Hand Soap

This one is so easy!

You need 1 bar of Pure Castile Soap. I got Dr. Bronner's Lavender soap at Target for $4.69.

Use 11.5 cups of water (92 oz) and put it into a large pot. Get the water warm on the stove. DO NOT BOIL. Grate the entire bar of soap. Once the water is steaming add the soap to the water. Stir well until the soap dissolves completely. It only took about a minute. Turn the burner off and let the mixture sit for 12 hours. After 12 hours have passed get a mixer and mix the soap completely. If it is too thick, add more water and mix. If it's too runny, heat the mixture back up and add more grated soap. Put into whatever container you want to store it in!

The recipe I found called for 1 gallon of water but I was afraid it would be too runny. Also, I just poured the mixer into my Kitchenaid Mixer and let it go for a few minutes. I put most of it in a 1 gallon milk jug and filled a large mason jar. It's kind of thick but I like it! Also, because it is all natural it doesn't bubble up like other soaps with chemicals. Enjoy!

The Story of Ember Marie

Let's start from the beginning...

We found out we were pregnant with Ember in February 2014, only 6 months after I gave birth to our little Lucy. We were 8 weeks along. We were so surprised and so scared! It wasn't in our timeline to have a second child just yet. But God had other plans and it was so evident. This pregnancy was very trying.

When I went for my appointment for family history, I explained that I was still nursing my 6 month old and was on birth control when I became pregnant. The midwife just looked at me and said how rare that is. She went on to ask me if I was okay with being pregnant. I just smiled and told her of course, we are excited and that God must have had other plans for us.

Moving forward to our 20 week ultrasound. We found out we were having a BEAUTIFUL girl!!! We were so excited. We know how to take care of girls plus we had everything we would need. The next day a nurse from our Dr.s office called and told me that the left ventricle in Ember's brain was enlarged. It was borderline abnormal. I started to cry because I had no idea when that meant. I couldn't think of any questions to ask at that moment. I had a Dr. appointment that day so Coy and I sat down and thought of some questions. The Dr. said that it could have been a shadow, could have been a wrong measurement... She just didn't think it was anything to worry about and in 4 weeks we would need to go in to check the ventricle out and make sure it resolved itself.

We went back in for another ultrasound. The tech told us her ventricle measured 10mm. That can be considered normal but the large side of normal. She thought they were worried because her right ventricle was smaller than her left. I went home and I researched what this could mean for our baby girl. The answers varied. She could need a shunt, could have brain damage, could be completely normal... just no way of knowing. We knew that if there was something wrong with our baby when she was born that we would do whatever we needed to do for her. The next day my Dr. called me and told me it hadn't shrunk and she recommended that we go see a high risk OB for further ultrasounds.

We took her advice and went in for the ultrasound. They said that she looked good and healthy and that the ventricle did look large but nothing to be concerned about. We were so relieved. They wanted us to come back 6 weeks later just to check up on it.

6 weeks later we went back. The ventricle had shrunk to a normal size and Ember looked so healthy and beautiful! We were so excited and thankful. We knew God was working in our lives then because we were leaning on Him for help and understanding.

On October 14th my Dr. wanted to do a membrane sweep to get labor kick started. I was SO ready and SO excited. Went to my appointment and my Dr. couldn't perform the sweep because my cervix was so high still. I left the appointment crying.

October 18th came and went... I was so ready to hold my baby and get my energy back. I went in for my Dr. appointment at 4PM on the 21st and she could finally do the sweep! I was 3 cm dialated but my cervix was still very high. I was SO hopeful. We went home and relaxed. At about 7PM I started having contractions but nothing that hurt too bad. But it was so different from when I went into labor with Lucy. At about 9PM they were about 2-4 minutes apart but not too painful so we decided to call L&D to see if we should come in. They recommended it so we left the house. We got there and I hadn't progressed at all from my Dr. appointment earlier and my contractions were 5 minutes apart but not too painful. They sent me home.

