Oct 29, 2012

DIY Dish Detergent w/o Borax







I have been experimenting with DIY products for a few months now.

With each new product I try I learn something new.  Some of the most important lessons I have learned are:

1.  Make a small batch to begin with and try it a few times

2.  Store powder mixtures in airtight containers

3.  Once you open the ingredients used to make the products put the reminder in airtight containers

I made and tried a different DIY dishwasher detergent, but for my dishwasher it did not withstand the test of time.  It did a great job of cleaning my dishes to being with, but after about a week the mixture became hard.  So I broke it up and remixed it.  When I used it after that my glasses and plastic dishes came out with a film on them.  I do not think that the container I kept the detergent in was airtight and the mixture became hard when air got to it.

I decided to try a different approach to the whole DIY dishwasher detergent.  I have been using the following recipe for several months and it has continued to work well for me.

What you will need:

1 1/2 cups of Lemi Shine (found near the dishwasher detergents)




1 1/2 cups of washing soda (found near the laundry detergents)






1/2 cup of baking soda (found in the baking aisle)





1/2 cup of Epsom salt (found near the first aid products)





Mix all of these items together and store them in an airtight container.

I used 1 table spoon with each load.

I have also started using vinegar as a rinse agent rather than Jet dry.  When my dishwasher indicates that the rinse agent is low I simply pour some vinegar into the rinse agent slot. 

Cost Break Down:
Lemi Shine = $3.99 12 oz (12 oz used = $3.99)
Washing Soda = $3.29 for 55 oz (12 oz used = .72)
Baking Soda = $1.35 for 2 lbs (1/2 cup used = .17)
Epsom Salt = $4.87 for 6 lbs (1/2 cup used = .61)

1 batch costs $5.49 and washes 64 loads which costs .09 per load.

I used to use Finish Dish tabs.  A box of 60 costs $14.31.  That breaks down .24 to per load.

I'm saving .15 per load!

Check out my other DIY projects:

DIY Foam Soap

DIY Fabric Softener

DIY Baby Wipes

DIY Fabric Refresher

DIY Counter Top Spray

DIY Soap Scum Remover

DIY Glass Cleaner

Oct 23, 2012

7 Year Old Phineas and Ferb Birthday

B celebrated his 7th birthday in September {Yes, I'm aware of the fact that it's October and I am just now posting this.  I'm on Fall Break so I have time to do this now.}

This year he told me that he wanted to have a Phineas and Ferb party.  After I picked my jaw up off of the ground {He has had 4 Toy Story Themed parties in a row for his 6th, 5th, 4th, and 3rd birthdays}.  I jumped at the chance to implement new party ideas!

A little Phineas and Ferb background:
Phineas and Ferb are brothers who challenge each other to make the most of their summer vacation.  Each day they use their science skills, along with some imagination, to build new outrageous contraptions.  Mysteriously they are able to create and enjoy their new machines, without their parents ever seeing them, despite their older sister's best efforts to bust them.

Invitations:

Brent found a Phineas and Ferb font. I used the it to create the invitations and he used it to create the banners.



Outside



Inside




Thank You Notes:



**Email me at uniquelyerinnicole@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing invitations or thank you notes.**
Decorations:

Brent created this banner that we hung on the front door. 




He also created this banner.  We hung it in our front room because the guitar rock out session would be held there {more on that later}.





I ordered the tablecloths online.  B picked out the blue plates, napkins, cups, and silverware from the dollar store.

Recycled cans from fruit were used to create utensils holders.  I wrapped them with yellow scrapbook paper and added a green strip with a character sticker attached to it.  When the party was over I saved the cans.  The covers can be taken off and the cans can be re-decorated to match the next party theme.

I always like to put a Sharpie out next to the cups so people can write their name on their cups.






I ordered the party bags online.  B and I went to Party City and found some Phineas and Ferb party favors to fill the the bags with.





