Fall + Fire = Mucho Love!!!

Fall . . . we love it!  All of the orange, yellow, and red.  Crisp mornings and cool nights.  The smell of smoke from chimneys.  I love that fall makes people want to curl up under quilts and take naps, urges us to break out striped tights and denim overalls, and covers our yard with a blanket of crunchy leaves.  I love setting an autumn table, having a quiet time by the fire, and enjoying my first Pumpkin Spiced Latte from Starbucks.  

This fall did not leave us wanting.  We have enjoyed seeing the pumpkins that we grew and cared for all summer adorn our front porch.  Our art was inspired by the beauty God provides during the autumn season.  The kids have spent many afternoons outside. And, the girls proudly donned costumes (of their choosing) for a friend's Halloween party.

This fall, however, we added fire to the mix.  And, this fall has been MUCHO awesome! We have had so much fun with our fire pit.  It has been a wonderful way to spend time together as a family. . . roasting marshmallows, making Smore's, talking, and listening to Daddy tell "Emermadelannah" stories (He's been telling these stories for years.  It's an ongoing saga about a little girl whose name is our 3 girls' names smashed together. Recently, Daddy incorporated Caleb--he's a flying super hero).  The girls love helping by collecting sticks for kindling; and, we all enjoy bundling up and sipping hot beverages while we watch the crackling fire.

Life In The New Year: Promises . . .

1.  More frequent and regular blog posts . . . honest!

2.  More homemade soups, sauces, individual smoothies, and guacamole--thanks to one of my handy dandy Christmas gifts from hubby . . . a Cuisinart Smart Stick Chopper/Immersion Blender.

This batch of homemade (all natural/partly organic) spaghetti sauce yielded the equivalent of 5 jars of spaghetti sauce.  At the very least, I saved about $12 (normally spent on organic jars of spaghetti sauce).  Plus I felt like an iron chef sticking my immersion blender straight into the pot of simmering whole tomatoes--very exciting! 

3.  That I will (eventually) finish this book:

I have an undergrad degree in English Lit., but somehow feel jilted that I was never required to read Tolstoy.  So, I casually picked up Anna Karenina this summer and toted it with me to Florida for our annual week long summer vacation --foolishly thinking I would finish it.


It's January 9th.  I'm on this page:

I have to read to page 940.  But, I am 30 something, pregnant, and tired.  I wake up many mornings to my book flopped open on the floor and my LED reading light shining up at me from its hiding place beneath my book.  It doesn't help that I am a multi-book reader.  I can't just read one thing or one genre at a time.  I am currently also reading:

So, naturally, reading multiple books slows my Anna Karenina progress down a bit.  But, I am thoroughly enjoying my Tolstoy experience and look forward to a conclusion in the near future.  


I especially want to finish Anna Karenina; because, I am quite anxious to begin reading this little treat my husband picked up for me over a month ago (and I waited months for it to be finished and released):

Yes, I am a dork; and, proudly so!  I was devastated when I found out that Brisingr was not the last book of the Inheritance Cycle.  I am quite anxious to travel back to Alagaesia.

Yarn, Yarn Everywhere!

Not long after Jonathan and I were married I decided I wanted to learn how to crochet.  So, I bought a "how to" book, some crochet hooks and yarn and taught myself to crochet-sort of.  Then I decided to learn how to knit, so I researched and taught myself how to knit -sort of.  Every now and then I would pick up some yarn and say I was going to make a blanket; or, I would work on something (a scarf or baby blanket) in the car when we traveled.  But, I confess that until this winter I had seen very few crocheting/knitting projects through to completion.  

For whatever reason, this year was different.  It started with wonderful, soft, and super "on sale" Italian yarn that I happened upon one day in Tuesday Morning.  One thing led to the next and I had whipped out 3 scarves (pink for Hannah, blue for Madeline, and yellow for mommy). 

