Laundry Games

Laundry soap is one of those must have necessities that can definitely eat up your budget. We all must have it. We all have our preferences to what we want out of a laundry detergent. Some of us want that lovely garden scent in our fluffy blankets. Some of us need super soft blankets. Some of us despise the aroma of anything but simply clean. We are all different in our expectations of laundry detergent except for one thing...The soap MUST CLEAN our clothing and not leave little bursting prizes of disgusting nose ticklers after the spin cycle.

H4L and I differ a bit in our tastes of laundry soap. I, of course, love to have fluffy aromatically scented clothes and blankets of grand soft texture. H4L on the other hand prefers soft and fluffy with not a hint of nose ticklers. As he states, " I hate putting my face in a towel and being so overwhelmed with smell that it feels like i have a coat of soap on my face." Okay H4L, point taken.

This dilemma, as well as trying to be frugal and a tad bit greener, led me to DIY laundry soap. I stumbled upon this fabulous website with a wealth of information that pertains to everything in my life. While delving deeper into the knowledge bank of this fabulous powerhouse of a website, I discovered a simple recipe for homemade laundry detergent. And so I gave it a try.

Here is the recipe I mixed up:
2 cups finely grated Ivory Soap
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda

I really like the mixture. It has a simple clean smell, well the powder smells like Ivory soap, but the clothes just have a clean smell. And I only use 2 tablespoons per load. That is fabulous. Homemade laundry soap lasts FOREVER!!! It is so simple to mix up and use, anyone can do it!

I first washed a medium load of towels, just to be safe. After this load dried and felt and smelled fabulous I gave the "Beast" a try: Baby DIVA bibs. And HOT DOG! they came out fabulously clean and with no potent aroma. So then I washed ALL of our laundry with my homemade concoction. The whites came out white and the brights came of out bright. The towels and sheets are soft, fluffy and only have a simple clean smell. H4L, myself and Baby DIVA are quite pleased with this new DIY laundry soap.

Over time I may tinker a bit with the ingredients by adding in essential oils such as tea tree, lavender or the like, but overall I think we are converted! YAY for budget conscious laundry!

Wordless Wednesday: Tot spottin' playdate

Last week Baby DIVA had a wonderful playdate with Little Miss Diva in training while Pink Haired Momma snagged a few moments of adult conversation with Love to Shop Mom! Playdate at the Tot spot was a huge success for both girls and momma's!

Heading out to play at the Tot Spot!

Making friends with herself!

Hello! I playin' ma!

Having a fabulous Tea Party with Little Miss Diva in training

Tea Party and Chupy's



And this was Baby DIVA before we left the Tot Spot parking lot!

Changes on the hairfront

I got my hair did!!

Here I am before the did...

T0tal PINK Everywhere!

and

Here I am after...

A touch of Punky Pink!!

Cupcakin

Pink Haired Momma is back in full swing wearing my homemaker apron and busting out some fabulous sweets to enlarge my families bootie! Take a look at my newest creation. Don't know if you remember, H4L was the greatest and got me the fabulous jumbo cupcake pan I have been lusting after but refused to buy myself for Christmas. I finally snagged a few moments of alone time, well really Baby DIVA was snugly tucked into her high chair, "directing", so semi-alone time to bake I suppose. My little Baby DIVA director opted for a strawberry top and vanilla bottom to our enormous cupcake. We gathered the ingredients and went to bakin'!

We mixed up some cake batter and poured into the pan and then shoved that bad boy in the oven.

45 minutes later we had this...


Baby DIVA required a brief slumber after we baked. She was exhausted from all her "directing". When she awoke, I presented her with this...

She was quite pleased with my decorating choices!

When H4L arrived home from work we presented him with this lovely treat!

I LOVE my jumbo cupcake pan. I can not wait to explore more options and possibilities with this cool little cooking tool. I am thinking a pinto bean cupcake with some homemade cinnamon ice cream may be next up on the list.

The NEW Domino's

You know I really do love cooking, really I do. But sometimes I am just about as lazy as they come. Some days I really just don't feel like strapping on my Pink Haired Momma homemaker apron and firing up the old elbows and making up some homemade goodies. I am only human you know, and a full time mom; even I need a day off now and again. On these fabulous days, H4L and I often can be found ordering some yummy and delicious PIZZA (one of our favorite foods, baby DIVA too).

We recently discovered that Domino's had made some "changes" to its pizza. Basically a complete face lift; so we thought we would give the old company a try. They were offering a cute little special of 2 mediums with 2 toppings each for a sweet little price, so pepperoni and mushroom for H4L and Canadian bacon and pineapple for me were quickly in route to our house.

