Aislyn-Three Years Ago

I was just looking through photos taken before my digital camera days and found this beauty. Look at that amazing curly hair! And those sparkly eyes. How I love this wonderful, mischeivous girl!

Soapy Science

My new favorite thing to do is make cold process soap. I have a number of motivations for learning this new skill. I like knowing how to do everything the old fashioned way. I don't like using body care products with harsh, dangerous, or toxic chemicals in them. It's the perfect homeschool science experiment. Step one: Carefully and precisely measure the lye and combine with water. Once combined the mixture reaches temperatures of up to 185 degrees. Crazy!

We all especially love the safety goggles. Their awesome!

While the lye/water is cooling we combine whatever mix of oils we're going to use and get them to a nice liquid state.

After the lye/water has cooled to somewhere around 100 degrees it's time to combine the fat with the lye.

Hand blenders are an amazing invention for this job. It used to take hours of stirring to get the oils saponified but with the blender it takes only minutes. I would never have the patience to do this otherwise. It looks a lot like pudding.

Once it's nice and blended we pour it into our mold. We haven't gotten a real soap mold yet. So an empty milk carton works nicely.

Here's a sampling of the different kinds of soap we have tried. We've made an avacado oil bar, a sweet almond oil bar, a coconut/palm oil with goat's milk and honey, and a shampoo bar with herb infused olive oil and jojoba oil.

I have also made some wonderful lip gloss that I love and just the other day I made a facial cream that turned out thick and luxurious and feels very nice on my dry skin.

There are so many fun things to learn and do!

Undies And A Pink Cake

A couple weeks ago when we had those three wonderful days of sunshine this is how I found Jairus. Just doin' a little yard work in his boots and undies.

Aislyn is in L-O-V-E with her recently released primary teacher Bonnie. Bonnie is beautiful and stylish and seems to appreciate the wonder of Aislyn's temperment. When Aislyn sees her at church she'll say, "Just a minute mom, I have to go say hi to my friend". Just the other day Bonnie surprised us by stopping by with a stunning masterpiece of girly perfection. A pink frosted cake with a tiara on top....just for Aislyn. Pink+Sugar= Aislyn's undying love and affection.

For Felicity!

Dad's Back and It's Sunny...What could be better?

Thomas got back Sunday afternoon from his week in Denver. It was sunny and even kindof warm! Perfect day to go for a walk.

Ephraim happy to be free and ready to throw some rocks.

Aislyn happy to have her beloved dad back. Here's my guy trying to please me by "smiling" for the camera. Thanks for trying, love.

Action shot...Townsend couldn't really hold still. If there were walls he would have been bouncing off them. (Very appropriate as we were walking the trails of the old Western State Mental Hospital)

Jairus James and stolen daffodils. Cute. But don't ever call him that to his face.

Ephraim...

A small sampling of the mischief our sweet little monster can get into in a single day.

The kid fights sleep with all he's got. I have never actually seen a person fall asleep standing up. He's extremely talented.

Yes...again with the jam. It's just so good you have to drink it.

From the books to the laundry soap to the dirty dishes in the sink to the brown sugar, he is never wanting for fun things to do!

The Happy Day At Last Has Come!

Felicity has been living with us for over two months now. She is a delight. All the kids love her. Marley and Aislyn especially love having an older sister. I love how she comes home and tells me of all her shenanigans and misadventures. Life is fun and entertaining. I mean life with Thomas is always entertaining but now doubly so!

Sunday was Felicity's 18th birthday. It was also the day she was finally able to be baptized! She has been coming without fail to every church function, even seminary for the past two and a half years. She and Marley looked through the hymnal for the perfect songs and chose the The Happy Day At Last Has Come as the opening hymn. The title fit perfectly but no one had ever really heard the song before and it was pretty funny hearing the whole congregation flounder through it.
It was such a special day. She was so beautiful and happy. It is wonderful to see a person recognize those things in life that will really bring happiness and hang on to them. She has persevered through trial, been patient, and exercised faith. I am so proud of her and so excited for what the future holds.