 

For weeks it seemed like every spare moment (and there aren't many around here) was filled with crochet hooks and colorful yarn.  After the initial three scarves I swore I would learn to make something that wasn't in a "straight line" . . . but, then came another scarf for Hannah. . .

 

 . . . another scarf for Madeline . . .

 

 . . . a scarf for Audrey Ann . . .

(Audrey Ann shares her owner/mother Hannah's since of style--eclectic, European, mix-n-match . . . sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't!)

 

 . . . a scarf for Jesse (because all cow girls should have a scarf!) . . .

  . . . and a birthday scarf for a dear friend's American Girl Doll-- Julie.

When I finally started on my orange scarf (in first picture-top left), I made myself promise ("for real" this time) that I would not make any more scarves this winter.  I was determined to learn to make something else, a hat, or a wrap--something, anything that wasn't a straight line.

Now it's warming up, and I confess . . . I haven't finished my orange scarf. I think, however, crocheting/knitting has become something I enjoy.  Maybe now that I have moved past the painful slow stage (you know where you drop a stitch on almost every row or can't keep your stitches even) I will not save yarn work for winter.  I  find that I can now carry on a conversation or watch a television program while I crochet. . . .so that's a bonus!   And, call me crazy but I even find it relaxing!

Christmas Cookies

 

Click to enlarge.

40 Books, The Perfect Saturday, 2 Well Kiddo Check-Ups, A Still Not Well Mama, Home Improvements, & March Madness

Now, if that title doesn't make you want to move right on to the next blog on your daily blog reading list, then here is glimpse of our lives during the last week, as we continue to recover from two weeks of sickness (and thus my lack of blogging):

Despite our recent illnesses, Hannah managed to read (word for word) 40 books independently (toward her personal goal of 100). The books she read ranged from easier books like Green Eggs And Ham to more difficult books like Teach Us Amelia Bedelia and There's a Wocket in My Pocket. We had told Hannah that we were proud of her goal, and that we would reward her (on a small scale) for every 20 books she read. Hannah wasted no time in negotiating a deal with me that involved her exhibiting patience and working toward 40 books for a slightly larger reward . . . she's a smart cookie! So, with 40 books read, we took Hannah to Books-A-Million last Thursday night and allowed her to pick out one book of her choice and one parent selected book. She was so excited and had so much fun browsing through the books in the children's section. If you know Hannah, then you won't be surprised that she chose a book about the Disney princesses. We chose a leveled reader (Marley's Big Adventure). She had both books read before noon the next day and has read Marley's Big Adventure three times. Praise God for our little bookworm. I pray that He uses it to open her eyes to the truth in His Word.

The following Saturday was wonderful. Though Mommy and Emerson were still under the weather. The almost 70 degree weather enticed us out of the house for an adventure-- but not until we had enjoyed french toast and played together as a family. The afternoon was spent at the library--who's doors we have not graced since before Emerson was born. The girls left with a bag full of adventures, mommy found 3 cookbooks, Daddy found some economics books, and Hannah (now 5) was issued her very own library card. After an exciting library visit, we headed to Sonic for half priced Happy Hour Drinks (3 lemon berry slushes and a cherry coke). The evening was spent reading and enjoying one another's company. It was so much fun to curl up on the couch with sticky notes and pencil in hand, as I leafed through cookbooks. This week has been full of wonderful new recipes like whole grain pitas stuffed with mixed bean salad, homemade pesto, bruschetta, and homemade granola bars.

Considering the fact that we had been to the pediatrician's office twice over the last two weeks for sick kiddos, it was kind of ironic that Madeline and Emerson both had "well" check-ups this Monday. I was happy to find that they are healthy and growing. At the age of three, Madeline continues to remain well above average for height and weight. She is above the 9oth percentile for height ( ~39.5 inches) and above the 75th percentile for weight (~34.5 lbs). Madeline was delighted to have an eye exam, during which she proudly identified shapes; and, she was so brave when they gave her one scheduled vaccination. I was expecting Madeline who is very sensitive, shy, and generally not a fan of discomfort to freak out--she literally gave the nurse her arm and told her to go ahead--and watched! She didn't even flinch! I was so proud of her. When I asked her why she was so brave, she said, "Mommy vass-a-nations are good for me. They help you not be sick." Emerson checked out healthy as well. She remains above average for height and weight (though not to the extent of Madeline) measuring 25+ inches and weighing almost 15 pounds (75th percentile range for both).

