I’ve always looked for ways to involve my girls in the cleaning process of our home.  First of all, because I need the help in a household of six.  And second of all, because they need the experience of being a part of a whole where everyone contributes.

Our cleaning station was invented to provide one location where the cleaning supplies are stored and reachable for the helping children (and adults).  This means a couple things, that the cleaning supplies must be safe for kids to handle/use and that the cleaning station should be exciting (enticing) in some way.

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While we’re still in the vein of laundry for the Homemaking for the Modern Mama series this week, exploring an alternative to those costly and chemical-ridden dryer sheets and fabric softeners is our task today.

How does the average American spend money drying and softening clothes?

Bounce Dryer sheets (120 sheets / loads) = $15.27 or $30-$50 per year if you purchase 1 per month.
Fabric Softener (40 loads) = $10.00 or $75.00-$100 per year if you purchase 1 per month.

If you’re using natural dryer products:

Seventh Generation Natural Dryer sheets (65 sheets /loads) = $12.29 or $55-$75 per year if you purchase 1 per month.
Seventh Generation Fabric Softener (40 loads) = $8.00 or $60.00 – $80.00 if you purchase 1 per month.

(Stats from Smart Klean)

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 Good morning to you, friends.  I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  I’m happy to say that our Bake Off continues to grow and surprise me every year.  I’m always amazed with what moms and their children come up with for the Bake Off.

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I always expect that September will be a slow month, since the summer months were full and zoomed by.  And then it arrives, full of activity, hopes, and planning for the fall.

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Where would we be without our traditions?

Traditions ground us to something meaningful and real that we can expect time and time again.

Food and traditions are as synonymous as sugar cookies and icing.  As hot chocolate and cuddling around the fire.  As pumpkin pie and family holidays.

I’m so intrigued with the relationship of food and family traditions.  So many of my memories of childhood are surrounded by food and family, together.

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(I thought you’d like to see something in the “no one wanted to eat it”category, or at least most if it. It sure looked pretty.  If you’re daring, try the recipe.)

The family table.

This is where we gather.  This is where generations have always gathered.

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What an incredible outpouring of your thoughts on blogging and reality yesterday on Let’s Talk.  I loved everything that you all wrote.

I have just a few things to share this morning.  The first is about Birchbox.

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I just found a journal entry from 2009.  It was around the time that I discovered two blogs in particular that were quite inspiring and spectacular.  (Okay, if you’re wondering, they were Soule Mama and Anna Maria Horner’s blog.)

I would read their blogs and examine every inch of their beautiful photography and beautiful, flawless lives.  And then, I would walk away and step back into my not-so-flawless life, and stumble.

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I always want more, more, more out of life.  More quality time with my children during the day,  more exciting, varied meals three meals a day, more time for reading or sewing or baking, more patience in those crazy, crying-tantrum-stressful moments with four children, more peace, more love, more help, more understanding, more overdue book forgivenesses, more laughter, more contentment, more keeping things tidied, more sticking to goals, more being spontaneous, more being organized…

Somewhere between taking deep cleansing breaths yesterday and desperately trying to feel on top of my day, I thought of Japan.

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