Laundry Detergent

Awhile back, a friend on Facebook posted a link to homemade laundry detergent. I have to admit, at first I thought she might be a bit crazy. But then, I was intrigued. I know I'm not alone, but I do an absolute ton of laundry each week. And supposedly, this stuff gets your laundry really clean, is relatively inexpensive to make (about a $25 plus an initial investment of the container I bought), you use only a tablespoon per load, and it lasts forever (about 9 months to a year). I've only used it a couple times, but so far so good! Here's how you do it:

1 - 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz)
1 - 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg)
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz)
3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap or pink Zote soap
2 small containers of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) optional (I added it into mine)

Grate the Fels-Naptha soap just like cheese. You can use a food processor or just use your hand held grater (NOTE: some people recommended putting the grated soap in the food processor again once it's grated -- next time, I will probably do this. I do find a random soap grating now and then).

Toss all ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket lined with a garbage bag. Once everything is mixed store soap however you like (I bought a large glass airtight jar). I used the scoop that come in the Oxy Clean, but a coffee scoop would be perfect.

This detergent is safe for HE washers and should be added to the barrel instead of the dispenser.

(And by the way, it really didn't take much time at all to make.)

(via Being Creative to Keep my Sanity)

Sunrise

Art by H :: Etched Mask

More Winter

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wish it wasn't so, but I really don't have any patience when it comes to working in the kitchen with my kids. Terrible, I know! Especially since they really love cooking and baking. But today, I let them loose and we made some chocolate cookies. Delicious.

Dr. Seuss

Sheesh, it's been a crazy week. One of those really busy ones spent just moving along in order to stay afloat, but with no new stories to tell. And today was fine, but one when nothing really went exactly right. Somehow everything needed at least a little fixing. The boys also got out of school early and have tomorrow off. I wish we had something fun planned, but besides a birthday party for H later in the day, they get to sit around the house while I work. Anyhow, in honor of Theodor Seuss Geisel's birthday tomorrow, C came home with this picture of himself. And that, makes me very happy.

Maddie

I've been kind of obsessed with Maddie the Coonhound ever since I first found out about this Tumblr site. A dog. On things. Too awesome. And of course, I love that she recently was photographed in Wisconsin. What a cutie. (via swiss-miss)

The View Right Outside My Window

White to Gold

For the past couple months the boys (and I, and occasionally Brian) have been taking tae kwon do classes. Honestly, it's not something I ever thought in a million years I'd be doing. But C was interested in it, then H said he wanted to try it and here we are. What I'm finding, is it's really been great for all of us. For C, it's a great way to release some energy and practice focusing. For H, it's about building confidence and speaking up. For me, its about focus, balance, flexibility and cross training. I don't ache when I run anymore (and I've been running longer distances). My mind doesn't wander quite so much. And it's just been really fun to do something with the boys. Let's put it this way -- I'd much rather be at the dojo than sitting in front of our TV at night. Ironically, it was C who got us there, but H & I are the ones enjoying it most. Last night the boys had their first testing -- from white belt to yellow belt. They rocked it. Tomorrow, it's my turn. Wish me luck!

[Update: My testing was today and I did it. Board broke, moving on. Gold belt here I come.]

Art by C :: Alligator Teeth

I opened C's closet and what did I find? Bunches of alligator mouths. Wish I could have captured these better -- they really are very sweet.

Sky Pilot

Brian was going through boxes in his office over the weekend and came across this photo of H and our dog Sky Pilot. Don't worry -- if you don't think he's the most attractive creature, you are not alone. But Brian and I adored this dog. He was our first child, and perfect for our city life at the time. Contrary to what people may believe, greyhounds are very lazy and don't require much exercise, really. The biggest obstacle we had was teaching this long-legged beast to walk up and down stairs when we first brought him home. He was 4, and lived in a kennel on a race track in Florida. Stairs just were not part of his life. Brian and I may have even shed a few tears the first time he walked them on his own -- after weeks of us moving his feet up and down the four flights to our loft. By the time this photo was taken, Sky was 10 years old, gray, missing part of his tail (he would swing it in a circle and bang it on everything -- blood flying everywhere -- so we had to get part of it removed), and missing most of his teeth. I guess you could say he was slightly high-maintenance. Most importantly though, when this photo was taken, we had known for two months already that Sky had bone cancer and that his time with us was numbered. It's such a horrible feeling. We made sure to take him to the Regap picnic that year to hang out with his other greyhound friends (Regap is the organization we adopted him through), where they took this photo for us. H was about 1.5 years old here. I had completely forgotten about this picture -- but was glad to have found it.

Hamburglers

My sister and nephew were have a craving today -- for Solly's burgers. Luckily for us it is close our house, so they asked if we wanted to come too. I've heard a lot about this place, but today was our maiden voyage. Solly's is known -- brace yourself -- butter burgers. In case you haven't heard of them before, here's how Wikipedia defines them:

In the Upper Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, burgers are often made with a buttered bun, butter as one of the ingredients of the patty or with a pat of butter on top of the burger patty. This is called a "butter burger".

Oh, leave it to Wisconsin. A butter burger is not for the weak of heart -- literally. I asked for H's and mine to be light on the butter. He felt robbed, telling me he couldn't believe I'd do that to him. I guess there wasn't enough butter pouring off his burger for him. But I thought it was perfect this way.

Basking in the Sun

Dinner with Dad

My dad is in town for the week, and came over for dinner tonight. We were all very excited to see him -- even if C was his typical difficult self for part of the visit.