Monday, July 29, 2013

Mommy Fail....

First let me start out by saying that I love my kids more than anything. They are the best part of my life and staying home with them has been a dream come true. I feel so blessed and grateful.

But... I don't know how stay at home moms do it. I am exhausted all the time, the work is never done, and I can't take a step without stepping on a toy or bumping into a kid. Everything is a challenge from going to the grocery store to going to the bathroom. I pretty much live in the kitchen and laundry room. I can clean daily but you can't tell it EVER. My house stinks because they spill milk, soda, juice all the time. Telling them to keep it in the kitchen is a waste of my time but of course I say it 50 times a day anyway. Laundry is always piling up and I hate it so much. And of course half the things that end up in the dirty clothes were clean to start with but I get to rewash because they were mixed in with the dirty ones and at this house dirty means dirty! They go outside and they come back in with mud (and it doesn't even have to be wet outside), sand, gravel, oil, and of course my ultimate favorite... Dog poop!!! Lucky me!!!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Zeal Update

Still working this Zeal Challenge. I'm down another pound but I have still been lazy. I keep saying I'm going to add exercise into my daily routine but I just get so busy and find other things to be doing/enjoying instead. I would rather just not eat. Haha... Seriously though I will start one of these days... As far as hunger goes I'm good. I haven't really had an issue with feeling hungry this far. I do keep forgetting to take the Burn at dinner but thankfully I haven't been eating extremely bad. Because of summer gardens we're getting a lot of fresh veggies so we've been getting creative and trying to eat healthier as a family. I have started to notice that my portions are getting smaller and still seem to fill me up naturally. Lately I have been working on seeing food differently. Instead of being in love with it, I'm trying to just stay away from it. Which could also explain why exercise has been alluding me. Exercise makes me hungry which = eating more and thinking I can get away with cheating more because I earned it by burning a few calories. Definitely not the healthiest way to look at things but its keeping me more on track right now. I figure you can't rush these things. One day at a time down this journey of weight-loss that we all love/hate so much... 

Thanks for all the support!! 

Xo
Lindsay

Monday, July 8, 2013

I HATE laundry!!!


This is my laundry basket almost always. And I guarantee that a lot of the kids clothes are clean. The girls love to play dress up and they always promise to hang their clothes back up or put them away. I always fall for it and they always end up in my hamper to be rewashed. Needless to say I'm never caught up and we were spending a small fortune on laundry soap and softener. So in an effort to save money I decided to make my own. I started with a liquid recipe, but found that it was a lot of effort and I'm all about easy peezie. But I do keep it on hand for spot treatments. I pretreat any grass stains, mud, food, etc. It works great and is a fraction of the cost of shout or other stain removers. However it does take up more space in the laundry room or becomes a great step stool for my son to stand on and get into things that he shouldn't. Here's the recipe:

1 Fels Naphtha Laundry Bar, grated
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
Hot water

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add grated soap. Reduce heat to low and simmer until all soap is melted. Be sure to stir continually. Next fill a 5 gallon bucket half way with more hot tap water from the sink. Gently pour soap water into the bucket. Add remaining ingredients and stir until all is dissolved. Fill the bucket up with more hot water, stir again, cover and let sit overnight or 8 hrs to thicken and cool. 
This recipe makes 10 gallons of laundry soap. I transfer the concentrated soap into a smaller 2 gallon bucket and add warm to dilute if using as my detergent or if using as a spot treatment I leave as is. For top load washers use about 3/4 a cup or for front load washers use about a 1/4 cup. 

Because time is an issue for me I have started using the dry version of this recipe. It takes up less space in my laundry room and works very well. So far I've been very happy with the end results. Of course you can play with the recipes and make them your own! Here's the dry recipe I use:

1 Fels Naptha Laundry Bar, grated
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 cup Borax

I use my food processed for this and it works amazingly! Just make sure you mix all the ingredients completely and I like mine to be very fine in texture. Use a tablespoon per load or 2 tablespoons if really dirty (always at my house). 

Now lets talk fabric softener. I have to admit I was a little skeptical at first but I decided to brave it and it turns out that it works great. I don't even use bleach anymore (don't mix bleach & vinegar). So here's the recipe: 

3 cups White Vinegar
1 15 oz bottle of hair conditioner, any brand (I use whatever is on sale)
6 cups hot tap water
100% essential oil of your choice

Mix all ingredients together and use a 1/4 cup per load. Depending on the essential oil, I use about 20-30 drops. Just do the smell test if the vinegar bothers you. 

Vinegar neutralizes odors, helps colors from bleeding/fading, and is a natural softener. Who knew vinegar would become a staple in my home! 

Good luck and let me know what you think!! 

Xoxo
Lindsay

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Fourth of July!!!

So much history surrounds this holiday! Growing up it was just all about fireworks and playing with my cousins at the family cookout. It never really sank in during school or even as an adult really. Then I married a Marine. He has taught me what it means to be patriot, to love this great nation, and just what it cost our forefathers so long ago. 

Please have a fun but safe holiday weekend! Thanks so much for reading and never forget what this day means to us as a nation! 

Xoxo
Lindsay

Monday, July 1, 2013

Oh the Zeal challenge...

How am I doing??? Well besides being a little cranky things are going good. I had a bad weekend and still I'm 7 pounds down. That's pretty awesome considering I drank myself stupid Saturday night and ate Denny's for brunch. I enjoyed the super bird with avocado and seasoned fries. Oh and with a side of ranch for dipping. It was bad but so good! 

I think as punishment my hubby decided it would be great to go shopping for pond supplies and plants all day after eating such a satisfying meal with 3 kids in tow. But we all survived and I got to take a long nap when we got home. I woke up refreshed and ready to get back on it. I can honestly say that my hangover was not as bad as it should have been after drinking an entire bottle of wine alone the night before. In fact, I should have been sick for days! 

Go Zeal!