Postcards from Spring Break

I've been hanging all of our laundry out to dry this week. First day of Spring, and then a record breaker yesterday; literally.  85 degrees!  I never thought I would turn on the AC in March, but I'm awfully close....

These are my "After Midnight" cookies- a recipe invented by me when I ran out of flour and substituted in an equal amount of cocoa.  This time I thought almond extract? in place of vanilla and my boat has been floating all week....

Fan mail!  There is no tellling what my oldest will do when you leave her alone.  This time she took a bunch of paper folded in half and stuck it in the door- "Hey mommy, check out the mailbox!" 

A free can of paint from Parker Bros.  I had planned on getting a purple color for the girls bath, but they didn't have a good match, so I opted instead for the most inspiring name.  No ......seriously!  I was so set on the purple color and being disappointed, I couldn't think straight. 

So I sez to myself,

"Self; it'z a free can o' paint.  'Git you somethin' to make ya happy." 

(bad grammar self, bad, bad, bad!!!)

So, I snatched up this color called "French Market".  It's kind of a warm vanilla with green undertones, but when you walk in the room you just say "Oooo La La!"  or "Champs Elysees" and it feels fancy! 

Book Review- The Help

Since this book was released in 2009 and has since had an Oscar bestowed upon it's movie version, I will only add my "outstanding" to the other myriad of voices out there.  And share a few favorite lines:


"I don't know what to say to her.  All I know is, I ain't saying it.  And I know she ain't saying what she want a say either and it's a strange thing happening here cause nobody saying nothing and we still managing to have us a conversation."

"Mother's jaw drops so far it hits her string of pearls."

When's the last time you read 450 pages?  I bet I know when the next time will be....

Pinning yet?

Have you all found Pinterest?  Pinterest is a online way to organize an idea board.  Very much like pinning pictures to a corkboard, the beauty of this is that you "pin" pictures that represent recipes, ideas, blogs, or whatever you like onto a "board" and then also have the ability to "follow" other people whose taste you admire. Your pins are then a direct link to the information source. It is free, can be addictive, but has been an awesome way for me to organize my thoughts into one place.  Curious?  Feel free to check out my boards by clicking the red cursive "P" on the right side of my blog.

So, one of the pins that I brought to life recently was this one from "The Farmer's Nest" .  How to make liquid hand soap on the cheap without the antibacterial add ins.  Turns out you only need a grated bar of soap, a little bit of glycerin, and a gallon of water.  Seeing as I had all the ingredients, I figured it was worth a shot.  Link to her post on how to make it and a bajillion bits of specifics, but let me share my personal experience:

(above picture by The Farmer's Nest)

You simply take all 3 ingredients and put them in a large pot over heat, stirrring until dissolved.  Let "rest" for a few hours or overnight.  Consistency will be .....um.....snot-like.  Because of said consistency, you should use your mixer to whip it up into something that is more likely to come out of your soap pump. 

I expected that I would end up with roughly a gallon of soap.  As you can see below, I got more than I bargained for and had to start improvising on "containment".  You know that episode of "I love Lucy" where the bread comes all the way out of the oven?  Or Paul Simon's song  "Slip Slidin' Away"?  Let's just say it was rather comical, but the baby didn't seem to notice.  A couple of weeks have gone by and the soap has deflated somewhat, but I'm still definitely in the plus column of a gallon. 

You may be asking why in the world did I do this?  Is liquid soap all that expensive? Not really, but my job is to keep as many pennies in the bank as I can.  I'm not particularly patient when it comes to thrifting ( I stand in awe of so many of you), I don't have a hidden art talent to sell, and frankly haven't found an enjoyable way to make money while being a stay at home parent. 

Plus, when you've got munchkins in diapers you are washing your hands a lot.  My hands were resembling 20 grit sandpaper this winter (hey, maybe that's my moneymaker- hand sanding- hee, hee).  I thought it might be attributed to the liquid soap we were using, but became convinced when Jeff complained of his hands being painfully dry and rough after a mere weekend of child care.  I had a bar of soap under my sink (Trader Joe's if you're curious), I already use glycerin in my washing machine for fabric softener, and thought what could I lose? 

Here are the pros and cons:

Pros:
Super cheap
You get to pick the bar of soap you want to use
Glycerin is the base of lotion/moisturizer (from the mouth of my dermatologist- who had me using the      straight stuff when my hands were literally bleeding from dryness; it's sold in the pharmacy)
No more lugging home bottles of the store stuff

Cons:
Snot like consistency- gross looking
Be prepared for a bit of a mess
Have two (1) gallon containers at the ready-  I used an old vinegar bottle, thought it would be less smelly than a milk jug
Can be a little "stringy" coming out of the pump
It might be wise to dedicate a grater for this use, some people said that they use their food processor, but I'm a chicken with a 1 year old Kitchen Aid that is budgeted for 20 years.

Overall?  I can tell my hands feel much better after using the soap.  I am still using up some of the pumps with the old stuff in them, so I haven't switched 100% over just yet.  I'm not sure if the bar of soap that I used was what caused the volume issue, but I am happy to conduct another experiment.  I'm definitely going to keep it up.  Love to hear what you find out!

A little four goes a long way...

I have been remiss from blogging lately due to planning my daughter's first official birthday party. Last year, we had a little play date with a few friends that included cake, but was a far cry from an actual party.  I knew then that her fourth would have to be an all out affair.... well, for me, anyways; with mailed invitations, planning, craft, and lots of stress.  You know the premise of "facing your fears"?  Well, this one tops public speaking in my realm.  So, for the love of my daughter, I looked the party in the eye, gave it the old one-two (and went up to six for good measure) and promptly took a nap once the house cleared out. 

The party room thanks to my Craigslist dining table, a tablecloth I scooped up from Target in 2005 (yes, that's right, I just opened the package) for a mere $4, and a homemade banner from leftover scrapbook paper.  The scrapbook paper was leftover from the same birthday girl's birth announcements.  Wild.

Crazy stinkin' cute

We started off with Jeff (the man, the myth, the legend, Captain Awesome!!!) entertaining the kiddos with a scavenger hunt through our main floor. 

Mayhem ensues- Sara remains upright

The hunt ends with my picnic basket containing mini wood boxes with each girl's initial on them.  I had stickers for them to decorate with and then we made bracelets with pipe cleaners, colored and alphabet beads, and these sweet little purse charms that Madeline picked out.  Craft and party favor in one!

Fabulous little birthday girl wanted a strawberry cake with pink icing.  This was my second attempt, b/c the first attempt really wanted to be part of a trifle.  I begged it to be a layer cake, but sometimes there's just no persuading a cake out of it's pan in one piece.  Round two went to me, where, during the ingredient stage, I told the cake it will come out of the pan in one piece.... or else.  And then I beat it into submission.  On level 10.  HA!

We all really had a great time and the partygoers played wonderfully well together, and one little Madeline was exceedingly happy for days leading up to the event.  It was a great reminder for me to parent her selflessly.  This picture was taken after Jeff and I woke up from naps.....she's still holding her balloon.