Just living life

You know when you are part of a family, life is never simple and with my crazy crew we seem to run forty directions to nowhere, but we definitely laugh along the way. So much has been going on here that I got sidetracked a bit….well okay actually I have been sleeping clear through my early morning writing time the last bunch of days and then really wanted to be present with my younger two during our “schooling” hours and before I know it all the workers (ie grown up dudes) in the home are home and it is time to get dinner on, I am sure a more organized person would already have something cool in the crock pot or oven, me I am usually throwing stuff together, which, by the way when you are trying to eat non-packaged food is not so easy and yeah it can be hit or miss. I am working on a better plan so at least I know what I will be throwing together last minute. =)

Along the way my daughter has helped me remember to photograph our activities and creations. It is kind of cool, she has taken on the roll of photographer for some of our creations. I marvel at how people think kids need to be pushed to learn all the time. I was able to see in these last bunch of peaceful days how learning just happens while we are living. So beautiful to see it happen.

My thought for the week:

I like any parent have had my ups and downs, being secure or insecure over how I educated, was it right or wrong, blah blah blah, you know the stuff that fills your head. What I can tell you is that I have produced 4 children, my two oldest are for the most part happy healthy adults, they are good and kind, they genuinely care about others, they have strong work ethic, are reliable, smart, true and loyal. Their bosses are glad to have them in their companies. They are always willing to learn something new and can figure out how to go about getting that information. I judge my children’s success based on who they are as people and how they interact with the world, not if they produce a degree that might indicate I did a good job, this is their life not mine and they are not here to make me look good. I am beyond proud of my children they are all great humans.

What we accomplished the last bunch of days (ya know I wish I had thought to photograph and write when my kids were younger, then when my husband asked what I had done all day….as if the barf on my shirt or the fact that I was still in my pajamas wasn’t an obvious enough clue..)

Anyway, we made laundry detergent, I did this kind of cheating though, I bought this in my monthly Quail Cove order. The laundry soap kit pretty much includes ingredients I already have under my sink so next time I will make it on my own and while I am at it I may make a few kits to keep under there so the next bunch of times I won’t have to measure anything out.

Cool things about making our own laundry detergent:

1. I know what is in it

2. it counts as science

3. its fun to cook soap on the stove

4. you can make it smell how you want, we used lavender

Once I get my recipe together I will share it. So far I like the way it washes our clothes.

Remember my beautiful sourdough bread? I made so much some of the loaves started getting stale, so before I lost them I decided to make french toast from it. It was pretty good and a big bonus to not waste it. This go round I am going to give them away to friends and freeze them.