Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent

About six months ago I made the liquid homemade version of laundry detergent... and it lasted that long. It worked great, was super cheap, easy to make and I have no complaints about it, but I wanted to try the homemade powdered version as well and see if it worked comparably.

As for ease of preparation, it was incredibly simple. The ratio is like this:

1 bar soap :1 cup Borax : 1 cup washing soda

Many people suggest Fels Naptha, Zote, Ivory or Dove soap. I doubled the recipe and used one Fels Naptha and one Ivory. (The Ivory gave it a great smell.) I have some friends who save the little pieces of soap from the bath/shower and combine those in the mixture.

The soap needs to be grated, and that's as difficult as it gets.

You'll want something with a good seal and a wide lid to keep it in. I mixed mine in a recycled plastic container that was also really good for storing the detergent.

To use, scoop one tablespoon for a regular load and 2 tablespoons for a large or heavily soiled load. It washes just as well as store bought detergent.

I think the benefits of the dry version are how simple it is to make and store. I think the liquid version goes further, but we'll see how long this one lasts.

Have you tried either version? Do you have a preference?

How Do You Picture Abu Dhabi?

Which picture comes to mind of everyday life when you hear "Abu Dhabi?"

This:

Or this:

While both pictures were taken in Abu Dhabi, the first was mainly just a tourist attraction and the second is the common, every day life view.

Learning Arabic Starts With the Alphabet

Learning a new language is always challenging, but when you have to learn a new alphabet before you can even read the language, it always adds a new twist to the challenge. When I taught in Guatemala, my Korean students enjoyed teaching me their alphabet and it was fun to use the Korean characters to write messages in OTHER languages to make a code for certain things (like when they did gift exchanges.)

Getting around in Abu Dhabi, especially in the city, isn't looking like it will be too difficult for several reasons, even without knowing much Arabic.

* English is a MAJOR language here. That doesn't mean life wouldn't be easier knowing Arabic, too- just that not knowing it isn't as big of a handicap here as in some places. One of the places where knowing Arabic would be especially handy is when speaking with the taxi drivers.

* The majority of workers (and people in general) here are from the Philippines or India... both of which have a large English-speaking population. Only about 18% of the population is Emirate. The rest are foreigners.

However, it would be a linguistic waste of an international experience to not try to absorb as much Arabic as possible while here. Though, Arabic isn't the only language. Though church is in English, most of the people there speak Tagalog/Filipino as well... so who knows what languages we'll get to learn!

If you would like to see some common Arabic phrases with the English pronunciation beside them, check out: Linguanaut.

While Waiting

Ben has been in Abu Dhabi since late February and is enjoyin his teaching position. Talia, Elias and I are here until Elias's paperwork goes through a several step process. We are excited that we got placed in Abu Dhabi, the city instead of out in one of the more isolated places. This way, we will be walking distance from almost everything! With public transportation and walking, we won't need a car. The teachers with families are usually placed in an apartment by the beach. In most countries, I don't think I'd like that because of the scantily clad people, but I consider the beach a benefit in an Islamic country. ;)

While waiting on the paperwork to go through we've been enjoying the mild weather, since 100+ degrees will be ready to meet us by the time we get there, playing outside, homeschooling and baking. It seems we've had sets of different kinds of waiting. Waiting to find out where we would go next; waiting for the baby to be born; waiting for Ben's ticket to come so he could get started, and now waiting for our paperwork so that we can then wait on our tickets and get over there too. Something that I find helps me stay sane as a mother is finding ways to establish an easily transportable routine- something that doesn't require a lot of stuff, since most of it is either packed, sold or stored.

Babies have their own routines of eat, play, sleep, repeat; but Talia and I have been really getting into the reading lately. While she has known the sounds of the letters in the alphabet for a while, putting them together to create a word just wasn't clicking for her. Until now! I'm really excited about how smoothly she's been reading words lately. She also enjoys working with numbers, so we incorporate that into a lot of our play. While the spring weather is here, doing school outside has been incredible. Very soon, this won't be an option, so we'll soak it up while we can before we go create a new routine.

How do you stay sane with several sets of impermanent circumstances?

Owens in Guatemala: Live What You Believe

People who live what they believe are my heroes.

