Homemade liquid laundry detergent

I was recently given a used but like-new HE washing machine!  Such a blessing!  The only downfall is that HE detergent can be pretty expensive, particularly since I like to buy natural, chemical free detergent.  Now, I still like to use my soap nuts and they work fine in an HE washer.  The only problem is that they need warm or hot water to work well.  With my old washer, I would start the water on hot to get them working and then switch it to cold when I threw in my clothes.  But my new HE washer doesn't work that way.  So I like to have an alternative for when I wash a cold load of laundry.  I found this recipe and was pretty pleased with it.  I love that I can use whatever essential oils or scent of castle soap that I want my clothes to smell like!  Also, most recipes contain Borax and I've read many debates on whether that is truly good for you so I liked this particular recipe because it didn't contain Borax.  I ended up using 4 half gallon containers to store it in and it works nicely.  I put my  re-cap for pouring on whichever one I am currently using and it cuts down on spills.  With my family of 6, I have been using up about one of the half gallon jars a week.  This recipe was a bit messy to make, but not expensive and it lasts almost a month.  I highly recommend checking out the original recipe for the first time because she has great pictures and tips.

Ingredients:

• 2 gallon bucket
• 2 gallons water
• 1/2 cup Super Washing Soda (found at any grocery store I believe!)
• 1/2 cup Baking Soda
• 3/4 cup castile soap 
• 30 drops of your favorite essential oils
• Large wooden/plastic spoon to stir (not pictured)
• 2 1-gallon glass containers

First, measure out 1/2 cup of the Super Washing Soda and pour into a 2 gallon bucket.  Add just enough hot tap water to cover the washing soda, and stir well to dissolve.  Measure out and pour 1/2 cup of Baking Soda into the water/washing soda mixture, and stir well to dissolve. Fill up your bucket all the way to the top with hot tap water, only leaving about 1/2 inch of room on top. Make sure you do this BEFORE adding in your castile soap, or you’ll have a bubbly mess! Measure and pour into the bucket 3/4 cup of castile soap.  Pour in 30 drops of your favorite essential oils. Carefully stir everything together until well mixed.  Pour the detergent into jars or bottles
TO USE: 

Pour 1/3 cup of the detergent in with your dirty clothes and wash as normal. Contents might settle to bottom or clump, but just give the bottle a good shake before you use it.

A more simplified preschool approach

I LOVE teaching preschool!  I am now homeschooling my 3rd preschooler and I have learned a lot. Mainly, I don't do as much as I did with my first two.  I have learned what is the most beneficial and that is all I do. I don't worry about teaching all the subjects.  Preschoolers need time to play and imagine and pretend and listen to stories! Yes, preschoolers can learn a ridiculous amount of information.  But they don't have to do it right away.  And they can learn a ton in just a short amount of time each day.  Reading to a preschooler is absolutely the most important part of their education.  It covers all subjects and gives them a love for learning.  Honestly, I think if you did no other schoolwork but read to a preschooler for at least an hour each day, it would be fine.  Everything else can be learned easily in Kindergarten.  With that said, I pretty much waited to start any preschool work til after Christmas with my little girl.  She turns 5 in February and I really don't think children need to do much tablework before 5 years old.  Yes, we read TONS of books everyday and did puzzles and used math manipulatives that she thought were all games.  But I didn't do anything really structured until after Christmas.

Here is what our preschool day now looks like:
1.  While eating breakfast, I go over our phonics cards.  I have the lovely phonics cards from The Writing Road to Reading and I introduce a new one each day if I feel like she has mastered the previous ones.  She thinks this is a game and enjoys telling me the 3 sounds that the letter "y" can make or all 4 sounds that "ou" can make.  Then we do a few math flashcards from Rod and Staff.  She isn't doing any math worksheets yet because I don't like her to have to write much because it is still hard work for her and I want her to enjoy math.  But she likes these flash cards that ask what number comes before or after or which number is greater or smaller.  And we use math manipulatives to count things (and she really likes to tell stories with our colored bears and pattern blocks).  We also practice whatever poem we are currently memorizing over breakfast.

2.  She pretty much plays for the next hour and a half.  If the weather is good, we go outside and if not she just plays inside with her two-year old sister.  Lots of imagining and pretending and cutting and coloring going on.  It makes me smile!  I wish I could say that I prepare crafts for them but my life is too crazy.  I don't.

