Mamatography - Week 17 - April 22 - 28

Mamatography for the week of April 22 through 28

Week 17

This week is missing MOST of it's pictures. I spent most of the week running around doing errands and I guess I forgot to take pictures along the way. :( I am hoping to get back on track with things. :)

 

 4/22 - Sunday

4/23 - Monday

4/24 - Tuesday
I worked on the DVD cases that I am turning into coloring cases (or whatever the kids want to use them as) for the boys. They are going to be a part of their gifts from the baby.

4/25 - Wednesday

4/26 - Thursday
I am at 35 weeks today! Only 4 weeks to go! :)

4/27 - Friday

4/28 - Saturday
Big K brought down his Army men and he and Little K played with them for hours!!

*We're participating in a 366 day photo challenge at Diary of a First Child. To visit past Mamatography posts, please go here . To see other Mamatography participants, please visit any of the links below!



***
Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!
If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.
Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

• Diary of a First Child
• African Babies Don’t Cry
• Woman of the Willows and Wetlands
• From Cristin To Mommy
• Princess poet’s Life Adventures
• Loving {Almost} Every Moment
• The Artful Mama
• The Family Patch
• Boo Roo and Tigger Too
• Becoming Crunchy
• Vibrant Wanderings
• Actually Mummy…
• Boho Mama
• Casyfamily
• Loving Earth Mama
• Baby Dust Diaries
• Baking Momma of Two

• Momma Jorje
• The Mommy Metamorphosis
• Toddler In Tow
• Boobie Time
• Mama Unfurling
• Attached Mommyhood
• Adventures of the Raanan family
• Mommy and Little I
• A Living Family
• Fun with Ima (mommy)
• ShariMamatography
• Carrigan’s Joy
• Becoming Three
• take more pictures
• Girls Can Do Anything
• Anktangle
• Growing A Life

Homemade Fabric Softener

I have been looking for some ways to save my family money. We are a one income family with (almost) 5 people living under our roof. My husband works very, very hard to provide for us. I feel that it is my job as the wife, mother, keeper of the house, etc... to help save money where ever I can. I use coupons (only if it is for things that we would normally buy), I have tried to buy more things on sale, and thanks to Pinterest, I am learning that I can make a lot of things myself for much less than it costs to buy pre-made at the store.


I was very excited when I came across this recipe for Homemade Fabric Softener! I use fabric softener to help make clothes and sheets smell nicer for longer, but I also use it to help keep our stuff soft and fluffy. The down side to that is the kind we buy is 90 oz and says it does 105 loads and is almost $7 a bottle and rarely on sale.  I don't use quite as much per load as the directions say to help it last longer, but I am doing at least one load of laundry a day to stay on top things. It all really adds up! When I found this recipe, I knew I would be trying it as soon I finished out the bottle of fabric softener that I was using.


I am including the recipe for the fabric softener along with some of the pictures I took of the process. It is super easy to make! It uses 3 ingredients and took 10 - 15 minutes to make.

I reused the bottle of Downy that I had just finished. It says it does 105 loads. So, I am going to see how my homemade fabric softener compares. I labeled the bottle before I started mixing everything together. The bottle of Suave conditioner on the left is only 15 oz instead of the 16oz (or 2 cups) that the recipe calls for, but I think it worked out just fine. The best part... it only cost $0.98!

It was very hard to get pictures of the steps. I poured the 6 cups of hot water into the container, and then squeezed the conditioner into it. Then, I shook it like crazy! Every so often, I would unscrew the cap to let some of the air out, and then continued to shake.
**BE CAREFUL if you do this!! The hot water in a closed container makes it sort of "explode" when you release the pressure.**
Then, you add the vinegar and mix well.
Mine was this consistency when it was all done being mixed.

I poured what was in the cap back into the container in hopes of a getting a good idea for the consistency. I think it was right on par with my store bought stuff.  :)

 I am so happy with how this turned out. I didn't do the exact math, but I think this only cost me like $2-$3 to make. My clothes are still soft and smell nice. I used a scent that isn't super strong because I typically use scent free stuff.

My one word of caution.... the first load that I tried to use this with I had the problem of the top layer being more "suds" and then the liquid came out very fast. I made a little bit of a mess! From that point on, I just gave the bottle a little shake before trying to pour any out. The next few loads were still a little tricky, but since I have used a little more from the bottle it has been going much better!

