All work and no play...well, you know the rest. Last night was the Auxiliary's Christmas dinner. A ladies night out that had nothing to do with projects or to-do lists. We're also celebrating another year of supporting our firefighters together. This group of gals is hard working and ready to be there when the department asks for our help.

 

 

 

 

A Friday night to let our hair down a bit was definitely in order. And what better way to blow off steam than over a pizza and burger?

 

 

...or some mac n' cheese

 

 

...or some hot tea

 

 

 

It was also a good time to thank the gals with some tokens of appreciation. Our events this year went off without a hitch, especially our Market Day. Each committee worked hard to make sure it was a great day and that certainly couldn't go overlooked!

 

 

 

Ladies, you're a great bunch. Let's make the coming year fun and fabulous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Market, To Market....

It was shopping, dancing and BBQ-ing this Saturday at our 2nd annual Old Galveston Road Market Day! The weather was mostly perfect, the vendors were varied and the shoppers were a-plenty!

 

 

We were fortunate this year to be delighted with the musical stylings of DJ Joe Lopez. He was gracious enough to donate his time to support the Fire Department. There was dancing, a great musical mix and a little bit of karaoke.

Thanks, Joe, for bringing a lively atmosphere to our event!  Anyone needing a DJ, should give Joe a call. Just email the Auxiliary and we'll be glad to give you his info!

We also thank our vendors who participated in this year's event. There was a great variety of goodies to be found and our vendors were friendly, gifted folks. Our wonderful vendors included:

Hazel Smith of Just our Destiny had some fun accessories. She also helps plan parties, check her out!
Sam and Kellie Snow of KsKandles has some wonderfully fragrant candles.
Aliria Bentancur offered handcrafted and stylish jewelry made from upcycled and natural materials, it's "Eco-Friendly Coloumbian Jewelry".
Mike Wallace of MM-Crafts brought beautiful handcrafted percussion intruments. True craftsmanship.
Clarice Taylor of TaylorMade Scents also brought fragrant candles.
Nicolette Stevens of Damsel in Defense had some awesome safety tools for ladies.

Finally, a big thanks to our volunteers! Friends and family that came out to show their support...ok and pick up a goodie or two. We always appreciate helping hands!

All in all, the Market was a success and a good time! Hope you can be with us next year!

Coming Soon!!

It's almost time for the Old Galveston Road Market Day! We'll have a variety of vendors with goodies of all kinds! art, jewelry, resale and more! Don't miss it, come out and join us for a fun day!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Money Saving Tip - Homemade Liquid Laudry Soap

I was introduced to this money saving idea by my mom not long ago and I have found that it saves me so much money! This homemade laundry soap can be made in about twenty minutes and will last months! I made a batch about five months ago and I still have enough left for six to seven more months. All of the ingredients only cost me about ten dollars (that's about how much a gallon of store bought laundry soap costs depending on the brand). Variations of this recipe can be found online (I found mine online and am sharing it with you) and can be personalized to fit your favorite scent. I hope you enjoy this money saving tip as much as I do!

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top loading machine- best value

Takes about twenty –five minutes from start to finish

4 cups hot tap water

1 Fels-naptha soap bar

2 cups washing soda

1 cup Borax

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Fill a five gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda, and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover, and let sit over night to thicken.

Stir and fill a used, clean laundry soap dispenser (or another small bucket with lid) half full with soap and then fill the rest of the way with water. Shake (or stir) before each use (will gel).

-Optional: You can add 5-10 drops of essential oils per two gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil etc.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes ten gallons (five gallons concentrate)

-Top load machine: 5/8 cup per load (approx. 180 loads)

-Front load machine: ¼ cup per load (approx 640 loads)

*Any pot can be used to make this, it is easily cleaned and will not leave a funny taste or smell to your pot.   

I used an old five gallon chlorine tablet bucket with a screw on lid and have found this to be the best way to store the large amount of soap.

