White Vinegar

If you are close to me you know I go through white vinegar like it's going out of style. Just a few ways I use it: making pickles- sweet and dill, homemade salsa, cleaning my counter tops in the kitchen and bath, cleaning the sinks along with baking soda, a splash or two in the dishwasher, as a fabric softener, and as a floor cleaner so pretty much Everywhere. These are only a few ways to use it. But the one I want to let you know about that you might not know is using it to get rid of red colored stains in clothes. If you have kids you know they will at some point get something red to drink and then spill it everywhere or all over a their clothes. So I am going to tell you what I do when this happens. Thanks to my momma for teaching me about it a few years ago after Carter spilled red KOOL-AID onto his new khaki shorts. This was one upset momma. A few days after this mishap I was talking to my momma about it and she came to the rescue. She told me to get a bowl that was big enough to put the shorts into and then pour white vinegar over them and let them soak at least overnight and then wash as normal. Yes I was doubtful of it working but I thought what the heck what could I lose. So the next day boy was I surprised, the shorts that once had been red, as red could be, were now back to the original khaki color. Sorry no pictures from that time. So I was sold on the idea. This has come back to help over the years in a house with four kids. And the last time it happened I took pictures to show you that it really does work. 

Thanks to Isaiah for sharing his red drink with Laura Mae

Soaking in vinegar

Front of shirt after being washed

back

back of bib

front of bib

You could never tell that the bib and shirt was a pinky red before. Hope it works for you if you give it as try. And please let me know if you do. Happy Cleaning!

Disclaimer: It has worked for me more than once but as with anything it might not the next time. And no I don't know if it will work on all kinds of fabrics.

I have been Crafty

So it's been for ever since I have blogged. It's just been a little crazy around this house between birthday's , Holidays,  and life. But I have found time to be crafty, which I Love to do. So this is a post on the things I have made the last couple months. Hope you enjoy.

Only thing I made with this costume  of Amos was the hat.

Nothing made in this costume of Carter

Same with Isaiah's. And all Super hero's wear fire boots right?

Laura Mae spider costume I add the legs to a black jacket thanks to kids black socks.

Here is a view from the back.

for our friend Lori's baby Esther, a snuggle bunny

a bunny gift bag made from a tshirt

Add caption

Laura Mae's skirt for Thanksgiving

Laura Mae's turkey shirt

Necklaces made from a tshirt

another tshirt necklace

Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus ornaments for school teacher gifts

Laura Mae's birthday outfit, painted the UNO shirt and made the skirt

2nd pair of pants I have ever made. The first one's I made form one of Daniel's tshirt

Ribbon Christmas shirt

outfit put together

This is what happens when a Mom can't find her children's ornaments for the year, yup she makes them

Our nativity's we made for Sunday School teachers and Family

It's hard to blog when you are not sitting at the computer :) But when things chill out a little around here I will be back to blogging. So in case I'm not, I pray you all find hope in Jesus this Christmas season and for the New Year. Merry Christmas to you All!

A Bag of Candy

Hershey’s Miniatures

A look at this bag and it might say, A Little something for everyone. 

Family Size.

And inside you will find Milk Chocolate, Krackel, Mr. Goodbar, and Special Dark Chocolate

Some with a certain type of chocolate, some with crisped rice, some with nuts.

All different but one thing in common: Chocolate

Now compare that with our life:

Men, Women, Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Children, Grandchildren, Aunt, Uncle, Jobs that define us, color of our skin, American, other nationalities, Christians and Non Christians and many more

We all have labels that tell who, what, or where 

Really no different than this bag of candy

One thing in common with these labels is a God who Loves us. 

Now this bag of candy can tell us a story of labels. 

Such as …..

Milk Chocolate can represent God’s love for us. Very smooth no bumps or things blocking our way with love from Him. We put those bumps and blocking items in the way of our love for Him. 

Krackel : the things that are small items we think we can get away with: White lies, gossip, hurtful words, actions and so on.

Mr. Goodbar: the things in life that make us feel good: Vacations, a certain show on TV, reading a good book, doing nothing, spending money on things we don’t need.

Special Dark Chocolate: Can have a bitter taste but has very good health benefits to us but we don’t always go to it first: Prayer, Reading our Bible, Quite time, Church, Church activities.

No matter what our label is. God’s Love is Free to us All. He wants us to have a relationship with Him. He wants us to take that bite of Special Dark Chocolate and not taste the bitterness; He wants it to be smooth like Milk Chocolate. He didn’t promise our life would be smooth sailing but he does promise us that our trials will have a Great outcome.

