Oh the Places...

We've spent some time out and about...

Where have we gone?

We've been to:

Devin went to STEM Camp

Dan Nicholas Park
http://www.dannicholas.net/

The Mount Airy Library (best reading program ever!)
http://nwrl.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=215&catids=127&Itemid=413

Riverside Park (river with a few beachy areas for the kids to swim and it is FREE)
http://www.mountairy.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/Riverside-Park-1

Oak Island, NC (Myrtle Beach eat your heart out!)
http://www.oakislandnc.com/
     -This vacation included a couple of ferry rides and a trip to the Ft. Fisher Aquarium

Where are we still planning to go?

We want to go to:

Fairy Stone Park in Virginia

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/fairy-stone.shtml#general_information

Mabry Mill up the Blue Ridge Parkway

http://www.mabrymillrestaurant.com/

Our assigned back to school nights to prep us for the coming year.

     -This year we'll be in 5 different schools!

          *Daddy at WFU

          *Mommy at WES

          *Devin At MMS (STEM magnet middle school---Who the devil allowed my son to be old enough for middle school?!)

         *Isabelle at WPES

         * Rebecca at RCC (Preschool)

Yeah, 5 different schools with the germs of thousands of people for our family to deal with this coming fall and winter. Oh joy! :)

What have we done?

Not a dang thing! Hahahaha!

We've had some stress (I've had some stress!). Because I don't have many pictures I'll just give you a list of what we've done in the last 2 months.

1. Got snowed in for 3 days. Lots of fun!
2. Had a V-day date with my honey sponsored by my school. Enjoyed that time with him and my coworkers. I love my coworkers!
3. Devin is working hard on Battle of the Books. Competition is on March 14th. Good luck to him! I hope they win.
4. I got my bus driver's license. Yep, I can drive them things now!
5. More snow. Seriously? We didn't need more. We've been getting snow every other week for the last 6 weeks I think! I'm ready for Spring now. Really I am!

See? That wasn't a lot was it? We've been trucking right along with work and school like the rest of you. I really wish I would take more pictures. I don't think we have any snow pictures with me in them either. I promise I was in the snow!

We are taking it slow and easy and just enjoying our little family unit!

Lots of love to you all! We're still alive, just quietly so.

My Love/Hate Relationship With Gardening

You all know by now that I love my garden. I enjoy watching things grows and eating the fresh fruit and veggies I get. But I really, really, really, really (it's a long list of 'reallys') do not like weeding. I have spent over 8-9 hours weeding my garden this year. That is more than any previous year. The grass and weeds are putting up such a fight to stay in my garden! With my produce growing and covering up a lot of weeds, it makes that job that much harder to do! If I had the money I'd hire someone to weed for me!
That said. Let me tell you about my garden and what we are growing. Dave and Devin tilled it 3-4 times prior to planting. We used chicken compost this year-I'm a total fan now! We are growing corn, yellow squash, cantaloupes, green beans, okra, zucchini, pickle size cucumbers, large cucumbers, jack-o-lantern pumpkins, and giant pumpkins. It's a lot of stuff! I usually have watermelons too, but there simply wasn't room for them this year. The squash and zucchini have been plentiful and delicious so far. My cucumbers are almost ready as are my green beans. I'm so excited! I love eating and enjoying what I've grown. It's nice to be so deliciously rewarded!

Now you know. I love my garden, but HATE the weeding. Yucky weeds.

A Love Story: The Internet and I

No, I'm not an Internet addict. I can take it or leave it. BUT, I do love what the Internet feeds me when I am on it.

Via the internet I have seen or heard about my nieces and nephews being born. I have heard of jobs lost or gotten. I have seen teeth fall out of those same nieces and nephews, and new ones coming in. Through this vast, and scarily unsecured, portal I am able to keep contact with family thousands of miles away and reminisce with friends about what we've been doing since...(enter year or school here).

I see my family grow and am in awe of the wonderful people my siblings have become (some I had my doubts about!). It's an amazing tool, when used correctly. So, there is my small ode to the Internet. Now, I'm getting off of here and going to go bake me a yummy chicken for dinner!

See? I can leave it! But, because I love you all, I'll be back to check on you!

Homemade Tips and Tricks for Cleaning

I finally got all of my Homemade This and That typed up into one document! I've had these recipes in my head, online, and on papers all over my house that it is hard to be good at making them if you don't have them somewhere. So, now for those of you that would like to, I am putting them on here to share what I have learned so far.

Homemade "Shout" Stain Pre-Treater

2/3 cups Dawn Dishwashing Liquid (I had Palmolive on hand, so that's what I used)
2/3 cups ammonia
6 Tblsp baking soda
2 cups warm water

Mix everything together then use a funnel to pour into an old Shout bottle or other spray bottle.

To use: shake bottle then spray on stains as you normally would.  I usually let mine "soak in" for a few minutes at least.  Then launder as usual.

Homemade “Oxy-Clean”

Make only enough for 1 individual load as the solution will lose its efficacy after 6 hours. Simply throw in ½ cup of WASHING Soda and ½ cup of Hydrogen peroxide. Allow to soak for maximum effect-can be used on coloreds and whites. You may just add the ingredients separately when you add the detergent to the load and get the same results.

Homemade Laundry Soap

1 Cup Borax

1 Cup WASHING Soda

1 bar Fels Naptha

Grate bar soap into a large pot. Add 6 cups of water and melt soap. Add Washing soda and Borax until dissolved. In a 5-gallon bucket add 3 ½ gallons of hot water, pour in the soap mixture, then finish filling up the bucket. I stir my soap periodically to keep it from congealing into one big block of gel. I use about ½ a cup of detergent in each load. (I love liquid soap! With my hard well water powder laundry soap just ends up clumped in my clothes. For those of you that would rather do powders, allow me to refer you to my SIL with her powdered soap and uses for vinegar in laundry. Although, I may use powder soap in the future if I feel so inclined. Hers is such a great recipe that I'm tempted to give it a go.)

No More Static Sheets!

Instead of throwing in a static cling sheet, throw in a 3-4 inch wide crumpled sheet of aluminum foil. It works much better and the foil may be reused!

Homemade Dishwasher Soap

2 cups Borax

2 cups Washing Soda

2 cups Lemi Shine

1 cup Kosher salt

White vinegar as a rinse aid instead of Jet Dry

Homemade All-Purpose dish cleaner

I put about 1/4 cup of baking soda in a small glass bowl and squirt in hydrogen peroxide until it makes a nice paste.  Then I rub it on the offending dirt/stain/grease...whatever!  I usually just use my fingers...but I also use a small sponge at times as well. 

What other homemade things have you used to be healthier and save money? I'm always up for a good recipe or tip!