Liquid Laundry Detergent

I have no idea why I was so nervous to melt some soap on the stove and add water, but I was! Ridiculous, I know! After becoming lazy on making the powder soap, I bought some detergent from Costco, fairly inexpensive but after making it for so much cheaper, it killed me every time I used it. I decided to try this recipe and I have no idea what the breakdown of the price is but I am pretty sure it is about 1 cent per load? I have used it for the last 3 months and I still have half of the bucket left.

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Bar of Dial
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate both bars and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel) I didn't do this for the first few batches, it seemed too watery.

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - I have found this at Lin's. Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

Christmas 2010 Sewing

For Christmas this last year I decided to do a lot of sewing, a lot for me anyway! A few years ago I attempted to make an apron for Brady, it turned out awful! I have since done more sewing and thought I would attempt this again. I am still a non-sewer and only dabble, but the more I sew the better I get. Here is what I made this year: reversible aprons for the 3 kids with matching chef hats and a bunk bed tent. I had a lot of fun making them, especially the chef hats!

Love Brady's face! Probably not his favorite gift, but he likes it now, thank goodness!

Leilani with her hat, didn't get a picture with her apron on.

Carter ready to cook!

The bunkbed tent I wish I would've reinforced the windows like the tutorial suggested but I was a little done by the time I made it and finished right before we left for Ogden. I used a queen size flat sheet, which worked perfectly! I didn't need anymore fabric then that. I modified the straps from the scraps, I should've also added a strap in the center, it would stay up a lot better then it does now. I would've made the windows a little bit smaller, since the first time I put it up Brady thought it would be great to climb through it and it ripped slightly. You can never quite guess what kids are going to do, the unthinkable really!

I cannot take all of the credit, here were my resources:

Apron/Chef hat: http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/Blog/Classic_Apron.pdf

Bunk Bed fort: http://alemonsqueezyhome.blogspot.com/2010/06/bunk-bed-fort-tutorial.html

Pioneer Day

In celebration of Pioneer day our ward had a breakfast and a little "parade" to get to the church which is a whopping 1/2 mile or so? The kids rode their bikes and the little ones got a nice little ride in our double stroller. Breakfast was pancakes, eggs and sausage. The kids played a game of chasing a chicken from one side of a dirt field attempting to get the chicken to go around a pole and then back, this however was unaccomplished since the chickens were not very cooperative! It was hilarious that on the second attempt the chickens laid down and didn't not want to move at all. Afterward the sprinklers at the church went off and lo and behold my kids wanted to run in the sprinklers with the other children. It was a lot of fun watching them enjoy themselves and when the station they were playing stopped they whined, then the next station went off and the hoorays were so cute! The simple joys! My kids told me that was the best part of the day.

As today is the actually Pioneer Day it is hard to imagine what the pioneers actually went through on their trek west. I cannot even comprehend what it would've been like to load all of their possessions into this small wagon or handcart and not know what may be on the other side. To have such faith and follow the counsel of their beloved prophet and trust that their lives would be much safer and they would be allowed to worship freely without the persecution.

Brady was asking me if we had any pioneers and since I don't know the history of Bryce's side very well I proceeded to tell him what I know of my side. I had a Scottish Grandmother (great-great) who joined the church and left her family in Scotland to head to Zion. She was 19 years old. There was a family that took her under their wing and she came across in the Martin handcart company. What faith she had to have to leave her family and all that she knew because she believed so wholly and completely in this gospel.

I pray that I may have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord and be willing to make sacrifices when I am asked and not murmur. That I will learn from my trials and be stronger as a result. I pray that I will be able to teach my children that and teach them where they came from, that it will give them strength to endure their own trials.

Summer Swimming

Our summer has been crazy busy with swimming lessons. Each session lasted 2 weeks and we did 2 sessions. The hardest part about it was sitting in the sun for 2 hours 3 days a week. Not a lot of fun to entertain a 2 year old when he can't go swimming and to nurse a baby in the heat, yeah fun! I am so glad it is over!

I signed Leilani up for preschool lessons, since they won't let them advance until they are 5. After she passed preschool and was terribly bored throughout the session, they pushed her to Level I for the next session. She passed with flying colors! She is now where Brady started this summer and is 4, I am proud of her. She now is gaining the skills to back up her no fear of water.

Brady started with Level II, passed and moved on to Level III. I was very excited when he overcame his fear of the diving board and the deep end. He now has the confidence that he needs to swim anywhere in the pool. I am still debating about doing the last session, we shall see. We are going to Idaho for a family reunion at the end of July, so that decision will be made later. I suppose I love torture!

Keller asleep during the lessons, sometimes!

The 3 ready to swim. I have to say that Leilani looks so beautiful to me in the this picture, even if she isn't smiling. Notice Brady's big gap on the top?!

Carter wore his swimsuit every day, even though he couldn't go in the water.

Hands

Keller is 3 months old and has discovered his hands. It is the cutest thing to see how much of his fist he can get into that little mouth of his! I love this age of discovery.
Hands
Feet
People
Laughing
Smiling
Standing

We pulled out his saucer to stand he loves it! I love it too, because it gives him some leg strengthening and also a break for mom!

I love having a baby in the house, besides the wee hours of the morning when he thinks he is hungry, no you are almost 15 pounds! I raved about his 10 hour sleeps but he seems to not want to follow that as much lately. He was consistently sleeping that length for over a month but lately seems to be giving me 6 hour increments about every other night. I would rather have consistency don't tease me one night and then take it back the next! My body doesn't adjust well to this back and forth stuff.

We recently went to the doctor for his 2 month check-up, I am never good at keeping up with this, besides the fact that I have skepticism of all of the immunizations they require all before the age of 1 year. They are so small, so I always push it back, but I do love the weight check to see how much he is growing.
He weighed in at 14 pounds which puts him at the 75th percentile.
He is 26 1/2 inches long which puts him at the 97th percentile.
I don't remember his head size just that it was in the 35th percentile.

Nice healthy baby boy. Such a sweet little guy! I wish I could capture his adorable smile but he is not very cooperative when the camera is in his face, why ever not?

When he is wrapped for bed he looks like he is in a cocoon, so I call him "Caterkeller"

Here is a smiley face, too bad it isn't a little clearer, love those cheeks!

Keller 2 Months

Keller at 2 months:

He now weighs 13 pounds and is 23 3/4 inches long.
He is in 3-6 month clothes, but not for long! I would guess in the next few weeks he will be in 6-9 months.
We have also switched over to cloth diapers, which is the earliest I have used them. I love them though, never thought I would say that when Brady was born!
He is a smiley little baby and such a joy!

I think I say this about all of my babies, but he truly is! He is amazing and sleeps through the night, last night he slept 10 hours!

Everyone thinks he looks like Brady, but I think he has his own look, different then the rest. To me he looks like my sister, dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin, even down to his nose, which I think is my dad's side, unfortunately he says. I love every little thing about him, right down to his monkey toes! Sweet little guy. The kids call him Kel, or KelKel. I catch myself calling him Mr. Keller, which to me is endearing, reminds me of my uncle's and they are and were great men! I hope he grows up to be like them.

My friend gave me this onesie, a little tight but we got a pic of it on! A matching burp-cloth too, what a fun gift!

He's smiling with his tongue, too cute!

Easter Photo Shoot

Here are some Easter pics of the four. The batteries ran out when I was trying to get the boys, bummer! They were so handsome in their matching ties, courtesy of petitepeanut on etsy. It is crazy to have 4!

Montierth 4

Big Sissy & Keller

Bug-bug with Keller

Cartay & Keller

Leilani Janae