1 Peter 1:4-7

⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you,⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

God still loves us through the Krackels and the Mr. Goodbars of life. All we have to do is ask for forgiveness of these bumps. And through them all keep our eyes on Him that his great works will shine through.

Matthew 5:16

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Eight Years Old

 Carter Ray

my little Spitfire, Strong Willed, Big Heart, Smart, Laughing, Singing, Curious Boy. 

You have brought so much joy to this family. I thank God every day for you.

And you have kept your Dad and me on our toes but I wouldn't have it any other way. You came in this world when you were ready not on anyone else time table. I went into labor with you on a Wednesday night. I got to the hospital and they slowed down my contractions because it was to early for you to be born, 6 weeks early. So they kept me in the hospital and said I would go home on Sunday as long as my contractions didn't start back. Well you had other things in mind. Saturday night, I started to have contractions and they weren't going any where. I called Momma Pat at 12 am and told her to come on that you were ready to come. At 5:45 am, I called Uncle Jimmy and told him to get to the hospital because he wanted to be one of the first to meet you. Everyone else we had told not to even call us on Sunday morning until after 10 am, so we could sleep in and would probably be getting to come home. Actually I already knew we wouldn't be, I knew you were going to come on Sunday. At 9:53 am, Carter Ray Snyder came into the world screaming on Sunday, October 3, 2004 at 5 lbs and 15 oz and 19 inches long. Healthy as can be. And since that moment everything has to be in your time. Because you were 6 weeks early you even got to go to your own baby shower that Granny (my mom) had planned for the following Saturday. Several people didn't even know that you had been born yet so it made for an interesting time at the party.

Carter Ray, you have made us, your Dad and me, Very proud. You are turning into a remarkable little boy that one day will do great things in God's name. That's my prayer for you, to always remember to lean on God and do everything for his glory. And for you to know how much you are Loved. 

Love you Carter Ray and Happy 8th Birthday! 

What a joyful adventure the last eight years have been!

Here's some pictures of you growing up...... not any from the day you were born, that was before I had a digital camera so I haven't scanned them into the computer yet, maybe one day.

still new to walking

 6 months old, sitting up

at Rock Island State Park staying in a cabin with Granny and Pa

playing in the leaves

just hanging out in the dryer

sleeping on the kitchen floor

playground fun

wearing Dad's fire helmet

Brotherly Love

one of my favorite pictures

Happy Boy

our own Little Superman or Snyderman 

playing on the zip line in our backyard

a Shepherd at the Live Nativity at our church

always had fire boots on 

 My wild Indian for Spirit week at school

After watching your dad in the Mud Run

climbing the dogwood tree in the front yard at home

reading on Pa and Granny's front porch

 50's day at school

 hanging out on Pa's log truck

Laundry Detergent

Homemade Laundry Detergent 

So I have been making my own laundry detergent for a over a year now.  The reason I started making it was to save my family money. We were spending at least $20 every couple months buying detergent and that adds up. So this was and is a huge savings for our family. Now we can use the money saved for family fun instead. Several friends and family members have asked what is the recipe I use and I have shared it with them. But in case anyone who is reading this would like to know I thought I would share with you. I wished I knew where I got the original recipe but I don't have a clue. If I knew I would give credit where credit is due. There are several through out blogland.

Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 cup or bar of Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 cup Washing Soda

1 cup Borax

All these ingredients can be found on the laundry aisle at Wal-Mart

Grate the soap with a hand grater

soap is kind of thick after grating

Measure out the washing soda and borax into a bowl together

and then add the grated soap

To make it more fine and get mixed really well I put the mixture into the food processor

after mixed together

This also helps break up the borax, it can clump, and it makes the soap more a powder form. 

Now it's ready to put into what ever jar or old Tupperware container you have. 

This is the first time since December 2011 that I have made detergent. At that time this container was full.

 Yields around 3 cups

And this is the best part you only use 1 Tablespoon of detergent per load, yes only 1 Tablespoon compared to a cup or more of the store bought stuff. You can use 2 Tablespoons for heavy soiled loads. Sometimes we do especially in house full of boys.

 And yes our clothes come out clean for A Lot less money.  And remember this mixture will not make suds so it is safe to use in the high efficiency washers. I will shake it up every few loads to make sure it's still mixed well and doesn't form any clumps. We also add a 1/4 cup of white vinegar for the fabric softener compartment and then fill it the rest of the way with water. Your clothes will not come out smelling like pickles, I promise. If any questions feel free to ask. I will answer to the best of my knowledge.

Happy Laundering!

hugs and prayers~ KM