Home Improvement...

Making the tight space work and cheapening the load :)

I don't know what cam over me... I was running low on laundry detergent, so I decided last night to make some today. That led to cleaning/organizing the cans in the kitchen,  cleaning off the dryer, and then trying to find a homemade dishwasher detergent (in progress. literally. the dishwasher is still going.)

I found a powdered laundry soap that I like - the liquid ones all just seemed to take too much time and effort for this girl ;)

The soap and other powders kind of separate, but the finer the soap is, the better. Just mix it up a bit before using! 

1 bar pure soap (I used Fels-Naptha; I will probably try a regular bar soap in the future - this smell isn't my favorite, but it's still okay.)

1 c. Borax

1/2 c. washing soda (yellow box - NOT baking soda in the orange box)

4ish drops of Essential Oils (optional)

Grate soap - I think it would be much easier in a food processor or blended (mine is in storage)! It still only took about ten minutes - with Lucas's help - to grate one bar. Then you just combine the other two ingredients... you have soap! You only need about 1/8 c. for each load. I just bought a little coffee scoop that I think is about equal. The clothes smell great and Lucas's stained shirt came clean, so I've decided it works!

Here is Lucas helping me grate the soap ;)

Organizing the dryer...

Top of Dryer - Before

Top of Dryer - After!

 Organizing the cans...

Before

After!

So, the dishwasher soap I just tried kind of left a film on the plastics. The blogger I got it from actually has a revised, updated one that she is now using, so I will try that one! On Pinterest, it's one of the most popular ones using Borax, washing soda, citric acid (or unsweetened lemon Kool-Aid) and kosher salt. Will update with updates :)


Update:

The dishes came out cloudy and filmy the first time, so I won't post that first try recipe. The one listed just above worked great!! Here is what I did (following blogger's instructions):

1 c. Borax

1 c. washing soda (you can use either washing or baking soda on this one)

1/4 c. citric acid (found in the canning aisle)

1/4 c. kosher salt

It looks like a lot of crap, but if you buy everything here at once it comes out to about $12-14. The Fels-Naptha bar soaps pictured above for the laundry detergent were only $0.97 each as well. I believe the Borax and washing soda were $3-4 each. Citric acid was like $3.28, and you don't have to buy brand name dish soap - I just like that smell :) Vinegar and kosher salt are pretty cheap.... (salt pictured here was more expensive, but that's all stinky Rexburg Wal-Mart had when I went tonight).

Mix this all together and use 1-2 tbs in your load. Splash 1/2 c. to 1 c. vinegar right in the bottom of your dishwasher, then add 3 drops of dishwashing soap (like Dawn - the kind you use to wash dishes by hand). Don't add too much, or you will have a sudsy kitchen :)

I rewashed the same dishes and this concoction got rid of *most* of the filmy issue. The dishwasher in our apartment isn't the greatest by any means, though. And when I say *most*, I mean you have to be looking for it to find it! (which I was.)

Here is the blog link where you can find both of these "recipes": http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/02/homemade-dishwasher-detergent-revised.html

You can also find them on my DIY pin board on Pinterest :)

Aaaand... one more thing I forgot I did today: How to get that musty smell out of your towels (you can find it under my Clean All the House!!!! pin board) They smell a.m.a.z.i.n.g!!!

Wash towels in 1 c. vinegar and then rewash in 1/2 c. baking soda (orange box, not the washing soda). That's it! They were really starting to stink... and now they don't!

