Not just for boo boos.

So yesterday Amy took a literal nose dive off her dad's lap and ended up with a bloody nose.  We didn't catch it before she had put a nice blood spot on his white shirt (that had also gone through to his garment top).  Well I took her and he ran to the bathroom to do as most people do...soak the shirt in cold water.  When I saw this I remembered a trick that I learned while working as a CNA. 
The trick is to pour some Hydrogen Peroxide on the spot...it will remove the blood with ease.  The housekeepers told us to use this when residents had accidents and left blood on the carpet, and there was always a surplus supply of those lovely brown bottles.  :) .  The we just pour Hydrogen Peroxide on the carpet let it foam up a little and take a towel and roll it across the carpet and amazingly enough it really did pull the blood out of the carpet.
Well I started to use this for other applications as well.  So now when Tyrel gets a bloody nose because of his allergies, I simply will grab my brown bottle.  It gets it out every time without even a hint of a stain.  But I love this because it works GREAT on menstrual accidents.
I was amazed at the difference this has made at saving some of our clothes.   Hydrogen Peroxide works on all colors of clothing and won't bleach them (at least I have never seen it bleach clothes or carpets but that is because I rinse the hydrogen peroxide out before it gets and real sun exposure).
Here are some other things that you can use Hydrogen Peroxide fore:  This stuff really is amazing!
1. Take one capful (the little white cap that comes with the bottle) and hold in your mouth for 10 minutes daily, then spit it out..  No more canker sores, and your teeth will be whiter without expensive pastes. Use it instead of mouthwash...
2. Let your toothbrushes soak in a cup of peroxide to keep them free of germs.
3. Clean your counters and table tops with peroxide to kill germs and leave a fresh smell.  Simply put a little on your dishrag when you wipe down your countertops, or spray it on the counters directly.
4. After rinsing off your wooden cutting board, pour peroxide on it to Kill salmonella and other bacteria.
5. Fill a spray bottle with a 50/50 mixture of peroxide and water and keep it in every bathroom to disinfect without harming your septic system like bleach or most other disinfectants will.
6. Tilt your head back and spray into nostrils with your 50/50 mixture whenever you have a cold, plugged sinus.  It will bubble and help to kill the bacteria.  Hold for a few minutes, and then blow your nose into a tissue.
7. If you have a terrible tooth ache and cannot get to a dentist right away, put a capful of 3% peroxide into your mouth and hold it for ten minutes several times a day.  The pain will less greatly.
8.  Put half a bottle of peroxide into your bath water to help rid boils, fungus, or other skin infections.
9. Use peroxide to clean your mirrors.  There is no smearing

I now try to keep a surplus of hydrogen peroxide around my house, because you can use it for so many things.

Notes from Nat: Coupon anyone?

Is anyone else a coupon virgin(as they lovingly call us in the coupon world) or is it just me. It seems as though more and more people are getting on the band wagon and I think that I have finally decided to join them! I kept convincing myself that I do not have the time to coupon, but then realized that I do not have the money to not. Is my time worth saving $100-$300 a month on groceries. Obviously for me it would be the smaller amount since it is just Kilo and I for now, but someday when our family expands I would like to already have the coupon snipping down pat. Another reason I feel so prompted to jump on the band wagon is because of my lack of food storage. I can only imagine what $100 a month put towards food storage instead of my daily groceries would help me to compile. Our Bishop has emphasized to our ward for the past THREE MONTHS the importance of being prepared! Needless to say it is really sinking in! We are taking the girls on a High Adventure for Young Women and our theme is "Being Prepared". Well I am taking it to heart and am doing all I can to pinch pennies and put it towards having a sense of security. Here are the sights that I now follow and am learning from. It is going to be quite the process to get everything up and running, while making a few rookie mistakes along the way, but I am ready. If any of you are couponers and have any good advice for the newbies I would love to hear about it!!

This is my favorite sight so far, mostly because she has a "beginners tutorial":
http://thekrazycouponlady.com/

Here are a few others
http://www.thriftyandthriving.com/

http://www.frugallivingnw.com/

http://www.crazy-coupon-lady.com/

You can also follow so many different coupon groups on Facebook or Twitter!

I hope to soon have a pantry that lloks like this:

                                                                    Beautiful right?

Instead of looking like this......

YIKES!!!

Happy Couponing!!!

