Splash Park Photos June30

I posted a bunch of pictures on my family blog of our fun at the splash park, but since so many pictures were of your kids, I thought I'd post more here.

I love this kid. 'Nuf said.

Collecting rocks.

Work it dude.
Getting back in the water.

These water shooters were a definite favorite.

Claire wasn't a fan of the water...




I loved watching these two play together.

Nothing beats a nice wet hug on a hot day.
Lincoln sure thought it was funny having water shooting down like he was peeing.




Sorry these pictures are small! I messed up the formatting, but hopefully they will enlarge if you click on them!


Look at that face!!!




If this picture on my blog is the sweetest of the trip, this is a close second. I love it! The moment was perfect and the stars all seemed to align in the composition of the shot. I feel like it could win a contest. :) What a cutie pie (OK, 2 cutie pies).

Paige trying to shade the boys with that tiny branch. What a nice cousin.





Thanks for a super fun day!

Family Pictures 2011 style

I love these evenings we get to do these photo sessions, I'm sure Ivy doesn't, but I have so much fun being with y'all. Everyone looked so great this year. Here are some of my favorite snapshots I got of the night.

Here's Sean doing the old, "No smiling" bit. Work it, dude.
Love birds.
Some fun shots of the grandkids with Mom and Dad. A few others can be seen on my family blog...


CANDY!!!!!

I think this is funny. I took a picture of Bella like this...
... when she realized I was taking her picture, she cocked out her little leg as a pose. Funny, cute girl.
Spencer looking dapper.
And Paigey looking sweet as sunshine.
I posted a bunch of other pics on my family blog, of my kids, you know? Go check 'em out. They're super cute (if I do say so myself).

Flag Football & Playground Playing

I'm working on getting the Date Night pictures all together, but for now enjoy this one...

I'll keep my words short and sweet. This was a fun evening spent playing together.

I was pretty proud of this shot. Maybe even more proud than Dalton was of his awesome reception.


Thanks for introducing my boys to football. It was super fun!

Totally Random Thrifty Tip

I know, right?  A thrifty tip from ADRIENNE?  I'm actually pretty excited about this, so I thought I'd share.  This is from the Duggar family website (yep, those people with nineteen kids).  Incidentally, they seem like a pretty awesome (and frugal) family.  Here is their recipe for homemade laundry detergent.  

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

4  Cups - hot tap water

1  Fels-Naptha soap bar (I've found that a regular bar of soap works okay, but I bet the Fels-Naptha works better)

1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*

½ Cup Borax

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!·         

•       Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
• ·         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.
• ·         Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then dilute by filling the rest of the container with warm water. Shake before each use (will gel).
• ·         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- 5/8 Cup per load (256 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load

Average Cost for Ingredients:

Fels-Naptha soap: $1.00

Washing Soda:     $3.00 (Walmart)

Borax:                 $3.00 (Walmart)

Total Cost:          $7.00

This works out to about 2.3 cents a load for a top loading washer and about 1.1 cents a load for front loading washers.  It's actually less than that, because the Borax and Washing Soda are both enough to make several batches.  For comparison, I found that Arm & Hammer liquid soap (the cheapest I could find online) works out to about 8.3 cents a load.  Pretty awesome, huh?