November fun

We had such a fun month!  We got to go up to Snowbird for a day with Granny Goldie.  The girls got to swim outside with snow on the ground-that was tons of fun! We spent Thanksgiving with Jay's family and everyone was there, it was the best.  My amazing sister in law always brings stuff for the kids to write letters to Santa, the kids of course love it.  And little Belle started walking!  We tried all month to be a little extra grateful, we have so much to be thankful for.  Amazing family and friends, a home, a good job, beautiful, smart and such sweet little girls; and the list goes on and on...

The kids were playing scientist with baking soda and vinegar

Happy Birthday Belle!

 This little girl has absolutely brightened our home and lives.  She is so cute! (that's an understatement)  She is beautiful and happy and so funny!  We are so grateful for her.  Happy Birthday sweet baby Belle!

Beach and Boat!

We went on our yearly trip to beautiful Bear Lake.  We spent 6 days lounging around at the pool, on the boat, and at the beach.  Needless to say, it was a blast! 

Grandma Goldie

My Grandma Goldie is one of those people that if you've met her, you love her.  She is the most amazing woman!  She was in Ms. Senior America; and she was so great!  She is genuine.  In her philosophy on life she said:  "Thankfulness, optimism, and giving are my top priorities."  She really does live her life by those words.  I aim to be more like her every day;  and I often think "What would Grandma Goldie do?"  Love her!

This is Lila after she saw them place the crown on the "lady in the green dress"  instead of Grandma Goldie.  She was so upset; and sobbing, "I wanted Grandma Goldie to win....."  So sad and cute.  I thought she had no idea what was really going on.

 

Diy bins and mud room "lockers!"

So our new house has an awesome mud/laundry room.  Right away, we realized we needed some sort of organized set up for shoes, backpacks and jackets.  You can see why:

So due to our thrifty do it ourselves mentality, we decided to design something and build it ourselves!  Here's what we came up with:

Thanks to Jay's wood building talent and my staining wood talent (k- staining's not really a talent.....) we now have 8 hooks and four cubbies for all that mud room stuff!  Where did we get those bins that fit just perfect?  We made those too : )  Bins are expensive so here's what we came up with for bins:

Costco wipes box-I just had to cut the top and it fit perfectly

Then I covered it with shelf liner contact paper so the blue wouldn't show through

Next, I busted out the ever dependable Mod Podge (mine is from KD craft from like 12 years ago; apparently it will last forever!)  I just cut some burlap to size and wrapped and glued until the box was covered.

Then I added some knobs we had laying around that came as extra's for a dresser.  They were white, so I just painted them a dark brown to match the stain of the wood and hot glued them to the center.  Cheap, functional, and cute!  I think I will use this bin making idea all over the house, just cover boxes with fabric or even just the shelf liner.  Endless possibilities!

Yay!  It's working like a dream!

24th of July traditions

Yes, Meckenna and I have the exact same boots.

 I love July!  It's hot and busy and so much fun!  We went to the Days of 47 rodeo with my dad.  The two big reasons I love this tradition:  1. My dad is a cowboy at heart and he's been taking us to the rodeo for about as long as I can remember.  So it totally has a sentimental value to me.  AND.... 2.  Who doesn't love a perfect opportunity to wear cowboy boots!

 

 Next tradition:  the Parade!  My whole family has been going to the 24th of July parade for my whole life.  My wonderful aunt Nancy is usually the one who heads to Liberty Park the day before to save our family   spot.  As fun as Jay is, he does not like parades, so he stayed home with Belle while the other girls and I headed up to the fun!  I love the parade!  It's the floats and motorcycles and time with family; but again, it's sentimental for me.  And I love, love to be with my adorable Granny Goldie.  She makes the experience extraordinary with her clapping props and pom poms and cheering.  So much fun!

We also went to Salina again this weekend.  It was just the 6 of us all alone out in the wide open beauties of nature.  We had so much fun together despite the heat and bugs.  We went on the 2-3 hour round trip 4 wheeler drive to the waterfall on the property and the girls got to learn how to drive the little 4 wheeler.  Loved it!

Summer so far

We  went camping with Jay's parents and his brother Lee and family.  We had a great time 4 wheeling and just playing outside doing the camping thing.  Our kids love it!  It started to rain on the morning we were going home which is bad news in Salina.  It gets so slick and muddy; so we were stranded most the day.  Finally Jay's dad was able to pull our mini van out with his 4 wheel drive truck.   We had to stop multiple times on our drive home to clean out mud from the tires because our van was vibrating so bad.  Eventually Jay had to take the tires off to clean them out.   Fun adventure!

Family Pictures 2011

Home made laundry detergent!

The other night, we were trying out home made hot dog buns and Adrianne said, "We are the homemade family!"    Yes, we are.  We make all sorts of things homemade.  We always laugh when we say someone else is weird, because really; we are most likely the weird ones.  With that said, brace yourself for a blog full of the weird (or maybe not so weird) things we make and do.  We love to discover new things we can just make ourselves.  So since today is laundry day, well a laundry day, (it never ends...)  I thought we'd share our HOMEMADE laundry detergent and HOMEMADE dryer sheets!  This is so easy:

Here's all you need:

4 cups hot tap water

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

All of these ingredients are very inexpensive, which is totally the reason to make your own laundry detergent!
Grate Fels-Naptha and add to saucepan with water.  Stir continually on medium low heat until soap is dissolved and melted.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water.   We use a 5 gallon gas container.  We thought it would make pouring easier than a bucket.  After using it for 2 batches though, we think a 5 gallon bucket is probably better so you can stir it. It gets a little lumpy.  We (mostly Jay because it's heavy) just shake the gas container to stir.  Next, add melted soap, washing soda and Borax.  Stir well until all powder is dissolved.  Fill bucket to top with more hot  water.  Stir (or shake) cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir again then fill a used laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill the rest of the way with water.  I actually leave that step out.  I like it more concentrated.  I pour it right under the water in my washer, but that's just my preference:)  Shake before each use because it does get lumpy.

You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons once soap has cooled.  We never have though because we love the smell of Fels-Naptha.  It's kind of a citrus, clean smell.

NOTE:  It has to be Arm and Hammer "Super Washing Soda."  Baking soda, or Arm and Hammer Detergent will not work.  It has to be sodium carbonate.
Yeild:  makes 10 gallons
Use:   top load machine-1/3 cup per load.  Front load machine-1/4 cup per load.