Just to make you feel better about the way your house looks right now...

This is my child's playroom...
Looks safe enought, right?

This is my kitchen...

This is my office/sewing room...

In my defense, I had 2 days to unpack a whole house worth of stuff. What's your excuse?

Frequently Asked Questions

When are you moving? Technically, tomorrow. All of our stuff is being taken to the rental house tomorrow. However, Lucy and I are staying with Jeff's parents next week to finish school then we are going to Hilton Head for a week so we won't really be there for good until June 11th.

Have you sold your house? No. We are keeping it on the market through July, then we will consider renting it. We are renting a house in Aiken until it sells.

Have you found a job? Yes. Jeff and Lucy Pruitt.

How do your parents feel about you moving? My parents: If all goes as planned, my parents will be moving to Lexington soon so we will be approximately 50 minutes from them. The same distance we are now. They are happy for us.
Jeff's parents: They know 2 of the ministers at Cedar Creek very well so they couldn't be happier. Well, I suppose they could be happier if we were closer, but they are thrilled nonetheless.

When does school get out? June 4th- 5 days!!!

How old is Lucy now? "2 years" as she likes to say.

What are your plans for the summer? 2 beach vacations, a trip to Charleston, play dates with friends we don't see often, and many days exploring our new town.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Thank you to all of the precious girls who commented on my laundry detergent post. You have no idea how happy I am to know that someone is reading this and I'm glad you are finding my little adventures in frugalhood (no, that's not a real word) helpful. I was talking with a complete stranger at a wedding last Saturday about my new profession as a stay at home mom and she said that she was reading an article that said (and I paraphrase), "You will never remember the outfit you were able to buy because you were working, but you will always cherish the time you spent with your kids." I wish I had a copy of this entire article because that one sentence really says it all and if I need to find creative ways to save some money to make staying at home possible, that's fine by me.

Here's a little tutorial on how to make your own dishwasher detergent. Please note that this is to be used in the dishwasher not in the sink. You can make that kind of dishwashing liquid as well, but you can also get it for next to nothing or free on sale with a coupon so I'm not sure I'll be venturing to that one. This is one of the easiest things to make ever and it will probably take me longer to type the post than for you to actually make the stuff, but I'll continue anyway. Enjoy!

Step 1: Gather your materials.

You will need these...

If you made the laundry detergent, you already have these so it's already a great bargain!

You will also need a little help from this guy...

You'll need to get lemonade Kool-aid. (I'll explain why soon.)

Step 2: Combine your ingredients.

1 cup Baking Soda Washing Powder (Make sure you have Baking Soda WASHING POWDER not just regular baking soda.)

1 cup Borax

1 packet lemonade Kool-aid drink mix (Apparently some people have noticed a cloudy residue on their dishes when they didn't use some sort of acidic material. I searched for options and this was the most readily available and cost effective product I could find to prevent this from occurring. And it provides a light lemon scent during the wash! Some people haven't had this problem, but I used it just in case.)

I put my detergent in a food storage container with a locking lid so I can keep it under the sink and not worry about Lucy getting into it. You could also keep it in a decorative vase or jar or whatever you creative people can come up with. Just shake these 3 items together and use 1-2 tablespoons per load. I usually put 1 tbsp in the main washing compartment and 1/2-1 tbsp in the prewash compartment.

You can add vinegar or lemon juice to the rinse aid compartment. I suppose the lemon juice would help with the cloudy residue as well. That's what I used just because I was out of vinegar and I haven't noticed any issues.

I am pretty obsessive about cleaning my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher (I know, I know; this causes etching. I've done it for years and don't have etched glasses so my OCD will continue). I haven't noticed a difference between this and my old Electrolyte tabs except this cost me about $.40 for a triple batch.

I got this recipe off of a great website that you must visit if you are interested in more homemade recipes or just some good housekeeping tips. I've made the dryer sheets (the cutest ever!) from a recipe on this site, but haven't used them yet. I'll post those directions and the results soon.

Happy washing!!!

