5 for Friday!! (maybe I should start numbering these edition?)

#1.  Still waiting.  Scuff is still waiting to receive the magical white envelope!  He expected it on Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.  We think it will arrive today.  We are all hopeful!

#2.  Laundry Soap.....I make my own.  We learned how one day in our ward.  Some of my friends love it, others hate it.  Personally, I love it.  It is so much cheaper and does the job.  At first it didn't take care of many of our big boy odors, but I doubled the strength of it, made sure I added bleach for colors and that seems to manage all of it!  It costs me about $4.00 to make 5 gallons of detergent and lasts for about 2 months.

Here is the recipe:
6 Cups of water
1 bar of soap, grated (like cheese) [I use Fels Naptha because I like the scent and it is made for the laundry]
2 Cups of Borax
2 Cups of Washing Soda (not baking soda, washing soda--found in the laundry isle)

Bring the water to a boil, add the bar of soap, dissolve.  Then add the borax and washing soda, cook and stir until dissolved (5-10 minutes).

Add hot water until you have 5 gallons.  Let sit overnight.  Now it will look like a jello.  Use a whisk and stir it, pour it into containers.  Viola!  Laundry soap.

I use a capful (about 1/2 C.) per load.  Love it!

Today is soap making day :-)

#3.  Table cloths.
Yesterday I read Cocoa's blog about using table cloths.  I hadn't ever really thought about it before.  We didn't use them growing up.  But we are horrible table washers, here!  So after reading her blog and the comments from all of her readers, I thought, hey, let's give it a go!  I have plenty of sheets and for what ever reason, we don't use the top sheets at our house.  I was just keeping them so I could make them into fitted sheets.  (I can teach you how to do that later.)

Just to make the story complete, you need a little background.  When we were trying to pare down the budget, I started making more basic foods and whittled down the amount of meat and dairy we were eating.  We are allergic to dairy here even though no one will readily admit it and they all try to get away with it.  Sometimes I don't have enough backbone and I let them eat their dairy and other times I just don't buy it and I deal with the whining (what can I say, it is a work in progress.  We all have places where we are trying to make changes, right?)  The point is, I rarely buy cheese any more and I make homemade soups instead of buying them in a can.  My kids LOVE Campbell's Ham and bean soup (which really doesn't have any ham in it...just pieces of carrots--like maybe one per can--ridiculous!)  Anyway, last night, I made Campbell's bean soup and grilled cheese sandwiches because my day was crazy and I needed something easy for dinner.

I also opted for the table cloth idea above.  You would have thought we were going out to eat.  My kids were so excited!!!

"Grilled cheese and bean soup??!!  REALLY???!!!  And a Table Cloth???"  They were all in such a good mood!  (Which made up for the grumbling I got when I cracked down on the 'no privileges until AFTER chores are done'  afternoon we had.  Yes, making changes here too.)  Anyway, it was too cute to have them so excited and happy for such small things!

#4.  Trying to finish up my January to do items:
Taxes
FAFSA's (Federal Financial Aid Stuff) for the college boys
The purge after Christmas
File all the paper work from 2012


#5.  Lofty personal goals:
Stick to my eating plan, easier said than done.  I am a carb addict!  I admit it!  I don't like vegetables!  I would eat bread, grain, fruit, and sugar all day, every day!!!  I have to plan my vegetable and make something I like or I will not eat them, ugh!

Stick to my exercise plan.  The other day I was so excited because I had a goal to exercise 150 minutes a week, which is only 30 minutes/5 days a week.  Should be doable right??  Well I did it and I was so excited, until I realized that 150 minutes per week is the bottom of the 'maintain your weight' category.  Ugh!  Again!  But since I haven't been doing that, I need to at least get there and then I can add time from there.  This week I'm not even close to there.  Baby steps I know.  I just want it all and I want it NOW!  I hate this slow process of weight loss!  Enough complaining.

This is the best goal and my personal favorite!  I learned last week from a fabulous family history sister that I didn't have to make a HUGE block of time available for family history.  I always put it off because I think, oh ya', I'll get to that when I have more time.  Well, I never have more time.  It is never just going to be available for me to think, hey what should I do with this free three hours??  I know, Family History!  Not!

Her suggestion was to just spend 15 minutes on it a day or every few days.  Then put it away and pull it out later for another 15 minutes. Then put it away and go about your business.  I have been doing that the last couple of weeks and it works!  It is amazing!  Also, she said to only really focus on you and the last 100 years.  Put all of that data into the computer.  I find that I am usually having so much fun that I work on it for 1/2 an hour before I HAVE to put it away and take care of the family, but I have learned some amazing things!

I come from a long line of large families!  On my dad's side, one family had 17 children!  Most of them have anywhere from 9-14!  Wow!  That made me feel better about my crew of 9.

My father's line actually goes back to 1300!!  Another Wow considering that both sets of my grandparents were first generation members. 

My father has never liked his first name and always used his middle name.  His paternal grandfather has a brother right after him who shares the same name as my father.  It would appear that my father is named after his great uncle.  So then I wonder about the relationships between my grandfather and his uncle.  He obviously had fond feelings for him.  Those are things I cannot wait to find out after this life is over.

The families who go back far enough, are from England, Ireland, and Germany...sweet!  That explains the red hair in my son's beard---a blonde, blue-eyed baby, brunette adult, with a RED beard.  Sweet!

My husband's line actually goes back into the Vikings and royalty.  Who knew??  (That might explain our tempers and attitudes!!)

Anyway, it has been very enjoyable to learn a little more about who we are and what it means to be a part of our family!!

Check out Heather's 52nd edition here!