Black Pepper Soap and Soap Shots

I got more soap today in the mail. This one smells just like black pepper! I'm going to give this one to my son and order another one for my brother in law ~ it smells that good! Just a little reward for him for saving my sister from the shopping cart!

I made these little shots of soap. The green one is Lime Margarita scent with sea salt, the pink one is peppermint schnapps scent and the orange one is fuzzy navel scent.

So I Made This Thing...

I made this bath bomb shaped like a popsicle. I don't know what to call it. The only thing I could come up with was a bath bombsicle, which is not very creative at all.

A Funny Story

My sister called me this morning. She promised her husband she wouldn't tell anyone this but she couldn't resist.

Last night they were walking their dog at around 10:00. They saw a dark shadow in the distance and she said it looked like it had moved from one side of the sidewalk to the other. They thought it might be a dog or something and she asked him if they should go the other way. Her husband said no, he would take care of it. As they got closer he puffed up and yelled, "Hey, get out of here" at the shadow. It didn't move. When they got closer, they realized why it didn't move. It was a shopping cart!!

Now I have an image in my head of my brother in law protecting my sister from the killer shopping cart!!

I Love Soap!!

I went on a little soap buying binge over the weekend. I got my order from Dirty Girl Soaps this morning. I ordered 5 soaps and they are all really nice.
This one is the Cassidy soap. It smells like Watermelon and has cranberry seeds in it.

This is the Gabriella soap. It's black raspberry vanilla ~ my favorite!

This is the Norine soap. It's a blend of nectarine, jasmine, orange, honey and soft musk.

This is the Sophie soap. It is a blend of milk, oatmeal, honey, musk and amber. This is the Sophie soap. It is a blend of milk, oatmeal, honey, musk and amber.

This is the Gwen soap. It sort of smells like Yuzu, which is an awesome scent.

I Have The Worst Luck

I have the worst luck when it comes to lights for my aquarium. I've gone through 2 different light fixtures in the past year and then over the weekend, the lights went out again. So, I finally decided to upgrade to metal halides ~ that way I can start getting hard corals. So, I shelled out the big bucks and ordered a new light fixture on Monday. I got it yesterday. Only half of it works. For $1200+ you would think that it would work! I figured out that I got a bad ballast. I called the number on the sheet that was inside the light fixture. The one that says "Please do not return this product to place of purchase". They gave me another number to call. I called that number and got yet another number to call. I called that number and they were going to give me another number to call but it was already one I had called. I finally got someone who could help me. They are going to send me a replacement ballast. I hope it doesn't take too long to get here. My aquarium looks kind of funny with one bright side and one dark side.

New Soaps

I made some new soap over the weekend. They turned out pretty cute!
Monkeys: Two Sandcastles and a Castle:
An ice cream sundae:
A Hermit Crab and Fish & Coral:

A pirate soap set with 2 pirates, a treasure chest and a pirate ship:

The Missing Burrito and a Beautiful Yellow Treasury

I woke up this morning and went out back to find the Albino Burrito was gone! I searched all over the back yard and he wasn't anywhere. So I got the boys and we searched out front. No sign of him. Then we drove and walked around the neighborhood looking for him and still couldn't find him. A few hours later he was out front chomping on the rosemary we planted in our herb garden. I've got to go to Home Depot later and get some bricks to keep him from going under the gate. We were using big rocks and it worked but my mom kept moving them when she would clean up the yard. Hopefully she won't move the bricks!

My wax melts were in this treasury. I love the colors in it!!

Now Invading Your Bathroom...

I found some fun ice cube trays and decided to try them out for soap. This is the first one I finished today, little soap invaders. They look like the little Atari aliens.

Could It Get Any Worse??

As if the new house without a warranty wasn't bad enough, we now have a useless $12,000 hot tub sitting in our back yard!

A few months ago the pump in the hot tub started getting really loud. Like wake-the-whole- neighborhood-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night loud. Of course, the place we got it from last year has gone out of business. So we called Shoreline Spas. Since the hot tub was still under warranty, they said they would send a replacement pump and once we got that we were supposed to call them back and they would set up installation. A few weeks pass and still no pump. We call them back and they said they were waiting on some parts we would get it in two weeks. Two weeks later, no pump. So we call again., They promise the pump is on the way and will be here the next Thursday.

We called again Monday because we still hadn't gotten the pump only to be told that Shoreline Spas has gone out of business, the pump had never been sent, our warranty is no good but they do have pumps that we can buy from them. No thanks. I'll find the pump somewhere else.

My mom was really upset. I told her to look on the bright side ~ her car is still under warranty, at least until GM closes up shop:-)

I Made A Pie

I made a pie tonight. Of course, it was made out of soap. It smells good but I'm not sure I like the way it turned out. The colors on the top aren't perfect.

I'm Having A Sale!