We have turned into "that" family

A few years ago when the Dugger's (more affectionately known as the “Doooogers” around these parts) debuted, I watched one episode and decided those people are NUTS-O!!! Aside from the plethora (and that’s putting it mildly) of children, they just have such a, oh what’s the word, we’ll say interesting approach to life. I made jokes about this odd family for doing things like making 450 lbs of Tater Tot Casserole (I may be exaggerating, but I’m probably not that far off), teaching the girls how to perform routine car maintenance tasks (I mean really. If she can do it by herself then she misses out on all the fun of nagging her husband over and over to get the dang oil changed already), but most of all, that they make their own laundry detergent. I know they must have like a million loads of laundry to wash but really, just buy it. At one point I was convinced that they had to create jobs like this for their mob to carryout just so that everyone would have something to do. Obviously you cannot have that many children running around without a purpose. Who knows what kind of shenanigans that many adolescent minds could come up with when left to their own devices. Yes, it’s busy work. A perfect explanation.

Oh how naive I was as a young bride with no children when the show began. Now that I’m years wiser and have seen the light, it all makes perfect sense. I was, in fact, the ditz paying for overpriced products. And for laundry detergent of all things. A must-have purse or absolutely necessary to complete an outfit accessory or pair of shoes, fine, but on laundry detergent??? My new frugal self says, “Save the money!”

So, last week, my sister-in-law/partner in crime of all things homemade and I made our first batch of laundry detergent. It was surprisingly easy and left my house smelling soapy fresh for days (or is that the clean linen air freshener I just plugged in? Who can tell??) I’ll share our little adventure for those up for the challenge. I will warn you, though. Making all the boring stuff you usually buy is addictive! You’ll find yourself bleary-eyed searching for recipes of other homemade concoctions at 3:30 in the morning. (Not that I’ve ever done that. No, never.)

The recipe (Sorry I don’t have a picture of the Fels Naptha soap. Taking pictures was an afterthought. However, I will tell you where to purchase it which is much better than other websites, the Doooooger’s included.):

-4 cups hot tap water (You’ll really need “loads” more, (get it??) but you only start out with 4 cups)

-1 bar Fels Naptha soap (You can find this in the laundry aisle of Walmart for sure. The 1^st time I looked in Publix, it wasn’t there but I saw it 2 weeks ago during my weekly trip. It’s $.03 more expensive, but since I’m not a Walmart shopper, if I had known they had it at Publix, I wouldn’t have had to make an unnecessary trip to Walmart and would have saved the $.03 in gas. Moral of the story: Check your favorite grocery store while you are doing your weekly shopping before making a special trip to Wally World.) It’s a bar of soap like Ivory or Dove or insert your favorite bar of soap here, and it says Fels Naptha Soap on the front. (Fitting right??) I don’t think I can be more descriptive.

-1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (This is also in the laundry aisle and there are coupons for Arm and Hammer laundry products from time-to-time in the newspaper. I currently have 2.)

-½ cup Borax (Also in the laundry aisle. This junk is cheap and comes in a pretty large box considering the amount you actually use. And, it’s used in many other home cleaning products!!! A bonus!!!)

-Long spoon

-5 Gallon (paint) bucket with a lid (From Lowes or Home Depot)

1. Put 4 cups of water into a medium sauce pan on medium heat. You don’t want it to boil; you just want it to be warm.
2. Grate your soap using a cheese grater and add to the sauce pan of water. Stir continually until soap dissolves and is melted. (This is the longest part of the process but it’s also the time when your house begins smelling like you just stuck the entire thing into your washer. If only this process made it look that way too!)

1. Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with warm tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda, and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more warm water. May I suggest doing this in the bathtub? That’s the only way this step made sense to us.

1. Stir, cover, and let sit overnight to thicken.
2. Stir and fill 1 (or 20) used, clean, laundry soap bottles half full with soap. Then fill the rest of the way with water. Shake before each use.

*Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled.

Yields 10 gallons (Read: A LOT of laundry detergent)

To use:

For a top load machine: 5/8 cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

For a front load machine: ¼ cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

The recipe costs approx. $2.00 per batch.

Please read that last sentence again. (I’ll wait.) That means, I’m getting approximately 2 years worth of laundry detergent for $2.00 (I have a front load machine)!!! I see a lot of shoes in Lucy’s future (ok, maybe mine too) with all that savings!

I must end this post with an apology to the Doooogers.

Dear Dooogers, I mean Duggers,

I am so sorry for doubting your efforts and for laughing/making fun of/thinking you were “NUTS-O”. I was sadly mistaken. I blame it on lack of knowledge and inexperience. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with the world.

Sincerely,

A very grateful, very happy fellow laundry detergent maker and NUTS-O

Picnic Placemat- No Ants Allowed!