3.  We read picture books for about 45 minutes (or until the 2 year old gets restless).

4.  We practice our CC memory work songs for about 10 minutes.  This is the only structured history, geography, english, etc that she gets.  But don't forget about all the reading we do.  It covers all the subjects. :)

5.  We have lunch and then go outside (unless it is raining).

6. Naptime for the 2 year old and handwriting practice for my preschooler.  We only write for about 10 minutes and she also colors the answers in her Explode the Code book at this time.  I don't make her write in her Explode the Code.  The only writing she does is handwriting practice.  After this quick tablework, we take turns reading.  I read her a chapter from whatever chapter book we are enjoying  It is currently Besty-Tacy.  Then she reads me a lesson from her reading lesson book or Language lesson book or a story from Dick and Jane or her McGuffy Primer.  We go back and forth as I read a chapter and then she reads something short to me until her sister wakes up from her nap.  Then school is over and she plays the rest of the day.

Beating the stomach bug quickly (and other natural remedies for an upset stomach)

There are very few things as miserable as the stomach bug.  However, there is a solution for beating it quickly.  Activated charcoal works wonders!  And it is inexpensive!  It is great for both food poisoning and for the dreaded stomach virus.  The last few times my family has gotten a stomach bug, the members of my family willing to take activated charcoal only threw up once, while the rest were sick many times over and over.  It is tasteless and can easily be added to a drink or applesauce.  It turns the beverage or food black, however, so two of my children refuse to take it and then are sick much longer than the rest of us.  The last two times, I have used it as soon as the threat was obvious and I had nothing more than stomach cramps for a bit.  It works!

Activated charcoal is hands-down the best remedy for a stomach bug or food poisoning, but there are other things that can help with tummy trouble as well:

Redmond clay: This works in a similar manner as charcoal, but doesn't look as dreadful when mixed in with applesauce :)  We use it for a simple upset stomach as well.

Papaya Enzymes -- These were my best friend when I was pregnant as it helped tremendously with heartburn and acid reflux!  It aids in digestion and always works to help settle a stomach that might be queasy from eating too much or something too spicy or too fatty.  My husband and children all ask for them if they have an unsettled stomach.

Nux Vomica -- I'm still learning about homeopathy, but this has been quite helpful as well.

Tummy Aid Essentail Oil roll on -- I love Plant Therapy's kidsafe line!  I'm still learning about essential oils so I appreciate thse ready-made roll-ons that I can put on my children's feet and bellies.  They carry the regular oil you can diffuse as well, but I love the roll-ons to put in my purse to whip out as the first whimper of tummy pain.

Tummy Plus Tincture from Trilight Health --- I love all the tinctures from Trilight Health!  They don't taste badly so my kids will take them and they really work.

Our Favorite Meals

These are the meals that I regularly cook for my family:

Our top 6 favorites (can you tell we like Mexican?):

Honey Lime Enchiladas

Lime Chicken Tacos

Sweet n Sour Chicken Tacos or over quinoa or rice

Chicken Taquitos

Fried Tacos

Chicken Lazone

Bacon, Potato Beef Pie
Baked Potato Chicken Casserole

Baked Spaghetti
Baked Turkey and Gravy
Baked Ziti
Barbeque Chicken (on rice/Sand/or w/ bacon and cheese)
BarBQ beef cups

BarBQ Chicken Soup
Beef Tenderloin (only on special occasions :)
Beefaroni
Bierocks
Breakfast Casserole
Brian's Chicken Casserole
Broccoli Chowder with Monte Cristo Sandwiches
Burgers
Caramelized Easy Chicken
Cheesy Chicken Nuggets
Chicken Alfredo
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
Chicken Bacon Wild Rice Soup
Chicken Cordon Blue
Chicken Cordon Blue Casserole
Chicken Divane Soup

Chicken Lazone

Chicken, grilled, with lime and cilantro
Chicken Parmesan

Chicken/Turkey Pot Pie
Chicken Salad
Chicken Mexican Crockpot Dinner
Chicken Taquitos
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Chicken Divane
Chicken-Apple-Cheese Bake
Chili -- over spaghetti, chips, or potatoes
Corn and Cheese Chowder with grilled ham and cheese sand.
Cranberry Chicken
Creamy Chicken Spinach Pasta
Cream Cheese Chicken Chili
Crockpot Roast with veggies
Enchiladas
Grilled Chicken Salad with strawberries/grapes/almonds/whatever in fridge :)

Farmer's Market sausage skillet
Fried Tacos
Feta Salmon
Grilled Cheese (The Best Ever!)
Ground Beef Pie Topped with Bacon Twice Baked Potatoes
Ham Biscuits
Hawaiian Chicken Pile Up
Homemade Pizza
Italian Chicken with cream sauce
Italian Cream Cheese Chicken Casserole
Kielbasa and Potatoes
Lasagna
Lime Chicken Tacos
Mandarin Chicken Salad
Mango Salsa Crockpot Chicken
Manicotti
Meatballs (barbq, Sweetn-Sour, or Swedish over rice/quinoa
Meatball Subs
Meatloaf

