Picture from Camp Wander blog where you can grab the recipes for all sorts of goodies

I’ve had it with buying things that I can make myself. I started with cleaners. I stopped buying them! I make my own with vinegar and Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds. Works wonderfully, too, I might add. Now, on to detergents. I did the math (not really) and I can save myself a ton of money by making my own. I spend at least $40 a month in detergents alone. That’s dishwasher and laundry detergents. I just spent $30 at Walmart on supplies to make my own, and it should last me a year. I will keep tabs on that and let you know exactly how long it lasts. I’m hoping this works out well. I have three elderly dogs and I’m doing laundry every damn day!! I’m not even kidding. Puke towels, pee towels, cleaning rags…..it’s tiring, and expensive. If I had been smart I would have had them put in the divorce papers that my ex pay for the laundry! It’s mostly the two older dogs who he had before we met that are making the messes. Getting old sucks.

So here I am, sitting in the kitchen, blogging, making my own soap and I can’t help but feel like I should be singing Kumbaya or something like that. Seriously! Who am I?!

Me~

We promptly went to Hobby Lobby the next day for magnets. Then to Target for cups. I even let the kids pick their own cups, and they were horrible, but that is another story.

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I am not a very neat or organized person. I’ve never even really wanted to be one. My mom…. She is very neat and organized. Like obsessively so. (Though she will deny it, trust me – I’m the one who had to live with her.) My penchant for “piles-o-crap” (as she calls them) drives her crazy. If I can’t find a spot for something, or I plan to get to it at a later time, I organize it into a pile with similar stuff. Like in the hall in front of our bedrooms… There is a pile-o-crap for every room next to the door. There are also piles on either end of my couch…and in the kitchen under the coat rack…under the coffee table (though this one is really John’s fault)…and let’s not even touch on my room at this time. (And John would probably say that I should add in that my bookcases are just really tall piles-o-crap…)

I also really, really, really hate to fold clothes. I put it off until there is no more sitting room on my couch. My couch is big enough to handle me, the boys, and Belly all at one time – more often than not we’re lucky to have room for just two of us.

So see…. I’m not a messy person… I’m really not. I pick up and clean every day. But all these piles-o-crap and the mountain of laundry kind of ruin the effects of cleaning.

Wondering what this has to do with getting ready for Mason?

Ever since I got pregnant, my energy has taken a hit. I mean, it does every time, but this time it’s been even harder. No, as some will point out, it’s not because I’m home all day with a 2 1/2 year old. Ryan was about the same age when I was pregnant with Belly, and as I tell everyone, if I can keep up with toddler-Ryan while pregnant, toddler-Belly should be no problem. I think, that it’s partially because we have so much to do now. There are now two older kids to get to activities – and to get through homework. I cook more. There’s like double the laundry. More commitments to the boys’ school. I acted as my mom’s chauffer for most of this pregnancy as well. Plus, John actually expects more out of me now since I am a stay-at-home mom, and no longer a full-time college student.

Oh, and a 2 1/2 year old and a large idiot dog. (That’s said with love by the way…) (more…)