On the Road and Hair

I felt like I was on the road most of the day today. I really wasn't, but it seemed that way. I started off the morning at Erin's house. She had one visiting teaching appointment, so I stayed with Ellie and Hattie while she was gone. Ellie was so fun. She wanted me to read to her, so we read many books. Hattie tried taking a nap, but after about 15 minutes of her crying, I went in and she said something that I didn't understand, except for her last word, "Up!" So I got her up. She said she wanted to sit on the couch and read books with me and Ellie. She lasted for about two books, then she was up and wanting to play, so we did. They had a great time doing somersaults on the sofa. (Don't tell Erin!) It was funny to watch them because both of them got a lot of static electricity in their hair from the leather couch and their hair was totally standing on end! I should have taken a picture, but of course, I didn't.
My next stop was Vistancia to drop off papers and pick up another stack. It's always fun for me to go into Brian's classroom and watch him interact with his students. It's obvious how much the kids like him.
I had a hair appointment across town today, so that was another traveling journey. It took me almost an hour to go from the school to my hair appointment. Today was cut and color. I like the color, but for the first day or two, until it's washed out a little, it's a little shocking to me when I look in the mirror!
Then I came home, picked up Mark and we headed back in Erin's direction. I had to pick up PETE containers (for food storage) near her house and I needed to drop off her Tvala soap order. We've found the BEST place to order soaps/lotions/balms. If you're interested, the site is www.tvalahandmade.com. It's a friend of ours that makes everything herself. And can I just say....her products are the absolute best! I love the handmade soaps...they smell so fresh and clean and they don't have any foreign substances (chemicals)...just very moisturizing oils and emollients. Last time I ordered her whipped shea butter and it's so nice to use (especially at bedtime) because she doesn't use any alcohols that dry your skin like most lotions do. This time I tried her lotion and so far, so good. And I also love her lip balms. Very tasty and very soothing for dry skin. You might want to give it a try.
And I have a friend, Susan, who was wanting an update on my "required" list of things to do. One of them was making my own laundry soap. I got the recipe from Kamille, and I must say, it's very nice smelling, inexpensive and seems to do the job well. I'll share with you:
Grate one bar of Fels Naptha soap (about 2 cups)
1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (different than baking soda---It's hard to find, but I found it at Bashas'.)
1 cup 20 Mule-Team Borax
1/4 cup Oxy Clean
I made a triple batch and put it in a small plastic bucket I had on hand. You only use 1 Tbsp. for a light/small load or 2 Tbsp. for a dirtier/large load.
This week I've felt like a pioneer woman...between using handmade soaps and lotions, canning beef, making my own laundry soap and bread baking.

Christmas Decorations Day 4

Today was a Visiting Teaching day. My visiting teachers came this morning and I went visiting teaching this afternoon. I have the BEST visiting teachers. They are always so prompt...they come early every month. And they're a ton of fun to visit with. The ladies I visit are also great! For the first time in my life, I have all active ladies to visit and an active partner. It makes visiting teaching such a pleasure and a treat for me. My partner couldn't go with me today....her dad had a heart attack last night. He's doing pretty well today. They caught it in time to stop the attack before it did much damage to his heart. What a relief! She'll be back next month. Between my VTs coming and me going out, I graded papers. And I graded some more after I got home. Just finished. Whew! I'll return them tomorrow and probably pick up a few more. Oh, the life of teachers. They should be admired for all of their hard work and dedication. I sometimes wonder how they do it all and still maintain a family, church and social life! Kudos to them all.

Here is another installment of Christmas decorations....


This is a copper replica of a Nauvoo angel. It resembles the one that "flew" atop the original Nauvoo temple. I found this ornament at the Church Museum in Salt Lake one year. It reminds me of the time Mom and Dad spent in Nauvoo as missionaries at the many historical sites. Someday (soon!) I hope to go back to Nauvoo for a visit. We haven't been since 1993.


This cute little mouse in a basket was a gift from Leslie Locklear. Back in the day...before going to work....I used to volunteer a LOT in the kids' school classrooms. Mrs. Locklear was the boys' second grade teacher. She was a wonderful teacher. She gave me this one year as a thank you for helping her out. Can you believe how old this ornament is? If I'm figuring correctly, it's at least 27 years old. Actually, I'm surprised it's still intact after all those years.

This is our Christmas Nail. I saw this idea several years ago, and when I was teaching Relief Society many moons ago, I made it as a handout for a lesson I gave about the atonement of Christ. The purpose is to make us remember that Christ was born at Christmas time, but that he atoned for us and that should be our focus...his sacrifice and atonement for our sins, critical for our salvation. The size of the nail makes it a little more real and makes an impact on us.

Many years ago Mom and Dad took a trip to Hawaii. They brought home a gazillion beautiful shells. Mom and I made them into Christmas ornaments that they could give to all of us as a remembrance of their trip. Somehow I wish they'd taken me!!

Several years ago, when the kids were all teenagers, we took a Christmas trip to Disneyland for our Christmas celebration. It was one of those quick trips. We flew over early one morning, spent the day at Disneyland, and returned home that evening on a red-eye flight. What a fun time we had! No luggage, no hotels! Just a fun, fun, memorable trip. We bought several Christmas ornaments that year so we could remember the fun time we had. It was especially fun because the kids were all old enough to go on all of the rides and we didn't have a stroller, diapers or any of baby/toddler things. It was the first time we spent Christmas at Disneyland, but not the last!