Liquid laundry soap

(Cute helper optional, but fun!)

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

This stuff works really well, and you can't beat the price. Less than $3 to make 10 gallons. It's one of the many ways we are saving money for our adoption fund. :)

Understanding those introverts in your life...

Introvert children? Tips for parents

Graduation Day...

My crew, whom I am so grateful to for allowing me to pursue this dream, and for putting up with a grumpy Mom for so long. We did it! Now it's my turn to help you reach your goals, I can't wait!

My Mom and I. She is my inspiration, I have always been so proud of the fact that she is a nurse. Thanks Mom and Dad, for being a constant source of encouragement.

My friend Katy. We kept each other sane, and prepared, for whatever challenge came next. I will miss seeing her almost daily, and miss our "talks." I'm still holding out hope that we will work together one day, she is going to be an awesome nurse!

Check out this family!

This is a great blog by a fellow Reece's Rainbow family, they have a huge heart for orphans. Check it out, and see the impact one 11 year old girl can have. She raised almost $30,000 in less than a month, so her family could adopt a child in need! Glory bumps on that one for sure Amanda!

Our new niece and nephew arrive :)

My sister and brother-in-law arrived home last night with the newest additions to their family. Welcome home Anna and Levi!

Great John Gatto article...

"Why Schools Don't Educate"

Adoption Update

Nothing exciting to report, we are still just waiting. It seems our wait could be a long one...

Hopscotch (our agency) has recently updated the timeline on their website to say, 1st approval is estimated to take 3-4 months or more (this is the point in the process we are currently at), 2nd approval takes 3-5 months, and final approval takes 1-2 months. Since we submitted our dossier on September 22, this puts us traveling in May at the earliest, and August at the latest. Or not.

We will just continue to keep ourselves busy (won't be much of a problem!) and enjoy our monthly updates on Joseph. He continues to look really good, he is sitting up independently and crawling all over the place. The latest update says that he has had some difficulty with vomiting often, not sure what that is about. Reflux? Allergy? Hopefully it will clear up soon. They took him to the hospital at one point, but nobody seems to be able to read the doctors scribbling well enough to translate the diagnosis.

Hang in there buddy, we will be there ASAP!

It' beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here!

We went to cut our Christmas tree today, the first one in many years. Our artificial tree finally died. None of the kids remember ever going to a tree farm, so needless to say, they were a little excited.

I think we'll take this one!

I'm looking oh, so helpful here. I was really trying hard to enjoy the day, and not think about everything I need to get done/study for in the next 2 weeks. The countdown is on! Mommy is a little stressed.

The girls were trying to figure out how to smuggle a bunny or two home.

This was the first day in a long time we spent the entire day hanging out as a family. We had lots of fun, and LOTS of laughs. I am blessed to have such an amazing crew. They are so funny! I love hearing what is going on in their little minds. There was lots of talk today about Joseph, "What do you think Joseph is doing right now?" and "I wonder if Joseph will love Mexican food as much as we do?" I can tell he is never far from all of our minds. We can't wait to have him home and teach him all about life as a Brown.