I am happy to report that I am no longer blowing my nose 24/7 and my daily fevers have subsided. However, I am still battling a cough, and I have been experiencing what I would consider very bad-severe headaches daily. My forehead is sore to the touch, and my forehead and upper eyelids are swollen. Though I spent each day in prayer over my symptoms, the discomfort and results I found during my Google searches left me quite pre-occupied (Jonathan banned me from using Google for self diagnosis). We have yet to find a family doctor here, but I asked around and made an appointment with a medical group. Unfortunately, they were not able to get me in until this coming Tuesday. So, after yet another debilitating headache yesterday, we finally dropped the big girls at Miss Jeanna's; and, Jonathan, Emerson, and I visited the urgent care. I was told that it was no small wonder I was having such bad headaches, because I still had a very bad sinus infection (quite nasty "up there" she said). She could see that my forehead and eyelids were swollen and said that my forehead felt squishy due to the swelling. With a second (and different) round of antibiotics in hand, some nasal spray, and permission to take headache medicine as needed, I am hopeful that full recovery is on the horizon. Please pray for healing.

Shifting gears . . . our Home Depot is closing, which is sad. However, we were
able to score door handles for all of our bedrooms, hall closets, closets, and hall bath for half price. None of our door knobs matched, and most of them made horrid noises if you were able to get the door open. Needless to say this was an upgrade we were looking forward to completing. Of course, now all of our dirty old brass hinges look silly with our antique bronze/peppercorn handles-- but that's the nature of slowly personalizing an older home . . . each project leads to another. As Jonathan pointed out-- at least the hinges look antique . . . ha ha. All in due time! We are very happy with our new door handles.

Lastly, it's March-- and that means madness. March Madness that is. My husband loves basketball, so I knew early on in our marriage that I had to get involved or feel left out. We have always participated in bracket challenges--making our pics and hoping to beat one another with our best educated guesses. This year, however, we decided to get the girls involved allowing them to make their own pics for the Brooks Family Annual NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge! Last night it was "game on" as we excitedly pulled for our teams of choice and ran back and forth to our brackets (hanging in the dining room), crossing off losing teams and tallying successful pics. So far Daddy's winning.

That's the 411! Hope you have a super weekend!

A Battle Is Raging . . .

. . . the
laundry is
winning!
Grrrrrrrr!

Ready For Spring?

Yes and no. I love Spring weather, flowers in bloom, gardening, and playing outside; but, our house boasts of winter laziness and days spent inside--messy closets, toys everywhere, filthy windows, and junk we've collected. Ready or not, this little guy on my back deck and our most recent warm front tell me that Spring is upon us. So, that means I have to get out of my winter funk and set to work cleaning, repairing, and organizing. Here is a helpful article I came across on spring cleaning/chores. Happy organization!!!

Laundering For Less Q & A

I have received several questions about the homemade laundry detergent and household cleaners, so I thought I would post some answers to those questions.


Q: Where did you find your ingredients?

A: I found everything (Zote soap bar, baking soda, distilled vinegar, Borax, Hydrogen Peroxide, Ammonia) at Wal-Mart with the exception of Arm & Hammer's Super Washing Soda. I had to go to Harris Teeter to purchase the Washing Soda. Zote is on the laundry aisle (next to the stain treatment) in our store, and Washing Soda is in a large yellow box (almost looks like baking soda) on the laundry aisle in grocery stores as well. My 5 Gallon bucket and lid came from Lowe's. You can get them at Wal-Mart, but ours was out of lids. As I stated in my original post, I re-used spray bottles and laundry detergent jugs, and I even store extra cleaner in milk jugs, etc.