I thought I did a good job at that until we moved to Guatemala and I saw how much more needed to be done. Living in a third world country changes you. You either become callused to the poverty, or you try to make a difference. Now, there's no way I can be unappreciative of the daily blessings in my life and I do my best to help make positive changes for those who don't have those blessings.

One of the teachers I taught with in Guatemala, Lindsey Owens, and her husband, David, are doing something I can't right now and helping start an orphanage. Here's their story:



Check out their journey here: www.owensinguatemala.com

Hauling Books by Plane or by Donkey

Packing everything to move across the ocean can be intimidating with weight and baggage restrictions, but the part I've been trying to figure out the most is the homeschooling supplies. It's hard to know which manipulatives are worth their weight in luggage to take and which ones are better to leave.
And books. Books are particularly heavy and particularly necessary for any type of curriculum. I'm carrying them via plane. This man, Luis Soriano, believes in the necessity of reading enough to create a way to bring books to the isolated communities in Columbia. He has a round trip of eight hours on his "Biblioburro," or donkey library just bringing books so children can do research for homework or have a chance to read. He made my worries about getting enough books where we are going seem very small.



I want my children to love to read, I know how much easier it is to learn if you have good reading skills. I've seen what the lack of those skills can do to students. I also know that even if we can't take much of a physical library, we have many Kindle and online resources and, as Luis showed with educating kids to read- when there's a will, there's a way.


"Luis Soriano who started the Biblioburro initiative, also opened La Gloria's first library thanks in part to donations received from Ayoka's film viewers.
For more information: www.ayokaproductions.org"

Superlative Alert - United Arab Emirates: A Video Tour

For those of you who don't enjoy/remember grammar, a superlative is an adjective, (that's a describing word,) that ranks something in the most extreme form. Usually you create a superlative by adding -est to the end of the adjective: tallest, biggest, greatest, richest... all words you will probably hear in this video tour of the United Arab Emirates. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether the superlatives are exaggerating or deserved:

How to fit your life in a suitcase

Oh wait, I actually wish I could find a nice, concise list showing how to do this. Especially for moving overseas.

When we moved to Guatemala, Ben drove through Texas and down through Mexico in a Toyota 4Runner- providing quite a bit more packing space! This especially impacted the heavier home/kitchen items I was able to bring. This time that's not an option.

Flying to Abu Dhabi with everything you own in a suitcase presents several challenges. Since Etihad, the Abu Dhabi-owned airlines, weighs even carry on luggage- (15 pounds or less,) we have to be more discriminating about our carry ons. However, Etihad gives you two checked bags of 50 pounds or less (unless you want to pay more for 60 pounds or much more for 70 pounds.) We are using duffel bags to eliminate as much of the luggage weight as possible.

So that's two checked bags and a carry on per person. Or not. Since we have to connect with Etihad via American Airlines we have to pay for the second checked bag with them just to get it to Etihad because American only allows for one checked bag.

Most of the household items can be purchased from teacher's who are completing their contract in Abu Dhabi, and for us, are not worth bringing/shipping. To ship a 50 pound suitcase to Abu Dhabi is almost $300, while it's closer to $150-$200 for an extra suitcase on the plane... so we're just packing necessary clothes, baby stuff and homeschooling items in our luggage.

Then there's the fun of actually packing for an opposite climate in an opposite culture. Since we dress modestly, the culture part isn't as much of a challenge as the 100+ weather. It's nice to be packing for hot weather while it is cooler here, though; we don't have to pack bulky coats or boots.

It's also important to figure in how fast the kids are growing, since anything that's almost too small will just waste precious space. Wearing something a little big is better than 'barely fits.'

I can't say that I don't like this process, because I find minimizing our life to the bare minimum very cathartic. It's way too easy to gather possessions. Life easily gets choked up with stuff. Packing what we really need helps me focus on my family and each person's individual needs. I get to re-evaluate who we are as a family apart from our stuff. And that is freeing.

Sock Monkey vs. Wool Socks

Wool socks are just irritating. They're itchy and too hot for Texas weather... but they work rather well for making a sock monkey!

We found the pattern on line and marked out where we wanted to cut. Since it wasn't the traditional colored heels and toes, we had to eyeball some of the measurements.

We ended up with a different, argyle style monkey.

