Fun Box

I have been really wanting to do more crafty things with Ashlyn now that she is getting older. The past couple weeks I have decided that we watch too much TV and do not do enough hands on activities. She has never watched an abundance of TV but she got to where she would ask to watch cartoons during the day and I would give in. Now she is only watching cartoons when she wakes up and while I am getting showered. Today we went to Hobby Lobby to put together a "Fun Box". The Fun Box will have different quiet activities Ashlyn can play by herself or with Mommy or Daddy. I hope to eventually gather enough things to have several boxes and rotate them so she doesn't get bored with the items in the box. This will be great for days Daddy is not home while I am making dinner or when I have a doctors appointment and she needs to go with me and eventually when I am nursing a baby and she wants attention too.


Today we bought a package of pre-cut felt puppets at Hobby Lobby. I put them together while Ashlyn was napping and they turned out pretty cute! She loved them and had fun pretending they were "getting" Mommy and Daddy.


She also has large wooden beads and shoelaces that she can string the beads onto. She LOVED doing this! She would thread every bead on and then take them off, she did this several times this afternoon. It is great for her hand eye coordination!


The other item in her box is colored sticks, the size of a tongue depressor. Daddy played a matching game with her and had her sort the sticks according to color. Then they just lined them up on the floor and made shapes. This wasn't as much fun but I'm sure we will come up with more things to do with them.


I also have a foam sheet that I am going to cut into large shapes then punch holes around the edge and she can use a shoelace to "sew". This is also something that will be good for her hand eye coordination. I think she will like doing this since threading beads was so intriguing. Oh, the concentration it takes!

How much do you spend on Laundry Detergent?

How much do you pay for laundry detergent? Today I just spent $13.15 for 540+ loads of laundry detergent! I made my own laundry detergent during Ashlyn's nap time.
A couple months ago I was watching the Duggar's and they were talking about all the things they do to make their money stretch and one of the things they do is make their own laundry detergent. I thought it was a great idea but not for me, I mean come on who make their own laundry detergent! Then my sister-in-laws made a batch and raved about how easy and most importantly how clean it got their clothes. So as I started to finish off the bottle of detergent I was currently using I bought all the ingredients to make my own.

Here is the recipe:

4 Cups hot tap water
1 bar soap (Fels Naptha, Ivory, Sunlight, or Zote)
1 Cup washing soda
1/2 Cup Borax

Grate bar of soap and add to sauce pan with 4 cups hot water. Cook and stir constantly over medium low heat until soap is melted.
Fill 5 gallon bucket half way with hot tap water. Add washing soda, borax, and melted soap then stir until dissolved. Fill remainder of bucket with hot tap water.
Let bucket sit overnight to thicken. Stir the detergent as the detergent will have separated. Pour detergent in a cleaned leftover laundry container half way, fill the other half with water.
*Shake before each use as the water and detergent will separate*

For top loading machine use 5/8 cup of detergent per load
For front loading machine use 1/4 cup of detergent per load

I timed myself and it literally took me 20 minutes to make the detergent. I figure you can always find 20 minutes in your schedule to do something you consider important, and I consider saving this much money worth my time. Plus, you know my laundry will be expanding in another 6 months!

Here is a cost break down:

Washing soda $2.89
Borax $2.98
Ivory Soap $1.07 (3 bars)
5 gallon bucket $4.24
Bucket lid $1.27

Total: $13.15+tax

This makes 180 loads for a top load and 640 for a front load machine.

I had to purchase the washing soda at Harps since our Walmart did not carry it. You can find this and Borax with the laundry detergents.
I have enough ingredients to make two more batches and maybe enough borax and washing soda to do 4. The cost of the bucket is the most expensive thing and I won't ever have to purchase another one. So, if I can make three full batches of detergent from these three ingredients it will now only cost me $.04 per load!

This and That...

