to use it, but I washed several loads using 1/2 a cup of the laundry soap mixture, and it worked great. The finished laundry soap has a very clean smell. If there isn't enough scent for your taste, then you can always add some essential oils to the mix. Lavendar is always an excellent choice for things like that. If you are looking for a chemical free and VERY frugal way to wash your clothes, THIS is the choice for you! Seriously. It was very cheap and easy to make. Once again, I am sitting here asking myself WHY I waited so long to do it!
So that's all I got for tonight. I have so other ideas that I am going to be experimenting with in the near future, so I'll let you know how that goes.
Night ya'll!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Dragon Mama
Today has been on of those days.
When I was about 3 and a half I asked my mom, "Mama, can you breathe fire like a dragon?" Being a typical 3 year old, I asked many more questions, including, but not limited to, "Can God pick up the road?", "Does God use sissors?", "Can God kill Mr. T.?", "If I swallowed my gum, it wouldn't get stuck to God, it would go around my heart. Right?"
We love to laugh at the things we said as children. Joss is three years old and fully in that question asking stage. She asks "WHY?" for ev.er.y.thing. I ask her to do.
After the day I had today, I am quite shocked that none of my children asked if I could breathe fire like a dragon, because I definitely had a dragon day.
I really hate those kinds of days, too. Those kinds of days always leave me feeling guilty after the kids have gone to bed, and I completely hate feeling like that.
I am a somewhat high strung person(shocker). I might be laid back in some areas, but in general I think I'm high strung. One of the unfortunate attributes of a high strung person is that they tend to be easily irritable. If I were to deny being anything less than that, then my sister would totally laugh in my face(the reason she can laugh in my face, as opposed to punching it, is because we no longer share the same room and same bed, so our personality differences can now be laughed at). Ok, so I am easily irritable. It's something that I'm working on, and most of the time I don't let it conquer my day. But today I did. I was one fire breathin' dragon mamas today. It doesn't help that I've been running on minimal sleep the last few days due to one feller who rather not sleep in his own bed and several other kiddos who have suddenly decided to consume mass quanities of water before bedtime. It doesn't help that all but one of my kiddos has the crud of some sort. I'm a light sleeper, so all I've heard is a chorus of barking seals all night long for the past few nights.
All of those things factored into my dragon day. BUT, that still doesn't excuse my behavior. EVERYONE has stressors. That is life. As Christians we are required to rise above our flesh. My flesh might say, "I'm tired! It is 10:45 and I still haven't had time to make coffee, which I DESPARATELY need, because I have been blowing noses, wiping bottoms, referreeing arguments, tying shoes, and answering 9,000,000 questions since 7:00am!" Regardless of what my flesh says, though, I am still required to treat my children in the same loving and gentle manner that I require them to treat each other. We speak in love. We touch each other in gentleness. We do not raise our voice in anger.
Goodness, knows I have broken those standards today. There are some folks out there who would love to say, "That's what happens when you have six kids!" But in my honesty I'll tell you that I have had my dragon mama moments when Luke was our only child. "Dragon Mama" is purely a flesh thing, not a number-of-kids-you-have thing.
This dragon mama is ready for today to be over so that I can start fresh tomorrow. As much as they can bring out the dragon in me, I'm not sure if I could go a single day without my children. I am blessed beyond measure by having the opportunity to be their mother. This dragon mama has been tamed, atleast for tonight.
When I was about 3 and a half I asked my mom, "Mama, can you breathe fire like a dragon?" Being a typical 3 year old, I asked many more questions, including, but not limited to, "Can God pick up the road?", "Does God use sissors?", "Can God kill Mr. T.?", "If I swallowed my gum, it wouldn't get stuck to God, it would go around my heart. Right?"
We love to laugh at the things we said as children. Joss is three years old and fully in that question asking stage. She asks "WHY?" for ev.er.y.thing. I ask her to do.
After the day I had today, I am quite shocked that none of my children asked if I could breathe fire like a dragon, because I definitely had a dragon day.
I really hate those kinds of days, too. Those kinds of days always leave me feeling guilty after the kids have gone to bed, and I completely hate feeling like that.
I am a somewhat high strung person(shocker). I might be laid back in some areas, but in general I think I'm high strung. One of the unfortunate attributes of a high strung person is that they tend to be easily irritable. If I were to deny being anything less than that, then my sister would totally laugh in my face(the reason she can laugh in my face, as opposed to punching it, is because we no longer share the same room and same bed, so our personality differences can now be laughed at). Ok, so I am easily irritable. It's something that I'm working on, and most of the time I don't let it conquer my day. But today I did. I was one fire breathin' dragon mamas today. It doesn't help that I've been running on minimal sleep the last few days due to one feller who rather not sleep in his own bed and several other kiddos who have suddenly decided to consume mass quanities of water before bedtime. It doesn't help that all but one of my kiddos has the crud of some sort. I'm a light sleeper, so all I've heard is a chorus of barking seals all night long for the past few nights.
All of those things factored into my dragon day. BUT, that still doesn't excuse my behavior. EVERYONE has stressors. That is life. As Christians we are required to rise above our flesh. My flesh might say, "I'm tired! It is 10:45 and I still haven't had time to make coffee, which I DESPARATELY need, because I have been blowing noses, wiping bottoms, referreeing arguments, tying shoes, and answering 9,000,000 questions since 7:00am!" Regardless of what my flesh says, though, I am still required to treat my children in the same loving and gentle manner that I require them to treat each other. We speak in love. We touch each other in gentleness. We do not raise our voice in anger.
Goodness, knows I have broken those standards today. There are some folks out there who would love to say, "That's what happens when you have six kids!" But in my honesty I'll tell you that I have had my dragon mama moments when Luke was our only child. "Dragon Mama" is purely a flesh thing, not a number-of-kids-you-have thing.
This dragon mama is ready for today to be over so that I can start fresh tomorrow. As much as they can bring out the dragon in me, I'm not sure if I could go a single day without my children. I am blessed beyond measure by having the opportunity to be their mother. This dragon mama has been tamed, atleast for tonight.
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