It's been a busy day haha!... and I still have a bit more homework : /

San Antonio April 2012

Well, it has been over a week since we got back... figure it was time to post about our awesome trip to San Antonio!! We went down during our break between semesters to visit the rest of my family - expect my step-dad is actually in Taiwan right now, so we didn't get to see him :(

We definitely flew down! There is no way I couldn't have driven 24 hours each way with two kids ahhh!! Just the drive down to Salt Lake (4 hours away) was kind of crappy haha! We left at 12:30 am since our flight left at 6:50 am and we hoped that Lucas would just sleep on the way down. No. He cried off and on for three hours. I don't think we will be doing that again ;)

The flights down were better than the ones back. On the way down, they were split about 1.5 hours each, but on the way back we had a 3 hour flight and a 1 hour flight. By the end of the 3 hour, Lucas was pretty antsy!! It's not easy trying to entertain a 20-month old on a flight filled with people :) We did books, snacks, keys, cell phones, etc. The kicker was that we couldn't sit in the same row on the full flights, though, because with the kids on our laps and another person in a 3-seat row, there would be five people (yay! I can still do math!)... but there are only 4 oxygen masks, so we had to split up a bit. It's all good.

Anyway... when we got there, Levi and I were exhausted! It wasn't just the kids on the plane, but we had been up all night before driving down. My sister had a doctor's appt right after we got off the plane and loaded up, so we all went to that with her and my mom. When we finally got to my mom's house, Levi and I just crashed while my family played with the kids!! I think we woke up around 9 that night!

The next day - Tuesday - was our 3 year anniversary :) My mom watched the kids that night while Levi and I stayed at a hotel. We went out for Thai food for dinner, went to see The Hunger Games, and went shopping... because there are more than 2 places to shop in San Antonio!! It was a blast!

The rest of our trip consisted of going to the beach in Corpus Christi...

There was a ton of moss washed up...

My sister, Kaela, and me

What it looks like when we go to the beach...

My mom and Via being camera shy :)

Our footprints

I tried reading the book (I'm weird and like to see the movie before reading the book), but that really didn't happen! I was a little preoccupied with taking pictures

Man-of-War

This is pretty much the extent of Via at the beach!

Lucas loved the sand so much! He actually started dipping his food in it and eating it... : /

Kaela and Lucas <3

Jaden fed the seagulls. I hated the seagulls. But I love Jaden.

Levi and me in the entrance to a store in Corpus (the door is farther back in the shark's throat)

...Lucas played in the pool in the backyard...

He was a bit upset when the water stopped from the hose :)

Dunking Daddy in the pool - because that's always fun!

...we also visited the Alamo and the Riverwalk :) 

Via and Me 

Our Little Family <3

Daedra, Kaela, and Me

Us again... Love this one of Daedra!! She's soooo cute!

And finally... we had Easter with my family a week late :)

Shaeli and Levi <3

What am I supposed to do with this?!?

So, all in all, we had a really great vacation :D

Random Shmandom

So, just a few random things from this last week...

I cooked!! This was last weekend, but it was probably the first time I cooked the entire semester, which is now over. It was boxed food and things that originated in the freezer for us the last three months! This is an awesome recipe for sweet and sour chicken I found on Pinterest. You can find it on my mmm... Food pinboard :) It is so easy and turned out so well that I have made it twice more this week! 

Apparently Levi takes pictures of people while they're sleeping... creepy much?? Just kidding ;)
V and I like to take naps together :) 

This is Lucas's version of finger painting in the tub: dump the bowl of finger paint into the tub. Hey, whatever works, I guess. 

Finger painting on paper... I think most of this was still Levi and I. 

Oh, Rexburg. Snow on April 6th. Yay. 

I decided to decorate the window a few days ago because it was finally spring outside!! Not anymore. The sign says "Just Kidding." I will take it down once the snow melts, I guess. (I also darkened the sign so it's easier to read now.)

And just a little bragging side note since this is my blog after all ;)... 12 credits, 2 kids under 2, my lowest grade in a class was a 97%. Prideful? You betcha!!

I do have to add, of course, that I know I didn't do this alone. We had so much help from family and friends this semester. And my awesome husband took care of the kids as much as I did, if not more. I have also never seen so many blessings in our life as I saw this semester. I am very thankful for everything that we have and all the help we have received. Thank you to anyone that did anything for us this semester! Here's to hoping for another great semester in the Spring... if it ever really gets here!