Household – Page 18 – Plain and Not So Plain

Plain and simple summer birthday party fun for children

amy / 07/08/2013

With 12 of us celebrating birthdays throughout the year, we pretty much have one for every month to celebrate. Our 8-year-old daughter is the fortunate one to enjoy her birthday on the 1^st of July. She is the lucky recipient to enjoy “Daddys’ awesome fireworks show.” My husband enjoys the 4^th of July holiday more than any other holiday during the year. The excitement and anticipation of fireworks and seeing the joys of the childrens’ faces is what gets him excited. He is a good Daddy. Here are the highlights of a plain and simple birthday party in summer.

we started off by riding go karts around the yard. The 8-year-old was taught to drive the go-kart herself this year. DSCN2155

here she is chasing her 17-year-old brother on his Odyssey.we did a water balloon toss game, and our daughter diligently filled up 200 water balloons for this occasion. By the way my daughter is wearing our bathing suit…they are made by wholesomewear.com a wonderful durable bathing suit. I love them.here are the 1,2, and 3 year olds getting into the water balloons

On the menu: macaroni and cheese, baked beans, and………

hot dogs cooked over a Dakota hole fire—very cool google this idea

fresh fruit blt chicken salad veggie pizza a homemade water slide fondant cake made by big sister
We then made a treasure hunt, that sent the girls around the yard looking for clues. One example of a clue was…..in the tree that Tarzan swings from you will find me……..(we have a willow tree). We did 6 clues and that seemed to be sufficient for them.

In the end they found a box filled with glow sticks,(for our fireworks show)bubbles, candy, slap bracelets, and silly string……which they decided to get the older siblings while they were driving the go-kart.
My 15 and 20-year-old, yeah better not get mom…………..Then on to more games…….. Our neighbor gave us a refrigerator box this week out of the blue and it worked out to be a blessing. We found some paints in the garage and came up with a homemade bean bag toss game.We made the “bean bags” out of felt squares and rice.Next, we made a homemade pinata. The children really enjoyed making that this week.
Dad brought out the potato gun to shoot. Another great fun family project.
Here is the 8 year olds first time shooting. Then to top it all off fireworks!! This was our first year in…….forever…….that we all got to sit outside and enjoy. We usually have a little one that does not enjoy the noise. But this year everyone stayed for the whole thing, it was beautiful.

Thank you for a fun weekend Daddy! and Happy Birthday to my daughter Jadyn, truly a girl after God’s own heart. We love you.

21 days to a more natural home series part 13…dishwasher detergent

amy / 07/05/2013

We prefer to do our dishes manually by hand but if you use your dishwasher, know that on the back of your box of detergent are some pretty strict warnings. How many of us accidentally drop a few grains of dishwashing crystals onto the floor and then have our crawling babies get it on their hands? It is highly toxic and the box recommends we don’t even breathe it in. But we are going to wash our dishes where all our food and drinks touch and then enter our bodies??? Doesn’t sound right.

Here is an alternative that is safer to use. Mix the following into a bowl.

1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup citric acid–found in the canning section
1/2 cup kosher salt (for scrubbing action)
optional– essential oils, 10 drops of orange

Use 1 Tbsp per load. Even when the detergent opening is larger and will fit more into it, on the back of your “store bought detergent” it recommends using 1 Tbsp only, save your money and use the correct amount.

The citric acid will cause your mixture to “clump.” If you leave your mixture out on the counter for a few days that will disappear.

For rinsing aid, use straight vinegar .

Are you reducing the amount of chemicals you bring into your home? Start on day 1 of this series and see why it is so important to remove as much as possible toxic chemicals and cleaners in your home.