I get home, take a bath and get in bed. I woke up not long after that and was having horrible contractions. I sat in the rocking chair for about 3 hours trying to sleep between the contractions and wait it out as long as possible. Finally, at 4PM I woke Coy up because it was time to go. I needed to get to the hospital. We loaded up and left. 

They tried to put me in a room where they do labor checks. I told them it was time and that I didn't have time for a labor check and that I needed an epidural. The nurse knew it would be a waste of time to set me up in that room when I was in obvious pain. They put me in my room and hooked me up to all the machines. They called the anesthesiologist to come and give me an epidural. Took him about 30 minutes to get there and by that time my contractions were 1 after another. When the epidural kicked in I couldn't feel contractions, just tons of pressure. The nurse came in to insert the catheter, I could feel everything. I freaked out a little because I had had the epidural for a while and could still feel everything but contractions. I kept pressing the button so more medicine would be administered through my epidural but nothing happened. 

My Dr. came in around 6:30AM and checked me. I was dilated to a 10 but still very high. She broke my water and I felt the urge to push. At about 6:45AM I told her that and she said to just push a little to relieve some pressure. I told her no, I needed to push, it was time. She left the room and I couldn't stop the urge to push. She ran back in when I started yelling (hahaha) and they got ready to deliver Ember.

I FELT EVERYTHING! Hahahahaha, I didn't want to but I felt EVERYTHING! The epidural failed for the delivery. But, luckily, Ember came after 5 minutes of pushing.

They handed my beautiful baby to me and I was so SHOCKED to see she had whitish blonde hair. I just wanted to look at her. Her face was bruised from having the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and she had burns on her head from coming so fast. She was so healthy and beautiful!!

Ember was born at 7:01AM on October 22 weighing it at 8 pounds 14 ounces, 21 inches long and blonde!! We love it! She looks so much like her daddy. Lucy came to meet her sissy in the hospital and hammed it up for the nurses. They fell in love with her.

Lucy loves her little sister and loves on her constantly. Always trying to give her kisses. It's so sweet. We didn't get many hospital pictures because everything happened so fast! Family wasn't able to come until later that morning. Either way, it was a special time for Coy and I.

Here are some pictures of beautiful Ember.

We are so thankful that Ember is a big healthy girl. She is so loved and so special to us. She is a miracle baby.

Graham Crackers

If your kids are anything like mine then they LOVE graham crackers. If Lucy can see the box of graham crackers she won't eat her dinner. So, I searched recipes and made these ones... I think I ate most of them... They are so good!

I made Christmas themed graham crackers!

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup dark brown sugar packed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, chilled and cubed

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together the first 6 ingredients in a mixer until it resembles corn meal.

Add honey, water and vanilla and continue to mix until it all combines.

Remove dough and shape.

Place between two sheets of wax or parchment paper and roll 1/4" thick. 

Cut into squares or shapes and place onto a cookie sheet.

Bake 15 minutes, cool and serve!

These are so good! I highly recommend them. Also, I didn't make my crackers thin enough and they were move like cookies... Either way, so good!

FAIL: Pumpkin Spice Graham Crackers

Lucy loves pumpkin and graham crackers. I thought this would become a favorite. I was so excited to try them! They are dairy free, gluten free, nut free, and egg free. I have experience with gluten free but I never really tried different gluten free flours. I sent Coy to the store and all he could find was corn flour. I told him to just get it. 

Mistake.

Now, I'm not very experienced in the kitchen... This is a learning process. Next time I make these I will use a different flour. So, yes, this was a fail but it was totally my fault.

Lucy likes them so she eats them as a snack. Here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

2 cups any gluten free flours. 
Some kind of starchy flour would be best.

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cloves

2 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. molasses 

6 tbsp. coconut oil or butter

1/3 cup puréed pumpkin

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cut 2 pieces of parchment paper the size of a cookie sheet.

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

Add honey, molasses, pumpkin and coconut oil. Stir until will combined.

Split dough in half and place one half between the two pieces of parchment paper.

