Natural Skin Care

Yesterday, I received huge kudos and accolades from a dermatologist for making and using my own soap. I guess there is something to this all natural, chemical free skin care. :-) :-)

She Ate My Soap

This past weekend, I took the plunge and sold my homemade soap at my church's Fall Festival and Bazaar. I have mixed review about my experience, but I learned a lot and did well overall.

But first, I'll start with a funny story.

My soap is often confused with baked goods. I've heard cookies, biscuits, fudge and cheese. This does not surprise me as I have often thought the same thing looking at my soap laying around the house. As a matter of fact, I always say it's a particularly good batch if it looks "yummy". Because of this, I say the word "soap" as many times as possible in my conversations with people and my signs say "soap" as well. Well, a sweet little old lady holding her little dog came to my table. I launched into my spiel and thought she was engaged. She asked for a sample which did not surprise me in the least since I had been passing out samples all weekend. The rest happened in a combination of slow motion and fast forward. The woman was either hard of hearing or not really listening. Either way, as I saw that she was going to take a bite, I tried to stop her, but she didn't hear me. Then, I begged her to spit it out, but she still didn't understand. It wasn't until after a couple of chews, she made a horrible face and everything came together for her. We were both horribly embarrassed and kept apologizing to each other. It was a nightmare. Later, she came by with her husband. She pointed at the soap and said to him "This is not edible." I was happy to see she had a sense of humor.

There were a few glaring problems with the bazaar itself that prevented all the vendors from doing well. Problem 1: It was our church's very first bazaar. So, right off the bat, we were dealing with the unknown. Problem 2: It was not promoted well. There were little to no announcements and very few signs. Problem 3: Location, location, location. If we had been outside along with the rest of the carnival activities, we would have been more visible.

Despite the problems, I fared well (though most of the other vendors did not). I actually did a lot better than I expected I would. I had approximately 20 customers, sold completely out of one type of soap and was invited to four more craft fairs this season (I declined one). Actually, for me, the problems with the bazaar were a good thing. It was a good introduction to the business without being too stressful. I learned about which of my soaps sold and why and I studied people's reactions to my display and tactics and discovered who my most likely customers were. Now, I can tweak everything for the next three fairs and be even better prepared.

Since soap takes several weeks to cure, I have to spend the next couple of days making a bunch of soap to be ready for upcoming events. I'll probably be exhausted by Friday, but I'm excited.

Halloween

We love Halloween!

This year, #1 was Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. #2 and #3 were Things 1 and 2 from The Cat in The Hat. We had A LOT of parties and events to attend, but all were tons of fun. Things 1 and 2 were such a big hit that we couldn't get two feet without someone stopping to smile and talk to them. #1 won (three-way tie) the costume contest for her age group. The prize was a free dress day - something that is highly coveted at a private school. Of course, I didn't get any pictures of that moment since I was serving hot dogs for my parent service hours. However, the stage was in my line of sight, so I didn't have to miss her very proud moment.

As is our tradition, the girls also enjoyed trick-or-treating with our neighbors.

FUN!!

Skin Cancer

A few weeks ago, I found a suspicious mole on Micah's scalp. He's not looking at his scalp all that often, so it's a good thing he has me. :-) After a visit to the dermatologist and a biopsy, he was told it was Basal Cell Carcinoma and he needed to have it surgically removed.

If you're going to get skin cancer, this is the type you want. It is the most easily treated and the least damaging, so I guess we were "happy" about that.

The surgery involved giving Micah local anesthesia and cutting the area around the cancer. The final hole took 4 stitches and 9 staples to close up. This was more than a little surprising to us since this all started out with just a little mole.

Since his diagnosis, so many kind hearted people have been offering words of concern and telling us the importance of hats and sunscreen. Rest assured, we use A LOT of sunscreen in this family and we always have. Micah also wears his hat all the time (especially during yard work, runs and outdoor weekend activities...the work day is about the only time he doesn't. Unfortunately, this particular thing could have been in the works since a sunburn as a kid, or in the 30+ years of the 30 second walk from the car to the building. We are just a very fair-skinned family coming from long lines of fair-skinned relatives, many of whom have had similar surgeries. We use spf 70-100 on the girls on a regular basis and we hope to protect them as best as we can.

The biggest upside to all of this, is that Micah gets to sport this look on Halloween. We'll see how many neighborhood kids he can scare. ;-)

Colorful Lessons from My 2 Year Old Daughter(s)

This is a conversation I had with my current 2 year old while choosing clothes for preschool this morning. Note the desperation in her voice.

Me: "Today is orange day at school"

Her: "BUT PINK IS MY FAVORITE COLOR!!!"

Me: "Well, I know pink is your favorite color, but today is orange day, so let's choose something orange."

Her: "I DON'T WANT TO WEAR ORANGE! I WANT TO WEAR PINK!"

The Compromise: Orange shirt with pink pants.

Lesson 1: 2 year olds follow their own rules of fashion - The sooner you realize this, the better off you are.

Lesson 2: To deprive her of her favorite color is to deprive her of life itself - Yes, favorite color can, in fact, factor into every decision. In our house it can determine the food we eat and the shampoo we use. Never mind the utter devastation of having blue eyes and blonde hair.

Lesson 3: Get plenty of rest. - The simple act of getting dressed can be exhausting and it is only the beginning of a very long day.

Lesson 4: Appreciate the moment for what it is. - The day will come when you wish you were engaging in passionate discourse concerning favorite color.

5 AM

It took us a while, but we finally figured out what so many around us already knew: If you have children and you want to spend time working on your physical, personal or spiritual growth, there is only one time to do it. 5 AM!!

I had been noticing dear hubby and I had been complaining a lot. Not enough time. Not enough time to exercise. Not enough time to do the laundry. Not enough time to read our bibles and pray. Not enough time. If we tried to fit it in somewhere during our already crammed days, it cut into family time. That just made for grumpy kids and grumpy spouse who got to stay with the kids.

I was the genius who finally figured out what the solution was (neither of us wanted to face the hard, cold, dark facts).

We have each had desires to do this at various times before....independently of one another. I finally figured out we needed to approach this as a united front for it to work. We ALWAYS work better together toward a common goal than we ever do alone. I mean, who wants to wake up at 5 while their spouse is snug as a bug in a rug? Never lasted long.

Now we have a game plan. The week is divided up - one of us gets to go work-out and the other still has to wake up at 5. The one at home has a list of suggestions for productive use of the time.

We're only into our second week, but it is going so much better than any other attempt has. GO TEAM! Whether I'm the one out getting my exercise, or the one at home working on bettering myself in other ways, I have a sense of accomplishment. I can actually look back on my morning and know that I've actually done something other than say "Get off your sister!" 50 times.

Don't get me wrong, there still isn't enough time. But now there are 7 to 10 more extra hours in the week.

Thank you God for the blessings of the morning!!

Martha Stewart Living Here?

I got a subscription to Martha Stewart Living for my birthday. I'm not sure I have an inner Martha Stewart to unleash, but I'll give it a try. If nothing else, maybe I'll be inspired in small but useful ways. Give me a year and maybe I'll create something AMAZING.