A Little Boy's 2nd Year Celebration

We had a quiet birthday party at home today, just me and the boys. It actually was not that quiet but more-so than having a bunch of kids over. The boys awakened to some new movies, new swords and shields, a fishing game, and a pancake breakfast with juice. The birthday boy chose to eat only juice and then after playing took a long nap. During his nap, his big brother and I enjoyed a movie and baked a carrot cake. The little guy is nuts for carrots. Cousin Jennie called to give her wishes. After attempting to blow out candles and successfully eating the sweet treat, we headed to the post office to pick up gifts from Grandma Linda, Grandpa Greg and Auntie Laurie, talked with them on the phone. And just as dad arrived home from work, we enjoyed a surprise visit and Hawaiian gifts from Papa Bob and Grandma Barb. It was a great day shared with close family near and far.

A Wonderful Dozen Visits

My parents came to visit us for their twelfth time in six years.  I am getting better at controlling my excitement before they arrive and our disappointment after they leave.  I plan things to occupy myself and the kids until our next visit and it seems to work pretty well.

While my parents and I were out shopping, my husband made my mom a red velvet cake with cherries inside for her belated birthday. Puss in Boots here had a good time helping to make it and blowing out the candles. That night my mom, my dad, and I caught the flu ... probably from our son who barfed momentarily a couple of days before us. Sounds like a scenario last February when they visited? Yes, almost an exact repeat.

We had a warm 1st week and were able to play and walk outside but as soon as Christmas arrived, so did the cold. It did not, however, keep us inside or home.

Because I do not have any siblings and my husband's siblings are younger and without families of their own, it means that the boys are the only grandchildren on both sides and the only great-grandchildren that are still kids. They were spoiled by us and grandparents with things like skis, skates, the rocking horse my dad made for me when I was two, a pirate ship, a hunting camp, knight castle, and much more.

The boys had a lot of attention and asked for their grandparents still. Actually, as I am typing this and my son is watching a movie he says, "I want grandma and grandpa to stay here, mom." It's a good thing they will soon retire. Until then, we remember them by having pillow fights each night on their bed, playing with their gifts, reading books about Minnesota, and eating my mom's (my grandma's) cinnamon and sugar bread rolls. Besides, we have memories of sitting outside at -25 and watching fireworks with them, ice skating, swimming, and much more including fantastic cowboy and indian costumes and wooden bath boats made by grandma and grandpa.

I received a scroll saw for Christmas and hope to make many gifts with it. I want to take a knitting class and learn how to expand my knitting capabilities, which should also help me gift creatively. Tomorrow, I join the Community Band and will play the flute in a group as I did from 5th grade - college. I am looking for a used but maintained piano on which the boys will take lessons and hope in other ways to incorporate more music into our lives. I have joined the Ladies of Leisure ski group and want to ski ten times this year which would be probably the most times ever in a year or at least the most in the last fifteen years; I am up to four so I should make it. I want to bike with the Dirt Divas again this summer at least four times a month and bike to the art exhibits on First Fridays at least once. I want to bring the boys camping two times and backpack with either my girlfriends or my husband before I find it completely intolerable (I'm 30!). I want to teach my son before or during age four to skate alone (almost there), ski (he shows promise), swim (I've been slacking here), and to read (he's starting to sound them out) since he shows an interest and promise in all of these valuable skills. I think I will stay busy this year or at least until March, when we plan to see my parents again.

Homemade Laundry Soap

A month ago, a friend shared a pint jar of home-made laundry soap with me. It's opaque white, smells like ordinary soap, and a similar consistency to any liquid detergent. After laundering our clothes with it a couple times a week, it is half gone, and I can tell it works just as well as the earthy brands we have been using for the past couple of years and as well as the mainstream brands that give your clothes odor and leave chemical residue to boost the reflection of light (color!) I like to buy the environmentally-friendly detergent brands because they tend to be fragrance-free, biodegradable, and have fewer additives, which means they are healthier for us as well. Making soap at home seems to me like a good way to keep using a green product but with fewer packages to recycle and at a fraction of the cost. For the price of one jug of liquid detergent, which is not even a gallon in size, I can easily buy the ingredients required to make 15+ gallons of comparable soap at home.

Ingredients:

4 cups hot water

1 bar Fels Naptha or Kirk's Castile

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

Directions:

Grate the soap and add it to a sauce pan that contains the hot water. Stir until melted on medium-low heat. Fill a container with 5 gallons of hot tap water. Add the soap, borax, and washing soda. Stire until dissolved. Cover and let thicken overnight or until cool. Stir again.

Use:

1/4 cup for high efficiency (HE) machines

5/8 cup for regular machines

There are numerous websites that describe the previous in more detail, with variations, and with photos. For example, here is a diaper site that describes how to make two different powder versions of this soap, which they call detergent for some reason (mistake?). I think I will make the second, the heavy powder, because I already own liquid castile soap, using liquid instead of bar means I don't have to grate it, heat it, or deal with multiple bars since a little liquid goes a long way, and because making powder soap is not only easier than making liquid but it takes up less space.

Note that stores usually sell detergents, which are synthetic, and here we I am talking about making soap, which is composed of natural substances. There is no question that soap is easier on us and our environment, but detergents are better at removing hard-water residue. So, for diapers, which need to remain absorbent or in hard water locations the price of specialized diaper detergents can be a necessity unless other steps are taken to strip the fabrics.