Make your own laundry soap!

I have seen many recipes lately on the Internet, but they were all basically the same. This is the way I made mine!

Heat 4 cups of water on the stove to almost boil
Add 1 bar of soap shredded I use Dove
Heat until bar is dissolved
I use a 5 gallon bucket (with a lid)
Add 3 gallons of hot water to bucket
stir in soapy water from stove top
stir in 1 cup of arm and hammer washing soda
stir in 1 cup of borax
Let it sit overnight to cool. I usually wait 2 days.

I bought a large pack of soap, borax, the washing soda, metal shredder, and bucket. All of it cost me under 15$. I don't know how much money I have saved but it is a lot!

I reuse the jug from the last bottle of detergent I bought, and just refill it from the bucket. I will have to keep track this time to see how many times I refill the jug. I know the jug cost me around 5 dollars. I have already saved more than enough to pay for the supplies listed above.

I have not noticed any difference using my detergent versus the store bought. (I still have problems with stains, I have 2 toddlers! I don't know if I will ever get rid of all their stains!) If you have any hints on that let me know! If you like scented stuff you can add oils to the mix, but I don't know how much since I haven't done that yet. I am thinking about using lavender! I love the way it smells.

I have no idea why I didn't start doing this before. I still have tons left to make more! This is so easy and fun! Evie helped me this time. She was so happy to help cook! I measured the water then put it into a large bowl. I gave her a measuring cup and she put the water into the pan before I cooked it! Then she helped stir at the end!

Nicknames

I was just wondering what nicknames others have for their kids and how they came about. My daughter's name is Evangeline, but we call her Evie for short. Her nickname is bean or beanie! Because I was very early in my pregnancy when we found out about her. I was having a lot of pain so they did an ultrasound around 6 weeks. When I saw her I thought "I'm having a jelly bean!" Mind you that was my first pregnancy and she did look like a jelly bean with a heart beat!

My son's name is Christopher, Topher for short because he has the same first name as his dad and PaPa. He was going to be Christopher Dennis the third, but we decided why do that? Is he going to carry it on and on? So we named him Christopher Clayton, after both grandparents. But Chris is already taken so Topher is what he got. Then his nickname is Bo Bo. The kids are really into Diego and on the show there are the Bo Bo brothers 2 monkeys, who are always getting into trouble. Well Topher is my little monkey, he is a brother, and he is always getting into trouble!

Leave a comment or post about your child's nicknames. Let me know though so I can check out your post!

To move or not to move?

We live in a two bedroom apartment, but it is the size of a 3 bedroom. Which means that our master bedroom is HUGE! I have a king bed, two end tables, twin bed, toddler bed, crib, dresser, computer desk, vanity, two bookcases, and a jewelry chest in our room, and we still have tons of floor space.

The problem is that both our kids sleep in our room. My son falls asleep in my bed or my arms, and then is placed in his crib. He wakes up at least twice a night. The worst night he was up 6 times. I think if he had his own room he might sleep through the night. I think that some of the times he just gets woken up by noises we make. Daddy snores, mommy coughing, and sister crying or laughing.

My daughter sleeps in our bed still. I can't try to get her to sleep in her own bed because if she screams and cries (which she will) she will wake up her brother. Then I will be dealing with two extremely unhappy children at one time. If you have more than one child then you feel my pain. One cries so the other can't sleep then they both start to cry followed by you crying as well (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em).

I think that if we had a 3 bedroom I might be able to get the kids to sleep in their own beds and sleep through the night. I am not sure if this plan would work, but it sure does sound good!

We looked at renting some houses, buying right now is not an option. To big, to small, to expensive is all we found so far. The problem is I love where we live. We park indoors so during inclement weather I don't have to take the kids out to go somewhere. I love our neighbors (on our floor). So I want to stay there, but I want 3 bedrooms.

A 3 bedroom opened up on our floor. Which I felt was a sign from God. My husband won't even look at it. It costs more, has less square footage, and has only 1 bathroom. We currently have 2. Another apartment opened up on the 2nd floor, and is exactly like ours. The only difference is that it has 3 bedrooms. Basically our big bedroom only with a wall in the middle.

We told our landlord that we would take it, but now my husband says "No". He says it is stupid to move into the exact same size apartment, but pay more money (70$ more)! I agree, but desperately want the 3rd bedroom! I understand his concerns about money especially with the economy the way it is. Plus, with me not working I feel that when it comes to money I don't have much of a say! We already turned off the cable to save money for a while. I know if I made a fuss he would move for me, but what if he is right and it's a bad decision.

I guess my biggest problem is that I don't know how to get my kids to sleep when I want them to sleep. I am trying for a bed time before 9pm, but most nights I am left at the mercy of my children and when they decide to fall asleep. I don't know what to do! I can't just throw them in bed and let them cry, and I won't

Life insurance???? Any answers....

I know we should get life insurance on our kids just because. I try to talk to my husband about it and he says he doesn't want to think about it. I don't even think we have life insurance for ourselves. He takes care of all that. My mom has 50,000 on me still.

I was thinking that we should look into getting some type of policy that would have a cash value when the kids are older. So if they wanted to or maybe had their own policies they could cash in this one for college or a down payment on a house. Are there policies out there that don't cost a fortune, but would yield a large cash value after 20 or 30 years? What is a good company to talk to? I am completely naive when it comes to things like this. That is why I have my husband, but unfortunately even when I approach it from this angle he doesn't want to talk about it. He has a hard time when ever the concept of death is even mentioned. I don't blame him, but you still have to be smart. I say plan for the worst and hope for the best!