CJ and Brian Mugging for the Camera

Homemade Dish Soap

The homemade laundry soap really got me going. I've now made homemade dish soap, and plan on making hand soap tomorrow. The dish soap is a little runny, but WOW does it get super sudsy and it works really good! It got baked on yuckies no problem, and it was gentle on my hands!

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Dish Soap

2 cups castile soap

1/2 cup warm water

a few drops of essential oil (optional)

Mix the castile soap and warm water, add essential oil and you are done!! TaDa!

I used spearmint essential oil, my hands feel soft and minty fresh after doing dishes!

Castile soap can be found at most health food stores. If you can't find castile soap here is another recipe that I found, but have not tried:

Homemade Dish Soap:

2 cups soap flakes

1 gallon warm water

2 tablespoons glycerin

1/2 cup lemon juice or white vinegar

few drops of essential oil

Combine soap flakes and water in a large non reactive pan. Over low heat warm the mixture until the soap flakes dissolve. Add the glycerin and remove from heat. Allow the the mixture to cool slightly and add the lemon juice and essential oil. Mix well.

The glycerin makes it easy on the hands, and the lemon juice or vinegar adds grease cutting, and of course the oil makes it smell yummy.

Good Luck!

Check Out My Soap!

Laundry Detergent!!!

I made the laundry detergent. I was so super easy. I will try it for the first time tomorrow when I wash the kids clothes. You know as well as I do the kids clothes is the best test, CJ's and Brian's especially!

While I'm bragging about my domestic skills---

I made a super yummy dinner the other night. I took a squash, zucchini, onion, carrots and chopped them up mixed them with a can of cream of mushroom soup. Then I made Cory and Kaylynns biscuit dough (with slight changes). I took the dough and made pockets to put the veggies in and baked them at 450 for 12 minutes. They were so super yummy. The kids even liked having their own little pocket of garden yummies.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I must be in some crazy domestic diva mood lately. I found a recipe to make laundry detergent. It sounds super simple. As much laundry as I do, I think this might be helpful! As soon as the kids get up we're going to the store to get some borax and washing soda. I'll let you know how well it works.

Here's the recipe:
3 Pints Water
1/3 Bar Ivory Soap, Grated
1/2 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
2 Gallon Bucket
1 Quart Hot Water
Hot Water

Mix Ivory soap in a saucepan with 3 pints of water, and heat on low until dissolved. Stir in Washing Soda and Borax. Stir until thickened, and remove from heat. Add 1 Quart Hot Water to 2 Gallon Bucket. Add soap mixture, and mix well. Fill bucket with hot water, and mix well. Set aside for 24 hours, or until mixture thickens. Use 1/2 cup of mixture per load.

I've read that it doesn't get really sudsy, which is good if you have a front loading washer. It's not fragrant, because the soap you're using doesn't have fragrance and it's supposed to be super gentle on your clothes.

Can't wait to try... thinking of waking kids early... still can't wait... OK, I'm waking the kids! I have soap to make!!

Maybe She's Born With It, Maybe It's Maybelline

This morning I was helping Brian go potty and get dressed. By the time he was dressed I realized that CJ had been really quiet. So I went looking for her and found her in my bathroom. This is what I found:




I asked her why she was putting on makeup. She said, "I don't know", I asked why she put it on like that, she said "I want be a lion". So there you have it. She is Lion hear her ROAR! She didn't do half bad as far as going for the lion look.

Apricots

Oh My Oh My Oh My! Yesterday afternoon I was feeling sorry for myself, I was thinking when Kyle got home from work I was just going to crawl into bed. Then my friend Becky called. She totally made my day! Her parents have a few apricot trees that the fruit is just going to waste and asked if we wanted any. Of course I jumped for joy!! Just last weekend I was eyeing a neighbors tree trying to work up the courage to ask if I could pick the fruit, it doesn't look like they are doing anything with it. So Kyle, the Kids, and I went out there and picked two big bags full. This morning I washed, and seeded and canned!! We picked a lot that was over ripe, so we wound up with 8 pints and 1 quart! I am so excited! This is the first year I've tried canning and I totally love it! I know there were a few jars that I didn't fill with enough fruit. Oh well, I'm still learning, give me a break. I can't wait until more yummy yummies come into season!

THANK YOU BECKY!!

btw, my garden still kicks @$$, my corn is taller than me, the watermelon is almost ready to pick and the pepper are so super yummy and it's all bug free!!!