Mamatography - Week 16 - April 15 - 21

Mamatography for the week of April 15 through 21

Week 16

 4/15 - Sunday
We finally planted our pepper seeds today. These are in the mini greenhouse that we have the broccoli and kale in.

4/16 - Monday
Little K and I were just hanging out.

4/17 - Tuesday
I tried my hand at making my own fabric softener. It only used 3 ingredients and took about 15 minutes to make. I am working on the post now. I wanted to make sure that I tried it before doing my post. :) *So far, I love it!!*

4/18 - Wednesday
I had to go to the dr today. So, Little K and I picked Big K up at an earlier bus stop. While we waited, Little K played with a tablet thing that my Dad gave to us for the kids to play with.

4/19 - Thursday
Oops! I forgot to take a picture today. I really don't even remember what we did today!
4/20 - Friday
Today over nap time, I started working on the DVD Coloring Cases for teh boys. (The link for the blog that I found the idea on.)

4/21 - Saturday
Today was my hubby's first day off in quite awhile. The weather was beautiful, so we got some stuf done outside. I sort of feel like we planted our newest Asian Pear tree in honor of Earth Day (which is tomorrow).

The next two pictures are of one of the flowers on my one PawPaw tree. There are quite a few flowers on this tree, but this one is the most open. It is simply BEAUTIFUL!! 

This angle was a little harder to get of the same flower as above.

If anyone is interested, the PawPaw trees are native to my area. Well... maybe not my exact area... but not too far away! Here is a website with more information. I am very excited for these trees to grow fruit! Until then, we go and pick PawPaws as a fun family activity! :)

*We're participating in a 366 day photo challenge at Diary of a First Child. To visit past Mamatography posts, please go here . To see other Mamatography participants, please visit any of the links below!



***
Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!
If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.
Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

• Diary of a First Child
• African Babies Don’t Cry
• Woman of the Willows and Wetlands
• From Cristin To Mommy
• Princess poet’s Life Adventures
• Loving {Almost} Every Moment
• The Artful Mama
• The Family Patch
• Boo Roo and Tigger Too
• Becoming Crunchy
• Vibrant Wanderings
• Actually Mummy…
• Boho Mama
• Casyfamily
• Loving Earth Mama
• Baby Dust Diaries
• Baking Momma of Two

• Momma Jorje
• The Mommy Metamorphosis
• Toddler In Tow
• Boobie Time
• Mama Unfurling
• Attached Mommyhood
• Adventures of the Raanan family
• Mommy and Little I
• A Living Family
• Fun with Ima (mommy)
• ShariMamatography
• Carrigan’s Joy
• Becoming Three
• take more pictures
• Girls Can Do Anything
• Anktangle
• Growing A Life

Happy Earth Day!

This past Sunday (April 22) was Earth Day. I hope that everyone took the time to celebrate!

We planted a tree! Okay... technically this wasn't FOR Earth Day. We just happened to plant our new tree the day before Earth Day. My hubby worked all day Sunday, plus, it rained ALL day! Here is a picture of our beautiful new Asian Pear tree in our front yard!

Over the past few years, we have removed all of the landscaping that was here when we bought the house. We have been replacing them with edible landscaping. We like the idea of planting things that have a dual purpose.

I am also very big on teaching my children about Reduce - Reuse - Recycle.
We try to find new uses for things that would normally be thrown out. Thanks to Pinterest, I have found some really great ways to reuse some of our stuff. I made my own fabric softener using stuff that I had around the house (post with pictures coming soon!) where I was able to reuse the last bottle that I had purchased. My favorite, though, would have to be the DVD Coloring Case. (She also has an updated post for the DVD Coloring Case). I am in the process of making one of these for each of my boys. I think a post will be coming about this one as well. (I'm going to give them to the boys as a gift from the baby... I think when I am in the hospital. So, I won't be sure how they like them until the baby arrives.) It is a great way to use some stuff that I have laying around the house.

We took a break from technology on Earth Day. Even though it was dark and rainy, we did not turn on any lights. I kept the TV off, no video games for the kids, lunch didn't need electricity. It was nice to see the kids just play with toys and read their books. :)


What sort of things did you and your family do for Earth Day?