Budget Luxury

A few years ago I became addicted to Dove body wash... the expensive kind. Now I didn't pay the $6.00 or more per bottle because I was extreme couponing. I think I paid around $2.50 a bottle. Life became a little less wonderful when I ran out. Since then I've been buying the cheap stuff at Walmart that still costs over $3.00. Boo.

Today my life became a little more sunny. I am back to using dove body wash. But, again, I didn't pay $6.00. I figured out how to make it myself for only $1.72 a bottle! I know you may instantly be skeptical of how you could replicate the lavish liquid but really it's the exact same thing! How?...

All you do is reconstitute dove bar soap. That's it. Really. I bought a six pack of the Dove Go Fresh Burst Beauty Bars ($6.88). I grated three of those bars into six cups of water in a pot on my stove. Then I turned it on to medium and waited for the soap to dissolve (be patient). I transferred the resulting liquid into a glass bowl with an airtight lid until it was cool enough to pour into plastic bottles (it thickens as it cools). It is a little thinner than the real stuff but works and feels the exact same! I promise.

In the end it made twice as much as a normal bottle for half the price! (48 oz. for $3.44) And just in case you are not convinced this is worth it... this makes body wash for $0.07/oz. Even the cheapest Walmart body wash is $0.18/oz. No brainer people.

Next I'm going to make some yummy boy soap for Joe. I HATE the little pieces of bar soap left all over the shower and the residue that you have to scrape off.
Now I just need to find a manly loofah!

UPDATE: I've been receiving a lot of pinterest traffic so I thought I'd mention something. This works wonderfully for DOVE bar soap. If you are trying it with another non-moisturizing bar soap this recipe will be way too thick! That doesn't mean you can't figure out your own amount of water for the kind of soap you like. Just start with only one bar of soap if you are not using Dove.

Growing Pains

It's early and I can't sleep.
I have so many thoughts running through my head.

Now that we're finally in our new house and I can begin to prepare for this new baby (3 weeks!), I can tell that all of this change has been hard on Jay. He's become incredibly clingy and doesn't understand why baby gets to use all of his old stuff that he isn't allowed to play with anymore.

To be honest, though, I'm having a hard time too. Having a child like Jay makes me terrified of what this next baby may bring. I remember in High School, when my brother died, I thought that I'd been through the worst thing ever and that Heavenly Father wouldn't put me through something like that again. But after the first trip to the ER, frantically running my barely breathing child into St. Lukes hoping someone could save him, I realized life wasn't that simple. Bad things happen. Multiple times.

I wish that the normal second time mom fears were the only fears that I had to face... How will I get enough sleep with this one? What if they don't get along? etc. But this morning I find myself wanting to go into Jay's bedroom, hold him close, and tell him things that he can't possibly understand... things like "Mommy will still do her best to protect you Jay."

I was talking to my mom the other day, possibly one of the only people who can really understand my fear, having lost a child herself. My mom is really strong and smart. I told her how I loved Jay so much that it hurt. How I didn't know I could love a child so much and at the same time be so afraid of losing them every second of every day. And most importantly, I told her that I didn't think I could do it again... worry so much, cry myself to sleep, take another child to the ER begging the doctor to please just make him better. I told her sometimes I'm angry with God. She didn't judge me for that last one. I'm sure that she sometimes felt the same way. But she told me not to borrow sorrow. She said that she thinks Heavenly Father allows things to happen in our lives more than He causes them to happen. I needed to hear that. It helped with my anger issue.

So here I am. Still scared but working on having a better perspective. I hope and pray this child is perfectly normal but if not... I'll make it. At least I know that whatever happens, he's mine forever.

Craigslist Project

I have a love-hate relationship with Craigslist... mostly because I hate cheap creepsters coming to my house to look at my stuff even if they do end up buying it. But today's tale is a love story.

I found this: For only $50!!!

And I turned it into this:

For only $20 more!
(Fabric and Old English... Oh and the fabric is not stapled on yet so don't look too close.)

The house we are moving into has almost no closet space so this was a miracle find. Also, growing up, my parents had a cedar chest where it seemed like they stored very important, secret items. I think the fact that it was always locked and felt forbidden made me want one in my house someday to torture my own kids. Just kidding but I do feel very important now.

Highlights

It's been a long time since I've blogged because life has been CRAZY! We've had two family reunions... one in Boise and one in Las Vegas. We're moving in a week and a half! And we're fixing up the house that we're moving into while trying to move out of this one. Oh and did I mention that I'm having a baby NEXT MONTH.

So to keep myself sane I decided I better blog while I have a minute. I went through my pictures today and here are some highlights of the past month.

Jay turned 3!
I made him a Handy Manny toolbox cake.

I think he liked it. We also had most of Joe's family in town so they came and showered him with awesome gifts. Thanks guys!

Here's a day when we made Blue's Clues pancakes. I was a bit disappointed that my blue batter turned so brown when I cooked them. Duh Stace!

Jay is growing up so fast. We're potty training him. And some days he even dresses himself...

Um yeah.

As for the house that we are fixing up...

Here's a sneak peak of the colors that we had to paint over...

Our room:

(Joe was all ready to paint it half orange and have a Bronco room!)

Jay's room:

Joe's parents bought this house in Hurricane (20 min. from St. George) and we're going to rent it for a while. It's actually a pretty cute house... just very bright and very dirty. Fixing it up has been really fun. I'm pretty sure I've broken every rule of pregnancy while doing it though. There I am balancing on a ladder, breathing in paint fumes and cleaning products, only to take a break to eat my unmicrowaved deli meat sandwich. And at the end of the day I go home tired and sore and do what?... take a hot bath. I could really use some sushi right now. (I kid.)

Anyhow, the house is almost done and my next post will probably be before and after pictures!

Goostrey Family Reunion 2011

It's that time of year again... reunion season! In July we traveled 10 hours to Boise to have our annual Goostrey reunion. It was great to have everyone together. Can you tell I'm ready to explode? This baby needs to come now!

The weekend was filled with fun activities for the kids. My mom even rented a bounce house. Hence why Jay couldn't keep his eyes open after playing in the heat. I was really bad at taking pictures this year but I did get a few on a night we had a fire pit and smores.

Laney and Grandma John Daniel Spencer As the sun went down, Eric and Laney had some fun taking silhouette pictures. Cute Daddy/Daughter shot And Eric pretending he's Michael Jordan... with the help of a strategically placed chair.

It was so good to be back in Boise and spend time with my family!