Time in Monet's Garden

I love the Impressionists. I especially love Monet and all of the wonderful colors found in his work. Here is my soap inspired by Monet's Garden. It smells divine~sweet, floral & summery. Grab one on Etsy or Artfire!

The Tender Days of June & The Seduction of a Great Salt Bar

There are only 8 days of school left for us here in Vermont. That blows my mind! How quickly these days fly by and we stand on the edge of summer vacation. I love this time of year because of the weeks of pure summer joy that lie ahead! We are looking forward to time on the Cape, Mountaineers baseball camp, lazy days and busy time. I can't wait for the kids to have a day or two to sleep until they wake up and come downstairs with nowhere to go. Of course, that won't last for long because we have PLANS!

I find myself reflecting a lot during these last weeks of the school year. Last month, I was the mom of a kindergartener, second grader, fifth grader & seventh grader. Next week, I'll be the mom of a first grader, third grader, sixth grader & eight grader. What is a natural progression also reminds me how fast the years fly by. This is the time of year that gives me some of those happy mommy tears. There is so much to look forward to and so much to be proud of. Am I the only one? How do you all feel about the end of school?One thing I know for sure is that I am taking my time in the shower for these next few weeks. After all, the morning hours won't be quite so peaceful for long. My favorite bar of soap right now is a Goji Berry Salt Bar. This is my first batch of salt bars and I love them. The soap is made of coconut oil and grapeseed oil. As the soap came together, I stirred in fine grain Pink Himalayan salt. Goji Berry is bursting with the scent of exotic summer berries. Blackberry, goji berry, gooseberry & logan berry are wrapped in vanilla & sugar musk. I got the Goji Berry from Wholesale Supplies Plus and it's delicious!! You can find the soap on Etsy and now on Artfire, too.

Happy Summer!

Mentor Magic

I was so surprised and flatterd to be asked to mentor an RUHS Senior last Fall. Emiline is the oldest daughter of my girlfriend, Beth. She came to me in September and asked if I would mentor her through her Senior Project. Her task was to develop a product, market it, write a paper about it and put together and oral and visual presentation. All the while, she was to check in with a panel of community and faculty members. Senior Project success is mandatory for graduation. The seniors at Randolph Union High School are an incredibly talented group! Walking through the display of completed projects last week was so much fun!

Of course, my favorite display was Emiline's! She did such a great job! She had a great product to sell ~ a gift set with all natural body wash, shea lotion & handmade cold~process soap. She opened an Etsy shop to market it and put together an adorable pamphlet. I am so proud to have been her mentor. Way to go, Emiline!!

Austen Plays Lax, Peter Plays Third!

We are officially a two sport family. Peter is playing really well for his Little League team, the A's. They are the team to beat this year with a record of 5 and 0. As a mom, I appreciate their enthusiasm and great sportsmanship. Their coaches are fantastic and we parents have a raucous time in the bleachers! It's always a great time!

This year Austen is playing Lacrosse for the Randolph Middle School Ghosts~that's him with the #1 on his shirt. He is playing quite a lot since they only have 2 or 3 subs for the team. He plays attack mostly and has had a few "pancake" moments. Of course, I had no idea what that means until he explained to me that being "pancaked" is to be flattened on the field by the opponent. One worse than that is to be "sancaked". Yep, it's being flattened by two opponents in the sandwiched and squished sense. Deep breath. Thank goodness for pads and a great coach!

The challenge is to be at two, three or four places at the same time. We are also still way into TaeKwonDo and the girls have concerts & school functions a lot! Last week, Gerry covered lacrosse & I covered baseball. We updated with text messages and reunited at the ball field since 6 innings takes about twice as long as four quarters. I wonder how our parents managed without all of the great technology?

These are truly awesome, fun days. I'm hanging onto them because I know they will pass in a flash

Hey! We've Been Flocked!

We've been flocked by an anonymous friend. It's the most clever fund~raising idea I've ever seen. A high school student here in Randolph was accepted to an exchange program to Europe this summer. To raise money, she is moving this cute flock of flamingos around our town. The plan is that you offer $20.00 to have the whole flock delivered to someone's front lawn in the middle of the night. Of course, she offers to take them away for nothing, but how could you possibly grinch all of this fun?? The thing that cracks me up is that our house is WAY off of the road, so the only "peeps" who knew about the flocking, aside from our family, were our ten hens. They were most curious about the visitors... until they found some good grubs to munch. Hmmmmm... who will we flock next?

Happy Birthday, Gerry!!

Feeling Green

Cora, Ella & I tested for our next belt in TKD this week. Happily, we all passed. Cora & I are now Green Belts & Ella earned her Green Stripe. The girls did a fantastic job!
In other green news, I find myself falling in love with all of the yummy Spring & Summer fragrances that I have. Lately, I've been using LOTS of Shea & Shimmer Scrub. It's been soooo good for my sunburned skin. (I'll admit that I let the sugar rinse off & then just rub the magic shea all over) I've also rediscovered Summer Green Shower Butter. It's just a wonderful, lush, green fragrance! It's citrus-y & summer-y & yummy! Shower Butter is perfect for your skin. It's a soft, whipped soap that softens while it cleans. I love it. Stop by Twin Birch on Etsy to grab yours.I hope it's as beautiful where you are as it is here! Spring in Vermont is our prize for getting through the final, cold days of winter! Happy Spring!