Homemade Dishwashing Detergent

Ok...So I was getting fed up with the nasty smell and taste of what my children's plastic drinking cups had when washed in the dishwasher. Call me crazy but if it smells like detergent and tastes like detergent chances are it probably still has detergent on it and is probably not so good for the insides. I scoured the internet and found a simple and frugal recipe. After testing it out I will NOT be returning to store bought ever again. Technically I guess you can say this is also "store bought" since the three ingredients must be bought in a store, but I think we all know what I mean. So here it is: Dishwashing Detergent. You MUST try it out. I had issues with clumping at first because I live in a humid environment but I scoured my house and found a couple of those "Do not eat" pouches and taped them to the lid of the plastic pitcher I used to store my detergent in. You might be surprised at where you would find those things: shoe boxes, pill bottles, or bread packs. I also placed an old metal spoon in there too and it seemed to help. All i all I am extremely impressed and my dishes come out sparkly clean, no residue and no smell. I am a happy mommy.

She got them pierced!!!

Aria is such a big girl now and it seemed to happen overnight! While putting her to bed I asked her what she wanted to do the next day and she out of the blue said she wanted to get her ears pierced. Well I was a bit surprised and certainly did not think she was serious or would even remember the next day. I nodded and said "ok" and we said our good nights. The next morning, sure enough, she not only remembered but insisted we go to the mall and get it done. She was all excited at first and picked out her little heart earrings but as soon as the lady put her gloves on she got pretty upset and changed her mind.
I was not going to hold her down and force her but I was pretty upset about not being able to get my refund since she was not going to pierce them indefinitely. Fortunately we sat down and after talking it over for about 30 min she decided that a bucketful of promised candy from the candy store was worth the risk. So she sat and let the lady pierce her ears and it hurt her but not very long after she had her candy and was eating away feeling much happier and proud of herself. I was proud of her too. She stuck to a decision and even though she was scared she did it!
     It seems she has done the most amount of growing up in the least amount of time this Summer and it is winding down and coming to an end. Soon she will be starting her last year of Pre-K and then heading off to kinder.