Laurie's Everyday Notions

Ok, I've found the routine, and the product, that works for me. Key word here is ME. What works for me may not work for you. I began this challenge with the hopes to use a simple baking soda paste for cleansing, a bi-weekly lemon juice rinse and possibly skipping putting anything in my hair. But I've found this doesn't work for me. Or maybe it would work if only I could tough out the transition period. I can't. I don't do well with greasy hair.This is how my experiment looked: Day 1 - Day 4  Baking Soda Paste ~ I keep my jar of baking soda just outside the shower (this prevents water getting inside the container and hardening the baking soda) so before jumping in I fill my medicine cup (the little one tablespoon cup that comes on the top of cough syrups) half full of bs -baking soda....not the other bs. Once in the shower, I wet down. Add a little water to the bs and apply to hair. ~Hair feels clean and soft. However my scalp in feeling tingly. Hmm. Day 5 Baki

Who doesn't like contests? I love them. I don't win often but last year I won a cool gardening book. It felt like my birthday when my book arrived. Home Education Family Publishers is having a contest which ends on June 30th. Enter here for a chance to win: 1. "A Journey Home" from Franklin Springs Media 2. "Beside Still Waters" by Tricia Goyer 3. Well Planned Day Planner , 2011-2012 (this is the planner I used last year in our homeschool) 4. 1 year subscription to Home Educating Family Magazine http://www.wellplannedday.com/

Sometimes life seems like just a constant battle to keep afloat. My great hope when I began this blog was to blog daily....or at least more often than I have been. However life "gets in the way" and I'm reminded that I shouldn't let some things (like blogging) get in the way of life. I thought I'd take two minutes to share what's been happening around here this week. And then I have to return to life as we have a big to-do list for today.  My post on the Warrior Day Obstacle Course Isaiah, aka "The Boy", has now officially entered the ranks of Middle School, which means he is now in our churches Student Ministries. Student Ministries kick off event for summer fun was Warrior Day. After feasting on hot dogs and worshipping with song the students competed in a muddy obstacle course. The race began with a slip and slide and a run down a path to their first obstacle. This is where I was positioned to cheer them on and guide (verbally) them to the

To celebrate the end of school and the return of our old, school-age friends to Laurie's Little Sprouts Daycare, the kids and I decided to have a "Camping Week". A couple weeks before, I asked the kids what camping week would "look" like and we generated a list including but no limited to tents, bugs, fishing, flashlights, campfires, s'mores and ghost stories (we skipped that part for the little ones). TENT It's amazing how fun setting up a tent is for kids. I even let the kids help and they did a great job of putting the poles together and helping in "raising the roof". Not an easy feat with this big tent. Camping coloring pages and worksheets (camping vocabulary, word search, crossword puzzles) for here . BUGS and Trail Mix We inspected bugs with a magnify glass and made trail mix. In our trail mix we added pretzels, chow mien noodles, mini chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, raisins, tropical fruit mix (bananas, pineapples, etc) an

This morning I read, "Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found a correlation between an ingredient found in shampoos and nervous system damage. The experiments were conducted with the brain cells of rats and they show that contact with this ingredient called methylisothiazoline, or MIT, causes neurological damage."  The article at naturalnews.com  goes on to state that MIT can also be a contributing factor to Alzheimers and other neurological disorders. Even if these are exaggerated claims, shouldn't these claims alert the consumer to the POTENTIAL danger of the ingredients that we are putting on our bodies, as well as in our bodies. I think it's time to wake up, shake off the naivety (believing that if it's on the superstore shelf it must be safe) and make some conscience decisions about what we will allow in our homes.  A couple of weeks ago I wrote about no poo and homemade shampoo. Since that posting I have decided to toss out my shampoo re

Who knew that lemons are so versatile? Not only do they make a great thirst quenching beverage (Did you know that drinking lemonade may  date back to medieval Egypt ?) but lemons can be used both externally and internally. Lemons have more uses than just flavoring fish or making my favorite lemon poppy seed muffins. This humble, sour fruit can make products for your medicine cabinet, for your beauty basket or for your cleaning bin. Lemons are high in Vitamin C, which is important for a strong immune system. Lemons are also antibacterial, antiviral, contain antioxidants and anti-cancer properties......and are a bit magical. ;) MEDICINAL: Water Kefir "Lemonade" - Add a couple lemon slices to your brew. Yummy probiotic. Tea for colds - hot water, lemon and honey. So soothing on a scratchy throat. Cough Syrup - 1 cup honey, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 2 garlic cloves, 1 t. turmeric, chunk of ginger root. Athlete's Foot - mix the juice of half a lemon with 2 cups of water. Rinse

When I was asked for a tutorial on the hula hoop rug that The Boy and I were making, I thought that creating a video explaining the process would be a perfect experiment  for us. Unfortunately time is an issue and we've been swept up into summertime fun.  I read about the hula hoop rug in  Family Fun Magazine so instead of recreating the wheel (or the hoop), I'll just share their tutorial with you. I will however add a warning from my experience. DO NOT pull the weft too tight. When we began weaving, I thought it would make sense to pull tightly to get a tight weave...I thought that would be a good thing. It wasn't. The center of the rug bulges out and would make a good hat. When time permits, we will unweave and re-weave. :) Another note: this is a fairly easy craft yet it is more time consuming than I had expected. The Boy got bored of weaving and I had to stop when my fingers started to (painfully!) cramp. I am anxious to try it again, however for now the project has bee

My bathroom has a mildew problem. I'll blame it on my 106 year old house and the fact that I don't have any ventilation/fan in my bathroom. A month ago I noticed that the ceiling tile that butts up to the wall was turning black...the whole length of my bathtub. Eww. My first thought was to break down and buy a big jug of bleach. But I hate bleach. No matter how careful I am, I also seem to ruin whatever clothing I'm wearing during "bleach cleaning".  Besides I hate the smell. I haven't used bleach in about two years. So, in search for a recipe for mold killer, I turned to my trusty friend, Google. In the past I've made shower cleaners, which do a good job keeping the shower clean but only a fair job at keeping the mold at bay. I needed something made specifically to kill mold. I found several recipes but this one looked the best: Shower Mildew KILLER Cleaner 2 cups water 1 cup hydrogen peroxide 1/2 cup lemon juice Mix, put in spray bottle and shoot

For the past two years...maybe three, I've been in search for the perfect homemade shampoo and conditioner/rinse. This search began with the desire to save money but as I researched, I found a whole "No Poo" Revolution going on out there. I already knew that many shampoos were filled with a few a lot of undesirable ingredients but as I learned more, I became more aware and more convinced that "no poo" was the way to go. I've found things that work ok and even not so great. I'm still searching for a hair care regimen that works best for me. I'm not giving up. The key is to find the shampoo and rinse that work together...for you. The most popular hair care in the "no poo" world is by cleansing with a baking soda paste (simply add water to baking soda), rinse and follow with a cleansing rinse of diluted cider vinegar. Many have huge success with this combination. For me it works in cycles.  Baking soda tends to make my hair amazingly soft bu