Homemade Deodorant

Deodorant Recipe

5 tablespoons coconut oil

1/8 cup arrowroot powder

1/8 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup baking soda

and I add a few drops of tea tree oil for a nice smell

Mix the powders together in a jar and slowly add the coconut oil until you have a good consistency and powders are dissolved. Add a few drops of oil until it has a nice smell.

To use, scoop out a pea sized amount and rub between your fingers to melt and create a smooth texture.

Laundry Detergent

Here is my recipe for detergent

3.1oz Bar Ivory Soap (use any fragrance free mild soap)
1 cup Borax
1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing soda.

Grate bar soap (I use my smaller grater/zester thing)
and combine with other ingredients.

That is the basics. I usually quadruple the batch and store it in an old ice cream bucket.

Use one Tablespoon per large load
I use 1/4 tablespoon per load of cloth diapers

Napping Children

Oh how wonderful!!! I never appreciated the quiet until I had children. When I was a teenager I couldn't do anything without the radio or something making noise. I had to study with my Ipod in my ear, and I couldn't sit for two seconds alone without picking up the phone to have someone to talk to.

Now when the kids both make it down for a nap at the same time I am so happy to sit in the silence. I turn my phone off and just enjoy the peace! I wonder why that changes?

Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God"

Self Sufficiency Cont.

My beautiful Iris flowers

Another shot of the hives

Yay! We finally got our rain barrels!

I want to pain the barrels white to match the garage and Curt is still in the process of connecting them to the down spout.

Our chickens are coming mid june so I will keep updating on them too.

Our Self Sufficent Life

My snowball bush is starting to blossom

Curt's gigantic chicken coop

Our first strawberry flower!

The Beehives, If you look real close you can see the bees coming in and out.

Monkeying Around

My Grandma just sent Eli a quilt she made him and I had to post the pictures!

And an update on cloth diapering: it is super easy! Anyone who is thinking of doing it just should! It is an investment, but if you are planning to have more kids it is worth it not having to by disposables every week or two. I hooked up my diaper sprayer all by myself today and it will make cleaning messy diapers super easy.

I've been selling stuff on Ebay to make a little extra cash to pay for the new diapers and the sprayer. I sold some of my baby stuff I don't want and have been selling things for friends and charging 15% commission. So far I've been able to pay off 6 diapers and the sprayer so I feel uber thrifty! Yay for Ebay!

Oh and Curt got all the bee hives up and ready to go this year....hopefully we will get some honey :)