This is how we (uh, I) do laundry

If you Google "home made laundry detergent" you will get thousands of hits that will lead you to blog posts just like this. I had heard of making your own laundry soap but I figured it was too hard and Travis would think I was crazy. One night while watching 17 Kids and Counting (I LOVE this show) the family explained how they save money by making their own laundry detergent. Travis actually thought this was a great idea and wanted to know if I had ever considered it. I had but I thought it was too time consuming and storage takes up a ton of room. I also need a laundry detergent that leaves no residue (no brighteners, no softeners) or it will ruin the cloth diapers. Finally, I really doubted that it saved any money.

When the kids on the show were making the laundry detergent they were making a liquid version. I don't really like liquid detergent and every recipe I have seen requires boiling water, lots of water and a five gallon bucket to store it in. Um....no. I had my nice Charlie's Soap that was cleaning all my clothes/diapers well with no residue, no fragrance, no need for fabric softener and it was non-toxic. Would I be able to find a powder version of the home made stuff that does all these things? I scoured the internet and found a recipe. Basically it was all the ingredients of the liquid version, no water added and no boiling required. Yes!

Home made laundry detergent
1/2 bar Fels-Naptha laundry soap or Zote laundry soap or 1 bar Ivory soap
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax

*Unwrap the bar of soap and leave it alone for a few hours to dry out. Over night would be best.
*Grate one half of the bar of soap (I cut mine up into chunks and tossed it in the food processer) save the other half for the next batch .
*Mix the grated soap with the washing soda and borax (I tossed all three into the food processer to get a really finely mixed powder).
*Use one tablespoon for regular loads and two for extra dirty loads. Makes about 40 loads.

Here is the double batch I made, stored in an old baby formula can.

Pretty. The scooper is from Charlie's Soap you could totally use the scoop that comes with the formula.
So, now I'm sure you've got some questions.

What the heck are these ingredients? Where do you even find them? Fels-Naptha can be found at Winco for $1.07 a bar, Zote can be found at my nearby Target for $0.97 and Ivory can be found anywhere for $1. You can actually use any soap you like, castile soap is popular, as long as it does not have moisturizers. You want plain Jane soap. Fels-Naptha and Zote are specifically made for laundry so I personally stick with those. Fels-Naptha has a strong pine scent that does not transfer to the clothes, they all come out smelling like...nothing. The Zote has a clean smell but again, the clothes come out smelling like nothing. Here's what they look like.
Borax. I used 20 Mule Team Borax because it was the easiest to find, this was $3 for 76oz at Winco. More info on Borax here. Basically, it acts as a cleaner/brightener.
Washing soda. Probably the most elusive of the three because it often is confused with baking soda. Washing soda is sodium carbonate while baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. One molecule, big difference. Washing soda info here. This acts as a grease cutter and deodorizer. I found mine at Winco in the laundry section for $2.58 for 55oz. I read that it can be found with the pool supplies and is called "Soda Ash."

Is is clean rinsing? Yes. It leaves no residue which is why it's safe to use on cloth diapers. Any residue buildup from cleaners, diaper rash ointment or fabric softener will cause cloth diapers to repel moisture causing leaks. This is why I'm so adamant about clean rinsing detergents.

What do your clothes smell like after you wash them? Nothing. Clean. Even poopy diapers? Yup.

What about fabric softener? We don't use it at all. I will pour white vinegar ($2.19 for a gallon) into the fabric softener dispenser for a good clean rinse. Do you smell like vinegar? Nope, it does not leave a vinegar smell. Are you crazy? A little. Travis says I'm a lot crazy. What about static cling? Doesn't happen. Are your clothes crunchy when you line dry them you crazy hippy? Nope.

What about HE washers? It's perfect for HE washing machines because it doesn't suds up (Travis is looking over my shoulder saying "It should be 'sud up'." Whatever). I'd recommend the liquid version for the HE washer though.

Does it work in cold water? Yes. The only thing I wash in hot water is diapers and everything washed in cold comes out clean.

What about white clothes? I totally admit to using bleach (bad Monica!). I bleach my whites every fourth or fifth wash. I have heard of whites looking gray after using this detergent for a while but those folks also had really hard water. Also, most commercial detergents have optical brighteners which are basically these tiny particle dyes that cling to your clothes when you wash them. They absorb UV light causing clothes to look brighter even if they aren't. Something like that. Google it. You're clothes probably aren't as white as you think they are.

Some people toss in Oxy Clean but I don't really like it. Something to think about.

