On the home-front, the boys keep growing and life keeps changing. We are normally relatively healthy people, but this winter and spring hit us with, what was for us, an unusual amount of sickness. Between run-of-the-mill colds, one bout of strep, and two rounds of a stomach bug; I feel like our house is infested with germs. Even several weeks after the fact, every little burp or gag has me cringing and running for a bucket. I think I am traumatized and I do not know how long it will be before I recover :). On a happier note, I've been planning out my vegetable garden for the year. It will be my second year attempting to grow some of our own vegetables. I started off fairly successfully last year, but my pumpkins started to get what I think was mildew which spread and killed almost everything. Hopefully I will be able to stay on top of it this year. We've also enjoyed spending more time outside with the boys walking and biking and being together. I hope to start running outside again soon, but I enjoy the convenience of the treadmill too much to make the effort :). We are also having fun planning out the summer. We have two weddings we will be attending, and we are trying to figure out when we will be driving out to Michigan. We may even make it to Illinois to visit with my sister's family for a while. It's been about four years since we were able to do that and I think now that the boys are older we would have a blast!
On the soap-front, I am still enjoying making soap as much as ever. I'm having so much fun experimenting with new ingredients and techniques. My kitchen is overflowing with curing soap. The more I use my soap, the more that I love how it makes my skin feel. I'm positive my skin has never handled the winter weather so well, and I'm sure that it has to do with using handmade soap. I think we are spoiled now and won't be able to go back to store bought soap ever again. I have a weakness for synthetic colorants and fragrance oils. I have so much fun using them and imagining the possibilities, but lately I've been thinking about starting to stock up on more natural ingredients as well. I'm also toying with the idea of opening up an online store on Zibbet. My thought it at first only selling to family and close friends. My husband is helping me to figure out how to set it up. I'm not ready for a full fledged soap business, but I would love to take steps in that direction. There is so much to learn about labeling, packing, and shipping. I think starting on a very small scale and working up is a good idea. I also like the idea of being able to offer custom made soap.
So hopefully, I will be more consistent in blogging, but there are no guarantees :). And now some pictures of what I've been working on lately.