Kyle's Movie Tag

1. Favorite Cartoon Movie: Donald Ducks Fantastic Island
2. Favorite Sports Movie: Vision Quest
3. Favorite Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
4. Favorite Tom Cruise Movie: Days of Thunder, Taps wasn't bad either
5. Favorite Romance Movie: Novocaine
6. Favorite Actor: Sam Elliot
7. Favorite Actress: Sandra Bullock
8. Favorite Classic Movie: North by Northwest
9. Favorite Action/Adventure Movie: Harry Potter
10. Favorite Soundtrack: Dazed and Confused, or Vision Quest
11. Favorite TV Sitcom: Gray's Anatomy, or My Name Is Earl
12. Favorite Comedy: Caddyshack or Dumb and Dumber
13. Least Favorite Actor: Ben Stiller and Mark Walburg
14. Least Favorite Actress: Oprah
15. Most Recently Watched Movie: Dark Knight

Fishing with Dan-imal

We headed up the Middle fork of the Boise River last Saturday to get in some good fly fishing. The day was great, sunny & warm. Once we got up there we immediately started fishing holes that were open. Of coarse day was kicking my butt on the count, but what can i say, this was only my second time with a fly rod in my hand. We kept working our way up the river. We'd fish a hole and work our way up or down the river, then back to the car and drive to the next spot that looked good. Somewhere about 20 miles up from where we started, we spotted a great stretch of river around a wide sweeping bend, that was a way from the road with just a ton of thick brush and trees. We found a spot up river to get in the water and planned to work our way down around the bend, then walk the road back to the car. We figured that this stretch probably didn't get real heavy fishing given all the brush.

Once we got in we moved down the river, Danny caught a couple, and I finally got a bit. I was excited to finally feel what a bit was like on a fly rod. (pretty much the same, but keeping control of the fly line is a bit different). As we worked our way down we came to a narrow spot in the river that didn't give up many options of where to cross. it was either that or walk back up the river in the water. The water was quick, but didn't seem very deep. So Danny went first (considering I had just fell in up stream trying to retrieve my fly stuck on a tree branch over fast moving water. I was pretty ticked that I got wet, I mean I didn't buy waders for nothing) Anyway Danny started moving through the fast water, and was doing great until that 1 wrong step, then whoosh, there he went down the river. He reacted great which calmed me down quick. he rolled over, belly up and feet out front. then let the water carry him down till it was calm enough to swim out. (And let me tell you, swimming with a fly rod in 1 hand isn't easy.)

So next I thought well, he made through, I'll just move slower and fight the rushing water better. Which I did, right up till I made the same wrong step he did, then Whoosh, there I went. At first I was just pissed, then my waders filled up the instant I rolled over belly up, feet front. That's when I started getting drug down by the weight. I was fighting good, but once I passed where Danny had gotten out, I got nervous, because I was getting out of the current and fighting the added water weight in my waders. By this time I was having difficulty staying head up, so I decided to ditch my rod. I was mad, but it was my life I was thinking of. by this time I was starting to have trouble keeping my head above the water, but now I was able to use both hands to swim. I was trying to kick my legs, but waders full of water and boots on didn't help much at all. I was able to start making progress to the far side of the river. I saw a small tree/bush over hanging in the water, and I started moving over before the current took me past it, and wasn't much to grab onto past that. Keep in mind this is all in a matter of about 4 breast strokes, and low and behold there was my rod hitting me in the head, so I grabbed it with my left hand and reached for the tree/bush branch with my right and just barely got a hold of it, and the current swung me around over to the bank. I was so relieved to have the branch in my hand. Once I calmed down and stopped swearing, I looked over at Danny and he had a scared look that turned into a big grin.

after resting on the branch for a few minutes, I looked around and saw the river got about waist deep about 10 feet down stream. So i edged along and then crossed over to where Danny was. When i got out of the water, my waders were full up to my waist. We got them drained. Pondered our moment of triumph over the river, then kept fishing. It was just after that about 30 yards down stream that I finally caught my first fish, about a 7 in rainbow. I unhooked it, looked it in the eyes and told him to go bring back his momma.

I didn't wear my waders the rest of the day. by that point the water wasn't that cold anymore.

Movie Tag

Suzi tagged me so here I go:
1. Favorite Cartoon Movie: Sleeping Beauty
2. Favorite Sports Movie: Does PCU count? They play Ultimate Frisbee
3. Favorite Star Wars Movie: The Ewok Adventure
4. Favorite Tom Cruise Movie: Magnolia
5. Favorite Romance Movie: How To Make An American Quilt
6. Favorite Actor: Daniel Craig, Daniel Day Lewis, Jimmy Stewart
7. Favorite Actress: Drew Barrymore, Sandra Bullock
8. Favorite Classic Movie: The Rear Window, Wizard of Oz, Annie
9. Favorite Action/Adventure Movie: Face Off
10. Favorite Movie Soundtrack: Dazed and Confused
11. Favorite TV Sitcom: Gray's Anatomy
12. Favorite Comedy: The House of Yes
13. Least Favorite Actor: Slyvester Stallon
14. Least Favorite Actress: Paris Hilton, she really shouldn't be expected to do much
15. Most Recently Watched Movie: Dark Knight

I tag my sweet hubby. Sorry honey.

