Gettin' Green

Once upon a time there was a mom who wanted to do the right thing and recycle. But alas, she got lazy and always forgot to take her recycling to the sorting center because it was 15 miles away and her bins were in the basement (bad-bad-location).

Well, now she has no more excuses because her small town has recycling bins for all major categories: glass, cardboard, metals, and plastics. (YIPPEE!)  And our bins have been spiffed up and moved to the mudroom, which happens to be right on the way out the door. (Much Smarter)

So, that is the story of how one mom with good intentions got herself back on the green track.

Happy Morning

For 20 months I have been washing dishes the old fashioned way, but no more! My sweet husband installed my new best friend last night. JOY!

Laundry Soap for 2 Pennies a Load

I have made powdered laundry soap before, but this liquid gel is even more cost effective. The recipe I followed is here. Another idea is at Christie's blog. I added the teaspoon of lavender ~ heavenly. The gelling was a HUGE hit with the kids.....fascinating!

Fabric Softener on the Cheap!

To say I *adore* liquid fabric softener would be an understatement. I love the smell and the way it makes my laundry fluffy soft, but I don't love the price. I found a way to make it myself and have had GREAT results. Here is the recipe.

3 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of white vinegar
1 cup of hair condition (I use Suave to make it extra thrifty)

Combine everything and stir gently. If you shake it up too much it gets foamy. I like to store mine in a pretty blue antique Ball canning jar.

I use about 1/3 cup per large load of laundry. My washer has a fabric softener dispenser, but you could also add it at the rinse cycle or put it in one of those balls. Cost: $.04/load compared with $.15/load for the name brand stuff.

I wonder....

Is it mean to make your daughter clean the bathroom while you finish your quilt top?
I think not.


I am making this quilt for our living room. As you can tell (by the uneven rectangles and mismatched corners) I am not a professional quilter by any stretch of the imagination. Fortunately, I like them scrappy.

First things first....

I've been reading a great (life changing!) book from the Simply Charlotte Mason company called Laying Down the Rails. It's all about habit training - the whys - the whens -and the hows. And of course my thought process when I chose this book was how great it was going to be to get those kids whipped into shape - well the Lord had other plans! My eyes are daily being opened to all of the habits I need to form or reform in my own life. I have been inspired to get my housekeeping regimen back into practice (after a 3 1/2 year hiatus - that's when Ashlyn was born) and to re-evaluate my food choices. Healthy living is also a habit -one that has to be worked on in order to be maintained. Yes, I'm still gonna to work on those kids, but I'm going to work on me too.

If You're Curious the New Cleaning Schedule is Below:

Just a lazy rainy day...

I has been rainy the last couple of days and chilly too - not great for going outside. After a wonderful (and very filling) Easter, we decided to take a day off. I gave my blog a little makeover and did something I never thought I would do; I threw away ALL of my homeschooling catalogs. Maybe this wouldn't seem to be a great accomplishment for many of you, but I have been one to hang on to every last glossy copy so I would be able to make sure I was up on the "latest thing", or at least I could quickly find a replacement when something I chose didn't work out. I finally decided to trust my instincts, SCM's guidelines, and Charlotte Mason's methods. It felt really GOOD!