The Journey to College Continues ...

Of all of the things to do when preparing to send a kid off to college, the one I hadn't really planned on was buying a house. My list included: Stress out. Worry about missing said child. Apply to schools. Send child to take SAT. Worry about whether I need to buy twin or twin extra long sized sheets for dorm room. Will dorm roommate like Badger paraphernalia as much as T? Is a Badger snuggy going too far? 

Yes, I had lots of things to think about but When will it need a new roof? wasn't on the list ... until last week when I put in an offer on this cute little gem. 

Our offer was accepted and we now are in that odd "escrow" phase of becoming homeowners in Madison, Wisconsin. But doesn't this look worth the bother? 

T and I are planning a camp-out after it closes. I figure the weeks worth of hotel we're not paying for ought to cover that months house payment - maybe two! (It's a REALLY small house!) We'll need to pack a lot of things - coffeemaker noticeably missing from this shot! 

SAT, applications, and acceptance letters are done and crossed off the list. Closing on house, visiting campus, and preparing for T to move so far away ... well, let's just say I have a lot of work to do!

Beautiful shots like this make me think it will all be worth it. What a fantastic place to go to school!

Foaming Sugar Scrub for April Birthdays

This was a fun weekend in my kitchen. I remembered just in the nick of time that I had purchased the ingredients for a new sugar scrub and I had a few special people with birthdays coming up and needed gifts.

Here's how it went:

1. Everyone in the pool: glycerin soap, oil, foaming scrub base blend together.

2. Whip like mad until it starts to look like marshmallow cream:

3. Add fragrance (Noah blended this one especially for his grandma) and a touch of color:

Add sugar bit by bit, keep on whipping, and voila: 

A soapy, sugary, sure-to-be-foamy exfoliating sugar scrub. If you stick your finger in it, this is what you get:

That's no trick photography: that scrub is sure-as-sugar thick enough to stay put. I LOVE when I get to play with soap in my own kitchen - it's such fun to play! 

And since these were special edition birthday gifts, they got their own special labels:

Happy Birthday, Mom!