Dreamin'

I've got some plans for this little blog...just things that have been floating through my head like daydreams.

First of all, there are several things that I like to blog about- my family, food, thoughts about whatever random thing strikes my fancy, and home decor/DIY projects (however amateur they may be :). So I was thinking that it might be helpful if I organize this little blog and make categories...like those blogs that have tabs at the top so that those peeps who read my blog to check up on the fam can just read family updates and skip my little projects. And for those who don't care that I have kids that do cute things (ha! as if that applies to any of you ;) but would rather get some mediocre ideas on painting something can skip over the "my kid totally made a snow angel today!! He's growing up and I'm having a melt down!" stuff can find that super easily. Yes?? 

Now admittedly the lowest grade I got in my whole scholarly career was in computer systems and I'm completely incompetent when it comes to anything techy so this dream may take a while to become reality. So if you have any suggestions or helpful nudges in the right direction (i.e. a website or tutorial you know of that is particularly helpful for blog design dummies) I would be uber grateful for them all. 

I'm not interested in making this a big time blog or anything, I would just like to make some small changes to make my life and your life on my blog easier. Cheers!

DIY Laundry Soap

Hows that for a creative title?? I know...I'm just awesome like that.

So my smarty-pants sister called me up the other day and told me about this fantastic laundry soap she made. It smells soooo good and works like a charm for less than 5 cents a load i was told. Um...hello?! I need this in my life!! And then, like awesome things usually do, DIY laundry soap started popping up all over pinterest, in girl chats, in my dreams, on TV, ...ok not really on TV but just about everywhere else. I decided to give it a try. And surprisingly I didn't feel at all like a pioneer or one of the characters on Little House On the Prairie like I thought I would...instead I felt sexy, modern, and incredibly smart. Ha. Try this stuff...its super easy, fast, and cheap. Oh, and it smells just as awesome as it works. WIN.

Here's how this amazingness is done. You need these 3 things- all of which can be found right next to each other in your regular ol grocery store. I bought mine at Winco. Total it equaled out to be about 6 bucks and you only use a little of the Borax and baking soda...so this will make like a lifetime worth of laundry soap. For around 6 bucks. Pinch yourself...this is real.

I hate fuzzy pictures too...here's to crappy cameras. I am open to camera fund donations...

 Freeze the bar of Fels-Naptha for a few hours so its nice and hard...this will make it much easier to work with. 

PS. This is so not my freezer...I borrowed it from a friend so ya'll wouldn't be jealous that your freezer isn't nice and organized and clean like mine...or something like that...

 Smash your frozen bar of Fels-naptha so it blends easier. If you have a super blender this step is unnecessary.

Turn the fels-naptha into powder. This stuff smells like a cotton field on a sunny day and who doesn't want to smell like that??

Measure 1 cup of Borax {notice the awesome things its going to do to your clothes!}

Measure 1 cup of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda! ;)

 Mix the 3 ingredients together and, that's right, your done. And its been like 3 minutes since you started making soap and you didn't break a sweat. Amazing right?!

And not to be shallow or anything, but doesn't my new little soap holder look so much better than that monster tub of laundry detergent?? Love space savers!

And the best part (besides it being easy, cheap, and affordable)? it only takes 1 tablespoon per load. 2 tablespoons if your kids pooped through 3 layers of clothes or your husband slid into home base to impress you. This stuff goes a long ways.

 So go put these 3 ingredients on your shopping list and make some!! You'll never go back to Tide. Or maybe you will...but I am seriously satisfied with mine. 

K. Peace out girl scouts.

Life on the farm

Rewind back time 6 weeks...that puts the Willmore family in Arizona enjoying a warm and sunny winter day. {why yes, I am way behind on blogging so thank you for appreciating my repentance!}. I am one of those crazy mothers who feel like its never too early to start teaching your kids important things...like the satisfaction that comes with some good hard work.

 So on this particular warm and sunny day I had my kids help Aunt Mary rake the leaves in the orchard. Turns out orchards produce a lot of leaves so Mary was very grateful for all the help. 

After raking leaves they picked up pecans {and later shelled them}...I love them seeing where their food is coming from. For some reason that is important to me...that they don't just think grocery stores make everything we eat. Our garden last year was a great experience and Caleb loved eating what we grew. I'm excited for the warm weather to arrive so we can start planting again! Ok, way side-tracked there. Back to the cuteness at hand...aren't they so cute?! I love little boy energy and curiosity!

  After dumping the leaves in the leaf pile they were handsomely rewarded with a ride back in the wheelbarrow. 

So many great things happen at Grandma's house :)

Christmas *highlights*

I had a great great great (great?) Grandma who would only smile when she was very happy but never laugh because of that scripture that says "thou shalt not laugh" or however it goes...point being I'm sure we made her roll over in her grave over Christmas. 

We ate, drank, and were merry for a whole month (and longer than that for the lucky ones!). We made christmas candy galore. We gave out said christmas candy while singing our hearts (and voices) out to anyone who opened their doors for us. We were hoarse for a week after that. We watched movies and talked till all hours of the morning almost every night. We sewed new baby stockings and helped Santa find food at costco for those stockings. We went christmas shopping and after christmas shopping and New Years shopping. We ate mexican food every day. We teased dad about his new ipad, then his new iphone that came a few days later. We ate oranges by the dozen and soaked up the sun. We wrapped presents for hours and hours. We made christmas presents for weeks. We sang around the piano. We walked around the Windsor making room for more calories. We schemed plans for the next time we would be together. 

We really enjoyed Christmas.

We took Mom to Mokis to celebrate her birthday. You're getting old mom...YAY!!!

Parker read up on boy scouts while mom did her thang.

We strung cranberries and popcorn to drape on the tree...we're old fashioned like that;)

Christmas isn't Christmas without a trip to see the Temple lights!

 At the ward Christmas party.

 Ok this is where things get weird...someone stole all my Christmas Day pictures. Seriously can't find them anywhere...so you get this random assortment of pictures representing our Christmas holiday until the suspect steps forward, Kiel proves him guilty, and I get my pictures back. Until then my friends, arvwah.