Magic Stain Removing Solution

Okay so recently my mom and I undertook the daunting task of organinzing all of the kids clothes that we have. Over the last 6 years I have managed to collect 12 huge bins of clothing from size newborn to size 8 for both boys and girls. Because I have collected these at random times from garage sales and alot of hand-me-downs, I have just been throwing them into bins with no strategic organization whatsoever! So with a new baby soon to arrive I felt it was the time to strategically organize them! So mom and I last Monday (after commendeering my dad to carry all 12 bins up from the basement) tackled the project! We labeled each piece of furniture in the living room as well as two tables in the dining room with age ranges and genders and emptied all 12 bins into their appropraite piles and then went through each pile and weeded out all clothes with stains or that I just didn't like anymore. It was rather embarrassing to see all of these clothes! I could have clothed a small nation's population of children I am sure! We got it down to 9 bins all labled and put back into the basement in only about 8 hours!! It was a long day, but oh what a good feeling!! All this to say that I found several of my favorite newborn clothes had spitup and other stains on them and really was not wanting to throw them away. My mom mentioned that my Aunt Madeline had this magic solution for getting stains out. So I got the solution from her and tried it out and I was SO pleased with the results! 24 out of 28 newborn outfits came out looking brand new!!!! Because of these great results I thought I would share the solution with all of you! So here is the Magic Solution!! She originally got it from a school newsletter...

Football moms: Here's the annual "magic recipe" for those outfits your son wears on those grassy, muddy football fields (It works for stains on everyones clothes)

NYLON WHITENER
1/4 cup Cascade
1/2 cup chlorine bleach
1 gal hot water
Soak 30 minutes. Rinse in clear water. Rinse in vinegar and water. Then put through regular wash cycle.

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Another one I have is:
1 c Cascade
1 c Clorox 2
1 gallon hot water
Soak overnite.

I was afraid to use the first one because most of the outfits were colors, so I did the 2nd one. I am going to try the first one on the 4 outfits that still had stains left and I will be sure and let you know!

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman!!

Okay...I just added to my favorite links....I got this off of another blog and have quickly become addicted! The blog is posted by a gorgeous 30 something woman who lived in LA and who was swept off her feet by a cowboy who she is now married to and has 4 children with. He moved her to his families working cattle ranch and she journals her daily life and has a huge following! She also has several "side" blogs including one called The Pioneer Woman Cooks...where she features recipes and takes amazing pictures of her preparing them! It is a great site and she is hysterical!! Warning that she also can use an occasional curse word...

The Joys of Pregnancy

The only thing that I think is wrong with this picture is that I think they left a "B" off in front of one of the words on the right! =) And if it was a picture of me she would certainly have something to eat in her hands!! I will try to get an actual prego picture of me on soon. I don't know why some of you want to see that...just picture me how you know me to usually look, with a beer belly! =)

More Fun in the Pool!!

We got the big pool (10feet across, 3feet deep) set up and have been loving it!! Last week it was pretty rainy, so we just left the solar cover on it and didn't get to swim....well yesterday Brian took the cover back to see how the temp was and what the water was looking like...lets just say close to pea soup!! We had not put any chemicals in it yet and also didn't get new filters until this week...It was totally gross but over night it was all cleared up! Amazing what 10 oz of chlorine, a little algae killer and running the filter will do!! So the kids had to settle to play in the little kiddie pool yesterday...lucky mom got to get in the pea soup and stir stuff up so it would circulate through the filter!! The things we do for our kids! Also we found this "family" of ants right outside our back door. I was inside comforting Kelli who had just fallen down some stairs and Andrew came running in to say that he found a "cake of ants". Brian from a distance thought that it was dirt/an ant hill...but no, it was thousands of little ants!! Thank goodness they didn't get in the house! And again, thank goodness for chemicals!! =) This picture below just doesn't do it justice! But it gives an idea!

The Graduate

Andrew has attended a wonderful Christian pre K program this year and has really loved it! He has also done exceptionally well! I think it will be a great help as he gets ready to transition to kindergarten in the fall! Brian and I agree that it is totally ridiculous to have a graduation, but of course it sure makes for cute pic's, a 5 year old in a cap and gown!!