Today is my sister's birthday. She's almost as old as me. She's 33 today, we're only 11 months apart. Since I missed having a sale on my birthday (I was relaxing at a condo on the beach in San Diego!), I'm having one for her birthday:-)
~~Sale~~Tuesday April 21st - Wednesday April 22nd~~
All Soy Wax Melts ~ Buy One Get One Free
All Smelly Jellies, Candles, Linen & Room Sprays and Reed Diffusers ~ Buy One Get One 50% Off
Discount will be refunded to your PayPal account or you can request a revised invoice during check out.
You can get them here.

6 Ounce Peppermint Cocoa Soy Candle:

6 Ounce Vanilla Bean Soy Candle:

Buttered Popcorn Scent Soy Wax Melts:Grape Soda Soy Wax Melts:

Peppermint Cocoa Soy Wax Melts:

Lost Tapes on Animal Planet

My 7 year old loves to watch Animal Planet. Usually that's okay with me but last weekend he watched two episodes of Lost Tapes. One was about the Chupacabra and the other was about the Monster of Monterey. It scared him to death. He slept in my room for 2 days before I finally convinced him they were not real and he went back to his own room. He agreed that maybe he shouldn't watch the show again if it scared him that much.

Well, he watched the show again this past weekend. I didn't watch it with him so I don't know what it was about but he said something about a Death Worm. He slept in my room again last night and promised that he would sleep in his own room tonight. When it came time to go to bed he didn't even want to go upstairs by himself. So, I told him to lay down on grandma's bed. I went in to check on him and found him fast asleep with the cat stretched out at his feet.

I'm going to have to make sure he doesn't watch it again next weekend.

What Muppet Am I?

I took the What Muppet Are You quiz on Facebook and this is my result:

You completed the quiz "What Muppet Are You?" with the result Statler & Waldorf.
You are the kind of person who delights in taking the piss out of others. You never grew out of being the high-school bully. Even though this may seem a negative trait, people love your up-front honesty and down right humour! You maintain a sense of importance and always seem to get the best seat in the house..

Of course, once I posted it, every one agreed with it!

Drunk Drivers Suck

Last night I was filling my car with gas and this guy pulls in and nearly hit my car. He parked and went inside. After I filled up my car, I went inside to get a Pepsi. I ended up in line behind this guy and he was having a hard time counting his change. He turned around to leave and the smell of alcohol on his breath was so overpowering! I paid for my soda and went outside just in time to see him back out and almost hit my car again. Then he goes to leave and comes inches from hitting my side mirror. I yelled a few choice words at him and then watch him pull out onto the street, in the wrong lane and go on his way. Too bad I didn't have my cell phone with me, I would have called the police.

My Latest Etsy Purchase

My family only uses soap I make or soap that I buy on Etsy. I have tried a few different soaps from different sellers and the one I keep going back to is Bare Bumm Bathworks. Not only is she the sweetest lady ever, her soaps have all be wonderful ~ and right now she has free shipping too! I got nine soaps today and my sister ran off with all but three. The three I managed to keep for myself are (from front to back) Kumquat and Black Raspberry Vanilla, Pinky Sweet and Disco Queen. Kumquat and Black Raspberry Vanilla ~ smells amazing. I love kumquat scent and adding the black raspberry vanilla to it makes it smell even better.

Pinky Sweet ~ is a blend of cherry, strawberry and banana. The first thing you smells is cherry. The strawberry and banana are not as strong but when you're using the soap those scents come out and my kids love it!

Disco Queen ~ I'm not crazy about patchouli scents (thanks to those Haloween scratch-and-sniff stickers I used to get when I was little) but this one is great. It's a really soft scent. This would be a great soap for a guy too. I love the sparkly color as well.

New Reed Diffusers and Bath Oil

I finally got my 8 ounce bottles! I made this reed diffuser today. It's Tiramisu scent. It smells so good. I put it on top of the entertainment center and every time I go up or down the stairs, I catch a whiff of it.
I also listed bath oil. It is the best bath oil I have ever used. I love that it doesn't just sit on the top of the bath water in little pools ~ it disburses throughout the bath. It's available in over 450 scents too!

Our House Is A Lemon!!!

I'm about to paint it bright yellow and hang signs in the windows and front yard warning people not to buy a crappy house in this development. The sales office is directly across the street. Everyone will see it!!

We bought this house last January:

After paying nearly $300,000 for it, we expected to live happily ever after. Now we're wishing we never bought it!

The day we moved in there was a water leak in the garage near the water heater. They came out and fixed that. Six weeks after we moved in, the things we noted during the walk-thru at closing that needed to be fixed or finished, still had not been finished. Then the builder packs up one night and leaves!!

Then the AC upstairs starts blowing hot air. I call the warranty company only to find out we have no warranty. Our house was supposed to come with a warranty, but the builder never paid for it. So, we called someone out to come and fix the AC. He tells us that he is unable to completely fix the problem because of the way the unit was installed. It wasn't installed up to code. By this time, there is no way to get a hold of the builder ~ their number has been disconnected and their office closed.

Then we get notices in the mail that several liens have been filed on our house because the builder never paid the contractors. I called the title company and those were finally taken care of ~ turns out they were all filed illegally.