This is not a normal blog post for the Pruitt family, but since I will be Lucy’s “teacher” next fall (We don’t know much about the preschools around Aiken so instead of keeping the 2 day a week schedule she’s been on this year, we are opting for a Mother’s Morning Out 1 day, gymnastics and/or dance, and a Pray and Play group at church until we are more acquainted.), we will be doing lots of this sort of thing so I thought I would share with those who are interested.

The idea came to me about 5 minutes before a therapy session began and I almost didn’t do it because my theme for the week was not about picnics or anything related and I’m just too much of a planner to change my preschool therapy session including a craft 5 minutes before a session. I was slightly impressed with my LIFESKILL of flexibility and am so glad I took the risk. This craft turned out precious and took up the entire hour!

You will need…

Red construction paper, white paper cut into blocks, glue, laminate/contact paper, a laminator, and scissors

Because my preschooler has never actually seen a red and white checkered table cloth and didn’t know what a placemat was (kids these days!), I had to explain the concept. He caught on quickly.

Glue the white squares onto the red paper in a checkerboard pattern. (To use this as a reinforcer activity, have the student say a target sound, follow a direction, name items in a category, etc. before gluing on a white block.)

Go through a magazine with your child looking for food. I cut out the food for my student since we were running short on time and because I didn’t have safety scissors which he reported he is only allowed to use.

Have your child glue his food onto his “table cloth”.

Laminate. FYI: Make sure your construction paper isn’t too long for your piece of laminate or you will have to cut off part of your student’s gigantic piece of cake and disappoint him slightly.

Warning: All of this food may spur a discussion of bodily functions that you otherwise may not hear about. Beware of learning about your student’s brother’s green poop!

Suggestions: You can use this activity for a variety of purposes. For example, have the student sort the food by food groups before gluing them on his placemat, describe a food and have your student choose and glue foods based on your description, or have the student arrange the food on his “table cloth” in a logical order as if he were serving a meal. (I like the last one- sequencing skills and hosting skills all rolled into one!)

Reasons why I like this craft:

1. July is National Picnic Month (who knew?!) and I fully intend to have lots of picnics so this will be a fabulous craft to take along with us. Hopefully it will prevent a repeat of the “sitting on the jelly sandwich in brand new white shorts” incident from last weekend.


2. My student’s mother informed me after the session that her sweet little guy happens to be a picky eater. I found this surprising as he was very enthusiastic about his food choices for his placemat and told me repeatedly how much he wanted to eat them. All of them! I got to thinking- Research shows that children need to be exposed to foods up to 20 times before they will consider them edible so, perhaps, by choosing foods that are less than appealing for little ones in this craft, maybe (just maybe) they will be a little more apt to trying them after repeatedly seeing them on their fun placemat. It may be a stretch but it’s worth a shot, right?


3. I have this obsessive/compulsive need to read/look through absolutely every catalog and magazine that comes into our home. Cover to cover. Even the ads. (I told you OCD!) I feel someone has put a lot of hard work into this creation and I need to at least see what’s beneath the cover. Usually once I look through them I throw them away, but I always feel bad about it because I know I should really recycle them. This craft gives me a purposeful way to recycle.

Which leads me to…

Pruitt craft rule 1: If it doesn’t serve a purpose its clutter!

I’m just not a fan of useless crafts. How many pictures of scribbles can 1 refrigerator really hold? I’ve kept some of Lucy’s “artwork” from preschool in a folder with the date on it. I have plans (when’s Lucy’s older) of her and I creating an art book with digital pictures of her artwork or creating framed pictures of the same thing. I’ve put painted paper plates on plate stands as decoration in the kitchen. When we move into our permanent house (whenever that may be), I’ll hang some artwork in her playroom. If I can’t do something constructive with it, I don’t keep it.

Enjoy and stay tuned for more crafty creations this summer and in the fall.

"I want to be a mommy"

It’s PASS testing week in SC so that means calm work days filled with quiet classrooms and some silent reading time for teachers. I happen to be administering the test to 5 7^th grade students who require taking the test in a small group and oral administration. Translation: I read the test to them. Every. Single. Word. All the long stories, all the answer choices, all the math problems; all of it! I will not complain, however, as this is a step down from my duties last year- test proctor/scribe. That’s right, my friends. Not only did I read the normal directions to the student, monitor for cheating (a piece of cake considering there was only 1 student in my office), but I also had to write word-for-word, everything for this poor student who broke his arm the week before the test. Not once, not twice, but 3 times! Remind me to thank those wonderful test makers for adding the essay portion, will ya?? Did I mention the entire test was tape-recorded? Oh what a delightful 3 days that was!

