Fridays Fave Five...or 6...

1) Progress! With the medical struggles in our family this last year it's a great thing to finally see some progress. We still have a long way to go but progress of any kind is quite welcome.


2) Spring Break! Yes, homeschoolers take spring break too. Well, we do anyway. Except that we are taking two weeks off instead of one. That wasn't the plan but with so many things going on and trips to the Children's Hospital each week it has been necessary.

This spring break we were able to take a trip with a few other homeschool families to visit the Al Kaly Mule Team here in town. The kids enjoyed the trip and we all learned quite a bit.

3) Great Friends!   We enjoyed an overnight stay with a dear friend of mine. Having to take trips to the Children's Hospital has it's rewards when we get to spend time with our close friends.

Along with spending two days our friends, the kids have had quite a bit of time with friends this week. (Thank you public school spring break) Having good friends with kids nearby is such a blessing for us all.

4) New Adventures!   Because I don't have enough to keep myself busy, (ha ha) I have decided to start up our homeschool play group again. I let it go two years ago because I didn't have time to plan and keep up another project. But now, since I have so much free time, I am getting the group up and running again.

We had our first play date this week and it turned out great. We just met at a nearby park and let the kids play for a few hours. The kids had a great time and the mom's enjoyed the time outside talking.

5) Cute Visitors!   We had a little visitor this week. A very cute one! A neighbor has a bad habit of not keeping track of this cute little girl. We have found and returned her a few times, but I have thoughts about keeping her if the family doesn't keep track of her better!

The kids begged to keep her!

They all had a blast with the little puppy for the time that we had her. They even named her, Missy.

The cat wasn't so sure he liked the little puppy. Though, I'm sure he knew he was big enough to eat the little dog if she got out of hand.

6) Blessings for Friends!   A dear friend has been going through a very difficult time the last 8 months and finally it looks as though things are finally turning around. These major life changes are beginning to fall into the right places for her and her kiddos. God has taken good care of them.


Quote of the Week:  

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
― Mahatma Gandhi


Bible Verse of the Week:

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:34

Wordless Wednesday...

The view from up here...



In Our Life This Week:

 Well lately, in this family, it just doesn't seem normal to have a week without someone getting sick.

Wild Thing spent a good part of the week on the couch. He is the one who really seems to catch anything and everything going around. And in the last few months it's been worse. He has asthma already so every cold he gets hits him harder than it does the other kids. But now, since we have finally found out what else is going on, it's looks as though his already weaker immune system may have an even harder time.

 

Hubby and Little Man have decided that they felt left out so they are now spending the day resting on the couch and being taken care of. My hope is that my daughter Lady Bug and I can keep from catching their cold.

Wish us luck!

Next Up In Our Week:

 This coming week we will get to drive (and hour and a half) up to the Children's Hospital to get some more guidance with some of my daughters health issues. I do wish it wasn't such a long drive. Especially since the appointment is so early in the morning. But on the bright side it does mean we will get to visit and spend some time with my dearest friend and her family while we are there. 

We met another homeschool family last week, through a friend of ours, who has two daughters Mariah's age. When we all spent the afternoon together the girls really hit it off so we are going to have another "play date" this coming week.

What I Am Thankful For This Week:

 I am thankful that, even though we have been trying to deal with not just health issues of one child we are now dealing with health issues of two children, we have family and friends who are being supportive. I am also thankful that we have found some great doctors and counselors to work with.

Being that we have had such an odd schedule for the last few months, I am so thankful we made the choice to homeschool years ago. Never did I imagine that our choice to homeschool would be something so helpful when it came to the kids health. It has been nice knowing that when our schedule of dr appts or errands takes up much of the day, the kids are not falling behind. Why? Because we homeschool on our schedule, not someone else's schedule.

In Our Homeschool This Week:

 As I mentioned we do school on our schedule. So this week we took advantage of the that while Wild Thing was not feeling well. Instead of all the "regular" lessons we took it easy and enjoyed making our first set of Lap Books. Little Man enjoyed helping make his Grocery Trip Lap Book. It's a great way to learn about one subject and have something to show or look back to later on.