Then we stuffed him...

and sewed his arms, mouth and tail on.

His ears and eyes came next.

Our silly monkey ended up with arms as long as his legs, for a top heavy look... but that's OK, because Talia thinks he's cute with his arms crossed:

Preschool Physics (a.k.a. Having Fun Playing with K'NEX)

Talia just discovered my brother's old K'NEX set a few days ago... this is the first thing with instructions that she chose to build:

A Ferris wheel. We followed the instructions (easy-to-follow pictures) and little by little it came together.

The coolest part was that it really moved once it was all put together. There's a center piece that can be wound that then will propel the wheel around in a circle for a bit.

Or a rolling robot:

Or a combine that works with the addition of a rubber band:

I suppose this could be considered preschool physics... ;) but it was a lot of fun, if nothing else.

Birth & Memory= Past + Present Reality

I'm grateful that I didn't mentally rush to the end of my pregnancy. I hear many mothers wishing away their pregnancy and, though I don't think less of them and I can see where they are coming from, I'm grateful that I didn't do that. Contrary to many things in my life, pregnancy has been something I've never tried to rush.

With most things, I'm looking for the most efficient way possible to get it over with and overall not doing a very good job of "stopping to smell the roses." My reasons for not being that way with pregnancy haven't always been positive.

With my first pregnancy I was in no hurry to get it over with because everything was new and exciting- but also mainly I was too scared of birth to want it to arrive any faster than necessary.

The second time fear played a much less dominant role and I tried to savor the time... and I'm glad I did. Especially now.
Once a little one is born, many wonderful and new things are there to experience, but the pregnancy part is over (until pregnant again.) I've been blessed with wonderfully boring, healthy pregnancies both times, and while each trimester brings different challenges, there's not a part I'd be willing to skip. Now that I've experienced natural childbirth, birth is not a part I'm willing to skip either.

I have a theory that memories rarely stay true to strict reality, but morph- dependent on the reality of our present circumstances. However, memories are not only changed by the present, but the present is changed by those memories. The two are tied together and constantly changing each other. Sometimes this means enriching each other, like Elias's birth did for me. The memory of the birth is special to me. He is the special product of that birth that is always in my present. These two facts, though he is always changing and moving forward into the future, play off of each other and each make the other more special.

I think that how this works with regret depends on how we respond. Memory of lessons learned is a good thing if we let it be that: learned. It can push us to do better things or it can drag us down into self-destructive, vicious cycles.

It's wonderful to me how Elias and his birth have not only helped me bond with him, but have given me a new dimension of appreciation for Talia as well. His little milestones help me remember hers with greater clarity. Her awed, careful responses to him just makes all of it so much sweeter when combined with all of the ways I've been blessed to watch her grow and mature. She puts perspective to how little he really is and he reminds me how far, really, she has come from infancy.

Birth is life changing, no matter how you experience it. I'm glad I get to view it from this perspective.

Making Fresh Cream Butter

I recently  learned how to make butter from my friend Ashlie. It's very simple to do and delicious!

The first thing you need if you are making butter at home is whole milk with the cream. Ashlie bought hers from a man who has his own milk farm down the road (and a license to sell to the public.) If you have never tried fresh whole milk- a note of warning: You might become addicted, it is nothing like the white-colored water sold in plastic gallon jugs at the super market. ;)

 You can (barely) see the line towards the top where the cream has separated from the milk.

 You will need a clean container with a good lid like the glass jar above to shake the cream in.

 Get a scoop, we used a 1/2 measuring cup, and carefully pour the cream into the shaking jar.

 Your jar needs to be about half full, not more or you will not leave enough room for good shaking and expansion of the butter as it expands with air. (Hi Ashlie!)

 Screw the lid on very tight and....

 ...now you are ready to shake the cream!

(Better than a shake weight because it's obviously productive...
then again, it produces butter which gives you more calories... hmmmm.)

 After about 6 minutes, the cream is looking frothy and expanding with the bubbles.

 After about 12 minutes, the cream is turning yellow and starting to clump together in little butter balls.

 Here you can see the butter starting to stick to the sides of the jar.

 After about 15-20 minutes of constant shaking, you can see yellow creamy butter.

Now the butter can be scooped out into a container to be washed...