Enjoying the great outdoors!

I asked the kids if they would please let me take a couple quick pictures of them before they got to their play ~ Thought these were adorable!
Brian has been working with Andrew on his catching skills...he seems to be a natural at it! Andrew loves to teach Kelli things, so he decided to pass along some instructions to his aprehensive little sister!!
Catch one....successful!
Catch two...unsuccessful!

Potty Training Update!

Okay, so long story short...We started working on Potty Training with Kelli on her 3rd birthday (about 3 weeks ago) and to sum it up, it has been not so good! Only if I LOADED her with liquids and then made her sit on the potty chair every 20 minutes would I be lucky enough to get an occasional result. Otherwise, it was on the floor, in Brians favorite recliner, and the best was one time when she went outside....we were having a picinic lunch with friends and I was telling my girlfriend about the potty training experiences of the previous day (her best day up to that point) and Andrew says, "Ah, Mom..." as he points at Kelli. There she stands, with a large bowl of watermelon, eating away all the while a fountain streaming out her shorts and down her leg! I said Kelli what are you doing honey? She looked at me like she had no idea, then saw I was pointing at her legs and she chuckles and says, "Oh, going potty!" So I was convinced that her brain has not yet mastered the "hold the pee" reflex and was still automatically emptying when reaching a certain capacity (this is typically mastered shortly after their 2nd birthday). So I was contemplating stopping and trying again in a couple of weeks thinking she just totally wasn't ready. Well yesterday we spent the afternoon in the pool again and she insisted that she did not need a pool diaper on because she would tell me if she needed to go. So a little hesitantly I let her go diaperless with just her suit, but said you can't go in your swimsuit, so you HAVE to tell me! About an hour into swimming, she comes running over and proclaims, "Mommy, I HAVE to go potty!!" Now this is a huge step!! So Andrew ran inside (I am beyond able to move quick enough, so Andrew has become errand boy) and got the potty chair. Kelli immediately sat and to the surprise of all of us went potty!! Okay so now I am thinking, she does know! So with new gusto this morning we started anew! It is 2pm and she has had 5, yes I said 5, successful trips to the potty chair and each one was preceded by an announcement that she needed to go! I am so proud of her, as is Andrew...She gets a few jellybeans each time she is successful and bless her heart she always gives one to Andrew! So he has been a great encouragement to her as well!

Pool Time!!

We got a taste today of what this summer will be like! It was 87 degrees and we spent the afternoon outside playing in the kiddie pool! The kids had a blast and I would last about 40 minutes and then have to take a dip in the pool myself! The kids said I was too big to get in, but I told them I either had to get in to cool off or we had to go inside...they quickly decided that it was just fin for me to hop in with them! We have a bigger above ground pool that hopefully will be set up for next month, one of those ones with the inflatable ring at the top...I think it is like 3-4 feet deep and big enough that I can float on a raft in it! We love the water! Makes me remember all the times we went swimming at The Ridge Resort when we were growing up in Sedona!!

Cheetos, Dirt and a Snow Hat!

Beautiful day today...Kelli and Andrew had a couple friends over to play...I made the kids a picnic lunch and left them eating in the shade. I heard someone come in so I went to check on them and found Kelli with her snow cap on! Couldn't pass up this photo opp!!

A Birthday for a princess!!

Kelli turned 3 today! I can't believe it! She is such a doll! We had her birthday party with all her aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents and even 2 great grandpas on Saturday! She was showered with presents, most having something to do with Disney princesses, especially Ariel, the Little Mermaid! She thouroughly enjoyed opening her presents and then politely thanked each gift giver with a great big hug! So sweet! We also restarted potty training today! I told her all last week that we were going to try again whether she wanted to or not. I kept asking her, "what are we going to start doing on Monday?" And her reply was "go potty on the potty chair, whether I want to or not!" =) We had kind of a crazy day, but she got several stickers on her potty chart! Hopefully this run will be as easy as it was with Andrew! SO thankful for my little princess! I always thought I would be a mom of boys, but I sure couldn't imagine life with out her!