If, after a while, you feel that your clothes are not feeling as clean as you’d like, you can combine the homemade soap in the washing machine with a store bought detergent. (ex. half and half.)

Praise the Lord and pass the BBQ!

A fun time was had by SHVFD firefighters today! Firefighters were invited to enjoy some barbeque and meet folks in the community at an outreach event hosted by Unidos para Cristo por Siempre church in South Houston.

As soon as the truck rolled in, the kids lined up ready to hop on and look around!

 

They tried some gear on for size...

 

The in-house 'historian' did some of his own recording for posterity.

 

And finally, the kids got to pose for pics with their community firefighters!

 

Thanks to the church for making the Fire Dept part of their fun in the sun!

 

 

 

Time for some down time

Movie night was fun y'all! With the trucks replaced by lawn chairs and popcorn, the bay was turned into a movie theatre. Firefighters and their families came out to sit a spell and enjoy a movie together.

 

It's always frun to get everybody together!

Cleanin' up at the Car Wash!

A big thanks to all the folks who came out to support The SHVFD this weekend at their Car Wash!
The guys got an early start and got plenty of customers. It seems the firefighters were able to keep mischief down to a minimal level.

Some jobs required that we break out the big guns, trucks get DIRTY out here, y'all!

As requested by many customers, some of our younger guys took their shirts off...

Meanwhile, The Auxilary held a bake sale and concession with lots of yummy treats!

Along with frito pies and lemonade, we had a variety of baked goods. Cookies, brownies, muffins and cupcakes galore and of course!

Aaaww, service with a smile, goes a long way. Made some Car Wash customers glad to stick around.

Treats for the Meet(ing)

This month it was Mrs Mac's and little E.C.'s turn to bring treats to the Department's business meeting. The treat? BROWNIES! Who doesn't love some tasty brownies?

Miss E.C. brought them in to the applause of hungry firefighters.

No biggie, right E.C.?

The brownies were super tasty and super simple. The secret to these yummy treats were some simple additions to doctor regular box brownies. We're gonna share them with you!

 Mrs. Mac's Business Brownies:

1 box of moist brownie mix for 9x13 pan (or two boxes of 8x8)

prepare the mix as per the box intructions

THEN ADD:

1/2 cup smashed banana

10 crushed oreo cookies (leave some chunks)

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

fold them into the batter and bake according to the box instructions

Enjoy with some ice cold milk...then cry about your thighs!

Eye Spy..some fun!

As with any family, holidays are always a fun time to spend with the FD family! We don't have any drunk uncles, but rounding up the kids and getting some good eats is a great way to spend some quality time, right? The Aux thought we'd round folks up for an Easter get together.

We started off with a Potluck lunch. So much good stuff!





We had little bbq sandwiches, hot dogs, pizza chips, sweets and more!!
Many treats for every belly!




 
Now let's see about those eggs....oh, didn't we mention?

Good eats weren't the only order of the day. We hosted an Easter egg hunt for the kids in the bay! Having waited for what they felt was an eternity, the little ones were chomping at the bit to get the hunt going. Here we have our resident egg inspector making sure everything is in good order. Keep up the good work!
 
With the fire trucks out of the way, the Aux hid a couple hundred eggs in nooks, crannies and in plain sight.

RELEASE THE HOUNDS!!!!! Everybody get out of the way or get run over cuz the kids are on the loose!


Quick as a fox, find an egg and move on to the next!!





From the bay to the grounds. Makes fnding eggs a heck of a lot easier, don't you agree? Dozens upon dozens of eggs lay waiting to be scooped up and the kids gladly did so.
 

Plenty of smiles and lots of loot!






And now for the BIG kids. You didn't think we were gonna let our firefighters sit there and look pretty, did you? A second egg hunt was held with a prize for most eggs found!


Just like the little ones, the guys burst out the door and quickly got down to business.
And as with the little ones there were eggs everywhere.Eggs high....

...And low!


Our winner was the Asst Chief who got a restaurant gift card. Praise Jesus (it's Easter after all)!


Just another fun day at the station!