Roll dough until it is about 1/4 inches. Remove top piece of parchment paper and cut into squares or shapes. Transfer dough from parchment paper to cookie sheet.

Bake about 20-25 minutes.

Turn off oven and let them sit in the oven another 10 minutes.
Let crackers cool and serve. You can also freeze these crackers in a freezer bag.

*I followed the baking directions and they burned... So, I baked them for 20 minutes and let sit about 5 minutes.

recipe from homemadedutchapplepie.com

Laundry Soap

Coy and I are on a mission to save money...

I did so much research on where we can save as much as possible. I found hundreds of ways to save and I started in the laundry room.

Ingredients:

1 cup Borax

1 cup washing soda

1 bar of soap (I used dove)

Grate the entire bar of soap and mix all ingredients in a bowl. Place mixture into whatever container you like. I used a mason jar.

1-1.5 tablespoons per load. This recipe makes 64 loads and can be used in a HE washer.

Savings:

1 box (76oz) Borax= $3.99

1 box (55oz) washing soda= $9

8 Dove soap bars= $8.79

=$21.78

This will make 6 batches with left over bars and borax. 384 loads.

1 box of Borax= 9.5 batches at $0.42 per batch.

1 box washing soda= 6 batches at $1.50 per batch.

Dove bars= 8 batches at $1.09 per batch.

= $3.01 for 64 loads!! $0.047 per load.

Tide 96 loads= $17.99

I figure we do 60 loads a month with 6 people. Just an estimate. That's 720 loads a year. To achieve 720 loads with Tide you would need 7.5 96 load jugs. That is $134.93 a year. For a years supply or 11.25 batches of this mixture it would be $33.86!

That's over $100 in savings a year!!

You would need multiple boxes of borax and washing soda. And more bars of soap but You will have extra left over. I will post more recipes with these products so they don't go to waste.

1 load is in the wash now... I'll update when done.

Enjoy!

Recipe from theburlapbag.com

Finger Knitted Animal Ears

 

these were so fun and so easy!

I made Lucy green teddy bear ears. She's been carrying them around the house the last two days. I think she likes them...

I will add a photo when I'm able to use my computer!

Here is the link to the video tutorial.

Finger Knitted Animal Ears

Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti, where have you been all my life's!?!

My dad was very skeptical over this dish... He's not a pasta guy. He tried it and loved it! 

Ingredients:

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese 

16 oz Garlic Alfredo Sauce

1 pound Penne Pasta

1-2 jars 26 oz Favorite Spaghetti Sauce

1 pound Ground Beef

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

In a medium sauce pan brown meat. Cook pasta according to the directions on the box.

Drain meat and pour meat back into the sauce pan. Add 1 jar of spaghetti sauce and heat on low.

When pasta is done, drain water and make sure noodles are as dry as possible. Pour back into pot and add the jar of Alfredo and mix until thoroughly covered and pour evenly in the baking dish. Pour the meat mixture on top and spread evenly over the pasta. Sprinkle top with cheese.

Cover with non foil, or spray the foil with grease, and bake for 15 minutes then remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes.

When done, let sit for 5 minutes then serve!!

The only thing I would change is maybe throw a layer of cheese between the pasta and meat and add more meat. You can easily prepare this dish and freeze it and bake another time.

I will be making this again for sure.

From thecountrycook.com

Breakfast Sandwiches

Easy peasy! They were good and I love that you can freeze these for a later time. Coy loves breakfast sandwiches and we are always looking for easy lunches he can take to work with him. You can easily customize your sandwiches. 

Ingredients: 

1 package Jimmy Dean spicy sausage

12 eggs

12 English muffins

Butter

12 slices of cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a muffin pan with butter. Crack an egg into each muffin spaces. Place in oven for 10-15 minutes or until done.

Cook your sausage in a skillet. Slice your English muffins and cheese.

Toast your English muffin slices and lay them on a baking pan. You can add butter to the inside of them if you wish. Place your cheese, egg and sausage patty in the English muffin. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees or until cheese has melted.