Anyway, what does all of this have to do with being a mommy? Well, while my darling students were contemplating answers and diligently looking back through their boring, irrelevant articles to make the “best answer choice”, I got in a little reading. My choices for today included my May “Proverbs 31 Ministries” magazine and my May “Parenting” magazine. I found 1 article in the Prov. 31 magazine particularly interesting –“I Want to be a Mommy”. My desire this entire school year can pretty much be summed up in that one, little sentence. Yes, I know, I am already a mommy and for those of you who have been pushing for a #2 (ahem, those little birdies who have planted in my sweet, innocent child’s head that she wants a baby sister and claim that you “don’t know where she gets these things”…you know who you are) to you I say simmer down; that’s not what I’m talking about.

I became a school speech therapist with the idea that I would work full time for a few years and go part-time when Jeff and I were blessed with children. Well we all know things don’t always go according to our plans and that blessing came a little sooner than originally thought and financially Jeff and I weren’t prepared for me to go part-time just yet. We are blessed to have both of our families close to us and Jeff’s mom so graciously offered to make sweet memories with our little miracle while Jeff and I worked. The first year of this arrangement felt right. Lucy blossomed, grew, and became the genius she is today with so much credit given to her patient, loving, and oh so fun Memaw. However, Lucy and I just had too much fun last summer. We took trips together and cooked and had mini spa days, just to name a few. It was delightful to wake up with her each morning (maybe a little earlier than I would have liked during the summer) and discover something new together. As the summer ended, I dreaded going back to school. Not because I didn’t want to see my students or because I don’t find fulfillment at work, but because I wanted to be the one to teach Lucy and help her grow. She was just starting preschool and already I had missed so much.

After the 1^st week of school, I came home and told Jeff, “This is it. Next year, I will go part-time.” He and I had been working hard at getting ourselves out of debt for a year at that point and, by our calculations, by the end of the school year, we would be completely free of consumer debt and I would be able to work only part-time. (I am very grateful for a husband who listens to my desires and shares my goals for our family. Thanks Mr.)

So, it was settled…but I still wasn’t content. I had read (and continue to read) many books about what it means to be a mother and I started feeling like part-time wasn’t the answer. I was clearly feeling God say, “Other people’s children are important, but your child needs you more”. I struggled with this so much because I felt very selfish- I spend my time with children everyday whose parents are too busy, uninterested, and just don’t care about the well-being of their children. How am I supposed to leave these children? Wouldn't that be like saying, I don't care either? I prayed and I read books and studied Prov. 31 and Titus 2. After much deliberation, it was clear; I needed to stay home. Now to just break that little news to Jeff and his mom. I prayed about that too and on my birthday, he came to me and said, “I’ve been kind of thinking about you staying home full time next year.” Talk about affirmation (and a great birthday present)! Many of you know the job changes/moving that unfolded over the next few months so the issue was not telling my mother-in-law about my new career choice, but instead, of taking Lucy an hour an a half away from her. Let me reiterate how blessed I am to have such kind, compassionate, and supportive in-laws who have demonstrated (and continue to demonstrate) their love over and over through all of our changes these past 8 months. They never focused on their loss but rather, our gain and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Back to the article- I read a cute story about a mother at her 5-year old’s graduation from kindergarten. As each child walked across the stage to receive his/her “diploma,” the teacher followed the reading of the child’s name with their future occupation. A doctor, fireman, and policeman were some of the professions listed. One of the dear little girls stated her future profession is a mommy. The author noted that a few of the parents laughed but she was taken by this 1 child who saw being a mommy as a profession. Of course, there are people who don’t agree and who wonder, “What does a stay at home mom do all day?” To them, I say, “Please, come spend 1 hour with my spirited Lucy.” I was raised with a working mom and the understanding that it’s important for woman to have an education and have something to fall back on in case, God forbid, something happen and my salary be imperative for my family. I am grateful for the education that I have (maybe not the thousands still left to pay for my graduate degree) and for parents who pushed me to learn all that I can and made sacrifices for my education. I will do the same for Lucy. I am confident that I will be far busier working at home each day than I ever am at school and I am certain staying home with Lucy is the absolute best decision for our family right now. It will take sacrifices (which you will read of in later posts) but I am up for the challenge and just cannot tell you how anxious I am for June 4^th (my last day of school). 17 days to go!!!