Members of our family wore these shirts that I created from a website I found.  I bought the shirts and transfer paper at JoAnns.

B's shirt says:  Happy 7th Birthday Brayden.  Brent's shirt says: Blast you Perry the Platypus.

I found the onesie at Target.  It was in a pack of 3.  The other 2 onesies had patterns on them so I used the solid color one.  There is a picture of Candace, Phineas and Ferb's older sister, on it with a caption that says: "Mom, Brayden's having a birthday party!{Candace is notorious for trying to bust Phineas and Ferb}.







Activities:


Rockets 


We used recycled water bottles to create rockets.  The kids got to pick out nose cones and wings made from pieces of colored paper that Brent already had cut out.

They then taped them to the rockets.  I would suggest having multiple rolls of tape on hand for this activity.  We made it work with 1 roll, but it would have been easier to have 2 or 3.  It was also helpful to have other adults to assist the kids with the holding and taping.  {B is in this great, I'm 7 and I take goofy pictures phase, so please excuse his expressions in these pictures.}




After creating the rockets we took them outside to launch them.  We attached a cork to the needle of a bicycle pump.  Brent held onto the bottle and the cork while the kids pumped air into the rockets and launched them into the air.





After a few launches with the bicycle pump Brent got a great idea.  He tried launching the rockets using his air compressor.  The kids loved how their rockets flew higher!  {As each rocket was launched Brent added his Tim the Tool Man Taylor 'man' grunt.}






Rainbow Volcanoes

Once the allure of the rockets died down we moved on to making Rainbow Volcanoes with baking soda and vinegar.

I found the small containers, seen in the picture below, at the dollar store.  There were 10 of them in a package and they only cost $1.00 {I thought the price was right!}  I also liked that there were lids for the containers so I could easily prep them before the party started.

I put baking soda in containers so that each child got 2 containers with baking soda.  I used other containers to put vinegar mixed with food coloring in. Multiple kids were able to share a container of vinegar.

The kids used eye droppers to pick up the vinegar and drop it into the baking soda.  I found packages of eye droppers in the pharmacy department at Wal Mart.  Once the vinegar and baking soda met they created a chemical and it bubbled and fizzed like a volcano.  G was disappointed that his volcano didn't actually bubble over like a real volcano {Sorry to burst your bubble there buddy, but it's not that kind of a volcano.}



These are 2 of the baking soda pods after the food coloring vinegar mix has been dropped into it.  The kids loved watching the baking soda bubble up as the vinegar mix was dropped into it.






Rocking out with Guitars


Next, we decorated guitars.  I ordered these inflatable guitars.  I bought some permanent markers from the dollar store to decorate them with.  I was a little leery about giving the kids permanent markers, but surprisingly, they didn't make a mess at all.





When the guitars were decorated it was time to have a little jam session!  I ordered a Phineas and Ferb sound track for the kids to rock out to.  As an added bonus these stylin' glasses came in the box with the guitars.  The kids loved them!









Food:


I served snack foods that included: apples, bananas, cheese balls, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and Phineas and Ferb fruit snacks.







Cake:


The birthday boy and his Perry the Platypus cake {Again, here he is with the goofy 7 year old looks . . . aggg how long will this phase last?!}





I used a 13x9 pan for the cake.  Perry's eyes are made from powdered sugar donuts and black jellybeans {I used a toothpick to hold the donuts onto the cake securely}.  For his hat I used mini Hersey's bars.  His feet and beak are made from orange Airheads.










We all had a lot of fun celebrating Brayden's 7th birthday in Phineas and Ferb style!  Now I'm onto planning Baby M's first birthday!

Oct 17, 2012

She's Simply Amazing

You may recall this post, I Just Don't Understand, from April.

When I wrote it I expressed my fears, about Baby M's eyes, that had recently been confirmed.

We took her to see a pediatric opthamologist, in May, as suggested by our pediatrician.  At the time of the initial opthamologist visit Baby M was 4 months old.