Enjoy!!

To freeze- wrap them individually in cling wrap or foil and put into a freezer seal bag. You can reheat in the microwave but for better flavor put them in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

From macheesmos.com

Edible Sugar Cookie Dough

This is so quick and easy. I served with graham crackers but I think it would be better with a different kind of cracker or cookie.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup softened butter

1 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1-2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium bowl, cream together sugar and butter for 2-3 minutes until fluffy. Mix in flour and vanilla. Add water 1 tablespoon 1 at a time until you reach cookie dough consistency. Top with sprinkles!!

From willowbirdbaking.com

Baked Tacos

These are SOOO good and so easy!! We made some with ground turkey and wheat tortilla, ground beef with regular tortillas... So easy to customize.

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef

20 1/2 oz refried beans

6 ounces tomatoe sauce

12 small flour tortillas

3 tablespoons taco seasoning

Cheese

Anything else you like on tacos

Directions:

Brown ground beef completely and drain grease and return to skillet.  Over low heat, add refried beans, tomatoe sauce and taco seasoning. Mix well until warm.

Scoop into tortillas wich should be standing in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 375 for about 10 minutes. Tortillas should be getting crispy looking and cheese melted.

I can't upload pictures on here on my iPad. I will get on my computer when the girls go down for a nap.

From food.com

Baked Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal

I made this dish thinking it would be a good breakfast on a cold rainy morning. It isn't bad... But it isn't very pumpkiny or sweet. I thought about adding more pumpkin and some sugar next time. To sweeten it I added some sugar and cinnamon on top. The next morning I crumbled it up in a bowl, added milk and heated it up for a minute. Pretty good! Lucy likes it in her yogurt.

Ingrediants:

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

3 eggs

1/2 cup pumpkin purée

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Stir together all ingredients and pour into a well greased 8x10 baking dish. Bake 30-40 minutes or until knife comes out of center mostly clean.

You can freeze this dish and reheat in microwave with 1 teaspoon of water.

I'm not a great cook but I'm learning. Anyone have any ideas on how to make this dish a little tastier??

From barefeetinthekitchen.com

Baby Booty Wipes

Moms... This is the post for you!!!

I made baby wipes. At home. In ten minutes.

Hallelujah!!!

I wanted to see if it was worth the time/money spent on ingredients so I did the homework.

We were buying our wipes at Target (Up&Up brand) in bulk, 8 packs for $14.49. That equals $1.81 a pack. Doesn't sound too expensive, right?

What you will need for your homemade wipes:

Water: FREE

Coconut Oil 14 oz.: $5.99

Johnson&Johnson Baby Wash 9 oz.: $2.99

Brawny paper towels 8 pack: $8.99

= $17.97

Paper towels = 24 packs

Coconut Oil = 28 packs

Johnson&Johnson = 18 packs

(1 TBS= 1/2 oz.)

Cost of Ingrediants Per Pack:

Paper Towels: $0.37

Coconut Oil: $0.21

Johnson&Johnson: $0.16

=$0.74 a pack!!!

Here is the recipe:

1 cup HOT water

1 TBS coconut oil

1 TBS baby wash

1 roll paper towels

A sealable container large enough to hold wipes

1. Cut the roll with a large knife in thirds. If you like larger wipes cut the roll in half. My calculations on cutting the roll in thirds. If you cut the roll in half it will be $0.93 a pack. 

2. Pull the cardboard tube out of the rolls

3. In a measuring cup or bowl mix your HOT water, coconut oil and baby wash. You need hot water for this step because you need to completely melt the coconut oil.

4. Pour mixture into whatever container you will store the wipes in and insert your paper towels. Place lid on container.

5. Let it sit for about an hour so it will soak into the paper towels. I tipped mine upside down for a few minutes.

I have also heard of people unrolling the papertowels and folding them so they could use the wipes box. I'm thinking of trying that. 

Baby Ember has sensitive skin so I'm hoping this works well! Let's pray it works wonders. If you have questions let me know!!!

