Life on Planet Caddick

I've tried homemade laundry soap before. The powdered version. Because I wash in cold I had lots of trouble with it working well. I've always wanted to try the liquid version, but I don't have a proper laundry room (read - no space to store 5 gallons of laundry soap) so I've been buying my 'free of scents' brand and thought I was doomed to pay high prices forever. Then I found this article on Mommypotamus and it spoke to my newfound love of soap making. So I held onto this recipe for months, hunting for the perfect sized detergent recipe for a family of three. Finally I found one, so I got to start. I followed this laundry soap (1% superfat) recipe exactly - and my bars came out hard, white, and beautiful. It looks good enough to eat. My first time using my new loaf mold Yeah, my cutting skills still need work but aren't these pretty? Then I found this recipe  for a smaller batch of liquid laundry soap. I grated up a bar of beautiful w...

My homeschooling friends are pretty much in the same boat as me. We are all homeschooling boys, and at least one in each house is a teenager. I know we all love our boys very much, but I know we all need time with other moms, to talk about mom things. You've all been there - you get what I'm saying. So, as an ode to my family's love of all things tie-dye, I planned a tie-dye party. Yep, all boys, all thinking "lame" and other assorted things. And dang it, I don't know if they had fun, but the moms had a blast chatting and enjoying one of our last perfect days here in SC. Many colors were chosen. Most of the 'girly' colors are left! It was about 70* and not humid. Perfect day. Not looking very thrilled but playing along anyway. What good boys! He's enjoying himself at least!! My completed shirt The shirt I made for hubby Zach's completed shirt (our first attempt at a swirl)

Today we had a good time doing school. I know I should be able to say that every day - but the fact is, that's not always the case. Recent events have made me try to be a little more fun and a little less witchy (with a b) during school though. We've been lucky enough to have some beautiful weather lately so today we ventured out to do a science lab on predator and prey. I thought this was going to be super lame and almost skipped it - but Zach ended up enjoying it very much. The object: to catch as much (uncooked) pasta you could in 30 seconds using different tools as the predator. We used chopsticks, bamboo tongs, a fork, a knife, a spoon, tweezers, and a small cookie scoop. He didn't even mind writing his hypothesis and analysis. Always a plus for us. I can't get my pictures to upload though - so sorry. Too bad, my shadow was super skinny and looked pretty darn good!  Today we also talked a little about King Cyrus of Persia. When I said King Cyrus my son says "L...

I've tried homemade dishwasher soap. Many variations. Many. I really wanted to love it (and make it, and save some money) but the reality is it's not going to happen. No matter what combination I try, with or without borax, citric acid, baking or washing soda, I just can't get behind it. Every recipe has left my dishes cloudy and not very clean (and I always pre-rinse). *sigh* So, when I'm in the store I beeline for the Cascade Platinum. I know - chemicals, bad, blah, blah - I get that. But I also get dishes that don't need to be run through the dishwasher twice. Or washed by hand after they come out of the dishwasher. While I'm confessing chemical laden products I still use I may as well admit I'm still a Dawn user too. Nothing beats it - nothing. I want to use more natural cleaning products. Sometimes I do. But they have to work or for me it's not worth the effort. Or the cost savings. Let's face it, washing dishes twice isn't saving me...