What's the cost? Do you really save money? The Charlie's Soap I was using was costing me $0.19 per load, this does not include shipping. I looked on Amazon and found the cheapest laundry detergent they offered, it worked out to be $0.22 per load. Tide was up around $0.27 per load. I have no clue what laundry detergent costs locally because I haven't bought since we started using Charlie's a year ago. The home made laundry detergent using the recipe above costs $0.03 per load. That's not a typo, it costs three pennies a load.

Is it good for the environment? Yes and no. It's better than most commecial detergents since it has minimal chemicals, it's non-toxic and it's clean rinsing so those with allergies/sensitivities can use it. It's not perfect, borax can be toxic if consumed in large quantities or left on the skin since it has a pH of around 9. I'm pretty sure Fels-Naptha can't be too kind on the old GI tract either.

I think I covered it. Leave any other questions in the comments.

It's cold outside

I love the fog. It's makes everything seem so....still. The snow gives me the same feeling but since it doesn't snow here the fog will have to do. Our fireplace actually gives off heat so we've been turning it on in the morning and evening. Jack stares at the flames, all the animals love to lay in front of it or stare at it. Unfortunately, it's freezing in my sewing room. I have managed to knock out a few things one being Jack's new favorite blanket.
Fleece lined with striped flannel. I still need to add velcro, right now I'm holding it shut with diaper pins. Thank you Joann for have huge fleece remnants in your pile so I don't have to pay full price. I picked up black, beige, dark gray, lime green, green and pink fleece all at a discount simply because they were remnants. I also happened to be there when Simplicity patterns were $1.99. Score!

Speaking of patterns I tried to make my own by simply measuring Jack and transferring it to paper.

If you can't tell I was trying to make Jack a pair of overalls. I didn't know what to make the pattern out of. Travis' mom had told me that she used to make patterns out of newspaper but I wanted to trace it out with pencil and the print would have made it hard to see. I opted for using a paper bag.
Sadly, they didn't work out. Boo.

Next up on the machine is a lamb (as in, stuffed animal) for a pregnant co-worker who is the sweetest thing ever. I'm thinking about using my pink fleece to make a wrap blanket for her but I need to look for coordinating flannel. I'm also wondering if my two pregnant friends would like a wrap blanket along with the Moby wrap I'm buying them. I know one could use it since she lives in Maine but the other already has a Miracle wrap, I think.

I'm also trying to learn how to knit, it seems like a good thing to do while vegging out in front of the TV. That way I can be productive and a slacker at the same time. I imagine it something like "Travis, can't you see I'm making you a pair of socks while watching The Girls Next Door? I can't possibly stop to cook you dinner/change Jacks's diaper/wash dishes..." Yesssssss, that would be nice.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm totally envious of what the Jollyewe can do with a pair of knitting needles. I don't think I'll be as good as she is nor do I think I'll be spinning my own yarn but it would be nice to bust out some socks, a hat or little sweater for the kid.

Now for the obligatory Jack pictures since that's why you're here. First, look how long he's getting!
Next, bathtime. Ignore the death grip I have on his arm. If I drop him in the sink Travis will kill me.

And finally, Jack meeting his Great Grandpa Gerry on Thanksgiving.

Great Grandpa's are cool.

Cheap, frugal, penny pincher, tightwad....

Whatever you want to call it I've (we've?) decided to cut wayyyyyy back on what we spend and how much trash we produce. I started thinking about this, not very seriously, back when I was pregnant. When the economy began to tank in a big way I decided to jump into action. By reading the frugality area of what Travis calls the crazy mom boards I was directed to this bookThis by no means is a "Do this plan and all your problems will be solved" kind of book. There are tons of tips, ticks and how-to's but a huge part about it is to make frugalty a mindset, a habit. She encourages her readers to think about their individual situation and apply frugalty to their lives to attain their goals. I love this book. When I first got it, I thumbed though it like I do magazines and the like. Now I'm pouring over this book like I'm studing for a test (maybe even harder than I studied!). If you look at my copy of the book it's highlighted in various sections and has a ton of paperclips marking pages for easy access. Now I'm not gonna start fixing shoes with dental floss (a real tip from a reader!) but I'm all about the cheap and easy recipes. I took this book over to Travis' Mom's house for Thanksgiving and didn't even get to read it because everyone else was. I would totally recommend this book to anyone who is serious about cutting back, saving, getting out of debt and consuming less. Don't ask to borrow my copy, I'm not letting this thing out of my sight. You can look at it while your at my house but before your leave I'm checking your bag! Better yet, check it out yourself at the local library.

