Homemade Laundry Detergent Flop

So I did it. Everyone posts these and talks about how great they are. They really are a lot cheaper and last forever. So I thought I would give it a try. 

The one I tried called for 2 grated bars of fels naphtha soap, a box of borax, a box of baking soda, a box of washing soda, some purex crystals for scent, and a box of oxiclean.  Easy right?

It was slightly time consuming to grate the soap but other than that I mixed it all up on a tub in minutes  

At first I really liked it. It worked pretty good and smelled good. Then I realized it didn't always get the stains out of my kids clothes. Then after awhile I realized it wasn't getting the deodorant out of my clothes and I was getting those nasty yellow armpit stains. So I started using more than the two table spoons it said to use. When I did that I noticed it was really tough on my clothes and was fading them a lot. 

So after  3 months of using it I have a bunch of faded stained clothes and  not happy about it. I thought of trying another recipe, but I'm not sure I want to with how long it takes to use it up. 

Have any of you used any recipes you liked that were good enough to get out stains but not fade your clothes?  If not it is back to Tide for me. 

Down on the Farm

Yesterday the organic farm Will works for had a farm day. Some of their customers and workers all got together and had a potluck and tour the farm. It was really great to get to see where Will works. It is amazing how much healthy food they are able to provide for people on a fairly small plot of land. They have pigs, chickens, and a big market garden. They have cows on some land somewhere else. It was great to see. 

And let me tell you Ben and Penny had a ball. Penny loved going in and out of the barn. And Ben... Let's just say Ben got a new favorite thing. They had a small chicken out in a pen for all the kids to see. Ben would not leave the chickens pen all afternoon and all we have heard about since is the chicken. We hope we can get some chickens soon. Ben would be so happy!

Penny said "I'm scared."

About a month ago for the first time Penny looked up at me while we were watching a show and said "I'm scared!"  I don't remember what on Curious George had scared her, but it was the first time she ever put a word to her feelings. That was a big moment for me. I remember thinking how fast she was growing up.  Just the idea that she was having an emotion and knew what that emotion was enough to put words to it and tell me. Now she tells me when she's happy, when shes upset, and always when she's hungry.  I have to say my favorite was when she ran into the kitchen and announces "poodles scary me!"  I love this girl. Having communicative 2 year olds is amazing.  Just the fact that she has words for these things makes life so much easier.