Q: Did you use your 5 Gallons of laundry detergent yet?

A: NO!!!! This is 5 gallons of concentrate. When you scoop it out into the laundry detergent dispenser and add water to fill, you wind up with a normal amount of liquid laundry detergent in the bottle ( in my case 2 qt or 1/2 gallon) this results in 10 gallons of liquid laundry detergent. It will be months before I go through it (and it only totaled about $2.00 to make).

Q: Does it work?

A: Yes, this is how they used to do it. I have found our clothes feel cleaner. I also am enjoying my household cleaners. When you purchase the manufactured cleaners, not only are you paying for packaging and scents, but basically the same thing-- with a few added harmful chemicals.

Q: What do you use for liquid fabric softener?

A: There are a few options, I have been doing the easiest thing, which is adding 1/2 C of distilled vinegar to my rinse cycle (you can use your fabric softener dispenser or downey ball). This has made the clothes nice and soft, and it cleans your washer and cleans out the lines/hoses.

Q: Do you really save money?

A: Yes! Like all ventures, there is some upfront cost. I think I spent about $5.oo on my 5 Gallon bucket and lid, and of course purchased the Zote bar, washing soda, vinegar, Borax, Ammonia, etc. (each item between $0.99 - $3.00), but use a very small amount of each ingredient, so you have them for future batches, stain treatment, and household cleaners. From what I have figured and read, it cost me about $2.00 to make my 5 gallons of laundry detergent concentrate. I would spend $4.oo- $6.oo a month on liquid laundry detergent (and that was generic), $2.00-$4.00 on stain remover, $4.00-$6.00 on color safe bleach-- we are already up to over $10.00 just on laundering alone-- that doesn't account for household cleaners. So, even though I had to purchase some items up front, I will definitely be saving money-- lots of money!!!

Q: Where can I read more?

A: GOOGLE IT!!!! I am a googleholic! Here are a just a few of the sites I have referenced:

• Duggars laundry soap recipe
I use this recipe.
• Homemade Household cleaners: The Family Homestead
  
I use several of these recipes.
• Natural Cleaning Products You Have In Your Pantry
• Homemade stain removers
• Homemade Household cleaners; Green Guide
• Homemade Floor Cleaner; Creative Homemaking
  

Laundering For Less

I'm not crazy . . . just frugal and willing to try things that save us money and help me to stay within our grocery budget (or even come close). I'm also always happy to produce less waste, reuse things, and take care of God's creation. And, you know me and my love for days bygone. So, my most recent adventure in good steward/ earth mama/frontier woman homemaking includes making my own laundry soap, stain treatment, and cleaning supplies. Naturally this involved (to my delight) lots of research and over thinking. But, like cloth diapers . . . this was something Jonathan happily supported, literally only took me about 20 minutes one recent afternoon (to make 5 gallons of laundry soap concentrate, stain treatment, and several cleaning agents), and can be done with items most people already have in their pantry and a few cheap extras.

I first learned about making your own laundry soap from watching an episode of 17 Kids and Counting, a show on The Learning Channel about a large Christian family (The Duggars). One of the reasons I occasionally tune into this television program is for the very purpose of picking up organizational tips and learning some thrifty practices; so, I was very excited when I caught the episode where there family showed how they make their own laundry soap. I immediately began further inquiry into the practice via the internet . . . Oh Google how helpful you are!!!. There are a lot of blogging mommies, savvy consumers, green gurus, and even one chemistry professor out there making their own household cleaners and laundry soap from the very ingredients our Great Grandmas and Great Great Grandmas used.

