Crunchy Tutorial #2- Fabric Softener

               I do two loads of laundry a day.  Beau insists that I use Tide with Bleach detergent.

It is, after all, what his Mama used. I don't mess with that. 

But I did have to cut out additional fragrances and additives elsewhere.  Roman breaks out in angry hives every time a fragrance even comes near his skin.  Chase started to develop red and bumpy rashes on his face.  

My first plan of attack was to switch our bath products.  I tried five or six different kinds of soap and special washes. I even spent $20 on a special organic baby shampoo.  Of course, it still made Roman break out.  Dummy. :)

Then I bought some Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap.  It comes in a huge bottle for $10 and has only a few natural ingredients- saponified coconut, jojoba, hemp and olive oils, and peppermint oil.  Success! It does not make the babies break out.  I am using it on my hair and body as well.  I love it! It stings the eyes like a mother, though. Use caution.  I figure I will save about $15-$20 a month by using only one product on all of us.  It will take probably three or four months to break even after my special-soap-hunting spree.  Oh, well.  

As I read further about dyes and fragrances, I realized a likely culprit in the boys' breakouts was this:

oops.  No, this:

 

I had been using the cheapest dryer sheets I could find. I didn't even like the smell.  They were just inexpensive.  I was trying to save money.  But we were not living better...

So I chucked the sheets, searched the internet, and found another use for white vinegar.  

When added to the rinse cycle of your laundry, white vinegar does a fantastic job of softening your clothes. Amazing. 

I added this as well:

I really love this peppermint oil! It has so many uses.  The bottle is less than $5.00 on Amazon and it lasts forever, through many homemade experiments. 

I pour a half of a cup of vinegar to my rinse cycle, and add a generous shaking of peppermint oil to the vinegar.  While I thought I loved the smell of dryer sheets, there is nothing like opening the washer to the fresh, minty smell of clean laundry.  

I have experimented with adding this mixture to a washcloth and putting it in the dryer, but the clothes come out no softer, and a faint smell of vinegar lingers.  There is no vinegar smell when I use the concoction in the rinse cycle.  

I won't claim it is as cost-effective as cheap dryer sheets, but it is really close.  The gallon of vinegar lasts three weeks, and the peppermint oil lasts probably six months.  Like I said, that is with two loads every single day.  It costs about three dollars a month.  Not too bad.  

Have you ever used this method? Would you like to try? Let me know :) 

Crunchy Tutorial #1- Natural Mouthwash/ Teeth Whitener

'Round here, we like our teeth-whitening mouthwash.  We both use it every single day.  It costs about $6.00 per container of this:

We were going through about one container every four weeks.  They don't sell it at Trader Joe's, and I rarely have time to go to any store but Trader Joe's each week, so I decided to buy more on Amazon.  As I read through the reviews, I started to get a little worried.  Some excerpts:

1. If I use the full dose, my tongue goes numb and stays that way for over an hour. And yes, my sense of taste is also diminished.

2. The product removes the inner membrane of my lips and cheek. It sloughs off right after the swishing. This is unpleasant and, needless to say, disconcerting. The amount of skin that comes off is in direct relation to the amount of product I use.

3. The longer I use it (I'm up to about 5 days and am only using it at night now), the more temperature sensitive my teeth become. At 5 days, they are mildly sensitive.

and:

I've used this product 4 times in the last 3 days. My gums first started to die and peel away ONE HOUR after I first used the product. I didn't know what it was, so I used it a few more times, each time thinking, "Surely this product woudln't be on the market if it was that bad..." This morning, sheets...SHEETS of my gums peeled off! Gross, white, slimy, dead mucous membranes all over my mouth. To make things worse, my taste is nearly gone and my allergies have been killing me!

Eeew.

To be fair, neither Beau nor I ever experienced anything like this, and we used the product almost every day.  However, I decided to discontinue use of this particular product.  Naturally, there had to be a way to make it at home.  Naturally.

So I did a little research and rediscovered this:

 I have used it as a gargle and a rinse before.  But it tastes...gross.  Like a fizzy, tasteless wetness- lighter than water and not refreshing in the least.  (By the way, never drink hydrogen peroxide.)

So I decided to add this:

and this:

and all of the sudden, I had a product that tasted similar to the expensive, tongue-hair-growing Listerine.  It is more concentrated, so I use less. Just a small capful each day. 

Here is the recipe.  Use it if you feel like it. :)

1 8 oz. container of hydrogen peroxide
20 drops peppermint Stevita
1/4 teaspoon organic peppermint oil

shake and store.  Enjoy.

Ranch Outing

 We made a trek over to Santa Maria this week- myself, Rebecca, Roman, and Chase. We visited a friend at their vineyard ranch. It was beautiful and surprisingly, somewhat relaxing.

I am not sure if I will travel in the near future without Beau, but the trip went as well as it could have gone.  We picked blueberries the first afternoon. I have never tasted anything quite like them- huge, warm, sweet as can be.  We picked all we wanted.  We filled a shoebox full! The plan was to make pie or muffins, but our stash did not last that long.

Chase will officially be two months old this week. Guess what? He slept from 10:30-6:15 on Thursday night. We were elated. At 6:16, Beau turned to me and said, "Well, he will be sleeping through the night from now on". Ok! What this means: I feed him at 9:30, put him to bed right after, close the door to his room, and go get him at 6:30 in the morning.

Doesn't he cry?

The first two nights, he did. I had to pray and put my pillow over my head as I dealt with Mommy Guilt. But last night, he didn't make a peep. He slept 8 full hours, no problem. What a sweet baby!