Pinwheel chicken
Pizza with Home-made crust
Pizza Pasta
Pesto Chicken
Pollo Fundido
Poppyseed Chicken
Potato Soup and grilled cheese
Pumpkin Chili
Pumpkin Soup and turkey, apple, cheese panini
Quesadillas -- taco, pizza, chicken-bacon-ranch, turkey and cheese, etc
Quinoa, Beans, and chicken
Sausage-Tomato Cream Pasta
Salmon Pesto Pasta
Salmon Cream Pasta

Sausage Presto Pasta

Shepherd's Pie
Sloppy Joes
Stirfry w/ onions, peppers, and other veggies-- chicken or beef
Spaghetti Squash Casserole
Smothered Cheesy Roasted Club Sandwich
Stromboli (just using my pizza dough)
Steak Fajitas
Stuffed Mexican Peppers
Sweet Chicken Tacos or over quinoa or rice
Sweet N Sour Chicken
Taco Bake
Amazing Taco Salad
Taco Soup

Tomato Soup

Supplementing our Classical Conversations curriculum and fitting it into our daily schedule

A friend recently e-mailed and asked about how I implement Classical Conversations into our homeschooling, especially with two little ones distracting us.  She also asked about what materials I use for language and math.  Here is my reply:

Classical Conversations has truly helped me with accountability and feeling like I am making definite progress with the girls. After trying out several math curriculums, I finally settled on Rod and Staff and love it.  It begins very simply with the basic numbers and addition facts with much repetition. We went quickly through the first lessons, but I love that it really drills basic math facts to the point that my girls cannot possibly forget them.  My 5 year old is a little ahead in math and the curriculum begins so simply that I decided to just do the 1st grade level for both of them right now.  I just don't make my 5-year old do as much of the writing as my 6 year old because she grows weary of it.  I'm not sure how long I will be able to teach them at the same level, but I am grateful for it right now because my teaching time is quite limited due to having a baby and 3 year old as well.   The girls also do Explode the Code for phonics review and First Language Lessons.  FLL does not take long so I also do Language Lessons For Little Ones with my 5 year old and Language Lessons for the very Young with my 6 year old by Sandi Queen just because I like it so much.

I'll be honest, some days we get a lot done and some days we don't.  Learning the Classical Conversations info is actually the easiest part because there are songs for each memory work and we just take a break and dance and sing together when we are tired of doing our "proper" schoolwork :)  My 3 year old loves the songs also so I use my trifold board and they take turns picking out the song they want to sing and dance to next.  My baby just crawls all over us on the floor while we do this.

Our typical schedule is quite flexible because my baby is not a great morning napper. We have 4 basic parts of our homeschool day and they occur in any order depending on how the youngest 2 kids are doing: 1. Worksheets 2. Table Teaching (Math and Spelling Lesson) 3. Couch Lessons (Language Lessons, Read-a-Louds, and Reading Lessons) -- sometimes these are broken up into two different time periods... I often get the big girls up early from rest time to do their reading lesson and read-a-louds if we didn't get to finish them earlier. 4. Classical Conversation Review

I usually place all their worksheets (mainly math, map tracing, and Explode the Code) in a clipboard for them by their places at the tabel in the morning. They can choose to do them first thing while waiting for breakfast and for their turn to go potty and get dressed or they can choose to wait and do the worksheets during rest-time. Then, when the baby is napping, we do "table lessons" (math and spelling review). When she is awake, we do Language Lessons, reading lessons, and read-a-louds while snuggled together on the couch or floor and the baby plays around us. Some days it is easy to get it done but on bad teething days the baby is fussing the entire time and I have to wear her in the carrier while I teach.  

My 3 year old is also a wild card. She currently loves to color the Explode the Code worksheets her sisters do, so they pass them to her once completed. She also has a princess magnet set and a felt set that she often does at the table or other puzzles. If she gets bored, I give the big girls a break and do a language lesson with her from the Language Lessons for Little Ones (#1). She loves to do what her sisters do and she listens to the poems and talks about the pictures and tells me her letters. We just do any of the writing part orally.
I also utilize the Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory System with our CC work -- I buy the pre-made memory work cards at the beginning of the year and each night at the diner table the girls answer several questions before being excused from the table. This memory box actually contains a number of different things we are trying to remember: character traits, manners, phonograms, addition flashcards, scriptures, CC work, and catechism questions. I cannot recommend a memory box highly enough. We would not remember last year's work at all were it not for this box. My husband also appreciates hearing the different things we are learning.
We also still utilize the Sonlight read-aloud list and I try to request those books from the library each week.

