Spelling Word Practice

I had decided that my son should start writing his spelling words, in hopes that it would help them stick with him a little better. When I was in school, I was required to write my spelling words over and over, every week. So why shouldn't he? I feel like it helped me a lot. And not only will it help with his spelling, it will also help with his penmanship. So I decided to make him a worksheet of all his spelling words, thus far. I was perusing the web for 2nd grade paper templates, when I ran across this website. It has almost everything! As I was looking throught the different paper templates I ran across this! It's a cursive font! But not a frilly cursive font, one that memics the cursive letters we are learning. So why not kill three birds with one stone? Spelling, penmanship and cursive! It's great! So I downloaded the font and created these worksheets in Word (I had to convert them in Publisher to a GIF format to upload here).

As you can see, I put the spelling word in a normal font and color, so he could see them. That way he knew what letters he was writing. Then I used the "School Script Dashed" font and made those a light gray so that he could see them, but that I could see where he traced them. I narrowed my margins so I could get several words on each line. Obvioulsy the smaller the word, the more you'll get per line.
I used them today for the first time. He did great!

Target School Supplies...$1 bin

I'm sure you've all been to Target and rummaged through all the $1 bins. They usually have lots of school supplies! I've gotten all my flashcards there. Lots of stickers, stamps, file folders, magazine holders, etc...
I just felt like sharing all my treasures!!

i think i have a slight pencil fetish

or even a pen/marker...I'll admit it!

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I also frequent the Dollar Tree. I've gotten several workbooks there as well. Along with bulletin board decorations, stickers, pens/pencils, etc...

These are card games

Most of the other items I have purchased, came from The Parent Teach Store or The MTHEA Curriculum Fair.

2012 Beach Family Photo Shoot

Every year, I try to have our pictures taken while we are at the cabin. I think last year was the only year I failed at that. We are there for two weeks and I always wait until the day before we leave to decide to take pictures. And last year, the weather was too bad. Again, this year, I waited until the last day, and it was very windy. But my fabulous photographer and her fabulous assistant managed to pull it off!! Here ya go!!

Homemade Cleaning Products

I've been spending way too much time on Pinterest and have noticed every one is talking about and/or making their own cleaning products. Why? Well, for me the attraction was cost and the use of  natural agents.

Now, I'm not one for the whole "organic" thing. But I do, on occasion, shop at Whole Foods. However, the majority of my food/products still come from Publix/Wal-Mart/Target. But, like most, I'm ALWAYS up for stretching a buck and if it's better for me and my family at the same time...BONUS!

So I went on a shopping spree and armed myself with all the necessary ingredients!

And here are the products I've made so far...

1st up...Bathroom Cleaner (shower, tub, sink, mirror):

I started with this one, because, well frankly, I had all the agents on hand, except the wand I chose to use, and since I was quite skeptical about it all, didn't want to put any money into it. After all I have always used Comet, CLR, Windex, etc... And to think that I could replace all those products and their horrible smells with this simple little concoction...I had my doubts. But I wanted to believe it would work. I was tired of the headaches after I cleaned my bathroom. I was tired of telling the kids to stay out of the bathroom after I had just cleaned it. You get the idea.

So, what's in it you ask???

• Dawn dish soap (the original blue kind) 
• White Vinegar (you can get organic if you wish)

That's it. 

Crazy, right? 

I know!

Like I mentioned, I opted to put mine in a dish wand with refillable sponge, that I purchased from Wal-Mart for around $3. I tried one from the Dollar Tree, but it didn't work. It ran out faster than I could fill it up. Make sure the sponge you use is a non-scratch sponge. You don't want it scratching your fixtures. I keep mine in my basket, next to my tub.
If you prefer, you can mix it in a spray bottle, which you can also purchase at Wal-Mart for about $1.

You mix it with a ratio of 1:1. So I fill the wand half way with Dawn and then the other half with vinegar. Shake to mix and Voila! I've been using this for several months now and I have found that it keeps my shower cleaner, longer. I suppose that's the grease fighting agent in the Dawn. ;)

Side note: There is a slight vinegar smell, but it doesn't last long. After you use it for a month or so, you'll start associating the smell with clean!

*This coming from a girl who hated the smell of vinegar, before I started using it this way.

Next up...Fabric Softener:

I chose this one next, because I was out of Downy and was headed to the store. So I figured since I needed to buy some, I'd give this a try.
Again...super easy!

What you'll need:

• 6 cups hot water
• 3 cups white vinegar
• 2 cups hair conditioner (Any scent will work. I used Suave Refreshing Waterfall. It was the closest I could find to the Downy scent I used.)

Steps:

1. Mix conditioner and hot water well, until conditioner is dissolved completely. (I did this on the stove using a whisk. It took a few minutes. {Some recipes say to put the water in the microwave. But having done this on the stove, I don't feel it would work so well in the microwave.}
2. Once the conditioner is completely dissolved, pour in vinegar and mix well.
3. Let cool, then store in a container large enough to accommodate 11cups. I used my empty Downy bottle.
4. Pour into a downy ball or use approximately 2 Tbsp in the fabric softener spot in your washing machine (my machine has a "fill" line. I still fill it to that line).