Jury Duty part duex + Weekend Fun

Wow. After my first day of jury duty I thought that when we went into deliberations that it would be nice and fast. Ha Ha Ha. We argued for 4 hours about the definition of "intent" and "aggravated". I'm not kidding. You know me. I'm always looking for a good argument. So when I realized we were going to be in there awhile I kept asking myself, "really?" I am all for taking my duty seriously, but I can use common sense to tell when someone is not being honest and when someone really doesn't remember. When all was said and done we came to the conclusion that I thought we would. This was my 2nd time on a jury. Both times it has been exciting, and overall a good experience. Both the trials were short 1 and 2 day events. The people I served with were all super great and took the whole process seriously.

After jury duty, Kyle's brother, Danny took me fishing!!! Yay!! He taught me how to not cry if I need to tear a worm and tie a knot! So naturally after a couple hours out with Danny I felt like an old pro! On Saturday Kyle and Danny went out to the North Fork of the Boise River. They blabbed their plans to the kids so Brian immediately starting saying "Go fishy, go fishy, watch my bobber, go fishy". So I packed up what I thought I would need and took the kids to the Parkcenter Pond. I wasn't expecting to actually catch anything. We were out there not more than 10 minutes when I caught a fish. Don't ask me what kind, because I don't really know. I had no idea how to get out the hook. There is no one else on the dock. So I call Kyle, no answer, I call Danny no answer. I call Kyle again and leave a message. I call Danny, leave a message. I then give up and figure they are in a cell phone dead zone. I cut my line and just let the fish go with my hook and less than an inch of line. Kyle and Danny had their own little adventure on the river that I'm going to let Kyle blog about because it is a little funny and I don't want to ruin the story.

So there you have it. I hope your weekend was just as great as ours!

Oh Jury Duty

That's all I can say. I should be done tomorrow.

My Garden Kicks Ass!!

This morning for breakfast I had scrambled eggs with bell pepper and onion from the garden. It was very yummy. I am so proud of my garden I had to post pictures. We’ve started eating from the garden. We’ve had peas, onions, banana peppers, bell peppers, zucchini, and squash. I’m really looking forward to the tomatoes, watermelon and corn.

I’ve already started planning what is going in next year’s garden. We are going to build more garden boxes so that we can plant a lot more. I want to plant more tomatoes for sure. I’m going to start canning this year. I can’t wait. I’ve been looking up recipes like crazy. My favorite web site is http://www.pickyourown.org/ it’s a great site that you can use to look up pyo farms in your state. Then I go visit http://www.recipezaar.com/ there are tons of super yummy recipes and you can search using several different methods, as well as post your own!

I hope your gardens are doing just as well as mine!

Theresa

Sweet Weekend

We had a very easy, relaxing, and fun weekend. Saturday morning we went to the Capital City Farmers Market. The kids played in the fountain for a few minutes and got balloon animals. Then we had lunch at Pollo Rey. mmmmm, chips and salsa. I love Pollo Rey, but I always come out feeling fat and bloated. Oh well.
Saturday night we went to a BBQ at Andrew and Shay's house. That was a late night, we didn't leave until about midnight. CJ fell asleep on the way home, Brian talked alllllll the way home. We all had tons of fun. There were other kids there, so the kids were in heaven. CJ and Brian always love it when they get to play with older kids.
Sunday Kyle let me sleep in. I slept until noon. It was awesome. After I got up we went to the park. Kyle practiced his fly casting, I read the paper and the kids did what kids do best at parks. Sunday evening we went to our neighbors, Anna and Jason, for dinner. They have 3 kids, the 2 youngest are CJ and Brian's age. They had fun chasing chickens and having a tea party. Brian was all boy. They had flooded the backyard earlier that day, so Brian was enjoying the running and splashing in the water and mud. Before dinner was reading he was wet and muddy from head to toe.
Today is Monday. Back to the regular schedule. 42 days until school starts.

Hot Summer, Cool Fun

Wow! This summer has just been flying by! I can't believe it's July already. The kids and I have had an easy time staying cool. It's been a really nice and mild summer.

To beat the heat we hope on a bus downtown and go play in the fountain. The kids both have their own way of getting used to the water. CJ will very slowly back into a few times, it takes her about 7-10 minutes to get used to it. Brian has a slower method. He will circle around starting where he's just getting a gentle mist and then and spray and then he works his way closer in. It takes him about 15 minutes to get used to the water. After they are both used to the water they will happily play for as long as I leave them alone.

Summer will be over so soon. 45 days until CJ starts preschool. She is super excited. I hope Brian is ok with CJ going and him staying home. I will have to plan fun things for just me and him.

xoxo

theresa