So here is the basic list of inexpensive multipurpose and easy to find ingredients (keep in mind, you only use a small portion of these things to make large batches-- so you will have the ingredients for future batches, thus saving money):

• Baking Soda

• Washing Soda

• Distilled White Vinegar

• Zote (or Fels Naptha or Ivory) soap Ammonia Borax

• Occasionally Rubbing alcohol and peroxide

Even if you don't drink the Kool-Aid, these items are great to have on hand for tough stains. I have been very pleased with all of my concoctions and have even found them to work more efficiently as surfaces and laundry look cleaner. After researching various recipes for laundry soap, I decided to go with the 5 gallons worth of concentrate (you add water when you put your concentrate into an old detergent bottle-- hello, this means I will have laundry detergent for months . . . all for about $2.00!!!!) For this particular recipe, you will need:

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (I used Zote)
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
Additional tap water

First you grate (or use a food processor) to shred the entire bar of soap.






Then, you add the soap to a saucepan of water and stir continually over med-low heat until the soap is melted. Next, fill a 5 gallon bucket (make sure you purchase one with a lid) half full with hot tap water.




Add melted soap, washing soda, and borax. Stir the mixture well--until all of the powder is dissolved.





Then add more hot tap water to fill the bucket. Lastly stir and cover. Let it sit overnight to thicken. Once the soap has cooled, you can add 10-15 drops of your favorite essential oil, but I preferred to just go with the fresh clean/soap smell. This will yield 5 gallons of concentrate, which equals 10 gallons of liquid soap. You use 1/2 C in a top load machine and 1/4 C in front load machines. Once your laundry soap has thickened it will be like a gel (almost like Jell-o). Scoop some out, stir it up, fill an old empty laundry detergent container half full of concentrate. Fill the rest of the way with water. Shake before use (it will gel when it sits).

Side note, I have also forgone using dryer sheets, which contain nasty chemicals, can be a fire hazard (in regards to the build up on your lent trap) and are costly. I purchased some generic dryer balls, which I had first learned about in a green magazine given to Jonathan by a professor at the local community college, but just today I have come to find out that "real" green people are not to keen on the dryer balls which are supposedly made from PVC. I will have to do more research on this, but they did cut the drying time and fluff up the clothes. As far as static goes-- this is usually caused by over drying, or synthetic clothing.

There are many recipes out there to choose from, and you can even whip up a batch of dry/granular laundry detergent if you prefer. Some of the other homemade cleaners I have made include stain treatment (for clothing), window cleaner, multi-purpose cleaner, and floor cleaner. I have reused spray bottles and store the leftovers in everything from gallon milk jugs to Sunny D jugs. I used a Sharpie to label everything (including ingredients for safety purposes), and I have all the ingredients in stock for when my cleaners run out. I have to say, it was so much fun to skip the cleaning aisle all together at the grocery store the other day!

Happy Homemaking!

Before & After

You demanded pictures, so here they are. Of course, you cannot appreciate the dramatic differences unless you were here from beginning to end-- for us, however, things look very different. We did complete a few more projects over the weekend. I painted the kitchen walls and painted a custom blackboard on the wall, which Jonathan framed in with molding. It's so crazy to think that these pictures represent five months of work-- hours of labor. We are so pleased with the outcome though! Enjoy your tour!


The original kitchen (minus refrigerator).


Close up of damaged cabinets. Pictures don't do justice!!!


Life during the process.


Our updated kitchen.


It feels so clean!!!


View from dining room.


Original dining room.


Dining room after painted chair rail, banister, base boards, and new chandelier.


Original view from family room.


Updated view. (That is our office/bonus room through the french doors).


View from kitchen into family room.


Original family room (the mammoth bay window).


Updated family room.


Girl's original bathroom.



Bathroom after painted cabinets, new hardware, yellow paint, and new light fixture.


Again, pictures don't do justice to the contrast of before and after.


Original light fixture, etc.


Moving the light box . . . after stripping off the old wall paper we found behind the original light, Jonathan started the process of raising the light box . . . only to find that it had been moved around and patched before. Old homes are full of surprises!


New light fixture.



Another view (that ducky picture on the wall is one I took for an old post on cleaning bath toys).

To view pictures of our previous kitchen re-do click here.