Now that summer is winding down, it's time to start getting back into our fall routines. Around here that means more evening activities, which requires having a menu plan. August is still summer around here, but I know a lot of people are already back-to-school. With back-to-school comes back to all of the extracurricular activities that take place in the evenings. I'm taking the next few weeks to get back into a groove so that when our activities pick up I'm not completely blindsided by ...
Homemaking
5 Essential Oil Diffuser Blends for Bedtime
How'd you sleep? As someone who deals with insomnia combined with children waking me up in the middle of the night, my usual response was "meh". I had many friends recommend various supplements or essential oils as a natural way to help me get some much-needed rest. I liked the idea of using a natural product versus taking a pill to knock me out, so I figured it was worth a try. ...
DIY: Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent
On my to-do list for this week – making my own laundry detergent. Yes, I make my own laundry detergent instead of buying it at the store, and you know what, I like it more than the name brand that I grew up using. I started making my own laundry detergent about eight years ago, and haven’t had any regrets! In fact, on the rare occasion that something is washed in regular store bought detergent, I notice a difference in the scent (my husband said his shirt smelled like Pez) and in ...
Deep Clean Your Bedding
Deep cleaning isn't only happening in the spring. Throughout the year, I deep clean various rooms or even parts of rooms so that we can keep up with the housework the best we can. Some areas get deep cleaned on a regular schedule, but others like our bed linens, get a deep cleaning as necessary. There are three times when I need to deep clean bed linens in our house: after someone has been sick to get rid of any germs that may be hanging around after one of the children ...
5 Cookbooks for People Who Love to Bake
My grandmother encouraged my love of cooking and baking. When we would visit with dad on Tuesday nights, I'd sit in the kitchen with my grandmother. We would talk about when she used to work on the production line of a large bakery. That it was her job to put a pecan on the top of a cupcake. I would check out cookbooks from the school library starting when I was in the 4th grade. Sometimes, on Sundays, we would make recipes out of those cookbooks. She was ...