Potty Training In A Pirate Movie

Hey, hey, dolls! Happy Fri-YAY! The blog has gotten 3,000 reads! Thank y'all for reading about my messy, crazy, fun, kid-filled life!!! Without my readers, why blog? So thank y'all so very much!!! Much love to ya! To celebrate, I'm going to give away a Valentine bunting, made by moi, to one lucky reader. Ooh la la! To enter, comment on the blog and I'll draw a name and post the winner!

I really love doing the blog and I love to connect with other mommas. Coming up soon, I'm going to have my BFFs, Laura Oglesby and Billie-Jo Carpenter, do a guest post. They're entertaining and hilarious moms with litters of kids of their own. We are going to share some of our funniest, mom moments with y'all. 

To get us started, here's on of my faves. (In my Sophia from the Golden Girls voice) Picture it, my mother-in-law and I are sitting at the show, watching Pirates of the Carribean, and we had Rylie (who was in the middle of potty training) and baby Rowdy. We are totally into the show and suddenly we hear something. Like water running. We look around, confused, and try to figure out what the noise is. Where is it coming from?! My heart stops. So does the noise. Rylie had taken off her pants and peed right there in the theater. Oh, Mylanta! I was mortified! I grabbed her up and ran to the bathroom so fast. Just a tad too late, huh? I cleaned up the mess the best I could, but the theater was sloped and the pee was running down to the front of the theater. (Pick your feet up, y'all!) It was awful. The books don't teach you this kind of stuff! You learn this from ex-PEE-rience. To this day, I hope and pray she didn't get pee on anybody's purse. 

Can you relate?! Tell me I'm not the only one!! Lol! Being a mom is totes hard sometimes and you need friends who are in the same boat as you. Having my friends to share parenting failures and victories with is extremely important me. You're not the only one! You're not alone. My life was DULL before the babes came along! They make my heart full and I thoroughly enjoy the circus I've been blessed with! Sometimes Caleb and I look at each other and just laugh at all of this. I know it sounds cheesy, but I am living the life I always wanted. It wouldn't be interesting if everything was perfect!

Comment and let me know what you want to see on the blog and I'll get it on here! Don't hold back! If you have questions you'd like to ask or stories you'd like to share, don't be shy! Send them to me! I'd love to talk with y'all! And if you know someone who'd enjoy the blog, please send them my way! 

Enjoy your weekend! Don't forget to love your chaos. It won't be like this for long. 

❤️ Jenn

Laundry Detergent Recipe, Take 2!

Y'all! I had a WHOLE post typed up this morning and I deleted it. Grrrr! Second time's the charm. Here we go!

Last night the RCC Gang and I made a new batch of laundry detergent. I have made it a few other times and I have been extremely pleased with the outcome each time. The recipe I used this time is one I got from Amberly Houser at Hurricane Houser blog. 

Here is the recipe!

*1 box of Borax

*1 box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

*2 cups of baking soda

*3 bars of Fels Naptha (my store was out so I got Zote)

*5 pounds of Oxi Clean (you can use a generic to save more money)

*3 13.2oz bottles of Downy Unstobbales in-wash scent booster (I got a huge 36.2oz bottle at Sam's for $14.62) (you can use Gain or Purex too - the RCC Gang voted on the blue Downy. Majority rules. This time.)

Note: I used more Downy than required and my laundry still didn't have as much scent as I like. Next time I will just add some to each load to ensure enough gets in there. We like our clothes to smell goooood!

Gather your supplies. You will need a large container to store the detergent in. (I got a large glass cookie jar at Walmart a few years ago for around 10 bucks.)

A food processor, a knife, 2 trash bags, and if you have little helpers like mine, a referee shirt and a whistle. Possibly a Billy club if it gets out of control. 

Cut the bars of soap into small chunks and place into food processor with a scoop of Oxi so that your blades won't gunk up and get sticky. (Great tip, Amberly!) You will need to do a little a time to be sure it gets thoroughly ground. I have used my cheese grater before, but you could end up with undissolved chunks on your laundry. You want it to be ground into a fine powder. 

Already looks like Tide, huh?

After you have processed each small batch, dump it into a trash bag that is doubled with another trash bag incase one gets a hole in it. After all the bars of soap are chopped, dump in the remaining ingredients. Tightly hold the opening of the bags closed and roll it around on the carpet, gently. You do not want to have to clean up that mess! Once it is all combined, dump it into the jar you have chosen. (Yes, I still used the trash bags after I was done. No need to waste. Save that money, y'all!)  It only takes a small (2 tablespoon) scoop for each load. I used an old scoop I had, but there is a silver 2T coffee scoop at Walmart in the kitchen utensil aisle for a buck or two. 

Not including the optional Downy, I spent $21. This batch will last months and months. Possibly all year. And I do A LOT of laundry, y'all. I had gotten into the habit of buying a small ($5) bag of Tide Pods and a bottle of Downy ($4) each week instead of buying in bulk. I was spending around $30 for a one month supply. 

People have asked me before if it really works as well as I say it does. Well, have y'all SEEN my family?! These cats get dirty. Not just regular dirty. I'm talkin' super extreme country folk DIRTY. Their clothes always come out clean and fresh. I'd say it cleans just as well as, if not better, than Tide Pods. For tough stains I still spray on some Spray and Wash or something, just to be safe. 

So, for $21, you can make a HUGE batch of unscented detergent and just buy the in-wash scent boosters or fabric softener of your choice and save quite a bit of money. And with all that dinero you'll be saving, make a quick trip through the jewelry section and getcha a new pair of earrings or a cute necklace next time you hit the grocery store. You deserve it for all that laundry you've been doing! 

I hope y'all enjoy the recipe! 

❤️ Jenn

New Year, Same Fun Life!

Hey, y'all! Week one of 2015 down! Let me fill y'all in on what's been going on in my neck of the woods:

My baby twerks when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse comes on. [Oh, lawd.]

Caleb has got to be home a lot, lot more! Praise Jesus! Basically, on top of my other everyday chores, I am now the official Lego judge. That's what Caleb and the kiddos have done all day, build extremely intricate vehicles and ask who's is better. I dig it. 

I have already started saving money for 2K15 (one of my many resolutions). What, what!!

I've gotten to see my BFFs quite a bit more than usual. Par-tay! 

{New Year's Eve}

I dyed my hair fairly dark with a cheapo haircolor. Seeing myself in all the NYE pictures with those HUGE roots sent me over the edge!

And, drumroll please, I decided to start back on a LCHF (low carb/high fat) "diet", because, duh, doesn't everyone and their momma try to lose weight after New Year's? I really hate to even call it a diet. I mean, I can eat bacon and cream cheese and all that jazz. Doesn't sound like a diet to me. And let's be honest, I will turn in to a ravage beast if I eat only 1200 calories a day. Ahh! I just can't get on that bandwagon. If you're considering dropping some lbs, give LCHF a try. I've been pinning some pretty drool-worthy low carb recipes that the whole fam would love on my Hot Mom Meals & Motivation board. And if you didn't notice, I had to change that board's name; It used to be called "Hot Mom 2014". Scratch that! Missed out on 2014. Lol! So it's renamed. By the way, did I mention you get to eat bacon? 

So that's what's been shakin' over here!

Time to bathe the RCC Gang and get them to hit the hay. Thinkin' about making the trip to Sam's and Hobby Lobby tomorrow. Lord, please give me strength to not eat the pizza if we go to Sam's!!!

Night, y'all! 

❤️ Jenn