**To read all about this face lift click HERE.***

Honestly, we couldn't really tell you what changes have been made to the pizza. It seemed delicious to me (of course my home made pizza is tons better, but we will just keep this out of the competition for now). The sauce was nice and tomatoey and a touch of sweet. The bread was baked to a nice firm yet smoosh consistency; and the toppings were flavorful and fresh. All in all I couldn't find a reason to not order from domino's again. Thumbs up guys!!

NOW!! Here is a really cool feature that I found fantastically fun. We ordered our lovely dinner online. Yes it is true I am one of those people. I hate calling and getting some 16 year old kid on the line who only half listens to me because she is texting her boyfriend about where the next meet up is and then my pizza arrives all wrong or she "huhs" me 50 times through the conversation. Drives me bonkers. So anytime I can order online, I do. Helps keep my sanity in check.

Well, I jumped onto the website and got my order rolling. Then this little timing red bar popped up on the screen. This little timer allowed me to see the moment my order was received and by whom. Then it continued to alert me as to when my order was in prep mode, was being put into the oven, was being checked by quality, and when it was boxed up and headed out with my speedy delivery man! All while noting who was doing the work and the time, to the minute. It was really cool. Yes H4L and I may find humor and entertainment in some strange locals, but we really enjoyed this fabulous feature. It was really entertaining watching what my pizza was up.

The pizza is pretty yummy. Watching your order online is fun and entertaining. The food arrives fairly quick. So I guess I am telling you go ahead and give the "new" domino's a try!



And let me just say Domino's did not recruit me to write a review for them. They did not give me money, pizza or the like. I simply experienced something cool out there in the world and wanted to share my true experience, thoughts, and opinions with you.

Freeze Clean

We are having quite the winter here in Texas. We have had snow a couple of times and several days in a row where temps stayed below freezing for more than a minute! This is just totally out of character for my hot and humid hometown. I am not sure what to think about this atypical behavior. Usually we light the fireplace and enjoying sitting and looking at the warm flames, but only for cosmetic purposes. We never use it as an actual source of heat. I usually admire winter coats and imagine what it might be like to be forced to wear these on a daily basis; I can even be found trying them on on occasion when I am shopping. Never would I have thought that my puny little "snow" coat would not quite be warm enough here in Texas to venture outside. When running an errand on this below freezing day, I bundled up Baby DIVA in multiple layers to keep her warm only to find she didn't fit in her car seat. Awesome! Even "Texas" car seats are not prepared for real winter weather.

So all this cold and all this being trapped inside where the warm of the heater and fireplace keeps me in line has invoked an inner demon. The cleaning demon! I say demon because this bully is kicking my butt! I have been furiously going through cabinets, drawers and closest. Boxes and bags galore. The entire house is getting a once over full clean out and re organization. All the furniture is being moved and re situated after a solid cleaning. All the closest, drawers, cabinets, boxes and bags are being organized and labeled. This cold weather is great for my house but not so great for me, I am exhausted!

But my home is looking rather swell, if I do say so myself!

Red Light

Have you ever noticed how becoming a parent changes your viewpoint on just about everything?

Take stop lights for instance. I recall a time when I used be that stupid loon that would floor it and "go for the gold", if you know what I mean. I would get all flustered and fussy and some choice words might escape my lips if a red light caught me in a long pause and ruined my cruise about the streets of town. Now these were the days of tube tops without back fat and having the sun roof open, radio blaring and letting the sun kiss my my perfectly tanned skin.

Now that I am a Pink Haired Momma with a huge SUV of a ride (that I commonly refer to as the toddler limo) and pasty white skin, I welcome red lights, for the most part, or rather at least when Baby DIVA is chilling out in the back seat. Red lights provide the perfect 90 second time frame to find that missing pacifier; To hunt down that tossed sippy cup; To spin my head around and make up an impromptu comedy routine complete with facials, hand gestures and scratchy fabulous singing to whatever happens to be on the radio (commercials included) that will invoke laughter out of my kiddo; To reach into the "goodie bag" and reveal a special entertaining new toy for the Babe! Ah!, yes red lights are now my friend. They are fabulous. They are 90 seconds of a car ride that are not full of Baby banter or screams that are inconsolable. Found pacifiers, sippys, toys and goofy momma dances provide 90 whole seconds of Baby laughter!

And I even find myself longing for an extra red light or two when I happen to be alone in the toddler limo. You see alone momma time is few and far between. I admit I find satisfaction when coming home from the grocery to have an extra 90 seconds of alone time to jam to the radio without having to turn around and provide comic relief to a screaming child. Now I just scratchy fabulous sing out loud to a comedy routine just for me! Who knew!