Mmmmmm, steak

This is for Kim. It's a steak rub that we used last night for our BBQ. I found it somewhere, I think it was Everyday Food Storage but I'm not positive. It's a good recipe, not amazing enough to dedicate an entire post to it but if I don't do this now I'll forget. I'm getting old.

4 tsp salt
4 tsp paprika
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp tumeric

Progress

If Travis didn't have to work he would work in the garden all day long (and woodwork, and ride his bike). He just had seven days off in a row and most of them were spent in the backyard. He managed to get the pile of gravel out of our driveway.

He worked on the path, cleaning it up and planting something (I have no clue what) in between the stones.
Did I mention that he planted cover crop, lettuce and broccoli? I love broccoli. Can you see the teeny tiny cover crop? It's there, I promise. Travis says he's not done until the backyard looks like "a jungle."
Now, on to the big guy. Jack. The hair on the side of his head is falling out leaving the coolest looking natural mohawk ever. I love it, goes great with his new Chucks.
He's growing so fast. Long and skinny just like his dad. He's three months yet his three month sleepers don't quite fit. He can't stretch out his legs when he wears them. I put him in six month sleepers but those are too long so the feet flop around. I can't help it though, I have a bunch of terry cloth sleepers, they are so soft and make you wanna cuddle him all day.

Speaking of cuddles, this kid does not like to sleep alone. I don't mind it at night, in fact I love sleeping with him at night. My problem is that he doesn't like to nap alone and mom wants to get things done when he's asleep. I could wear him in the sling but there are some things that I want to do (scrub the shower) where having him in the sling just won't cut it. We need to work on that.

Did you know that we have pets? They love Jack.
They love each other also. Ralph and Pernella, my two cats who are named after my favorite residents back when I worked in the nursing home. I got Ralph as a surprise from my parents about four months before I met Travis. We got Pernella when Ralph decided to start attacking our feet because he was bored and needed someone to play with. Ralph is big, fat, old, grumpy, rarely meows and loves to cuddle. He sleeps by our feet every night. He used to sleep on my chest but that changed when I was pregnant and he no longer fit. Pernella is tiny, has a high pitched meow that sounds more like a squeek and is an all around spaz.
Alright, gotta cut this short I have a whiny child waking up.
Jack says "See ya!"

Did you remember to vote?

Did you remember to vote on election day? We all got up and took a family walk on down to the polls first thing in the morning. No long lines like in other areas of the country. We were in and out in 15 minutes. For Jack and I, it was our first time voting. At one point Travis leaned over and said "What am I supposed to vote on this?" while holding up his four fingers indicating Prop 4. He looked like a kid trying to cheat on a math test.

After we walked home Travis went to work while Jack and I hung out watching CNN all day. I was glued to that TV. Man it was a stressful night, I needed a margarita. I even broke out the Petron that the Jollyewe gave me for my birthday.

How nifty were the folks on CNN? Holograms? It looked like Star Trek. The magic board is pretty cool. I was watching the BBC coverage of the elections and they had even cooler graphics but the announcers were so. dang. boring.

I'll leave you with a picture of Jack in a pumpkin outfit that grandma put him in. I think this is right before he started screaming.

Travis is melting, secret santa and I've become domesticated

Travis noticed the other day that he looked like he was melting. Closer inspection revealed that he was rotting away. He diagnosed himself as having a depressed skull fracture.


Apparently when I cut the stem off the pumpkin I managed to cut a little too much off.

Mandatory Jack picture (so Kim doesn't complain). I love this one.


Only one more day left of maternity leave. Through the entire three months I've been taking care of Jack (obviously) but I also took advantage of the fact that newborns sleep, a lot. Before I met Travis I was not much of a cook, my baking was so so and I didn't craft/sew at all. My mom is not a homemaker in any way so I really didn't have anyone to learn from. Now after three months of sitting at home on the internet I have started to learn more and more about making food, storing food and that cooking isn't that scary. If you look at the links on the side that's just a small sample of all the blogs I've read trying to learn how to cook, organize, sew, craft and be an all around Suzie homemaker.

Look I even made bread and pizza all from scratch! Considering that my specialty three years ago was beans and rice I'd say I'm improving. Thank you Travi.
Oh the secret santa. I found a bag by my front door when I came home from the grocery store. There was no card or any note left behind. When I found out who left this for Jack I was quite surprised. Look what Jack got.

No time to make a long post. Jack just wanted to say "Hi!" to his buddy Sam.

