THE NCHE NICHE

I recently joined a local band of rowdy homeschooling mommas. Okay, so we aren't really rowdy. We're all rather reserved actually... unless you hit our hot topic or favorite curriculum  buttons... then we may have opinions to share... or mildly suggest. But, rowdy or no, we are banded together birds o' feather

(who like to maintain our autonomous natures, thank you kindly.)

 The important thing is we are 'banded together' - something I had let go of for awhile

 (Sometimes my 'autonomous' overflows and I forget that I'm not an island adrift nor The Lone Ranger.)

It is nice to be back in community with like-minded yet completely unique folks again.

It has been a little while since we were last plugged in with a group. 

{Here's one time. This was another.} 

Between my overflowing autonomy and busy, bustling every day life, it just didn't seem like we had the time. But alas, as is usually the case-some of the best things are things we MAKE TIME  for. 

Like French Pressed coffee and homemade Croissants. 

Worth every second. 

This group is one of those things, and we are looking forward to making time for our new NCHE family . 

After the first few meet ups, I was so anxious to get to hobknobbing with our new found friends, I created a Facebook group so that we could congregate and well... hobknob. 

(Hobknobbing is a top secret homeschooling thing...for initiates only) 

I can show you the group, but I cannot let you in unless you are a NCHE initiate...because we're hobknobbing in there. And we like our privacy. 

(If you are a local homeschooling family in need of a group you can join HERE. Then come over to Facebook, perform the *secret door knock and we will teach you hobknobbing.)

Having the constant presence of the group via Facebook should also help me to interrupt much less at Mrs. Janie's house. But I best not make any big promises... I think of so many things that need to be shared when I get around real life people... and homeschooling folks at that! I'm just not sure I can keep it all to myself--even if I try. 

Aside from the happy proof of socialization that yammering on about our wonderful new group provides, I'm also making this entry to save a sample of the group's 'interim logo'. I couldn't find one on our website, so I created a quick one for the time being.

Because,  you know.... I tend  to logo the people I love ;) 

Well, I really should be going now. These lessons won't plan themselves... oh! and it looks like there's a new message in the Facebook group.

(Ha!- not really...but I'm sure the struggle to balance priorities is 'only a day away')

((HaHA! As if I have ANY idea how to balance priorities...I really like to sound as if I have it all together, don't I?))

Come on back another day, when we will talk about Mrs. Janie and The Matriarchs, a very important alpha-flock of homeschooling birds who teach us how to keep our wits & feathers as we tend our modest nests and  nudge our fledglings along.

*There is no secret knock, we just check the member roster

DIY Laundry Detergent

DIY Laundry Detergent

"It's better, cheaper & smells fantastic...MAYBE" 

Basically, one of everything pictured(below):

Washing Soda

Borax

Baking Soda

Grated Pink Zote Soap (or FelzNaptha)

Epsom Salts & Scent (or scented softening crystals) (2 boxes equals proper amount)

Oxygenated Stain Remover

DIY Laundry Detergent Ingredients

I will start by saying that my results may be different than the glowing review of the recipe I followed because I used varied ingredients. I am not convinced that any one substitution made would change my overall experience with the results. The substitutions are as follows: 

1 Bar of Zote Soap instead of 2. The package looked like 2 bars in one wrapper, so we didn't bring enough home. I don't believe there would be a major difference even if the second bar was added because it seems that this soap doesn't dissolve very well before the washer has started- there are always chunks of it still floating about. 

Epsom Salts & Scent in place of softening crystals ~per another DIY recipe. Mixing essential oils with epsom salt was a prescribed substitute for using less chemical product and making the total price lower. No dramatic softening can be detected.  Any noticeable scent is from the Pink Zote soap. 

Competing brand of Oxygenated Stain Remover in place of OxiClean brand- for lower cost. 

One warning that I did not read anywhere was that the Zote soap would get so dangerously hot. 

Be Warned! 

 The recipe I've linked says heat it for a minute to dry it out... it took much more time than that. I would heat it and flake off the dry parts once it had cooled enough to touch, then heat again & repeat the crumbling process. 

Zote Soap Not Cotton Candy 

It cost a few cents less than $20  to follow an online recipe and give this fad a try.

According to the prescribed measurements, the cost came out to about $.07 per scoop. It is cheaper if you use only one scoop, but one scoop has not seemed to be in some of our loads.
Perhaps our water type has something to do with this.

At this point, my results have not been more remarkable than pr-emade detergents, even Value Brand powdered soaps, which if bought on sale comes out to roughly the same cost per load...  I have not come to the conclusion that it is both cheaper AND better  concurrently. Maybe cheaper but not better. Or better but not cheaper. Only, not both at the same time.

 We are still evaluating it on various types of laundry. Chandler believes it is a miracle concoction, as his baseball pants got pretty clean. The baby clothes with food stains weren't as easily cleaned. Before I give up on making it again, I am experimenting with water temp and scoop sizes. I will have to discover something dramatically different to warrant grating anymore Zote soap.

5 Gallon Container of DIY Detergent

Fathers

While looking for something celebratory for my nephew's birthday, I came across  this piece for mothers. In the interest of equality, I share this equally challenging & powerful piece on the calling of fathers.

I am grateful for the good fathers I know.

If you are a dad, I hope you celebrate the gift that God has given you in the form of your children and take to heart the call to disciple them & ready them to be presented back to their Giver someday. 

Mothers

As I was looking for something 'sentimental' of sorts, to mark my nephew's 5th birthday and to celebrate his mom and dad's 5th anniversary as parents 

(Reagan made them parents for the first ~but not last~ time) 

I came across this piece on motherhood. It seems to be an excerpt from a mother's day sermon at a church I've never been too.

It is a really good thought.

 It made me thankful for all the godly mothers I know. It also made me want to encourage those who may not value the calling God has placed on the life of a mother... especially friends and family who are moms but think that it doesn't count as much.

I hope you will be encouraged if you are a mom. I hope you will pass this on if you know any other mothers that need to be reminded... or perhaps told for the very first time.

And...if you happen to be a father? Well... there's something in there for you too 

:) Big Smiles Until We Meet Again 

31 Status

The folks at 31 Status want give Proverbs 31 a modern translation, live that translation out loud and encourage young ladies to choose likewise . I'm just learning about this group - (thanks to looking for more material by Janette...Ikz) but it resonates with my Titus 2 leanings. 

Perhaps we'll have a 31Status Chapter start up in our neighborhood....

On Waiting...

This artist/spoken word piece aired on Wretched recently... it captures well what I'd like to tell those who wait...and for those who should've but didn't?  Our God is greater... He really is. He is a God of Mercy and Grace and Restoration. He can mend the broken and restore what the locusts have eaten... if you allow Him to. Look for more by Jeanette Ikz in the near future- I like her.

Guarding Her Heart

I have two daughters and one thing I hope to prevent is the breaking of their hearts...or  worse, multiple fractures.

I appreciate shared wisdom from "Titus Moms" to that end. The article I am sharing is about the instruction  we often give young girls to "guard your heart" without taking into consideration what that heart looks like. The author looks thru the empty, over-used terminology and suggests a common sense approach to training young ladies' hearts, not just "guarding" them.

I recently discovered the blogs (and books) of Douglas Wilson and his wife. Wilson is the author of "Evangellyfish" which is what led me to the blogs.

Sidenote:

I liked Evangellyfish. (a lot) You may too, if you' ve been to church at all in the last decade (or  even if you've just watched one on t.v.)

This particular article is for my Pink Mommas because we've recently been talking about guiding our girls into their teen years and beyond...: Guarding Her Heart