Remembering 2013

 

Today as we slide into a gentle evening I thought it would be fun to remember some favorite moments from the past year. There are many more pictures that came to mind, but these were on my iPad and they make me smile.

I love this picture of Gideon.

Last camping trip of the summer.

Coffee...which is always something lovely to be remembered.

 

Time with Grandma.

 

A sweet note from my boys.

 

My Fairy Garden

Harvesting

Lost another tooth.

Tanners jalapeño that he grew this summer.

Heart rock that Tanner found for me.

Gift I made for a sweet friend.

 

He wanted to eat green eggs.

 

Sweet boys

Storytime with Daddy

I look forward to what this next year will hold.

Happy New Year!

 

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Winter Break...

Winter break...this year Brian gets five days off. It has been so nice to relax and have minimal plans. We have played several games of Monopoly, Sorry...and tonight a very looooooong game of Risk. I have been trying to finish up a few knitting projects which will hopefully I will complete soon and share a few pictures.

 

My guys getting ready for a calm game of Risk :)

 

My little fellas.

Brian thought sugar cookies should be on the list of things to bake so Gideon helped me roll them out and cut them. Today we finally got around to frosting them.

 

The boys were more than happy to sample a few or maybe five before dinner :)

 

 

 

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Make Your Own Toothpaste

I find joy in making my own bath and beauty products. I have made toothpaste in the past in a powder form and I liked it fine, but when I came across a recipe for a creamy natural toothpaste I had to try it!

There are only 4 ingredients: (You will also need a container. I have this beautiful little blue jar a friend gave me, but I would love to put it in a tube like the author did.)

Here is the lineup of ingredients:

Coconut Oil, Baking Soda, Stevia, Peppermint Essential Oil

Mix your ingredients in a clean container.

A fork worked fine to mix it up.

My alterations to the recipe:

*Since I used Young Living Peppermint e.o. I only added 7 drops* I also had only a small jar of stevia extract so I used 1/8 tsp. You can adjust that amount to your taste.

The texture is great. My 6 year old loved the smell and wanted to try it. So we both went in and brushed our teeth. It reminds me of Arm & Hammer baking soda toothpaste, but not as sweet (I don't like really sweet toothpaste). It has a light peppermint flavor and leaves your mouth feeling clean.

Here is the recipe at: Tammy's Recipes

I wonder how it would be to add a little of clove to this since clove is known for gum health...I may have to make another batch. Let me know if you try it. :)

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Winter

Winter has arrived and with it busy days. Last week the boys decided it was time to make the house ready for winter by packing up our fall decor for next year.

The snow and frost on the trees make it beautiful outside.

I love the little owls with their big eyes.

I am in love with burlap this year...

The boys had a table at a craft fair for kids earlier this month. They made some clay ornaments and magnets. I strung what was left along the mantel. The little white mittens I made last year out of felt. I wanted to knit white mittens, but that was a little more work than I was up for.

Tray of the boys' creations

I had a lot of fun with the wreath...and with burlap.

 

I have done several knitting projects in the past few months. I knit this snake for Tanner for his birthday. I got the pattern from the Purl Bee. It was a fun pattern and easy pattern and I have since made two more. What makes it easier is if you have a self striping yarn.

Snow days. I had fun with the photo settings...

 

Happy Holidays! I will try to add some new posts over winter break. The boys finished their first semester last week. Yay! We are loving our curriculum this year. More on that later.

 

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Caramels

I enjoy caramel and have often thought it would be fun one winter to make some...Winter has officially arrived complete with snow so I decided it was time. Since I know very little about making candy I looked up a recipe online. This is the one I used at Allrecipes.com.

All wrapped and in a jar. Yummy.

Here is the process after you let it cook for a very long time (about 45 min). Luckily for me my Mother in-law is visiting so we chatted and drank tea while I stirred the caramel.

I followed the recipe with only one alteration. I used dark corn syrup. I did this per another reviewers instructions and my results were great.

Also a meat thermometer will not work if you have lost your candy thermometer when you used it a long time ago to make candles. It especially won't work after you drop it in caramel a few times. Ugh. So either get one or you can use the cold water method of dropping a tsp of caramel into cold water. When you take it out of the water and it holds it's shape then it is ready to pour in your pan. I used this method.

 

Then you let it cool. I set my pan on our porch to speed the process up. I then tried to cut even rows. My husband who is a carpenter appreciated this. :)

Then if you are feeling generous you share some with your family while they are enjoying a game of monopoly. Then if your caramels are a big hit you share some more. If your children are like mine they will give you the sweet Bambi eyes complete with fluttering eyelashes and pilfer some more :)

Here I am experimenting with how I will wrap them in wax paper.

 

Seems fairly easy, fold, fold, twist, twist.

 

Cute.

I found these little tins at Michael's on clearance a few months ago. Perfect for caramels.

By 1/4 of the way into wrapping the caramels I changed my technique. I ended up rolling them in the wax paper and twisting the ends. It seemed to go much faster that way.

 

 

Side note- I Love the yellow bird cage candle holder behind the caramels. I found it on clearance at Fred Meyer.

 

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