It's officially the day before Thanksgiving!

Can you believe it's here?! Some of you might be filled with dread. My tips for you are try to breathe slowly, make a check list (I love checking off check lists...even if it says to just put slippers on, check!) and remember that the whole reason for having friends and family over is to make memories and reminisce about those good 'ol times. Keep in mind there are a lot of people in your same situation and I always say the worst thing is for a host to get so frazzled that they miss out on the fun of the event.

Even though I typically make a lot of food, rolls and pies from scratch, it's ok to have help. This year we are traveling for Thanksgiving, so our families pies will be from the great baker Costco. Definitely not the same as my homemade. If you are looking for some last minute pie tips, my sister spilled a few of our family secrets here: http://www.everkelly.com/2012/10/pumpkin-pie-secrets/

If making a pie today is not in your plans - thats fine! We all have our physical and mental limitations. The important thing is our family (or maybe its friends that will be with you) will be together this thanksgiving and I know my kids will be asking who gets the turkey legs. I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving!

With Love,
Becca

It's starting to feel like a farm here...

This past weekend we eagerly welcomed two new members to our family! We adopted 2 kittens from our good friends (who actually do have a farm). We were over there last week and had the most wonderful time. Here is a picture of my son on their zip line... He absolutely LOVED it!

But without further ado... Meet our sweet, snuggle loving "Minnie"

And our sweet, silly, adventurous "Daisy"

We fell head over heels for these two. Aren't they cute?? 

We have trouble putting them down long enough to let them explore and play. Even our good boy Seuss has taken to them.

It's so funny, my husband and I find ourselves watching them play. We just sit there and watch them like we're little kids. It's nice to have something new to break up the day to day. And I have a feeling these two will keep Seuss on his toes for quite a while.

I hope you all are keeping cool. It was 97 today here- *gah!!* And of course our air conditioning compressor died.... All I have to say is I'm so very grateful for fans! ...And popsicles :)

From my home to yours, with love,

Becca

Spring recap

When last we chatted, I was preparing for spring break, our first Passover (ever), my hubby's birthday and my little brother's graduation, in addition to my grandparents visiting from Pennsylvania and my mother in laws birthday... Oh and Easter... Hmmmm.... anything else? Oh, I started homeschooling my daughter. Yea, no big deal, haha! Sheesh it has been a crazy April! And I'm so glad it's May. Now I can get back into the swing of life.

Here's our fuzzy family pic at Passover:

Side note, the laundry detergent and softener have been working great for me. I hope you have enjoyed them too!

Some of our chickens have started to lay eggs. It's been lots of fun going to the coop and discovering eggs in the boxes. It's almost like receiving a yummy little gift every morning. And they are yummy!

For my husband's birthday he wanted a tattoo cake. I can honestly say I've never done one of those before. First I covered his cake in a buttercream fondant. Than I used a paintbrush (one only used for food) and food coloring and painted the tattoos on. But I found these great markers in the baking section at Walmart that are made for writing on food. So our kids took a side of the cake and decorated it for Daddy :) They were so proud and it was very sweet. And simple! You should try it!

I was never super into gardening until I moved here. But since moving here I've been an avid gardener. I've planted all sorts of fruit trees, which are still living! Yay! But most exciting has been the corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelons, carrots, tomatoes and sunflowers. Corn was something I never really thought much about trying to grow. I thought you needed a big open field to grow it. Well... It turns out that corn loves my yard. It has flourished and is over a foot tall now. I promise you every day I walk in the garden it seems like it's grown overnight...it's like a teenager! lol! It's been fun for the kids to watch too. Our corn and sunflowers are having a race to see who grows the tallest and fastest.  Here is my corn, fingers crossed it actually produces some good ears!

What a crazy month and a half it has been... remind me not to plan so much next March-April! Good thing May is looking more relaxing. Speaking of relaxing, I hope all you mother's out there had a wonderful mother's day! My day was wonderful, but looking back I have to admit, every day is pretty wonderful. I can't imagine spending my days with better people or in a better place. 

feeling truly blessed :) 

With love, from my home to yours,

Becca

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Recently my perspectives have been changing. Maybe it's having more room to live in or seeing the countryside. I'm not sure the exact reason, but I realize that cogs in my mind are turning. It all kinda started after we bought our chickens. Having organic, "farm" fresh eggs, straight from the mother hen in the morning made me start thinking about all the things I purchase on a weekly basis. Do I really need to be buying so much from these big name brand companies. The companies are making millions off their customers who believe the company when they advertise that their products are the best? And recently I've discovered that a lot of the companies are using chemicals in their products that are harmful to us. Why would I won't my children exposed to that? And why would I give them my money? Well, I'm not anymore. One of the first things I stopped buying was laundry detergent. And from my experience, as a mother of two, (with all the stains and germs and lovely smells that go along with my children's laundry) my homemade stuff works JUST as well as the stuff I was buying...If not BETTER!  I know, amazing right? I was shocked too. Kinda ridiculous that it took me so long to figure it out...but better late than never! So here is my recipe for my powdered laundry detergent. And it's perfect for the front loading washers because it doesn't produce a lot of suds. Don't be fooled by lack of suds- it is cleaning! :) And it happens to be REALLY cheap- double bonus!

Powdered Laundry Detergent:

1 cup Borax 

1 cup Washing Soda (washing- not baking- big difference)

1 bar laundry soap, (I used Fels-Naptha because of the kids, but Ivory - for sensitive skin, or Zote soap)

Over a large bowl, with a fine cheese grater, grate your soap bar. Next add in your borax and washing soda. Mix together with a spoon and transfer to a plastic container of your choice.  large hummus container (clean and dry) from Costco was what I used. This recipe will give you probably 30 washes or more. I use 1 tablespoon per normal load of laundry. But when I fill the washer with jeans and or heavily soiled I use 2 tablespoons- just to be safe. 