Wordless Wednesday

Baby DIVA playing at the park in winter!

Hunting Houses #1

I went and saw a house that I just absolutely adored on the Internet. In person, not so much. The Internet version of this house was fabulous. And the Internet version did let me know that the house was in need of some cosmetic TLC, so I was prepared. However, the Internet led me to believe that the house was spacious at over 2500 feet with 4 bedrooms and tons of living space and a great large backyard. In reality this is a dump. With tons and tons of cosmetic TLC that needs to be done, which we enjoy doing, however this was too much. And the fabulous tons of living space? Well I didn't see any. The walls that are just randomly in awkward places and it causes a breakdown of any flow and any precious living space. I felt like I was in a tiny fun house. UGH!!! Oh and there was no bathtub in the master bath! Bye Bye ugly house! If momma can not soak with a giant glass of wine at the end of the day it ain't gonna happen!

The one positive was a room off the master. It was connected by french doors and also had its own entry. It housed a closet. This would make a fabulous nursery and future office or sitting room, however the rest of the casa sucked a big one! Turns out that this house is a pre foreclosure, so the current owners pretty much destroyed it. Oh and talk about weird. The current owners are moved out, but happened to "stop by" while I was viewing the home to pick up some chopped wood they left in the garage. WEIRD. I know they are about to go in the forclosure and I am looking at their trashed house. EWW! Wonder if they felt as uncomfortable as I did. I took some pics and will share with you my devastating tour.

The front! Very pretty. Sorry so small mobile pic!


The weird walls that look cool but ruin the free flowing space feel!

Cool fireplace.

Backyard has potential to be fabulous.

Horrible. Needs much TLC. Would have been okay if the rest of the house was nice.

Needless to say our search is still on. I just wish that our perfect 4-5 bedroom 2 plus full baths (ummm with bathtubs) 2 car garage with a game room and big backyard would just plop into our lap ASAP, oh and that someone would offer to buy our house before we have even officially put it on the market! That would make my day! I guess until that happens I will just continue to get my house ready for market view and search the net for our dream house!

Mabel's Labels

Right before Christmas, Love to shop mom announced to the world that I was the winner of a fabulous giveaway over on her blog to Mabel's Labels. Mabel's Labels is a wonderful store that provide us parents with all sorts of labeling mechanisms for all those pieces and parts that travel with our children and frequently get lost.


I received an email very soon after winning the giveaway from Mabel's Labels . I was instructed to go over to their site and have a look at the mama cards. I could then maneuver about the mama card section and personalize my cards to how I want them to be. I was very excited about how easy it was to use the Mabel's Labels site and choice options. I quickly found the style of cards I wanted and entered the information I wanted to have printed on the cards. I went to my shopping cart and VOILA, Mama cards were on the way! Now whenever Baby DIVA and I are out and about I can simply hand a Mama Card to other Mommas and they will instantly have my name, whose mom I am, my email, my website, and my phone number. These cards are adorable and I have already passed out several!


When the cards arrived they came in a fabulous box that included a Mabel's Labels pen, information packet and samples of other types of labeling products that the store provides. H4L and I sat down and had a good look at the various products and will be placing an order very soon, so that Baby DIVA's items can stay Baby DIVA's!

The fabulous and cute box that my Mama Cards came in! I would show you my mama cards but all my personal information are on them. When I blacked out the information it ruined the look of the cards. Sorry! I love my readers but dont trust the net with my 411, you knopw what I mean. So Scout on over to Mabels Labels and have a look at the cards. They really are fabulous!

Birthday/New Years Recap

My perfect size Tiramisu Birthday Desert!

New Years Day aka My birthday. Each year is started off bittersweet. A fabulous new start but always a year older. This year was no exception. At the stroke of midnight I aged an entire year, from 30 to 31, but it wasn't so bad at all. I was in the arms of my beloved H4L and we kissed our sweet sleeping Baby DIVA and wished her Happy New Year as the minute passed and we watched me age and entire year. It was amazing though. A new year, a new decade, a new husband and a young Baby DIVA. Life really doesn't get any better than that!

I think she has had too many milk sippy's!


Baby DIVA, FEA BEA and me on New Years Day!


H4L and Baby DIVA on New Years Day!