Wild Thing was very excited to start his Dinosaur Lap Book. He is very interested in dinosaurs right now...again. He even asked me to read,  Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton to him. I tried to explain that it's not a kids book and that it may be difficult to understand but he insisted. So far we are 4 or 5 chapters into the book and Wild Thing loves it! Just goes to show what mom knows!

Lady Bug started a Lap Book on The Magician's Nephew, the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. She was not very happy  when I suggested the Narnia books be her next set of reading for school, but now that she has started into them, she is really enjoying them.

Projects We Are Working On:

  We have started going through the kids' clothes. Lady Bug's clothes are first, because they take the longest! I have been blessed with a few great friends who have handed down their daughters' clothes. It has been often enough that I have not had to buy much in the way of clothes for her. It has also been very helpful that many of the clothes have been various sizes so for years now we have always had a large box or two of clothes waiting for her to fit into.

The boys on the other hand have a good amount of clothing, but nothing ever lasts very long. And now Wild Thing is so rough on his clothes and shoes that at this point there is not much left to hand down to Little Man. But we still end up with Grandparents finding great deals on clothes and I have good luck with the thrift stores.

Snap Shots of our Week:

**ELittle Man, cuddling with Buddy! ** Lady Bug, spending the day resting! ** Daddy, Wild Thing, and Buddy all enjoying cuddle time! ** Lady Bug and Little Man had a sleepover and when I checked on them they were asleep holding hands! So precious!

**Lady Bug working on the cover of her Narnia Lap Book! **Wild Thing's Dinosaur Lap Book Cover. He is so proud of his book so far! **Wild Thing and Daddy started building a model of the Titanic. **Lady Bug's science experience. Salt and water. It made an awesome circular salt crystal. **Wild Thing went bowling for the first time with his cub scout troop. His first turn he bowled a strike.

**Little Man's Grocery Trip Lap Book. Everything opens and shows pictures or holds paper money or game pieces. I even found two old books, that were mine as a child, to read to Little Man. They were perfect for this little unit study for him. My favorite was the last page one book when it said the best part was buying penny candy!

Favorite Quotes For The Week:



“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

― Anne Frank

“We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.”

― May Sarton

**Now, hours later, I am finally posting this!

I started writing hours ago but with kids, lunch, sick hubby, dog and the cat, it has taken all day to get this post written. Sheesh! You'd think a mom could have a few minutes on peace on the computer.

Oh well, in some 15 years or so I may have time to myself. Until then I guess I'll just...absolutely love being mom!  (ignore any typo's, I am done!) 

A few great posts...

This has been another busy week and I have not had the time to write another post, so I decided I am going to share some posts from others that I really enjoyed!

This post was recent and she wrote so much of what I feel. I think she took the words right out of my thoughts!  

Written by Homegrown Learners.

This post was another one I enjoyed awhile back. It also was one that was spot on with so many homeschoolers. I loved this post.

 Written by Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

This post was a post that was encouraging. I also enjoyed this post a great deal.

  Written by Christian Unschooling.

***

“I cannot go to school today"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry.
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox.

And there's one more - that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut, my eyes are blue,
It might be the instamatic flu.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke.
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in.

My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My toes are cold, my toes are numb,

I have a sliver in my thumb.

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,

I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,

There's a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my heart is ...
What? What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is .............. Saturday?

G'bye, I'm going out to play!”
― Shel Silverstein

Sunday Savings...Homemade Laundry Soap

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP

This is something I tried about a year ago and have used since. It's easy to make and saves a great deal of money. Another benefit is that all the ingredients are very mild and gentle on the skin.

Having kiddos with sensitive skin makes it difficult to find laundry soap that does not irritate their skin.

So I found this recipe online (not sure where) and now I am sharing it with you.

Items Needed

*5 gallon bucket  ($5-6 at grocery store in paint dept or at a hardware store)

*Large cooking pot   (I found mine at a thrift store for $1.00)

*Cheese grater   (I also found this at the thrift store for $1.50)

*Arm & Hammer Washing Soda  ($3.50 for 55oz box at grocery store)

*20 Mule Team Borax  ($3.50 for 55 oz box at grocery store)

(borax box pictured is larger and was $5.00)

*Fels-Napatha Bar Soap ($ 0.97/bar at grocery store)

You can also use Dove or Ivory bar soap.

