15

My oldest son turned 15 this past weekend and I honestly can not believe how fast the time has gone. 

I know I may be a bit bias but he really is turning into an incredible man, I could not be more proud of him. He is wise beyond his years and he so kind.  I am blessed.  

I had these pictures printed up at Staples.  I got the idea from Annie at Most Lovely Things, who got the idea from Paula of Two Ellie.  Aren't they a great?  They are super cheap, I think I paid about $12.00 for all 4 of these, plus they would be great for a graduation party or my Mother's 70th birthday coming up.  I think I may have went a bit overboard though, maybe next time I wont get them quite so big.

Clayton doesn't like cake, damn kid, so he requested cookies and ice cream sandwiches, which everyone seemed to enjoy.  When I make cookies I always use The Barefoot Contessa's recipes, I made chocolate chunk cookies and chocolate-chocolate chunk cookies but I used regular chocolate chunks instead of white chocolate.  I have been making these cookies for about 10 years and in my opinion, these cookies are the best. 

Homecoming and Goings

My oldest son, 14, had his first homecoming this weekend and it was bittersweet. I am so proud of the man he is becoming. Not only is he incredibly wise and responsible, he is extremely kind and caring.
However, something is happening, something is different ever since he started high school this Fall. It is like I can feel him maturing exponentially. I am beginning to realize that my time living under the same roof as my son is limited.
As much as I love watching who he is becoming, I really miss that sweet little boy who loved to sing and dance around the house. The little boy that would crawl into bed with us and talk nonstop.
It is amazing how quickly children grow and change. I need to make sure I am present and that I appreciate every moment of the next four years.

Happy Friday

My sons breakfast of choice lately, cucumbers and oranges.  I don't get it and I wish he would eat more protein but at least it isn't a donut, I guess.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I have been reading a lot about homemade detergent lately and finally got around to making my own.  From everything I have read they all seem to use the same ingredients which can be made into a liquid or a powder form.  The only difference is the liquid form you boil with water and let it cool into a sort of thick liquid.  Since the liquid form is diluted with water you use about 1/2 of cup per load.

1 – 55 ounce box of Arm & Hammer® Super Washing Soda = $3.99

1 – 76 ounce box of 20 Mule Team® Borax = $4.69

1 – Bar of Fels-naptha soap = 1.39 each   (I bought 4 bars)  Ivory soap works well also

I got everything here locally at our grocery store, Wegman's.

Grate one bar of soap and mix with 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda.  Stir everything together really well, it is just that easy.  You only need to use 1 tablespoon per load, if you have heavily soiled laundry you can add a little more. 

 So, after using this for awhile I will probably never buy regular detergent again.  At about 0.05 cents a load I am saving quite a bit of money.  My old detergent cost around 0.22 cents a load. 

Also, I have tested it on smelly, dirty lacrosse and football clothes and everything has come very clean.  You can rub the Fels-naptha directly on a stain and it works great.  The only thing I miss is that fresh like Downy smell so I buy dryer sheets to solve that issue.

Remember 1 tablespoon is all you need.

Party Favors

 Party favors for 14 year old?  Well these s'mores goody bags did the trick.  I saw s'more made with Reese's Peanut butter cups somewhere, probably Pintrest, so I thought the boys would have fun trying s'mores with different candy bars.  Since I was banned to the house, I just had to trust them when they said the they were good.

Here is a link to a variety of s'mores ideas.