Treating ear aches/ infections differently for different children

My girls recently endured a bad virus.  It started with a high fever for less than 24 hours and then had major congestion and a lingering cough and drainage.  About a week later, they all got an ear ache.  At first, I didn't realize it was related, but after they all got it, I realized it must have been from all that drainage.  I am writing this post because I found it very interesting that each child required a different treatment.

When my 5 year old calmly began complaining that her ear hurt, I looked up my homeopathic information and gave her Chamomilla.  She didn't complain again until the next day and I gave her some more and it seemed to help again.  I gave it to her about 3 times a day, only when she mentioned it bothering her again for about 2 days and that was it.  The remedy seemed to stop the pain quickly every time and eventually took care of it completely.

The next day, my 6 year old started fussing about her ear.  But it was totally different.  Instead of calmly mentioning that her ear hurt, she was moaning in pain.  I quickly gave her what had worked for her sister, but it didn't work for her.  Within 15 minutes she was crying and sometimes screaming.  I waited a bit to see if the remedy would work, but then remembered that there are several remedies for each ailment and it varies for each person.  So I looked at my homeopathic workbook again and saw that for such a fierce onslaught, Belladonna looked like the correct remedy.  It took a good 20 minutes, but all of a sudden, she was fine.  Completely happy, as if nothing had happened.  I was amazed!  I am totally a believer in homeopathy!

My 9 month old decided to cut her top two teeth shortly after recovering from her virus.  She was really fussy, but I just attributed it to those teeth.  But then she suddenly had a high fever at night.  She could not lay down to sleep and was only happy when I was holding her.   After sitting up all night with her with a super high fever, I immediately took her to the chiropractor the next day.  Her fever broke, she seemed much happier, and she slept soundly that night!  But the next day her fever returned and she was up the entire night again.  I finally took her to the doctor because she was so congested I was worried about bronchitis.  But he said she had a bad ear infection and it all made sense.   (I felt so badly that perhaps I could have prevented it like I did with the big girls if only I had realized it.  But I had just thought she was fussy because of her teeth!) So I took her back to the chiropractor.  I also started putting crushed garlic on her feet, collodial silver in her mouth, and garlic-infused coconut and olive oil warmed in her ear.  I also rubbed tea tree oil around her ear.  That night her fever broke and she slept soundly again.  She seemed better the next day, but that night, her fever skyrocketed again and I knew she needed one more adjustment.  That was all it took.  I finally had my happy baby back again and never needed that antibiotic prescribed by the doctor!

So to sum it all up, here are the different treatments needed for each child:
1.  Calm 5 year old with minor ear pain: Chamomilla
2.  Distraught 6 year old with sudden, sharp ear pain:  Belladonna
3.  Miserable 9 month old with high fever and major ear infection: 3 chiropractic adjustments on alternating days, crushed garlic on her feet, collodial silver in her mouth, and garlic-infused coconut and olive oil warmed in her ear and tea tree oil rubbed around her ear.  I also gave her THIS mustard plaster twice. (Note:  I have no idea why I did not use homeopathy on the baby... I guess sleep deprivation just made me revert back to what I always do for illnesses and I forgot to look up a homeopathic remedy for her.)

Old Fashioned Mustard Plaster for helping drain congestion

My 9 month old got a nasty virus that filled her head with much drainage and resulted in a horrible ear infection.  She has trouble sleeping, not only from the ear pain, but also because when she lays down she begins to cough and choke horribly on the drainage.  I took her to the chiropractor today and he said he could feel a lot of drainage in her head and ears and gave me this recipe to put on her upper chest to help drain it down:

1 part Mustard powder
1 part Baking soda
3 parts flour
enough water to make a paste

I love recipes that are so simple!  He said that for the baby, I should wrap it up in a hankie, with just one layer between her and the plaster, and zip her up in a sleep-in-play so that she can't reach it and get it everywhere.  For older children and adults, however, I could just apply it directly to the skin.  A person should try it on a small part of the skin first, though, to make sure it doesn't irritate it as it is a "hot" compress and could bother sensitive skin.  Leave it on for about 10 minutes and it can really make a difference.

I was amazed that I could "feel" the heat coming off it when I mixed it up for my baby.  A little bit leaked out of the hankie and got on her skin and it was red and seemed to annoy her, so I would personally recommend not putting it directly on the skin.  A hankie works well if you can get it to stay put.  She also seemed really bothered by it after only about 7 minutes so I took it off early.  But the plaster definitely seems to do its job!