It's been a whole week since I posted, I didn't realize it had been that long. We have had an uneventful week which was good since several days I didn't feel so hot most of the day. I can't complain too much about my pregnancy sickness because compared to most it isn't that bad. I am able to keep all my food down and can maintain a pretty normal eating schedule. I just feel sick and have very little energy. This time around my sickness starts about 2 or 3 in the afternoon and lasts through the evening. Which makes it hard to get things accomplished during Ashlyn's nap time and get dinner on the table. I can say I have done well with getting everyone fed a nutritious home cooked meal but my house has suffered. Friday and Saturday I was able to get almost everything checked off of my cleaning list, which makes me feel so much better. Hopefully tomorrow I can finish our laundry and scrub the bathrooms.
I'm sad to say we think our dear friend "ra-ra" is no longer with us. Ashlyn was dying to go outside after lunch today so we let her run around a couple minutes before her nap. We discovered multiple patches of rabbit fur through out the yard. I am hoping maybe "ra-ra" just had a bad case of winter fur shedding but I told Phillip he needed to scope out the yard before nap time was over today! Geez, you would think we live in the country!
We are in the market for a new "to us" vehicle. Our Jeep Liberty will not hold a rear and a forward facing car seat, and any Liberty owners will testify to it's lack of family friendly design. We are wanting something with third row seating so we have lots of room for stuff when we travel but also have the option to carry a couple passangers in the back with the kidos. We are very very anti-debt and follow Dave Ramsey's plan, so we will use the money from the Jeep's trade in and then pay cash for the remaining. We are really interested in the Nissan Quest. They drive like a car and have really nice features with lots of room and storage. Phillip is not very interested in another SUV because of the cost and gas mileage. I am definately not ashamed to sport a "mommy car" like many women are! We looked at a Quest this past week but the previous owners didn't care for the inside like I wanted. There were stains on the arm rests and on the dash/console area. We were quite disappointed because the price was right and there are literally no other Quests in the area remotely close to our price range. The dealers in the area say they are hard to come by because owners love them so much they hang on to them. We haven't test driven any other vans to see if there is something else we would consider. Anyone got any information good or bad on mini-vans?

Small miracles are Big in our house!

Earlier this week when Ashlyn and I got home from MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) Ashlyn told me "Goldfish at MOPS". Since she has a dairy allergy she has no idea what Goldfish are, they are on our avoid list of snacks, so I asked her several times what she was talking about. I finally asked her what she had for snack which she usually replies crackers or cheerios, but she said Goldfish. She didn't have a rash on her face nor on her torso so I just sighed and braced myself for a full week of an upset stomach, which is usually what happens. But after a couple days with no signs of reaction I decided to buy a box of Goldfish and try it out again. She has now eaten three servings over the past several days without any reaction. I am so thankful that we are continuing to see signs of her allergy lessening. When she was a baby we had to be so careful since her allergy was considered severe but over the last couple months she is able to handle more and more cooked milk and processed dairy. We are praying that in the next year or two she will be able to eat all dairy products.


The weather today was absolutely beautiful! Ashlyn and I spent a lot of time outside playing. After grocery shopping we ate our lunch outside then played for about 45 minutes. It's amazing what a little fresh air and exercise will do for a toddlers afternoon nap!


As soon as she woke up she wanted to go back outside, and I didn't mind it a bit. We drug the bird feeder out of the shed and set it up in the backyard outside the bay window. Ashlyn helped fill it with bird seed then hollered "come and get it"! What a hoot! She was thrilled that by dinner she had visitors and was able to watch them from the kitchen table. I'm sure this will be a source of entertainment for several weeks.

I just had to post this picture of Ashlyn playing outside. She picked out her pants, apparently her jeans weren't stylish enough, has part of her shirt tucked into her big girl panties, and put her shoes on the wrong feet. Since we were staying home the rest of the day I didn't have the heart to fix her outfit, she just loves dressing herself!

Big Girl Bed and Catching Up

Ashlyn has taken one more step toward being a big girl! She got her new bed this weekend and absolutely loves it. She has done really well staying in her bed and sleeping normally, which was a big relief. I'm really happy with how it all came together, it's very cute! I'm waiting to get the baby's room started and also find out what gender it will be to finish up Ashlyn's room. Right now the new nursery is our current office which we will move into our bedroom and also sell some things to make room. The rocking chair and dresser will move into the babies room and Ashlyn will get a white dresser. The dresser in Ashlyn's room used to have a changing pad on it and is the perfect height for changing diapers. Our plan if we have another girl is to eventually move them into the same room together once they are on the same sleeping schedule and the other room will be their play room. If it is a girl we will get a large white dresser for them to share. If the baby is a boy he will of course have his own room and just keep the current dresser we have for him and purchase a smaller white dresser for Ashlyn.



