My 13 Muffin Day

It has been so long since I have written anything! There just isn't enough time in the day for everything I want to do.  But lately I have been doing a lot of thinking and our schedules have gotten so busy that we haven't had time to connect as a family.  I decided to try living a little more simply, not being in so much of a hurry and enjoying this moment in life.  So we are trying to do things a little differently around here.  I know it won't happen overnight, (it's sad that I have to remember to slow down!)but we are going to give it a try. 

To teach our kids (and ourselves) how to simply enjoy life I have been trying to incorporate little acts of service into our days.  It is such a better use of my time than tv or yikes, my iphone.  I want the kids to put down the remote or the video game and realize life can still be fun without those things.  Today I was trying to clean the house and kept thinking of all I had to do and would get frustrated with the kids when they wouldn't stay outside so I could clean or kept asking me for a million and one things.  Then it hit me, this was a time to simplify.  I just needed to face facts that the house wouldn't get spotless today, but also I needed to look at what was most important which was the kids. 

I love to cook, so I looked in the kitchen and I had all the ingredients to make a batch of muffins so I decided to see how a dozen muffins could change our day.  I know the picture only shows 9, but that's all that was left when I got around to taking one.

I made a batch and had enough for 13 which meant naturally I got one to taste!  That definitely change my mood, I needed a pick-me-up.  Then I surprised the kids with one each and they gobbled them up before I could even get a picture, they were thrilled for the treat an excited about our idea to see who we could share them with.  Fisher decided to take 3 to our neighbor so we took a few minutes to deliver them and catch up.  My mother-in-law was having a not so stellar day so we left 2 on her kitchen counter for when she comes home as a nice surprise.  We took 3 with us to give as a thank-you to my sister-in-law and niece while they helped Finley get ready for dance pictures.  That left 2 that we surprised my husband with after a long day.  He was particularly grateful! 

We didn't change the world today but we did enjoy our time together and making our family and friends smile.  That's all I really want my kids to learn that it doesn't have to be something huge, but enjoy every day and even if it is just a smile or polite manners try to do something for others.  And you know what? Our day was pretty awesome and the kids attitudes were better than usual!

I found a great recipe a few weeks ago that is gluten free and uses real ingredients and tastes awesome.  http://emthebaker.com/2014/02/28/gluten-free-chocolate-chip-muffins/
I follow it pretty much the same but all gluten free flour does not create the same results.  I have the best luck with Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour.  I also use coconut palm sugar in place of the brown sugar and organic cane sugar. 

DIY Bow Holder

 

 

 

 

I have been on the search for the perfect bow holder for my daughters growing collection for a few months now.  I couldn't find anything exactly what I had in mind...of course, so I just decided to make one this weekend.

 

 

 

It only took 30 minutes too!  You only need a few items:

 

• 1/2  Yard of fabric
•  covered canvas  ( I made a big board and mine was 16"x20")
• glue gun
• 5/8" ribbon
• self adhesive hangers

 

The canvas I got was only about $10 for a two pack.  (You can get a whole yard of fabric and make an extra for a gift!)

 

 

 

 

Cut the fabric and glue it on the wood frame

 

 

Now the canvas already looks super cute but it's time to get out the ribbon

 

 

I took 3 pieces and folded them in half to hold little elastic hairbands

 

 

I put adhesive Velcro on the insides of the ribbon

 

 

Then I glued the back of the ribbon to the board and added a little bow on the front to make it a bit more stylish! then I added a row of self adhesive hooks to hold stretchy headbands

 

 

 

I forgot to take a picture of the headband hanging ribbon but just cut a piece twice as long you need and fold it over gluing it in about 4" sections. 

 

 

 

Then just add ribbon wherever you want and you're done!

 

 

 

Here is the finished product.  Not bad for half an hour!

 

 

 









DIY BABY WIPES

I saw this post on the doterralife site and wanted to try it and it was a total success!  I have been making my own wipes for a few months now, an it is super easy! you only need a few ingredients:

• Fractionated coconut oil (or other carrier oil)
• Melaleuca oil
• Lavender oil

Take a paper towel roll and cut it in half with a serrated knife, and save on half for later.  Don't use the bargain brand for this, they need to be able to hold up.

 

 

Place half of the roll in an airtight container, I found mine at TJ Maxx.  Then measure 2Cups water, I use bottled water because the wipes last longer that way.  Then add 2Tablespoons fractionated coconut oil and 10 Drops each of melaleuca and lavender oil right into the measuring cup.  I like to add 5 or so drops of lemon too.

 

 

 

 

 

Pour everything over the paper towels in the container

 

 

 

 

Take the middle cardboard piece out of the paper towels and pull up on the middle just like Clorox wipes.  There ya go!  let it soak for about an hour to get everything saturated and be sure to keep the top on when not using.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me know what you think!  I love these wipes because they only cost about 5 cents per wipe and since they have lavender and coconut oil in them my kids haven't gotten a diaper rash since we started using this recipe.  So it saves money in wipes and cream.