Notes from Nat

For most of you Summer is half way over....well for me it is still in the 60-70's so I have not even thought about swimsuit shopping but thought I would share a few sites I have found that might help those out that are thinking of climbing into a swimsuit.

First of all, as most of you noticed when I was in Utah for Steph's wedding I have lost a significant amount of weight. I do not assume to think that any of you need to lose weight. I am just sharing what has helped me feel better, have more energy, accomplish more daily, and really actually has changed me spiritually as well. I have always had a really bad self image of myself and have battled my weight my whole life.(There really is a point to my rambling) Since I have changed the way I take care of myself and my indulgences I feel like I am actually living the Word of Wisdom. I am able to keep up with the Young Women for my calling, I can serve others more, and all around feel closer to the Lord. "Everything in Moderation". Well I have really learned to apply this to my daily living, including how strict I am with myself. EVERYTHING in moderation. So the way that I have gotten into such good shape is through clean eating. There are so many places where you can read all about it so I am going to spare you the details but I wanted to share some websites that I have found that have really helped me cook YUMMY food that is also fueling my body. I actually just ran a 5k and cut 3 min off the last time I ran it. It felt awesome! So sorry about my ramblings about me, just wanted to give some background and reason for my post. Anyway here is my absolute FAVORITE sight for recipes! This lady is such an inspiration!
http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/

Here are some others that are also fun to look at
http://www.thecleaneatingmama.com/

http://cleaneatingchelsey.com/

http://cleaneatingmachine.blogspot.com/

Secondly, for those of you that need some good places for modest, adorable, and comfy swimsuits here are some good sites I have found. I do not have the luxury of living in the land of the modest closthes sold in stores :-) So here are some that you may or may not already know about

http://www.downeastbasics.com/newswim.aspx

http://www.downeastbasics.com/modbeswim.aspx

http://www.limericki.com/WOMEN?_oskwdid=5966354&_engineadid=7556223155

Happy shopping girls!!

craft ideas

I am not sure how many of you like to do crafts.  I do!  I love them because it gives me something to do with my kids (other than sit around the house and watch television, or something else that is mind numbing), but I also enjoy them for myself.  I love seeing something I did with my own two hands.  I love starting and finishing a project.  It is very gratifying for me.  Well knowing that before any of us are really ready for it, autumn will soon be here.  So I started to look for some cute craft ideas that I could do and ones that the kids could do.  Here are some of the ideas that I found...

Anyways I thought they would be so much fun.  I am hoping to be able to start some of them come September (that way I could get some money saved up to get the stuff, and yet still have time to display them all of October).   But I am also one that LOVES to get together with other people to do things so I was thinking MAYBE if you guys wanted...we could do our own super Saturday kind of thing. We could try doing it at a park as I think it would still be plenty warm enough outside, or I could see about the possibility of getting my ward building. If you don't want to do it as a big group but you would still like to do the craft, I have all the instructions that I will give you.  Just a thought...let me know what you think. 
Also as school is starting up soon, I am starting to think about trying to do some mini lessons (pre-school stuff) with Bren, so that when he starts kindergarten he isn't behind the other students.  Anyone have any ideas on where to go for that?  He already knows his letters, numbers 1-20, most shapes (he still has a hard time with the ones like rectangle, diamond, and other "unnormal" shapes), colors, and is starting to learn to write letters.  What are some good ideas for some mini lessons.  I know I should ask Kerri, and I probably will the next time I see her, but does anyone else have any ideas?  By the way...this is Shantelle...I have no idea how to change the name of the one doing the posting. LOL!  See Gram's your not the only one who has computer/internet problems. :)

From Gram

Recently I was picking out a pineapple at the store when a Japanese lady who was also choosing one gave me a tip that I thought everyone might like to know.  She said when you get the pineapple home, while waiting for it to ripen, it should be stood upside-down and that this would bring the sugar to the top of the fruit.  I chose one and did as she suggested.  I also checked the internet to see what I could find on this and learned that ripening it upside-down hastens the process.  I was surprised to see the pineapple go from green to yellow almost overnight and when we cut and served it, it was delicious -- on BOTH ends!  I also learned that you can test for ripeness by gently pulling one of the top leaves and it should come out easily.  There were other tips for choosing a good pineapple.  Check the internet, or maybe no one else is as ignorant of these things as I am.
Thanks Shantelle for showing me how to post this.  (Something else I am ignorant about.)