During this visit the opthamologist noted that her right eye did, in fact have a horizontal drift, she was diagnosed with Strabismus.  I learned that Strabismus is an eye condition where the eye muscles don't line up and are too long, preventing the ability to focus the eyes.  Her vision was not affected by the Strabismus and was in the normal range for a child her age.

The opthamologist said he wanted to 'keep an eye' on it until she was 6 months old.  At that point further decisions would be made.  These decisions included the possibility of glasses or worse case scenario, surgery.  Before leaving I scheduled a second appointment for August.  This was the soonest I could get her in.

In June, we took Baby M to her 6 month, Well Baby visit.  The pediatrician inquired about our visit with the opthamologist.  I reported the information I was given, regarding the diagnosis and the waiting.  I also shared that I thought her eye seemed to be drifting more.  He agreed.

After hearing that the pediatrician agreed about her eye drift becoming more sever I called the opthamologist in hopes of moving her appointment up from August.  I was successful and the appointment was moved to mid June!

In mid June we took her to the second optamologist appointment.  I was dreading, but expecting, to hear that she would need glasses.

We met with a new doctor this time.  He was nice, but seemed to lack the 'kid friendly' doctor appeal that doctor #1 had.  It was very apparent that the first opthamologist was a father himself.  He related to Baby M very well and to Brent and I as well.

Doctor #2 walked in and seemed to have a little too much confidence in himself.  Don't get me wrong confidence is good, but there was just something about the way in which he entered the room that we found to be less than comforting.

Later, Brent and I talked and we both compared him to Christian Troy, from Nip Tuck.  {For those of you not familiar with the show, Christian was the self proclaimed 'ladies man' of the show.  The patients swooned over him and he practically had everyone eating from the palm of his hand.  To put it simply, he was a man whore.}  Now, I have no idea, nor do I care, about Dr. #2's love life.  I'm just trying to describe his demeanor.

He looked at Baby M's eyes and quickly did all of the measurements that had previously been done.  Then without hesitating and without any preparation he blatantly said, "Well let's not put it off.  She needs surgery."  JUST.  LIKE.  THAT. 

I mean there was nothing that could have prepared me for that statement.  I wouldn't have wanted him to sugar coat it, but it sure would have been nice to have a little conversation that lead up to it.  Like maybe an idea as to what he was thinking regarding the measurements he had just taken or something . . . anything . . .

I'm guessing that our facial expressions or body language or something must have provided him with the clue that we were slightly 'shell shocked' with his statement, because he then climbed down from his pedestal and joined us mere mortals.

To be honest I don't recall much of the conversation that occurred from that point on.  I was still trying to digest the fact that my daughter, my then 6 month old daughter, was going to need surgery.  I myself, have only had my wisdom teeth taken out and I was 24 years old when that happened.  In my mind I kept thinking we're talking about an infant here.

As the conversation continued I managed to somehow speak coherently and mention that my school was moving to a 'balanced calendar' schedule for the upcoming school year.  We would have 2 weeks off for Fall Break in October.  I thought that perhaps this would be a good time to have the surgery.  Everyone agreed and the surgery was scheduled for October 12.

So we'll fast forward a bit from June to October.

This whole surgery thing was quite a learning experience for me.  While we had the date 'penciled' in we were not made aware of the specific time of the surgery until the Wednesday before {which I found to be a bit unnerving}. 

I received several phone calls about the surgery throughout the week.  It seemed like someone from each department of both the surgery center and the eye doctor's office called me and asked similar questions each time.

Oh and to make things just a bit more fun,  I had to return all of the calls and play phone tag with each person at least 2 times.  I can't receive phone calls at work during the day.  I can listen to my voice mail and return calls on my lunch and prep, but of course those times don't work with other people's schedules.

I almost forgot to add the best twist that 'popped' up during the whole thing.  Baby M woke up during the night 3 times between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.  She almost never wakes up during the night.