A few friends have asked me "How do you have time to make your own laundry stuff?" Well, first off it's really easy. And secondly, my life is all about schedules. With two kids I have to be scheduled if I want to get anything done and make sure we show up when and where we should. I also make my own fabric softener- that's the next post. 

With love,

Becca

New Adventures!....seems like there are a lot of those recently...

After a month and a half of unpacking, reorganizing, hanging stuff we are at home. The kids are thoroughly enjoying the room and so am I. Favorite part of this house by far is the playroom :) 2 weeks ago we felt settled enough to bring in 8 more family members....Oh yea. It started out as 4, we bought 6, and left with 8...
Meet the newest members of the "Soder Flock"

This is my Silkie, Ella:

This is one of our Americanas, Hedwig:

My son's Americana, Chipmunk (Can you guess why she's named that?):

This is my daughter's Frizzle, aptly named Mrs Frizzle:

My Black Copper Maran named Madeline:

Another Americana named Fanny:

Americana named Maggie:

It has been so fun watching these gals develop their own personalities. I say gals, because sadly we can't keep any roosters. The kids have fallen for the chicks and are having fun holding them and caring for them. 

Here I am with Hedwig (who's hiding in this pic) the night we got them

My daughter with Mrs. Frizzle

And my hubby with his Silkie, Lucy, who is a snuggler and has captured my hubby's heart

My son with Chipmunk

Who knew chicken's could be so much fun! We purchased some that will give us all different colors of eggs. The chicks will be ready for their coop when they are about 2 months old, it depends on how feathered they are by that time. I'm working on a sign for the coop. I've decided to name it "Coop-A-Cabana".  Pictures to come shortly ;)

Easter Preparations

My kids are very excited because Easter is almost here. Today I got around to hard boiling some eggs for us to dye....I know, I know I kinda waited till the last minute on that. Very unlike me...but this week I've been getting up at 4:45am to go workout. It's been a bit of an adjustment in my routine. But back to the point, I've heard so many different ways to boil eggs. I'm sure at least half of you out there have your own special way. Here's how I do it.

1. I place my eggs in the bottom of a large pot.

2. I fill the pot with cold water about an inch and a half above the eggs

3. I salt the water

4. I place on the stove and heat on high

5. When it comes to a boil I let it boil for 2-4 minutes. 

6. After boiling for just a few minutes I cover with a lid and remove from heat.

7. Let stand for 12 minutes and then shock them in cold water.

8. Store in the fridge and enjoy! :)

I'm thinking I'll have the kids color the eggs tomorrow and maybe we'll make the Easter cookie package I picked up at the store. On Easter morning I'm planning on making bunny rolls out of refrigerated bread stick dough. My mom made them when I was young and it's a family tradition now.... guess I need to go to the store to pick up the refrigerated bread stick dough! I take a stick and roll it into a cinnamon roll type bun. I then roll a smaller one for the head and take little pieces for the tail and ears. Super simple, cute and kids love them. Hope you all have a wonderful Easter! 

An Amazing Escape

We are back! And we had a blast :) I have to say that if you have young children at home and are considering a cruise, Disney is the way to go. It is by far the best cruise I've EVER been on for kids....and I've been on a lot. Disney is magical! And they have thought of literally everything when it comes to your kids. When we went to pick our kids up from the kid area, they didn't want to leave! 

For those of you who've never been on a cruise, the views from the ship are gorgeous....especially at sunset!

We encountered a very active group of humpback whales. At one point they were 30 feet from the ship. And they were breaching over and over! It was so amazing seeing it in person.

While the kids were playing with Mickey in the kid area, my husband and I got to spend some quality time together. That alone was worth it!

My kids would look forward to the towel animals left in the room every night....Mommy looked forward to the little chocolates!

Like I said, the views are breathtaking. This is Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

And a cruise just isn't a  cruise without a game of shuffle board while on deck :)

Disney knew how to entertain! From Broadway worthy musicals to pirates falling from the sky we were always amazed! The fireworks are worth keeping the kids up for. It was special and memories we will cherish forever.

It was very difficult to pull my 5 year old son away from this...he LOVED the water slide!

If you think you have to wait in lines everytime to see characters, think again! You are bombarded by them! They're on stage, on deck....we even chased Captain Hook down a hallway! Within 5 minutes of being on board the ship my daughter bumped into Cinderella (who is her favorite Princess) and got to take pictures with her.

The view from the "Adult Only" pool....my hubby and I spent a lot of time there. Pure bliss!

I feel very blessed that we were able to take our kids on this vacation. Disney is a bit more pricey than other cruises but I feel like the memories we made were worth it. It was so special for everyone! My kids had as much fun as I did and I don't think it would have been that way on another cruise line.... I'll just have to go on another...ya know...just to compare ;) haha! This undoubtedly was the best family vacation we've had.

Bon Voyage!!!

I am officially packing! On Sunday we are sailing away on a Disney cruise to Mexico. We've been saving and planning for over a year now. They kids are beyond excited although I'm kinda thinking that my husband and I might be more excited. We are excited for the kids to be enjoying their activities while my husband and I are sipping margaritas by the pool....oh yes, I can imagine it now...

I will let you all know how it went when I get back. Bon Voyage to you all! I promise I will come back with more of a tan than I have now!

With Love,

Becca