Bar soap without all the color and perfumes are the best for your skin.

*Wooden spoon or what ever you have to mix with

* 4 Cups of Hot Water

Now you are ready to begin.



*Grate whole bar of soap (It works best if the soap is finely grated)

A cheese grater with the little side works the best.

It also grates fingers well! But don't worry a little bit of skin won't hurt the mixture!

*While grating the soap, put the pan and water on the stove and heat until hot. (doesn't have to be boiling) 

The recipe calls for 4 cups hot water, I just fill the pan 3/4 full. 

*  Once water is hot add soap. Stir with wooden spoon until dissolved.

Make sure you scrap the bottom of the pan too!

*Once the soap is dissolved slowly add the 1 cup of washing soda. Stir with wooden spoon until dissolved.

Again scrap bottom of pan to keep mixture from sticking.

* Once washing soda is dissolved add 1/2 cup Borax. Stir until dissolved.

And again scrap bottom of pan.

When it's all dissolved the mixture will be a light yellow (if using Fels-Naptha).

*While mixture is on stove fill 5 gallon bucket half way with hot tap water.

 *Then add soap, washing soda, and borax mixture to bucket.

Stir well to mix with water.

* Add hot tap water to fill bucket. Continue to stir for a few minutes.

Then guess what?

You now have you own homemade laundry soap!  Yeah!!

Let the mixture cool for an hour,  before putting lid on!

*Let the mixture cool and set over night with the lid on.  It will not gel as some (me) were originally told.

Then in the morning, mix the laundry soap well and pour some into a smaller container.

It's much easier to use a smaller container regularly and just refill as needed from your 5 gallon bucket.

I know washing cheese graters are not always easy and when you use the small side with soap, it's not easy to get the soap all out. But I found that a little finger nail brush works great! Works on graters with cheese too!

 

I have been using this recipe for over a year and it has worked great for us. Our clothes, even the boys' clothes, are clean when washed with this soap. At times when I have some clothes, usually boys clothes, that are really bad or I just feel they need a little extra, I just add in a scoop of  Washing Soda to the load along with the cap of homemade laundry soap. And so far I have not had any problems or have ever felt like the clothes weren't clean enough.

To Use:

1/2 to cup homemade laundry soap per laundry load

Shake laundry soap container before use.

I can't tell you how may loads this recipe makes but I will tell you that it took me a year to use the entire bucket of laundry soap. Now I will tell you that I did use another laundry soap off and on throughout the year so the bucket would have gone a bit faster. But with how often and how much we used I think that using this recipe only (for a family of 5) it would easily last 8 months or so. I also occasionally would mix a container of homemade laundry soap with some of our store bought laundry soap. It all seemed to work fine, no matter which way I did it.

If you want some scent to your laundry soap you can add a few drops of scented oils (lavender works great) to the small container. We do not use oils as I am needed to keep the extra stuff off their skin.

Now the cost. How much does this cost?

Here's the run down:

**5 gallon bucket (and lid)  $6 - which is a one time purchase

**Washing Soda (55oz)  $3.50 - you only use 1 cup per bucket you make so this will go far, and it is great for a laundry booster or household cleaner 

**Borax  (55oz)  $3.50  - this too will last a long time, you only use 1/2 cup per bucket and it as well is a laundry booster and household cleaner

**Fels-Naptha Bar  $0.97

(Dove or Ivory soap are similar in price per bar)

So we have $14 dollars ($13.97) for the start up.  $14 for eight or nine sometimes more, months of laundry soap?  And your next batch may only cost you the price of the soap if you have not used all the washing soda or borax. $8 to make if you have to replace the soap, washing soda, and borax. Not bad!

It works great for sensitive skin. And believe it or not its helpful for those with asthma. Because there are no perfumes or bleach in the laundry soap mix.

Now you know how to make your own homemade laundry soap!

Save money and enjoy!