As we were getting ready for work Wednesday morning Brent and I talked about taking her to the pediatrician to find out what was going on.  I suspected it was an ear infection . . . and was correct in my suspicion.

Brent had taken her to the appointment and told them that she was scheduled to have surgery on Friday.  The nurse told Brent to call the eye doctor and alert them to the ear infection and the eye doctor would make the final call from there.

I called and left 2 messages about the ear infection as soon as I knew about it on Wednesday afternoon.  I didn't receive a response from them until Thursday evening.  The message I received stated that we should go ahead and bring her for surgery.  Things should be okay.  The anesthesiologist would have the final say regarding moving forward with surgery or not.

So feeling very nervous, about the surgery and on edge, about the unknown, regarding scheduling and what to prepare for before and after surgery, Brent and I arrived with Baby M at the surgery center on Friday morning.

Both the staff and the nurses were so kind to Brent, Baby M, and I.  We found them to be very comforting.

Baby M was in the best mood that morning.  She couldn't stop smiling and clapping.  She kept cooing and babbling to everyone within her sight.  She really is such a happy baby.  Whenever anyone talks to her, her whole face lights up and she just grins a big 'ol two bottom teeth grin.

We were taken to a small room where they listened to her breathing and we changed her into her hospital gown {Yes, they have gowns for babies}.  We met with the nurse, the anesthesiologist, and the doctor.  It was determined that she was well enough for surgery.




The doctor told us that he would be fixing 4 muscles {2 in each eye}.  He explained that the surgery would take about an hour.  When it was completed he would meet with us to let us know how things went. We would then wait for her to wake up from anesthesia and we would be taken back to her.  Our conversation concluded with him telling us, "We'll take good care of her."  {This was nice to hear coming from a doctor who seemed to show little, to no emotion}.

So we sat . . .

for what felt like the LONGEST hour of my life.  Thank goodness for Smartphones, texting, and Facebook.  Also, thank you for family and friends who prayed and sent messages of hope.  I'll never be able to repay them for that.

When we were called I felt as if I couldn't get to the counter fast enough.  We were taken from the waiting room into a small room to do none other than . . . wait some more.  I have no idea how long we sat in that room, but my stomach was in knots the entire time.  The longer we waited the more my mind raced.  I finally asked Brent why he thought it was taking so long.  He said he had no idea.  Again, I said "why do you think it's taking so long?  Do you think something went wrong?"  Now realizing how much I was truly freaking out inside he came up with some goofy reason to make me laugh {He's so good about that}.

Finally, the doctor came in.  He told us that everything went well.  He explained post-surgery care procedures and told us that when she woke up they would come and get us.

We were taken back to the waiting room to wait for her to wake up.  This wait didn't seem to last as long.  We were walked back to the recovery area.  A nurse was holding her and she was slightly moving and moaning.

Having Baby M placed in my arms felt almost like first time I held her when she was born.  I cannot put into words the sense of relief that was lifted from shoulders when I held my warm, breathing baby,who was making noises.  I immediately thanked God for keeping her safe.

Shortly after being led into that room we were able to change her back into her clothes and take her home.  We were told to expect her to sleep for most of the day and to give her Tylenol as needed.

She slept the entire way home.  When we got home she woke up for a little bit.  We gave her Tylenol and I nursed her.  She went back to sleep and didn't wake up until later that evening.

When she did wake up she was slow to begin moving, but seemed to pick up where she left off.  She wanted to get down on the floor and play with her toys.  Of course she didn't want to be on the floor alone.  She wanted Mommy to sit with her, but she wanted to play.  So to the floor I went.

Throughout the whole process she has only had 3 doses of Tylenol and we have to give her eye drops 4 times a day.  I am in awe of her strength.

I got a paper cut on my cornea when I was in college and I can't explain how painful that was.  This little girl has had 4 muscles on her eyes moved . . . I'm sure the pain from my paper cut pales in comparison to what she has gone through.

To put it blatantly, She is Simply Amazing!