As I recently read in a book, by allowing babies to eat in the middle of the night, we basically train them to eat in the middle of the night. It makes sense. He is gaining weight, is plenty chubby in the cheeks, and takes good feedings throughout the day. I need to sleep a full night to take care of my family. He needs to sleep a full night to grow and thrive. It is a good time to implement these changes. I have always been a proponent of the "cry-it-out" method of sleep training, but I have also always been hesitant to go full steam ahead with the process. I couldn't take my baby crying. Now I know that the process works, and that it is beneficial for all involved. Any hesitancy or guilt is gone, and we have a happy baby and a rested mama.

While nursing, I get a chance to read on my iPad. There is a free online library called Chest of Books. There is a huge, free section on health and nutrition. I have been so excited to explore! I read a book from 1921 by a holistic physician who claimed that his contemporary Americans ate an average of 125 pounds of sugar each year. At that time, diabetes and heart disease were beginning to be problematic. He warned his readers to cut down on their consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods and take in a diet rich in protein, vegetables, and fruits. How telling! 90 years later, we are reaping the poor health our great-great-grandparents sowed generations ago. And here we thought "paleo" was a hot new buzzword....

He is Risen!

When you explain things to children, do they become that much more apparent to you? On Good Friday, we read the story of Judas' betrayal. And then the story of Peter's betrayal. And then I tried to explain to the children how we betray the Lord's love and trust every day. But Christ never did. What huge concepts for little minds to grasp! As I tried to explain these things simply, I was just overwhelmed by the true nature of God's sacrifice for us. I held my tiny new baby and realized that God turned His face from His Son and allowed Him to die, not for His own punishment, but for mine. And this tiny new baby's. I can't fathom that kind of love.

But then, miracle of all miracles- Christ did not stay dead. He rose and is risen. And He lives, seated at the right hand of the Father. He died for me and continues to intercede on my behalf. These are the things we think of when we realize we are not worthy.

Holidays' stressfulness seems to trump the quiet moments where we can reflect on how amazing our Lord is. Yesterday was no exception. Two family get-togethers, helping with the toddlers at Sunday School, cooking, baking, cleaning, parenting...

Thankfully, (!) I am still getting very quiet moments in the wee hours of the morning for reading my Bible and praying and thinking. It is fragmented and a little sleepy, but I am so glad God provides this quiet time for me. I don't get it during the rest of the day. When Chase starts sleeping through the night, I am going to have to dig deep to find some self-discipline to continue to find comparable quiet time.
Even though Easter was hectic, it was still lovely to spend the day with my sweet family.
And my handsome husband, still the person I would rather be around more than anyone else.

This one has been home from school for a whole week. It has been really nice to have him around. This picture is from the day of his Festival of Spring. I tried to dress him doctorly.

Worst Date Ever

Well, maybe not ever.

Beau and I started dating when I was 17 and he was 22. In that long span, there have been date nights that have ended with one of us on the side of the road, not able to be in the same car for one moment longer. Dates that have ended with arguing and crying. One memorable date that ended with one of us threatening to bash the windshield of the other's car in with a large baseball bat...

Whew. That was a long time ago. To God be the glory, great things He hath done!

Tonight was a strong contender, though.

I had put on real clothes and makeup, awaiting the return of my Prince Charming . Charming had been out in the sun all afternoon, participating in a charity golfing event. He is quite the athlete, but not a golfer. He did not come home happy. He did not come home on time.

I had bathed Chase and put him in his cutest pajamas, ready to hit the town. We were going out to dinner! After arriving at the restaurant, Beau looked at his phone. I looked at mine. Our sitter had called both phones 8 minutes ago, right after we had left the house. Uh-oh.

I stepped outside to make the call and she answered, breathless.

"The-bathtub-faucet-broke-and-there-is-water-flooding-the-bathroom-everywhere-and-the-neighbor-is-helping-and-I-wasn't-sure-what-to-do-"

"Okay", said I. "We are on our way". I had heard three kids crying in the background. I figured she probably needed reinforcements. Had my mama's heart not heard the wails of my children, I would have called a plumber, told the sitter I would pay her extra, and gone back into the restaurant to order my long-awaited sushi.

Our first date night since the baby, dang it!

I pulled an even grumpier Charming out of the restaurant and we sped home in relative silence. He did say at one point, "I know you are thinking 'He got to have fun golfing all day'. But I suck at golf. And I don't want to be out there. So I spent five hours outside doing something I hate."

Oh, cry me a river, Charming.

We got home, did not console the children until we checked the damage, praised the sitter for her quick thinking, and got to work.

My idea was to call a plumber. This was met with a scornful glance. "Do you know what a plumber will charge you in the off hours?!".

Clearly, not the best suggestion at the time. I got towels and buckets and tried to work alongside him without getting in the way. As usual, his idea was better. We were able to get up all the water, three inches deep, from the bathroom floor. And there should be no long-term damage to the floor.

Now he is working on fixing the faucet. He has been to Home Depot once and YouTube twice. There are worse things than going without reliable water for a weekend, I guess. Like getting your windshield cracked with a baseball bat (it never actually came to that, by the way).

What was your worst date ever?

RePost from Resolved2Worship

I wanted to share a link to a website from which I draw encouragement. The woman who writes Resolved2Worship has 8 children and a very soft heart. I love to read what the Lord is teaching her, and she always has gentle, prodding insight on how to be a mommy who loves and serves the Lord, first and foremost.

Here is a link to her website- a post that was particularly dear to my heart. Enjoy!

Who Is My Life?