The new builder that took over the development said they were going to take care of things. We were promised a warranty on the house. That still has not happened. They come over and look at things that need to be fixed and say they'll be back to fix it and they never do.

So here we are just over a year later and tile still had not been installed around the tub. Around the tub was just drywall and then the tub ~ it wasn't even caulked to keep water from going behind the wall! We finally got tired of waiting for the new builders to come and do it, so we called someone ourselves. Well, it turns out that the faucet on both the tub and shower were installed with missing parts and there was a leak. The guy cut away some drywall to find that the whole bathroom is done in plain drywall, not the moisture proof drywall required in bathrooms and kitchens here. I don't even know how that passed inspection!!

So, I have to fill out a complaint form for the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. We had the contractor who did out tile look at the rest of the house so we could list every problem on the complaint. He found a lot of issues with the house. All the faucets leak and were installed wrong. The stucco is cracking and the paint on the outside is peeling. I'm pretty sure there is a problem with the electrical wiring in the house because the circuit breaker trips a lot and we have to go outside to the box and flip it back on. The list goes on and on.... Then we have to fill out a recovery fund claim so we can get up to $30,000 to fix everything the builder screwed up!

I guess it could be worse ~ almost every other house in our development has had problems with their sewer lines backing up. At least that hasn't happened in our house...yet.

Six More Weeks

Only six more weeks of peace and quiet left...then the boys get out of school for the summer! My oldest thinks he is going to hang out with friends and play XBox all summer. He decided he didn't want to play baseball this year but my youngest wanted to. Now that he's not in T-Ball, I hope he can hit the ball!

I'm signing the youngest one up for swimming lessons and the oldest one wants to be in swim team. After baseball is over, the youngest is going to take karate. They both want to take some classes with College for Kids this summer.

My sister likes to plan camping trips at the beginning and the end of the summer. I really don't like going anymore. I'm really scared of bears. Or cows. Or bears and cows. Don't ask..... I might skip out on that this year.

We'll probably end up going to San Diego sometime this summer. The boys are dying to go to LegoLand.

My Soaps Were On The View This Morning!!

My soaps were shown on The View this morning! It doesn't start here in Arizona for another hour but I had my sister in New Jersey watch it. She said she saw the rubber duckie in a tub and my milk and cookies soaps shown on a table of cool stuff you can find on Etsy. Then my brother in law called to tell me he saw a link to my shop on The View website.

Then I found out my cupcake soaps were featured on the front page of Etsy. That would explain the jump in hearts I got this morning!

Happy Easter!

I spent the day making bath bombs with my sister. She got pretty good at it!

The boys got their Easter baskets this morning ~ the youngest one still sort of believes in the Easter Bunny. The oldest one announced that he had seen all the stuff in bags in the closet and that I was the Easter Bunny!

New Soaps

I Was Going To Make Easter Cookies.....

My nephew came over to spend the night and I thought it would be fun to make some Easter cookies. He wanted to make soap instead. So, he made his dad a chocolate alligator soap! He did want to make his dad a dog poo soap but I've given my brother enough of those! Here he is with his soap:

Mom's Birthday!

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. She's going to be 57!!
She started asking last week if I had gotten her a present yet and I told her I wasn't getting her one this year. I think she really believes I'm not getting her anything! I bought her an end table to match the new coffee table and entertainment center she got in January. There wasn't a spot for it before but she rearranged the sectional and recliner and now there's an empty corner. She's mentioned a few times she wanted it but just hasn't gone to get it. So, I got it for her. I have to go pick it up tomorrow.

A Dead Cat and My Son's Lunch

I was half asleep this morning and my mom comes in my room to tell me that my cat died under her bed. She said my cat had gone under there a few hours before (she never goes in my mom's room, so that was weird) and she hadn't moved at all. My mom said she touched her and the cat didn't move and felt stiff. My mom went back downstairs to get the cat out from under the bed. I came downstairs a few minutes later (I was almost in tears too!) and it turns out the cat was just sleeping:-)

My son has an Easter party at school. They're going to the park to eat lunch and have an Easter egg hunt. He was so worried I wasn't going to pack him a lunch for it so he made it himself. I found it hidden under his bed. Now I know why he hid it from me.

It's all junk!! He packed a CapriSun, some Mac & Cheese crackers, a pack of donettes, a pack a skittles, some frosted animal crackers, a package of gushers and 2 Tootsie Rolls. He's probably going to be a little disappointed when he opens up his lunch at the park and finds a sandwich, carrot sticks, apple dippers and juice!

What A Nice Surprise!

I just checked Etsy one last time before I got ready to head to bed and saw my soapsicle on the front page!! It's in the Children's Gift Guide.

Soapsicles

I made soapsicles today. My kids were impressed. They likes the one that smelled like Fruit Loops the best. My youngest wants me to make one that smells like his favorite cereal ~ Lucky Charms.
S'mores:
Coconut Banana:

Neapolitan:

Cherry Cheesecake:

Cherry Vanilla:

Chocolate, Vanilla and Cherry:

Berry Vanilla:

Fruity Loops: