Just Boothe

Boothe has a new interest these days.  She'll go and get my camera, bring it to me and want me to take pictures of her. Ha!  Here is some shots from the last time she requested a personal photo session.

Homemade Laundry Soap

I made a fresh batch of laundry soap the other day and even though I have already shared my recipe on here before, I wanted to repost it for anyone who missed it the first time around and wanted to try making it.  This is what mine looks like using a cheese grater for the bar of soap, but a friend of mine recently make some for the first time and used a blender for the soap after slicing the bar into thin strips.  I'm sure a food processor would also work well.  I'm going to try that next time to make the soap into more of a powder.

Dry Laundry Detergent

4 cups grated soap (I use Fels Naptha)
4 cups Baking Soda
4 cups Washing Soda
8 cups Borax

Use approx. 2 Tablespoons per load.

I mix it all in a 2.5 gallon Rubbermaid tub with a lid and keep a Tablespoon measuring cup inside the tub.

I have been using this for about 2 years now and the first time I made it I added up the cost to less than $12.50 and it lasted me over a year!  As I do more laundry now with more family members it doesn't last quite as long, but still saves me a bundle compared to store bought.

My Funny Valentines

We had a lovely Valentines this year beginning with a playgroup party.  We hosted our playgroup and served lunch and some Valentine goodies and asked everyone to wear red and/or pink for the party.

These 2 wore heart dresses.  I wonder which of those hearts are mine?

 

They do the funniest things when I ask them to smile for a picture, but luckily they are still cute! ha

 We made cupcakes for the party the night before and Magnolia helped with the sprinkles before our friends came over.

 Each of the kids got to fill a jar with candy to take home.

Why do we seem to never get a break from holiday candy?  It starts at the beginning of October with Halloween, transitions into Christmas candy during November, then onto Valentines candy once you think your Christmas candy is gone, and now we start on Easter candy in a few weeks as we finish up the last of our Valentines candy!!

Dan and I also had a nice Valentines Day with the girls.  A couple boxes of chocolates, a few new books and a vase full of flowers topped off our simple gifts between the 4 of us.

Daddy Daughter Dance 2011

The duo hit the town last Sunday night for their second annual daddy-daughter dance.  Magnolia told Boothe she couldn't go since it was just for daughters.  Not sure what that means Boothe is, but she wasn't going anyways.

This year several dad-friends and daughter-friends joined them which made the night lots of fun.

I was at church cooking dinner for a local mission so Dan was in charge of getting Magnolia (and himself) properly dressed and out the door on time.  He dropped Boothe off with me and I snapped a couple quick pictures and then they were off.

 Boothe wishing she could go to the Daddy.................Daugh-ter...............Dance, as she calls it.

 All I had to do was say cheese.  They took it literal.

 Excited for their date.  We decided that although the dance comes once a year, they are going to have several dates together a year.  Just special nights out for dinner, a movie, bowling, bonding time.

 Magnolia with Kaelyn and Abigail, 2 of her friends who, along with their dads, joined them this year.

 The hula hoops came out and things got CRAZY!

Some of our Favorite Books

The girls have become attached to a handful of our books.  When it's time to read books, these are the ones they go to and even Boothe has names for her favorites.  I thought I would post some of them today and save some others for another day.  If you are looking for a good children's book for someone, here are some of Magnolia and Boothe's suggestions....

 The next 2 books are by the same author, Virginia Lee Burton.

 The next 4 are by Pat Hutchins.  She has definitely become one of our favorite authors.  These books are especially favorites of Boothe.

 This last one is the newest book of the bunch.  Every book except for the last 2 were picked up at yard sales for a quarter each.   We first read Tea for Ruby at the library and after checking it out and reading it over and over for 3 weeks, I knew we needed our own copy.  It's all about manners and made sense to Magnolia.  She has really learned manners from this book and when she forgets her manners, we remind her about Ruby.  Lately Boothe has been asking for this book too!

I'll share another bunch of our favorite children's books later this month.  I have saved some of our most favorite for last!

Snow, Sales and Spaghetti Pie

Northern Indiana is expecting a blizzard over the course of this evening and tomorrow!  Yikes!  It was expected to start at 3pm and at precisely 3pm I noticed the first snow flakes.  Now an hour and a half later, lots of snow and wind out there!  I'm glad I'm not on the road and we are in our nice warm house.  But we are waiting for daddy to come home, so prayers that he arrives safely.  But on the positive side, Dan's boss closed the office tomorrow so snow day at our house!  This weather is so beautiful to me.  I just wish it wasn't also dangerous for lots of people.  I have to remember how blessed I am to not have anywhere to go tonight or tomorrow and that I am safe and warm at home watching the snow come down out the window.  What a crazy month of snow we have had.


Switching gears, I have been in purge mode and have a dining room full of stuff collected from all over the house to get rid of.  So Dan is trying to sell some of it on CraigsList.  If you are in need of any of these things or someone you know might be, please contact me and feel free to offer me less.  The main goal is to get rid of it!  Click the links below:

http://southbend.craigslist.org/clo/2190881911.html
http://southbend.craigslist.org/clo/2189106061.html
http://southbend.craigslist.org/clo/2189123069.html



Lastly, I wanted to share a favorite recipe of ours.  I got this from a dear friend, Jennifer.  It's what we are having for dinner tonight too!

Spaghetti Pie

• 6 oz. spaghetti, cooked and drained
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage, cooked and drained
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• optional: 1/2 pound asparagus, 1 cup fresh spinach

While spaghetti is hot, add eggs and Parmesan cheese and mix well.  Pat noodle mixture into bottom of casserole dish.  Saute onion in butter.  Mix onion with sour cream and spread over noodle mixture.  Mix meat and spaghetti sauce and layer on top of sour cream and onions.  Bake at 350 fro 20-30 minutes covered.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.  Return to oven uncovered and bake until cheese melts.

I try and add some green whenever I can to casseroles.  I cut up some cooked asparagus into bite sized chunks and mixed it into the spaghetti sauce/meat mixture.  I also added some fresh spinach to the middle layer along withe the onions and sour cream.