Snow!!

It snowed last night! Not a whole lot, but for the Arizona desert, it's enough.

Getting Creative

I've been very busy making soaps and redecorating the Christmas tree every morning (stupid cats!). I've had a lot of left over soap so I decided I would play around a little and add more color to my soaps. I think they turned out pretty good!

I still haven't finished Christmas shopping. I've been asking the boys for months what they wanted for Christmas and they couldn't come up with anything and then they do at the last minute. My older son just decided he wanted an XBox 360 and the Halo 3 game and the other one wants a Robo Raptor and some Wii games, which they don't have at the only store in this awful little town I live in. So, I'm going to have to find time next week to go to Phoenix to shop or shop online.

Christmas Tree

We finally got our Christmas tree. It feels more like Christmas now! We put it in the archway between the living room and family room. It looked big at the store but when we got it home it was so small. The boys had fun decorating it! My youngest son made these pine cones at school and insisted that we set them on the table in the entry. So here they are:

Sunset

I've been so busy the past couple of days and finally found some time to sit and relax. The sunset tonight was beautiful ~ pink clouds and all!

Our Chia Pet

My youngest son has been begging for a Chia Pet for a long time. It's so cute because he calls it a 'Chita Pet'. I finally gave in and bought him one. He had to plant it himself. It was so messy, there was seed goo everywhere. He watered it every morning and came home from school and ran right in to check on it to see if it was growing. After about a week and a half he was starting to get a little discouraged because it wasn't sprouting yet. Finally, over the weekend it started growing! He's so happy and has been showing it off to every one that has come over. He even named it Spot. I'm afraid he's going to be sad when it dies.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been raining on and off all day today. I love it when it rains! We are just lounging around the house today waiting for my brother to get off work so we can eat some turkey. It's the first real Thanksgiving since my dad died and it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be for my mom.

I found my cat Ming Ming laying in a basket on the table so I had to take a picture. She's been there for hours.
The dogs were really happy because they got some turkey too! Here's Jasmine after finishing her Thanksgiving dinner:

Got My New Molds

I got my new molds today. I thought I wouldn't get them until next week, so I was shocked when they came today. The soaps turned out so cute!

New Soaps

I've been busy making soap for the craft fair, but managed to find time to make a few new ones to list in my shop. Here they are:

Hot Wings

My son loves hot wings. Probably more than he loves me!! So when I saw these molds, I just had to get them for him!!

Stupid Rooster

I slept with my window open last night and woke up to a rooster crowing at 4 am!! I shut my window and tried to go back to sleep, but I could still hear it. So, I got up and made some soap.
Here are a few so far. I've got hot wings and celery stick soaps cooling for my son. Can't wait to see how those turn out!

Back to School??

I'm thinking about going back to school to get my MSN (Master of Science in Nursing). I put myself through nursing school as a single mom with 2 kids, working full time, taking a full load of classes and doing my clinicals on the weekends. I managed to graduate with a 3.8 GPA, but I didn't get to spend as much time with my kids while school was in session as I should have. So, even thought I wanted to continue my education, I decided I would wait until my kids were a little older. Now they are a little older and I'm not getting any younger!

Looks Like Rain

I love it when it rains! Especially since it doesn't happen too much here in Arizona. It's getting dark outside and the clouds are coming in over the mountain. I have a beautiful view of the mountain from my backyard and I can't wait until the top is covered in snow. Hopefully that will happen tonight!!

So Much For A Relaxing Saturday

I thought I was going to be able to relax today, maybe even sleep in a bit. My older son was gone at a Boy Scout campout and my younger one went to spend the night at my brother's house to play with his cousins.

By 8am my youngest missed me so he wanted to come home. He didn't come home alone either. My brother dumped his 3 kids off on me for the day. His youngest will be 2 in a few weeks and my house isn't baby proof. I spent the day trying to put all the breakables where she couldn't reach them and trying to keep her from climbing the stairs.

I fed them the turkey I made last night and they thought it was good, so I can finally say I can cook a turkey.

My nephew is a soap fanatic and he always asks for soap when he comes over, so he helped me make these for him to take home:

I'm so happy I only have 2 kids!! I'm off to clean the grubby fingerprints off the stainless steel appliances!!

I'm Cooking A Turkey

It's in the oven right now. My second one ever!! The first one was years ago..we ended up eating chicken strips and french fries that year.

Last year's Thanksgiving wasn't so great. We spent it planning my dad's funeral. My mom wants to give up on it all together this year but I think that, at least for the sake of my kids, we need to do something. It may be a sad time but we do have a lot to be thankful for!

I was planning on ordering a dinner from Safeway, but I thought how hard could it be to make a turkey myself? So, I'm doing a test run to see if I've got it in me to make a turkey. If it turns out good, I'll make my own for Thanksgiving and if it turns out bad, I'll have time to order one!

My Mom Is A Soap Eater

Well, not really...but almost! She's always saying how my soaps make her hungry and they look so good. So, last night I made a chocolate cupcake that looks like her favorite cupcake in the world. Then I ate one of the real ones and put the soap in its place. I offered her one and she took the soap and almost took a bite before she realized it wasn't a cupcake. She was amazed that it looked and smelled so real. Of course, she made me give her the real one and I got to use the soap!

New Banner and New Soaps

I got a new banner for my Etsy shop and this blog. I put up an alchemy request and got so many great ideas to choose from. I felt so guilty turning any of them down. There was one that was everything I had asked for and I kept coming back to it. So, I got it from www.Sugarelli.etsy.com. The sample she threw together when bidding was perfect~ I didn't have to revise it at all!

I also made a few new soaps that I will be busy listing today. Here are just a few:
<--Lavender Vanilla Whipped

<--Coconut Lemongrass Whipped

<--Fireman Hat and Badge

<--Peas in a Pod

<--Watermelon

Autumn Color in Arizona

It was a beautiful day today so we wanted to go enjoy the great outdoors. We decided to take a drive up the mountain and ended up having a picnic at Noon Creek. It was so pretty. The oak leaves were changing colors and there was a lot more water in the creek than there usually is this time of year. I live in the desert, surrounded by cactus and shrubs. It's not much to look at. Thankfully, I can drive about 15 miles and escape to this:

<--I just love this picture. It turned out so pretty.

<--The only tree we saw with red leaves.