Some new things...

Not too much going on to blog about lately, but Ill see what I can do.

First, here is a super cute picture of my boys.


Ive made several sweet potato pies.. my Grandma loved them so much that she told me to figure up a price and she's take orders, LOL. I might consider. This isnt a good picture at all, bad lighting I guess... but here is one of my scrummy pies!


Ethan got straight A's on his very first ever letter grade report card. We really ♥ our new school!


Savannah made a Jonah and the Whale in Bible Class! Cute! If you look hard, you can see Jonah on the end of the whale's tongue.



Ethan recently had a minor surgery to remove a stint from his body at the children's hospital. This is him nicely medicated beforehand... he was saying funny things, like the Monsters on Monsters Inc like to eat waffles for lunch and he was really concerned with the color of the mattress on the bed. Was it green, or was that just a green sheet? Was the sheet made specifically for that matress in particular?


The surgery went very well and this is him knocked out on the way home!


These are our punkins out on the front steps! Spoooooky!


My sister recently made some delish-looking apple butter and I had a bunch of apples, so I thought I would too. After a vote, we decided that I'd make cinnamon applesauce instead. The apples were so pretty and smelled SO good!


All the ingriedients in the crockpot.


Just out of the crockpot.


I took a picture of the end result, but honestly it looks too much like puke to post! LOL, tastes great though ;)

Just a cute picutre of my little man watching his older siblings outside playing. If you're a Parker... you'll note the ears :D


And ooooone last picture! Ethan always makes robots out of his food, whenever he has the chance. Here is the latest, made of popcorn shrimp.


It also looks like a face in his applesauce (not homemade ;)).

Nothing else much to say... thanks for reading! :)

Perler Bead Creations

Its been SO rainy and cold lately, we havent been able to get outside to play or do anything really. The kids have always loved the perler beads so I dug them out for a few hours of fun. If you dont know, perler beads are little plastic cylinders made of plastic. You use them to make designs on templates, then iron them so the design melds together. Then you have a cute little decoration. Fun and pretty inexpensive.

The Eder Kids hard at work:


The creations:

Laundry Detergent

Recently I made a new batch of homemade laundry detergent... Ive looked around online for a while now and this is the best recipe Ive found:

I use Fels Naptha soap for my detergent. You can use Ivory, Octagon, Zote and the like, but honestly, NOTHING works as good as the Fels. I buy Fels Naptha here. Recently it was on sale for half price, so I bought a case.. it will last years. Washing Soda and Borax can normally be found on the laundry or cleaning aisle, also pretty inexpensive. Recipe cost approx. $2.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap for front or top load machine.

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax



- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Hannah nearly ate the shredded Fels Naptha... she thought it was cheese :)



Careful, it WILL boil over.


-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.




Looks like Jelly!

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)I use gallon jugs... they come free with milk and are easy to save!



-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 3/4 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

Using this recipe costs between 1 and 2 cents a load. Store brand detergent is about 25 cents a load and Tide is about 35 cents a load! This detergent works fantastically, it really gets clothes clean with little effort!!

North Carolina III

North Carolina Pictures II

North Carolina... In Pictures!

Recently B and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We went to the Outer Banks of North Carolina - one of our most favorite places in the world - for a whole week! Here are a few pictures, in no particular order...









Many more to come!

.....

First, a BIG congrats go out to Anna & Josh Duggar, who gave birth to their very first miracle last night! A baby girl named Mackynzie Renee - how cute!

A year ago today I heard the words that no one wants to hear... You have CANCER. What a year its been - my life has been changed in every aspect. I know Im staring in the face of a recurrence right now, and may have to fight again, but I WILL fight and I WILL win... this Hodgkin's will not get the best of me.

B and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on 9/25/09! Caleb also had his first birthday on 9/26. We had a small party for him and he had a great time. I made him a blue and white number 1 cake.






We also took a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for our 10th anniversary. We had SUCH a blast! Wanna see pictures? Check back later :)