Holiday Face Ritual

As the holiday season continues, we still find ourselves stressed out about seeing family... which can ironically lead to breakouts, thus leading to more stress, thus continuing the vicious cycle! In the midst of your busy end-of-2012 schedule, find 20 minutes to pamper your face and find yourself breathing a little easier afterward. Not only will your skin look better, but it will feel smoother and have a wonderful glow.

To start, remove any make-up with your choice of make-up remover. Rinse your face with warm-to-hot water for about a minute to open your pores. Get some sugar from your kitchen (about 3 tbsp) and mix it with some warm water (about 2 tbsp), then mix until it forms a grainy paste. Use this sugar scrub to exfoliate your skin -- spend about two minutes rubbing the scrub on your skin in small circles. Avoid the sensitive area around your eyes, as the scrubbing motion can cause irritation (the sugar itself will not hurt it).

 



Now that your face is ready to soak in vitamins and nutrients, mix together the above ingredients in a small bowl (whisk the egg white until fluffy first!). It will look and smell wonderful, and should have a slightly runny consistency. Why mix together these ingredients?

Pumpkin

This seasonal produce is full of Vitamins A, which heals the skin; Vitamin C, a vital anti-oxidant; and Zinc. The pumpkin soothes the skin,working wonderfully with the other ingredients in the mask, which could be too powerful and irritating on their own. At the same time, it also helps the skin absorb the other ingredients and allow them to penetrate to deeper levels.

 

Egg White

It should not be surprising to see this on the list of ingredients... if you've ever made a homemade face mask before, I'm sure you've found yourself cracking an egg or two. The egg whites tighten your pores and also lift your skin. If you have oily skin, you can add another egg white, as this will help to cleanse your pores and absorb any excess oil.

 

Baking Soda

Are you surprised to see this on the list? Believe it or not, baking soda (or powder, if you don't have any baking soda on hand) acts as a mild exfoliant, cleanser, and mosturizer for the skin. Many skincare products contain sodium bicarbonate (the scientific name for this ingredient) because of its gentle ability to remove dead skin cells, dirt, and oil.

 

Cinnamon

This warm spice serves as an astringent in this mask. Combined with the pumpkin, this is the reason your skin will have a fresh glow when you wash off the mask. The cinnamon helps improve circulation and also plumps and pampers your skin cells.

 



After combining the whisked egg white and other ingredients, apply generously to your face. Find something to do, or, if you have time, soak in a hot tub, as the steam and heat from the water will help your face absorb all of the ingredients. Be careful, however... if you don't have time to relax in the bath, don't do anything that requires a lot of movement. Because the mask is runny, it will not fully dry on your face and you don't want globs of it falling off!

Leave it on for about twenty minutes, then rinse off with warm water and a washcloth, if needed. Afterwards, use your daily cleanser to wash your skin, then rinse well. Finish the rinsing with cold water, closing your pores, and pat your face dry, leaving it damp. Apply your favorite facial mosturizer. As a great everyday tip -- if you apply mosturizer while your face is still damp from washing it, your skin will absorb more of the nutrients and appear healthier.


Enjoy this holiday facial routine that will only cost you about $1.50 and a trip to the kitchen! Happy glowing and happy days!!!

Yummy Dinner and Fun in the Park

This weekend has been so much fun, and it didn't stop at lunch. After some serious play time around the house and some (serious torture, apparently) clean-up, we took off to the park.

It's been hard having Phil gone so much, but am really enjoying spending time together.

 

The only thing more fun than our time together, though, is our time together with the three munchkins!

 

 

I think all three of them peed their pants when they saw Daddy on the toddler motorcycle. Ride or die!

 

 

Plus we had an ultimate game of see-saw going on.

 

 

After we came home, I made dinner while the kids showered. In keeping with my ridiculous overly-ambitious idea of a family fun weekend, I created Mummy Mash.

 

I cooked up some hamburgers (made smaller ones for the smaller tummies!), made some mashed potatoes, and peas. How is that Mummy Mash? Oh, I will tell you.

 

 

Fill a piping bag with mashed potatoes and use a tip with a wide, straight opening. Then, pipe the potatoes on the burger and use peas for eyes.

 

 

Ta-da!

 

 

Clean plates and full bellies tonight :) Happy piping and happy days!

 

 

Haunted Pizza

To kick-off a wonderful weekend filled with yummy treats and crafty feats, I concocted a spooky dinner.