 





Kitchen Redo Part 2

So what I initially thought would be a week or two job here has turned into a month plus.  But really I have no reason to complain because things are coming together beautifully!  The floor is in, the cabinets are done, the lights are in, and the bar is being finished hopefully within a week.  Everything looks great and the kids are having a lot of fun eating on the floor every night...Hey if they are happy I'm happy. 

To catch you up we kept the old cabinets and just painted them white and added new hardware, we got some mid-grade laminate from Lowes and replaced the kitchen tile and living room floor with that.  The bar cabinets are from Lowes too, and they worked out great. They saved us so much money from having a custom bar built.  We also installed can lights in the living room and updated the lighting in the kitchen.   We are still waiting for countertops and butcher's block and then maybe everything can come together. 

Here are a few pictures from where we are at tonight:

We still need to paint the trim on the bar white and get counter tops

The kitchen is so much more open than it was and we have so much more storage!  Just excuse the mess we still can't put anything in the cabinets.

The kids might have a hard time readjusting to eating at a table again!



DIY laundry detergent

DIY laundry detergent...(and softener and stain remover)

I was over at camp wander a few weeks ago and found a tutorial on how to make your own laundry detergent using doterra essential oils.  For those of you who know me know how much I love these oils for health benefits, but I had never tried the cleaner concentrate.  So I decided to give it a try and am hooked.  I washed my sheets first and my husband even commented on how crisp and clean they felt!  OK, to start off with the detergent:

  You need these three ingredients:

Both the washing soda and borax are at the grocery store and they are cheap on amazon too.  You need a half gallon mason jar or other glass container and add:

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup borax

1/2 cup doterra on guard cleaning concentrate

Then to that add  4Cups Hot water (so everything can dissolve)

Stir

Fill to the top with cold water

it should be beautiful and bubbly now

That's it!  Just add 1/2 cup per large load of laundry and see what you get!!!

This is a good base so if you want to put in any essential oils feel free.  I like to use lavender or wild orange


But I didn't stop there I decided to make my own stain remover following Camp Wander's recipe

You need:

• a spray bottle or condiment bottle ( I got mine at dollar tree)
• Your liquid detergent you just made from above
• dawn dish detergent

Fill the bottle with your on guard laundry detergent then add 2Tbsp of dawn and shake to mix

That's all there is to it!  I tried this on the kids milkshake stained clothes and it worked like a charm.


Then I thought what the heck lets make our own fabric softener too, and wouldn't you know camp wander had a recipe for that!

You need:

• Standard mason jar
• distilled white vinegar
• essential oils of your choice

Just fill the mason jar with the vinegar and add 25-30 drops of essential oils. I like lavender or to mix lemon in with the lavender.  Just add 1/2 cup to your fabric softener receptacle and there you go!

I really like this because the store bought softener always gunked up my machine, now its squeaky clean.



There you have it an easy peasy way to make your own detergent that's cheaper and works better than most detergents on the market.


Oh, I also like to add some oils to my dryer sheet as well so my clothes smell extra awesome when I pull them out of the dryer.  Just but a few drops of say lavender on your dryer sheet before you throw it in.


This was such a success for me I also decided to make my own baby wipes, now I won't go back to buying those either!!





Halfway There!

So the house is a total disaster but it is still a big day around the Parker house.  The floor is officially installed!!  So excuse the mess but here are some updated pictures:

No more pink tile or dirty carpets!

The cabinets are a nice white and the bar is gone so it is so much more spacious



We are at the last part here getting the bar installed and hopefully that will happen next week.  The bar is what I am especially excited about, now more than ever so I can put some of this food away!

Kitchen Redo (before)

We are starting the Kitchen remodel tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited!!  If you told me 10 years ago that I would be over the moon about kitchen cabinets I would never have believed you...oh how things change!
 
I thought it would be fun to put up pictures through the process.  So here we go:
 
 
 
This is right when you walk in the front door

we are putting in laminate wood flooring in both the kitchen an living room

Also look at all that wasted space in the kitchen area

 

 

 

 

 

 We are painting the cabinets white and putting in a backsplash

 

 

 

 

 

This is literally the size of workspace we have in our kitchen, Don't get me wrong its done just fine.  But we both like to cook and so do our kids so we are always stuck in a corner somewhere or in someone's way

 
 
 
This is how it looks straight on.  We are also replacing the countertops at some point on this journey

 

 

 

 

My mom hates coming over late in the day because we have no lighting, in my opinion the mess isn't as bad if you can't see it ;)   we are putting in a fan and a row of canister lights

 

 

 

 

The floor currently in the dining room is getting replaced to match what we are putting down in the kitchen

 
 
In case you were wondering where the kiddos were...I left them outside to paint and found this

 

 

 

Check back in a day or two to see how everything is coming along!!