I've been using this one for several weeks now and haven't noticed a different in my clothes, except for the smell. The scent is a lot less strong, than the store bought brand. But as far as softness and static...no difference. You could add an essential oil if you desired. My husband doesn't like the smell of those, so I don't. But it's an option.

3rd on the list...Laundry Detergent:

This one I was a little more hesitant about. I'm a stickler for clean clothes. Ask anybody. My husband loves that people complement him on the smell and cleanliness of his clothes (he's in construction). So for me to stray away from that was a little difficult. But I'll try anything once. Ha!
But since I go through quite a bit of detergent, I figured I'd give it a try. I had originally "pinned" a recipe that required grating a bar of soap and cooking it on the stove. But that particular recipe made a large amount of detergent. I have a very small home with zero storage, so I continued my search and ran across this one from One Good Thing. And since I'm already a huge fan of Dawn dish soap, this recipe was for me! I found everything I needed and got it all for under $10. Now we all know that one, average sized bottle of Tide cost around $15, for one bottle. All the supplies I just bought will give me NUMEROUS bottles. Don't get me wrong...I love Tide. I've used it ever since I started doing my own laundry and my mother used it before that. So, again, this is huge for me!

I reused a Tide bottle that I had just emptied. I washed it out and let it dry. Then I heated my water on the stove to a boiling point (i failed to follow the directions and I closed the lid of my bottle. I don't recommend that. Because once I closed the top it caused the bottle to swell, which was a little scary. So don't put the top on it, just swirl it around like she says.)

While the water was heating, I added the three ingredients to my bottle, using a small kitchen funnel I already had on hand.

What you'll need:

• 3 Tablespoons Borax
• 3 Tablespoons Washing Soda
• 2 Tablespoons (blue works the best at removing grease) Dawn Dish soap
• empty container (i used my empty Tide bottle) 
• fill, almost, to the top with cold water

Once all the ingredients and hot water were added, I shook it all up (again, swirl don't shake). I did this several times to make sure they were all dissolved. Again, because my water was so hot, when I took the top off to fill it with cold water, bubbles and steam went everywhere. 

I've been using this now for a few weeks. I just made up by second batch! It does a pretty good job at getting "normal" clothes clean, but I'm finding that it's not working as well on tougher stains like Chocolate Milk, Mud, etc...

My clothes still smell nice and clean, but the kids clothes are starting to show more stains. :(

(My husband refused to let me use it on his clothes, because he likes the way his clothes smell and look. He is using the "downy", but that's because he doesn't realize that he is. 

Remember...i put it in the old downy bottle. ha!)

And last but not least...Stain Remover: "Shout"

I jumped on board with everything else, so I figured I'd try the homemade "shout" as well, to finish off my laundry cabinet. This was just as easy as the detergent and everything else! I've been using a spot remover made up of Dawn dish soap, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda.

What you'll need:

• 2/3 cups Dawn dish washing liquid (again, original blue works best)
• 2/3 cups ammonia
• 6 Tbsp baking soda
• 2 cups warm water (I heated mine on the stove, just like it did with the detergent and fabric softener)

While my water was heating, I poured all the ingredients into my spray bottle that I got at the Dollar Tree, for, you guessed it, $1. But you can also get them at Wal-Mart for about $1 as well.
With my first batch, I poured everything into the bottle and shook. I also had to use a spoon in mine, as that the baking soda clumped at the bottom of the bottle and wouldn't dissolve. This, in turn, caused the sprayer to clog quite a bit.

So when I made my second batch up, I dissolved the baking soda into the water on the stove. It foams, so be careful. That way it was all dissolved before I poured it into the spray bottle. I'm hoping this works better and helps with the clogging issue.

You will want to shake it before each use, especially if it sits for several days. But once you give it a good shake, it'll be good to go!

*if your nozzle gets clogged, just run it under warm water. that should unclog it, no problems. 

I have also found that it works better if you use a toothbrush to work the solution into the stain and let it sit for a brief period.
I also pour mine directly into my washing machine, where I pour my detergent. I use it just as I would "Clorox 2". **
**Disclaimer: This may cause damage to your HE washer. Please check with your washing machine manufacturer before trying.

And 2nd last, but not least...Spot Remover (recipe adapted from Glamour.com):

This was my original 1st, 1st! Even before the bathroom cleaner. I almost forget about it. Oops!

This is the one I was using for spots, before I found the "Shout" recipe. It's a paste. I apply it with a toothbrush. It's what I use to remove those horrible, yellow, armpit stains. I store mine in a small "tupperware" bowl with lid.

•  one part Dawn dish soap (original blue kind)
• 2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide
•  add some baking soda for extra scrubbing power (1-2 Tbsp) 

 

Then, once I had all my new products made, I decided to do a little cleaning. So I cleaned out my cabinets, that housed all my cleaning supplies, and here's what I was able to get rid of...

Pictures of my cleaning spree...

Before

After

 

Before

After

I hope this post encourages you to try at least one of the above products.

As a mother of two small children (4&5), "free" time is not something I have. After all I'm writing this blog spot at 1:38 in the morning. So the mere thought of me taking any time out of my day to do any of these seemed crazy. But I'd say they each took less than 20 minutes to make. So not a whole lot of time commitment needed.