 

 

Kiddos and Dad all enjoyed this edible spook while we talked about our evening full of creations! This was really easy, only requires a few key ingredients, is completely customizable, and costs less than delivery!

A Great Lunch to Give us Energy to Decorate!

With the box of Pumpkin Delights sitting so close to our painting station, we weren't too hungry for lunch until about 1pm. In the meantime, though, this house gained some masterpieces.

We ate lunch while these dried, and I learned something today: the only thing better than gooey cheese and warm, toasty bread is the look on a kid's face when they see a sandwich in any shape other than sandwich.

So far, so good...

This is what our kitchen table looked like around 2pm:

Not only were we ready for fun, but ready to attack some Pumpkin Delights.



This is what our kitchen table looks like now:

 

...and I love it. Happy crafting and happy days!

The Ultimate Fall Checklist (and Milburn Orchards)

 



With so many wonderful things to do during the fall (my favorite time of year), where do you start? I made my own Fall Checklist, which does not include eating Pumpkin Delights (that's more of a personal to-do item), that I plan to hold myself accountable for and share my experiences when I do.

Get Ready, 'Cause Here I Come!

I am so excited to be on this blogging adventure, and I have big plans for a big Sunday evening post. I can see it now: sitting on my couch with my animals sitting on me, listening to the gas-powered fireplace pumping fuel through the fake logs, and drinking cold tea because I can't drink it too hot and I always wait too long to pick it up. That sentence was definitely half sarcasm, but I really do enjoy those weird, homey things and my weird, homey routine.

So, "What's coming?!" you ask. Let me tell you!

Root Yourself in Good and Live

 

Happy are they who know good and do good.

Their love for the good feeds them continually.

They are like trees planted near the river,

Whose roots go deep and wide.

They thrive, bear fruit in season,

And weather drought without wilting.

Those who are not so grounded

Will blow around like dry leaves in the wind.

Root yourself in good and live.

 

 

So I created this as a cover photo for my Facebook, but of course the placement isn't right and I couldn't resize it (even though Facebook says you should be able to) so now it's going here :)

 

Ironically, it's so simple to complicate everything. All it takes is a thought to send your mind reeling and spending time where it doesn't belong -- on drama, rumors, jealousy, resentments -- instead of on the wonderful things in front of you. To "know good" is to be surrounded by it, in people, experiences, and things. To "do good" is to contribute to it, being that person, adding to that experience, helping to feed that thing. It can be as simple as giving someone a call you haven't spoken to in a while, just to see how they're doing. It could be as challenging as waking up a few hours earlier on your weekend to go to church and go out of your way to get to know some new people.

 

The idea of this goodness giving a system of roots is comforting. Ground yourself in good and let the good ground you. Regardless of the situation going on around you, if you can continue to "know good," the situation cannot affect you. There is good in everything, even if you have to take time to find it, and once you do, you don't have room for the negative.

 

On the other hand, some people cannot help but to focus on negative -- sad, angry, hurt feelings -- which are also typically self-centered. Having that attitude does not help those around you and certainly does not help yourself! The comparison of dry leaves in the wind is completely spot-on... a dry leaf is completely empty and withered -- unhealthy and without control.

 

I find solace in the fact that I have rooted myself in good, in God, and in living the kind of life that I know I am capable of. What about you? Happy self-discovering and happy days!
 

 

 

Conquer the Chills with Chili!

Let me tell you something... you wish you were smelling this emanating from your kitchen right now.

I decided a few days ago I wanted to conquer the beast that had always frightened me: chili. Personally, I'm not a fan of anything too spicy and I don't cook with a lot of beans, plus I've never had a really great reason to whip up a chili when I could just as easily make a succulent beef stew (that'll be another post!). However, chili came up in conversation as a favorite of someone whom I owed some kindness, so I set myself up for the adventure. This definitely gets bonus points for being a one-and-done recipe, in that you throw everything in a crockpot and walk away, and it turns out that while it's spicy, the tomatoes balance it out so nicely that even I can eat it! Happy reading...

The First of Many...

 

Welcome to my humble little blog! I have decided that I have too many interesting thoughts and good feelings to not have them all in one place. Gone are the days spent hunting for scraps of paper in last season's purse to find rainy day recipes... everything will be here! My next post will be an experimental recipe I'm working on right now, but I'll also post crafts, adventurous plans, family ideas, and probably a lot of pictures. Happy reading and happy days!