Amazing Homemade Laundry Detergent

Here is the recipe that I use to make my homemade laundry soap. It works great on dirt, stains & smells. It is dirt cheap. And, it's gentle on your clothes and on sensitive skin. It is also (almost) 100% phosphate free, so it's good for the envoronment and great for you septic tank.

Here's what you need to get started:

• A large pot



• A large measuring cup



• Cheese grater



• Funnell



• A 5 gallon bucket or other large container



• Borax



• Arm 'n' Hammer Super Washing Soda (it's found in the laundry section and it's NOT the same as Baking Soda)



• Zote (or some other brand of bar laundry soap, like Fels Naptha)



• A cheap brand of liquid laundry detergent (this is optional, and I'll explain that a little farther down



• Essential Oils (also optional)

Step one. Cut the bar of Zote (or whatever bar soap you have) into thirds.

Step 2. Use your cheese grater to grate 1/3 bar of soap. I like to grate all three at once and then store the other 2/3's in ziplock bags for future use.

The Birthday Interview

About a year ago, I got the idea to interview each of my children on their birthdays'. I plan to ask them roughly the same questions every year, so I can put them all together and see how much they grow and change over the years. Here's a list of questions I use. Feel free to change them, add to them or delete them. I just wanted to give you a jumping off place. Enjoy :-)

1. What is your full name?

2. How old are you?

3. Where do you go to school?

4. Who is your teacher?

5. What is your favorite thing about school?

6. What is your least favorite thing about school?

7. Who is your best friend?

8. What do you want to be when you grow up?

9. How much money do you think you'll make when you grow up?

10. Who do you think you'll marry when you grow up?

11. How many kids do you want to have when you grow up?

12. Where do you want to live when you grow up?

13. Who is the boss at our house?

14. What is your favorite thing about Dad/Mom/Brothers/Sisters?

15. Who is the president?

16. What does he do?

17. What is your favorite place to visit?

18. How did God make the world?

19. Tell me about Jesus.

20. Tell me your favorite Bible story.

What Were We Thinking?

I'm not sure how or when or why we decided that having 3 boys in less than four years was a good idea. There is about 5 years of my life that are a complete blurr of diapers & bottles, cribs & carseats, strollers & diaper bags. I call it a blurr because that is exactly what it was. I have good memories of their early years, but it's all stored in my memory as a big blur. It's kind of like in the movie Mary Poppins. When all the beautiful chalk drawings begin to fade away with the rain. You can still see that they were something quite amazing, but you can't quite make out the details.



Now, we are at a different stage, I call it The Age of the Arguement. Not having any brothers or sisters myself, I was completely unprepaired for what was coming. My life now consists of, avoiding arguements, breaking up arguments, and screaming as loud as I can that the "FIGHTING MUST STOP IMMEDIATLEY or MOMMY IS GOING TO GO CRAZY!" To which one of my angel children usually replies, "Mom, you're already crazy." Not having siblings myself, I still was not neive enough to think that my children would never fight. I just figured the fighting woud be about important things, like who gets the biggest piece of chocolate cake. This is important, and I can really get on board with an argument like this. However, at my house, the fights tend to be more along the lines of, "He took the yellow plate and I wanted the yellow plate." Moms turn to intervene and impart some knowledge. "Now boys, focus here, the question of, who gets the biggest piece of cake, is being ignored so that you can argue about colors?" This is replied with, "But it's my turn to have the yellow plate, he had it last time" I give up, grab the blue plate, which clearly has the biggest piece of cake, and hoof it to the bathroom where I lock the door, turn up the radio and enjoy every last crumb of the delicious chocolate cake. Smiling to myself because I got the biggest piece.