We spent New Years Day dining on PF Changs with my family for lunch and enjoyed great conversation and drinks with H4L's family for dinner. In between family food festivities we strolled around in the gorgeous sunshine with a wee bit of cold slapping our skin, in the outdoor shopping centers and leisurely enjoyed each others company. I feel very blessed and very happy and must say I have a fabulous family of 3 as well as incredible extended family and in law family! It is nice and wonderful to spend the New Year and my birthday with those I love! H4L gave me a fabulous gift, the collectors edition of Sex and the City on DVD! Can you guess what I will be doing with my free time over the next few weeks? And so will he! heeheehee

My kid LOVES Calamari! Who would've thunk it?

*Free time is supposed to utilized by adorning my feet with sneakers and taking a little jaunt around the neighborhood, according to my resolutions. I am feeling butt planted to couch and eyes watching the SATC collector edition is more a reality!*

Elves at IKEA

The "Elves" of Christmas, AKA Grandma and Pink Haired Momma, have been out and about conquering all the after Christmas sales and have delivered, on schedule, some fabulousness to Baby DIVA. As well as starting the stockpile for birthday gifts throughout the year and Christmas 2010! Yep I am that good!

First stop: IKEA. Baby DIVA scored a $1 ice cream and even shared a little with mom, while the Elves scored a pink potty chair, new curtains for the playroom, STORAGE for the playroom because we all know those "Grandma Santa's" can get a tad carried away, and super awesome new bibs that even Baby DIVA can not remove! You see the last item here, bibs, are a fabulous find. Baby DIVA became quiet skilled at the removal of bibs oh about 2 days after we introduced solids. This left us with two options: eating naked, our favorite option, or ruining an outfit, our not so favorite option. Now we have these fab plastic shirt style bibs with food drop pockets. They fasten around the neck and Baby DIVA thinks she is super stylin', chills out in her high chair and doesn't have to eat NAKED!!!! LOVE IT!!!

The AWESOME food pocket!

Shirt Style Bib for Baby DIVA: Godsend!!

Baby DIVA was calmly introduced to her cute little Pink Potty. I was thinking several months of introducing would possibly result in a potty trained child come late summerish. Well with a splash of Elf magic dust Baby DIVA took a poopie in her potty during her initial introduction!!! Hallelujah!! Coincidence? Most likely! Will I brag like hell the next few days that my 13 month old is using her potty?!? You bet your ass! I have already called all my friends and family and told them all in a matter of fact I am the best momma voice ever, that Baby DIVA is using her potty!! Now what I don't share is we haven't used it since the initial poopie. A little side note I think I will keep to myself, oh and you of course!

The Famous Baby DIVA poopie potty!! At only 13 months! My child is AMAZING!!

I have been really working on Baby DIVA's playroom/bedroom. She really has so many entertaining devices, ie too many toys, but it is all good. I have thrown a twin mattress on the floor and covered it with an adorable duvet. I am hoping to teach Baby DIVA to nap on this mattress. Then maybe a toddler bed will grown around this fabulous mattress. Until the bed evolves, I wont have to worry about a tumble from Baby DIVA since the mattress rests nicely on her level. New curtains were hung in a cutesy yet fun print over the windows. A new storage system was put in place for little Baby DIVA. Keeps the clutter in place for mom but is just the right size for Baby DIVA to pull out her toys and destroy her clean playroom, in less than 20 seconds. News Years resolution number one for Baby DIVA: Learn to put toys away when done playing. I will keep you posted on how well that goes! LOL I also found a diamond in the rough wall shelf for 2 bucks at the our favorite thrift mart. I am in the process of painting it up all fabulous for Baby DIVA's wall and will gladly entertain your eyes with my homemade shelf eye candy up on its completion!

The new IKEA curtains that are fun, cutesy and even match my current wall colors but provide for more decorating style!

IKEA storage solutions and the fun new Duvet that we hope Baby DIVA will nap on!

This storage container is awesome. It is cheap, lightweight, Easy to build ( I did it ALL by myself with no tantrum throwing), and Baby DIVA friendly. I am thinking I will be giving these to future mommies at their showers from now on!

I am hoping that the cuteness of Baby DIVA's playroom/bedroom with intrigue her little mind and she will begin to enjoy playing and sleeping in her special place. With our house going on the market later this month, we need to remove the toy obstacle course from the house, as much fun as it is to hop and jump over Lego's and Ugly dolls, I am positive potential buyers would not be impressed.

Between Elf hunts, magic dust and crafty Pink Haired Momma, our house in turning into a almost ready to go to market picturesque setting with a closet hiding the beginnings of a stockpile of reduced price awesome gifts for all our favorite folks throughout the year! Go us!

*See I am getting wise ( but still fabulously fun and PINK) with my old age, of 24 hours at 31!*