I had my first OB appointment today. My sweet friend Beth kept Ashlyn for me since it was going to be a longer appointment this time. She has a girl a little younger than Ashlyn so they had fun playing. Ashlyn kept asking to go back to Makenna's house when we got home. I am seeing a different doctor with this baby. My OB with Ashlyn moved out of the area about 6 months ago and this physician took his place. I was extremely disappointed when my doctor left, he was a wonderful doctor. He was not your typical Type A personality doctor, he's very laid back and races cars for a hobby, but extremely caring and patient. I think I'm going to like my new doctor, he is definitely different though, very much your typical doctor but was very kind and knowledgeable. Since I am already 12 weeks along we were able to hear the baby's heart beat at this appointment. It's always fun to get a little glimpse of what is going on in your little tummy!

The other night we went over to the Faddis' house. They have four children and Ashlyn absolutely loves their youngest, Emma! She talks about Emma all the time and even calls one of her baby dolls Emma. I was holding Emma in my lap and Ashlyn wanted to hold her too. So I told her to sit next to me and she could hold the baby. I started off by propping Emma's legs in her lap, but that didn't cut it. She told me "no, in my lap" so I scooted Emma over a bit and boy did Ashlyn think she was big stuff! I just had to steal the photo off of Jennifer's blog so you could see for yourself just how darn cute it was. Ashlyn is so petite it makes Emma look twice as big as she actually is! Ashlyn is going to love being a big sister. If only she understood she will be getting a baby of her very own in another 6 months.

One Happy Family!

Phillip returned yesterday after a 10 day business trip to Orlando. Ashlyn and I were so excited to see him! Ashlyn is very much a Daddy's girl and misses him terribly when he is gone. She asks every morning where Daddy is, my answer is usually "Daddy is already at work" but when he is out of town and I have to reply "Daddy is bye bye" she always starts crying. Poor girl, it breaks my heart! We got to video chat this time around and Ashlyn didn't quite know what to think of it. She mostly showed off because she could see herself in the bottom lower corner.
Phillip will probably roll his eyes and get on to me when he reads this, but I have to do a little bragging on him. I am his wife, I'm allowed to do this! I am so proud of Phillip and how hard he works to provide so well for our family. God has given him such amazing talents, anything audio/video/electronic/computer related comes naturally to him. It boggles my mind! He just finished over seeing all the audio, video, lighting, and production for very large corporate meeting. He is responsible for planning and overseeing their large meetings from start to finish. I am amazed at how well he can do this when I struggle to keep our family of three running smoothly at times!
These are some pictures of one of the meetings last year. To actually see the scale of their meetings and the production that goes into it boggles my mind.




I am looking forward to this weekend. Tonight we are going to a special missions event that our church is having. They are having the Children of the World perform tonight. We are going to take Ashlyn to the service with us, she will have a blast watching them perform. We saw them several years ago and it is the cutest show! Then tomorrow we are setting up Ashlyn's big girl bed. I have been getting things washed and ready waiting for Phillip to get home to put all the heavy stuff together. Isn't it funny how the small things in life, like new beds, thrill parents so much!
I'm off to start on the mound of laundry Phillip brought home yesterday! Nothing says I missed you like smelly laundry!

Big Girl Syndrome!

Ashlyn seems to have B.G.S., big girl syndrome! Ever since she started wearing "big girl panties" she thinks she is a big girl in every other area of her life. Oh help me when she gets her big girl bed this coming weekend! Everything is "I do it"! She decided this morning that she did not want to sit in her high chair, how demeaning. I have a little booster seat that straps into a kitchen chair but the more I thought about it the less I wanted to use it. It would be taking up a kitchen chair and it sits a little too high to push the chair all the way under the table. Plus food falls through the cracks of the booster seat getting the kitchen chair yucky. Her high chair tray comes completely off and then lowers so you can pull it up to the table and use it as a booster seat. I was really pleased about this feature when we originally got her chair and I am really liking it now.

She seemed rather pleased with the solution!