I don’t know that I’ve ever loved a song like I love this song (actually I’m sure I have, but this is the one I love right now). I’m still discovering Alex Ebert, he’s probably my all-time fave. I hope he’s making music for many more years.
I have added jonnyzombiekiller.wordpress.com to my links. It’s Jonny’s blog, oh yeah! Check it out!
. . . Or any household with multiple people who love to color simultaneously.
I was so happy to see this available from Discount Office Items (not to be confused with discountofficesupplies.com, aka Staples, where it costs over $30 more) . . .
I’ve since found out that you can also get these “Classpacks” from teacher supply stores, but I doubt it will cost less anywhere else, not to mention it was delivered to our home the very day after I placed my online order. The contents of this lovely box are going to save us from perpetual fights over who gets which color when. The box even came with replacements caps. So each child/student gets their own cup containing each color, and when one dries up or gets lost, we go to the box and replace it. I also think it’s cool that there are 16 colors, we would have to collect quite the stash of individual boxes of markers to get that combo, multiplied by 3 (soon enough it’ll be 4), multiplied by the number of years we’ll be using markers in this house, equals: the classpack fits our marker needs very well.
Enjoy!
Have you seen the Lehman’s catalog or their website? I love Lehman’s! They started out supplying goods to the Amish in Ohio in 1955 and now they have a huge wonderland of goods available to everyone. They supply many tools for homesteaders. Since I am a Homestead Hopeful, I thought that a great thing I could easily implement into my own sacred routine would be their Homemade Laundry Soap Starter Set. So I ordered it! I am so pleased with it, that of course, I want to share the love with you, dear readers. The Set comes with everything you need to make your soap including great intructions, neatly packaged in the 4 gallon bucket you’ll use to store the soap.
Here are some snaps of the Sets at Lehman’s in Ohio, before mine came to me. What? Don’t you have the new Canon Teleport 2500 lens for your camera? Hee hee =)
And onto the soap making!
Step 1. Grate your soap
Step 2. Melt the soap in boiling water
It smells soooooo good and with all the steam and the wooden spoon and all the stirring, I couldn’t help but sing “Cheer up Charlie,” during this step.
Step 3. Add Borax and Washing Soda and keep stirring till dissolved
The Set even came with the measuring cup pictured, which you later measure the soap with when adding it to your wash water.
Step 4. Pour mixture into your 4 gallon bucket, add water and stir
Step 5. Let it set for about 24 hours and it will congeal into a liquid gel consistency
Step 6. Store and use
Doesn’t it look cozy in our laundry room cabinet? I’ve actually since moved it because I doubled the batch this time to make about 4 gallons. It is heavy! So I put it in a bigger cabinet where I don’t have to lift it out to get the lid off.
Being a Homestead Hopeful means I’m perpetually looking for simple ways to be wise with our money, honor the gift of the wonderful planet we live on and improve the effectivity of my work, sorta working toward self-sufficiency. Making my own laundry soap absolutely fits that bill and this Set provided the ease I needed to get started! I am gratified in every way, to have implemented it in my life.
Find all of the astonishing facts about how much money you save using this set and how well the soap cleans on the Lehman’s site.
Displayed on our lovely new granite countertops! Thank you Surface Pros!! What a delightful upgrade after two and a half years of preparing meals on 1954 ceramic tile, complete with moldy grout, and numerous chips (although it was really cute!).
The capital “T” is my mug. I originally bought it for my stepmother-in-law for Christmas, we call her Trudy. But before Christmas I realized that Trudy is the nickname she and “Jim” (actually Imre, Sid’s Dad) have us call her for ease of pronunciation (I guess?). Her real name is Gertraud. I can pronounce that : ) I didn’t have time to exchange the “T” mug for a “G” mug, so I kept it. For a while I was racking my brain for a new recipient of this lovely gift, one with a first initial of “T”, but instead I opted to keep it as my “Tea” mug, get it?
So there’s my prenatal health regimen, and I’ve since added some of the sunshine vitamin (D3) to the mix. Be healthy sweet Baby of mine!
Saturday brings my first prenatal appointment. I have changed midwives for this pregnancy even though I had superb experiences with my first three homebirths, all with the same midwifery practice. I just felt a leaning away from that practice this time. Ever since before we were pregnant, my feeling was that I wanted something different for my fourth homebirth. I had a dream that helped me to pinpoint my feelings about the other practice, but wasn’t urged to explore different options until I called to set up my first appointment with them and found that their prices had raised significantly since June’s birth, with no mention of a discount for a fourth-timer. Sid and I decided together that we would explore and within the first evening of exploration I received a call from a new midwife. We had a consultation with her and chose her! I’m not used to having such vague leanings, or maybe I am, but I just don’t typically follow them. In this case I can’t help but feel that the Lord was praying for me, the prayer I didn’t know to pray. Of course nothing’s set in stone, life is dynamic and I have a long way to go. For now I am optimistic and feel very at peace with my progressing pregnancy, changing body, growing baby and not-too-distant birth.
If anyone is interested in more detail about midwifery care in general, please e-mail me. I have personal experience and have taken to heart several other women’s experiences and love to share what I’ve learned from the combination. bouquetofparentheses@gmail.com
. . . Ponyo!!!!! You must! I’ve never seen a Miyazaki movie in the theaters before, and it was a wonderful experience. All five of us were delighted and enchanted, inspired and entertained, heartened and humbled (okay some of those might only have applied to me). Go see it, go see it, go see it!
Here’s a link to the Japanese trailer, if you go see it in America, it will be in English, I just like the Japanese trailer better than the American, Disney-ized one.
Ponyo trailer (Japanese)
I’ve recently added two new links and I want to highlight them here.
Jeanine is the most amazing cake maker, she can take any theme, and I mean any theme, and make it into an edible work of art! She just did a Monchhichi cake for my daughter’s 5th birthday! Check out her website for photos of her art, and check out her blog, too. All of this on cakesbyjeanine.com
Pax Baby is a great website run by Jillian, mother of 5 kids under 7 (and her son just turned 7! She was formerly Jillian, mother of 5 kids under 6!). She offers the best in baby carriers, cloth diapers, and toys, among other things, all super high quality, safe and natural. Find her at paxbaby.com
Thanks!
