Being a Frugal and Fullfilled homemaker... (proverbs 31 woman!)

Hello all! I told some of you that I would post some information on making your own laundry soap... I was fortunate enough to get this recipe from a friend and fellow homemaker who is VERY inspiring in her frugal endeavors... :) not only is this recipe incredibly HYPOALLERGENIC it has almost NO smell so you can add essential oils or just use the dryer sheets you like for what smell you would like :)

IN A LARGE POT (ONE YOU ONLY USE FOR SOAP/CLEANER MAKING PREFERABLY)

4 QT WATER
(MEDIUM HEAT ON BURNER)
ADD- 1/2 C 20 MULE TEAM BORAX (SODIUM BORATE)
1/2 C ARM & HAMMER WASHING SODA (SODIUM CARBONATE)
STIR AND ADD 1/3 TO 1/2 C GRATED UP BAR OF FELS-NAPTHA

STIR UNTIL DISSOLVED... POUR INTO A 5 GALLON BUCKET AND ADDWATER TILL YOU REACH THE 3 GAL MARK.
AFTER IT COOLS YOU CAN POUR IT INTO OLD LAUNDRY CONTAINERS OR GALLON JUGS AND FILL MOST OF THE WAY UP WITH WATER (SORTA UNTIL IT'S THE CONSISTENCY YOU WANT)

IT WILL WANT TO GEL UP SO YOU CAN EASILY SHAKE IT WHEN YOU USE THESE KINDS OF CONTAINERS.

IT'S SORT OF A CAN'T MESS IT UP THING... IF IT'S A BIT RUNNY JUST USE MORE WHEN YOU DO YOUR LAUNDRY... USUALLY A 1/3 TO 1/2 C PER LOAD IS JUST RIGHT.
SUPPLIES:
LARGE PAN FOR COOKING
LARGE SPOON
5 GAL BUCKET
FUNNEL
OLD LAUNDRY CONTAINERS OR GALLON JUGS
ARM & HAMMER WASHING SODA
GRATED FELS NAPTHA BARS
20 MULE TEAM BORAX


Oh and I almost forgot... I just cleaned my washing machine to sparkling clean by running a hot load with 2 cups of white vinegar. AMAZING :)

THANKFULNESS

Just thinking about being thankful for where we are lately. God is so faithful and we are once again nearing harvest... I always think about the blessing of being able to stay at home and how we are cared for by our Heavenly Father when this season comes around :) I guess it is sort of exciting even though we are EXHAUSTED when we are done! The garden is growing well and I have decided that I DO NOT kill every plant I touch :) I actually have been able to grow things this year (but the hubby is SOOOOO much better at it... and he LOVES it) The boys are growing like crazy... BOAZ has been crawling since 6 1/2 months and Gabriel has been walking around saying "incredible" and throwing his arms in the air... (can you guess his current favorite movie?) We are happy and blessed to "TRUST IN THE LORD AND DO GOOD, DWELL IN THE LAND AND FEED ON HIS FAITHFULNESS" PSALM 37:3

Denver and I at Austin Smoke's 2nd birthday



Just thought we should give a quick update of how life's been going in our cozy corner of the world... we've been hopping around like bunnies trying to get all the yard in order and keep up with the boys at the same time! Gabriel will be 2 this month and Boaz is a week from 6 months! I still can't believe that they are so grown up already! We have been so enjoying watching them grow and begin to play together- Boaz just loves to watch Gabriel and vise versa :) What a delightful blessing from our Lord and Savior! We are so thankful for our home, family and friends! Hope all of your spring times are going beautifully!





Gabriel at Austin's birthday party
me, gabe, and gramma (my mom Aleta)
Gabriel playing in his bedroom
me and gabe in sandpoint, idaho on our 3 day family vacation :)
Boaz ... he's getting SOOOO tall!
such a delightful little man!

Boaz growing and growing...

So, Boaz is growing like a weed! On our home scale he was 15.5 lb a couple days ago (2 1/2 mo. old) He so far is in the 75-90 percentile for both height and weight! (with a cute little head!) He is a jolly joy in our lives and he LOVES watching his older brother gabriel. Oh boy, surely soon they will be running around together getting into all kinds of mischief! We have been so enjoying all the busy times. Oh, and Boaz is amazing at sleep! For at least 3 weeks now he sleeps 8 hours straight at night! (Mom is loving that!)

Christmas and the holidays

Christmas was so much fun... as usual we had our Christmas celebration over 2 days... Christmas eve with Denver's family and Christmas day with Amber's. (unfortunately we forgot our camera with both- so we stole these from our families... haven't got the ones from Amber's family yet)

Amber and auntie shy

mommy and gabriel
Daddy and Gabe
Gabriel playing with his new toys :) so excited!
Boaz hanging out with us :) what a good baby he is!

So, he's here! Whoo hoo! It was a long process and completely worth it. Boaz Eleazar Black is a wonderful and delightful baby boy! We decided (mostly me, I was 2 days overdue and impatient) to induce this time again... and boy were we all wrong about him coming early- even the induction took forever -17hours! Boaz likes to take his time, what can I say? The meds they gave me were different than those with Gabe's induction and so they must have responded more slowly or something. I still didn't have to have pitocin! hurray. so it was natural labor once again for me (minus one dose of the narcotic pain killer after 16 hours.) Labor was intense like Gabe's but I had more time between contractions so I lasted longer with more energy. My labor with Gabriel had a 10 hour chunk of 1 min. on 1 min. off contractions. These hurt the same but I had 3-4 min. btw for most of the time! So much easier to catch your breath! and once again at the end I went from a 7 to 10 to pushing him out in like 30 min. 10 min. of pushing total- no tears, episiotomies or anything. What a thrill. I practically recovered overnight. It was amazing. A total blessing.
Gabriel is doing really well with Boaz too! It helped that we were in Wenatchee with my folks for a good chunk of time and he got lots of extra attention.He loves to sit and wave and say "hi" to his little brother...and hover and practically sit on him he gets so excited. But, it's a good thing. Just gotta watch close. Plus my amazing mom came up to our home after Boaz was born for like 6 days and spring cleaned my house for me, plus helped me get christmas baking done and put thanksgiving together. What a godsend. She is wonderful and a blessing to our family.

So, pretty much we are doing wonderfully and feel so very blessed to have our family and friends. This birth was a wonderful redirection to our Lord and Savior Jesus in being thankful and pressing near at all times to Him! We are so thrilled and cared for by His sweet mercy, grace, and peace! hope all of you are well. All our love, Amber denver gabriel and boaz

He's here!

And so, our new baby boy has arrived! He is a SLOW mover and took his sweet time in his arrival- 2 days overdue and we ended up with an induction. But, even though it was a VERY long labor (17 hours) which was 5 hours longer than his older brother took in an induction as well, it was much easier on mom! And, I pushed him out in 10 min. no tearing or nothing! so, we are now in the adjustment to being a family of four and it is an amazing blessing and delightful and filled with no sleep! But, praise God for His faithfulness, mercy and strength. Without Him we would be destitute! Can't wait for everyone to meet him... we'll have pictures soon!