This recipe is from in-the-corner.com

** Also, prices and cost may vary depending on brand, size, store etc... 

Mission: Pinterest

Hello my friends!

I'm onto a new project in life...

If any of you are like me, you have millions of pins on Pinterest and have not done/made anything you liked enough to save. My mission is to make many of my pins and let you know how it turns out. I will be baking, crafting, etc...

I will post the recipes and tutorials for everything I do. It's going to take a long time since I am a working mom with two beautiful girls, but I'm going to do it!

If anyone wants to take this challenge with me let me know and we can keep each other on track. I have so many talented friends!!

Let's do this...

Life Lately...

Where do I even begin? It's been months since I've posted. Seems like things keep happening in our family and time isn't slowing down so we can process it all. Things have finally slowed down around here and I can fill you in on life lately. I believe my last post was about my birth story so we will begin there...

Lucy is such a blessing to us! We never thought we could love something or someone as much as we do. She sleeps through the night, eats like a champ... What else could you possibly hope for? When she was about 3 months old they told us she has a hemoglobin deficiency but not to worry about it because it was something we can deal with when she is 9 months old. It's something that is so common among Pacific Islander's (Lucy is 1/4 Filipino) that it's not a huge deal, nothing to worry about. We just had her 9 month appointment and she needs to go on iron for her deficiency and they will follow up next month to see where she is at! Other than that she is a big healthy girl... Just on the short side. :-)

When Lucy was 4 months old, she was a flower girl! Auntie Erin and Uncle Ty got married on October 26th!!! Ty is such a wonderful Uncle to Lucy. He teaches her all sorts of new things! She is a lucky little girl to have an awesome Auntie and Uncle. They live in Santa Rosa where Erin is a nurse and Ty works at the summer camp Erin and I grew up going to.

We found out in February that we will be welcoming another little baby to our family!! We were so shocked but so excited. We went in for the ultrasound to see how far along I was and it turned out that we were 8 weeks. Being pregnant and caring for a little one is HARD work but it is so worth it.

On April 24th, our step grandpa passed away. Dale was married to my mom's mom, Evelyn. He loved playing with little Lucy. He will be missed by many.

On May 11th my Great Uncle Chuck went to be with Jesus. He was my Grandma Evelyn's brother. He was such a sweet, funny and caring man. For our wedding present he gave us a Kitchen Witch... He got it at a garage sale. Ever since we received it, I have been trying to give it back. He loved the game we had going on. Uncle Chuck passed away from cancer after his chemo failed. 

Since Lucy was about 6 months old she has had two ear infections!! Those are rough to deal with but she is a trooper and recovers quickly. Pretty sure they are from teething because she now has 2 teeth!! Yay!

On June 2nd we went in for our anatomy scan to make sure everything was forming correctly and to see what we were having. We are having a BEAUTIFUL little girl named Ember Marie. We are already so in love with her and excited to see her in mid October. A day after the anatomy scan we got a phone call from our Dr. office. They told us that Ember has an enlarged left ventricle in her brain. I couldn't think of any questions to ask because I was upset. She kept reassuring me that it didn't seem to be a big deal and that they see this a lot and it can resolve itself. I had a Dr. appointment that day so I thought of some questions to ask then. When I brought it up my Dr. said she really wasn't worried about it. It was so minor that it could have even just been a shadow. It was slightly enlarged but just want to take precautions and do a second ultrasound to be sure. But everything else looked perfect and it should resolve itself. That made us feel so much better about it. We have a second ultrasound on July 2nd. Please, pray it has resolved itself and that we do not need to follow up with a specialist.

No matter the outcome we are prepared to love this baby and do what it takes to care for her. We know God would not give us more than we cannot handle and will take any challenges head on. So many people already love her more than anything and she is already one blessed little girl.

That's our life lately. We are blessed beyond measure and we are so thankful for our family and friends. You don't know how much we appreciate everyone and how so many friends have become family and love our little Lucy and baby Ember. We love you all.

Little Lucy and her best friend Mr. Roo