Procrastinator? Slacker?

Two posts in one day!

Lately, Jack has had more awake time which means more time mom has to entertain him. He loves the mobile that hangs above his crib but that will only satisfy him for half an hour or so. We don't have a play mat (note to self: buy one!) and I can't park him in front of the TV. I read somewhere that every hour of TV watched before the age of seven increases the chances of a child having ADD. Something about all the flashing lights and rapid movement. Anyway, you can see how my craft/sewing time has been reduced to almost nothing. I can't even sew with Jack in the sling since I tend to lean forward while sewing. If he were in the sling I'd smoosh him against the table. I'm on maternity leave shouldn't this be like an extended vacation?

Yesterday Travis worked on the backyard. He had a truck full of compost which make my backyard smell like poop. Boo.Jack and I sat on the back porch to keep dad company. I sat in our new chair and quilted away on what I have decided to name "The quilt that will never die" all while listening to the Slackers. Putting this thing together was a breeze, hand quilting it has taken me over a year. I get so frustrated because it takes forever to move from frame to frame so then I stop. For weeks.
After a while the flys were too much to handle, it smelled terrible outside and I was tired of Ralph begging to come out so we went inside where my other quilt lays on the table just asking to be worked on.

So that's two quilts that need to be finished. Plus, I was planning on making a pig quilt for Donna's Christmas present this year which is probably not gonna happen. Last year I made the "Giant Janell Project" and there's no way I can dedicate that much time to quilting a single project this year.

Vacation

We took our first trip out of town as a family this week. A few days in San Diego disguised as a work conference for Travis. The hotel was nice, right on the water with a great view.We enjoyed the free food and drink offered but instead of attending meetings Travis hung out with me and Jack.


He's still got blue eyes.
Jack had no problem reminding us that he'd rather be held than stay in the stroller while on our walk.
We hung out with couples who had children as not to annoy those who left their kids at home or are childless (you know who you are). It was a good trip but we left a day early because I got sick and when I'm sick all I want is my own bed no matter how nice the hotel bed is.

A new family tradition?

Last year I painted two small pumpkins to look like me and Travis but for the life of me I can't find the picture of them. This year I decided to do it again and Travis asked if it would be a tradition. Why not? I gave Travis glasses made out of pipe cleaners (I know, I craft like a five year old). I'm supposed to be yawning but it looks like I'm yelling but either emotion is appropriate. Why didn't I carve them? I like carving pumpkins but I hate rotting fruit (yes, a pumpkin is a fruit) on my front porch. Painted pumpkins are fun because no one risks losing a finger, it's much easier clean up and it's easier to be creative with them. The downside is you can't light them up at night. I managed to get them done with Jack in the sling.

The magic of the Moby wrap is amazing. I tried two other slings before getting this and Jack wasn't having it. It's super comfortable, fits everyone in the family and can be used multiple ways up to toddlerhood (one word? two?). It does have a slight learning curve at the beginning but easy to get the hang of.
Even dad can wear it.
I finally managed to get a picture of him smiling this morning while he was in the sling staring at dad.
We recently found out that two of our favorite family's are each expecting a new baby this summer. This is Jack's reaction when he found out he'd be getting two more friends.
He can't wait to welcome new friends and beat the crap outta Thor in a snowball fight!

First Rain

Saturday morning we woke up to discover that it finally rained for the first time this fall. The weather has been nothing but hot, still felt like summer, so waking up to wet ground and a sunless sky was actually nice. I've lived here for most of my life and I can't get over the heat of summer. I love a cloudy sky, the smell/sound of rain, being able to actually see the mountains that we live near and I even like the crazy dense fog. I love jeans, hoodies, sweaters, boots and gloves.
Honestly, who doesn't love a reason to stay in bed most of the day, eat soup, read and watch movies? Rainstorms are the perfect reason to stay in side and be lazy "We can't go out, it's raining." I wish it rained more, like in Oregon.

I managed to get out and take some pictures out in the garden while Jack was still sleeping since I knew that the rain wasn't going to last forever, although I wish it would. I love my new fancy camera and use any excuse to break it out and take tons of pictures. Unfortunately, Jack doesn't care what I want to do. Since he's still only two months old so when he wakes up it's time for Mom to drop the camera and play with him. I do take pictures of him quite often but since he's still in that blob mode where he doesn't do much it's not to exciting. I've been trying to get pictures of his smile but everytime I pick up the camera he stops smiling and gives me the old man face. One day Jack, one day...