 ...and the whey can be poured back into the milk jar. 

A wide-mouthed jar is appreciated for this step, since you have to scoop the butter out.

 If you do not wash the milk out of the butter, as Ashlie found out the hard way, you will end up with spoiled-milk tasting butter- yuck!

 Here is the butter before washing.

 To wash, run clean water over the butter...

 ...and press the milk out of the butter with your spoon.

 You may need to repeat this step 3-4 times.

 When the water runs clear, you will know it has been washed adequately. Press as much of the water out as you can. If you would like salted butter, now is the time to add the salt and mix well.

 If you have a butter bell, now you will scoop all of your butter into the bell part...

 Compact the butter into the bell so that any excess water rises to the top and can be poured out.

 Next fill the bottom part of the butter bell with 1/4 cup of clean water and...

 invert into itself to seal the butter, keep it fresh and soft.

Remember to change the water in your butter bell every other day to keep your butter fresh.
Thanks, Ashlie, for the lesson in making butter!

Enjoy!

One of the ways we enjoy fresh butter is with fresh homemade flour tortillas and honey!

Things I'd Forgotten About Newborns

Since our daughter is 4, it had been a while since I'd been constantly around a newborn. It's crazy how many of the little details get fuzzy with time... even simple things like:

* They eat FREQUENTLY. Yes, I knew they ate, but when their food comes from ME it is impacting just how often. (I'm so grateful that breastfeeding is going well, there's no way I'm complaining about that.)

* They get rid of what they eat just as frequently...

* They make adorable cooing noises when they're nursing.

* Everyone and their dog wants to hold a newborn. Maternal instinct, especially around winter germs, does not mix well with this.

* Newborns grow so quickly!

* Their heads are really wobbly.

* Their cry sounds like a kitten's mew.

* They tend to gather lint between their toes and fingers.

* Their milky smell is the best!

* They sleep a lot!

Little man is already a month old and changing quickly. He's gaining weight and filling out with cute baby fat... I have the sneaky suspicion that HE will be 4 before I know it.

Lychee, Zapote, Guisquil, and Pitaya: Fruit and Vegetables Introduced to me in Guatemala

There are four types of fruit or vegetable that I was introduced to in Guatemala: Lychee, Zapote, Guisquil, and Pitaya. Because I learned of them in Guatemala, I know them by their Guatemalan names; with the exception of lychee... I'm not sure what it's called in Spanish since a fellow expat introduced it to me. So let's start with that one:

Lychee: a colorful, reddish fruit on the outside with a grape-like inside surrounding a seed, is quite sweet! You just peel off the red part, eat the white and spit out the seed. I think the flavor is similar to that of a grape as well.

Image: piyato / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Zapote: From the outside, I think this looks like a sweet potato or tuber but it is actually considered a fruit. It has thick brown skin on the outside with an orange flesh surrounding a large dark brown seed. I wasn't impressed with the mild, slightly sweet flavor, but I figure it's something one must develop a taste for. (Image from A.M. Costa Rica)

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Guisquil: Known in English as "chayote," this light green squash-like vegetable has a white meat and an interesting juice. When we cut it, if it got on our hands it made them feel like the skin was drawn up very tight, like something you'd expect a fancy spa to put on your face to make you look younger. ;) (If you try that, let me know if it works. That'd be a great natural alternative to Botox for interested people!) In Guatemala we would peel, cut into large round slices and boil the guisquil. Then, we would coat it in the same egg mixture used to make envueltos de ejote, (green bean wraps) and fry in olive oil. It was very tasty this way or boiled like any vegetable in a soup or stew.

Image: anankkml / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Pitaya: Known as "dragon fruit" in English, what points this exotic fruit gains in appearance, it loses in flavor. It's bright magenta skin with green-spiked leaves are peeled away to expose a white or magenta flesh filled with little black seeds. The flavor is not sweet, and reminds me of a raw potato. It is sometimes made into chips or cut up raw and added to other fruit mixtures or covered with sugar to give it some flavor. There should be a proverb about the pitaya... something like, "Though it looks as exciting as a pitaya, it is as flavorless." (Maybe you can come up with a better one. ;))

Image: Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Have you tried any of these fruits or vegetables? Did you like them? Where were you introduced to them?