What's Going On?!

I know I have not blogged in almost 2 months...where has the time gone?! To be perfectly honest, I have been considering giving up my stores altogether, since I have not had the time to create new things and keep them fresh while balancing kids, housework and homeschooling. I also have a goal of spending more time in the Bible teaching work. We had a wonderful Bible convention last weekend highlighting the importance of staying focused, since we are very deep in the "time of the end" according to Bible prophecy. Nothing is more important than that! Anyway, I have a lot on my plate, and I think I am starting to figure things out slowly but surely! Of course, just when I seem to be catching up, I get sick!

In any case, I have decided to keep my stores open for now, and I have a plan to get some new products in them in the next week or so. My next post will focus on some new products I am making...lotion bars! I also had some great encouragement from some family members visiting all the way from Canada, who loved my new shea butter sugar scrubs so much they bought 3 jars!

P.S. Cranberry Orange and Bountiful Harvest potpourris are HALF PRICE in my Etsy store! click here: http://paradisepotpourri.etsy.com

Kids, Cats, Potpourri, and Other Stuff!

Yes, it's me...I'm still alive and kicking, and finally updating my blog after being delinquent these last few weeks!

I have busily been homeschooling my middle son, and after about 6 weeks, we are finally starting to get into a routine. Life continues to happen around us, of course, and we are slowly learning to deal with the inevitable interruptions...like grabbing work to take with us when my youngest's school calls to say they 'think he has Pink Eye and would I please come to get him'? It's a 40 minute drive round trip plus a stop at the store, so no quick trips for us! Fortunately, he didn't have Pink Eye(and I should have known that because he has had major allergy problems with his eyes the past couple of weeks!)

In other news, our mama cat, Lana, had her second litter of kittens two weeks ago, and they are sooooo cute! My daughter took this photo during their lunchtime the other day :) They are fortunately faring much better than her last litter, of which only 1 out of 6 survived. So sad!

And finally, Paradise Potpourri is beckoning...one of the many things I am learning to juggle in my new role as Learning Coach. Business is still good, so I guess people still like me! :) I have managed to squeeze in time to make new batches of Bountiful Harvest, Cranberry Orange, and Honeysuckle Rose. Accordingly, I took new photos of them all, and they are now adorning the Etsy store nicely! I am still working out a recipe for Margarita Potpourri, but I'm almost there! Also, new batches of Rainforest and Rose Garden are in the works due to popular demand! Speaking of which I want to give a very special shout-out to Carrie, aka lunastar, of Morning Star Natural Soaps, Lotions and Soy Candles....she has given me such wonderful incentive to keep plugging along, reminding me that there is a scent for everyone and buying me out of bath tea even though she has such amazingly wonderful bath products in her Etsy shoppe! When I have a chance to figure out the ins and outs, I will feature her here on my blog! Meanwhile here is a link...be sure to check it out! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5077777

Next weekend, my mother-in-law will be having heart surgery, so I don't expect to be blogging too much at that time...in the meantime I will try to post some interesting tidbits to catch up!

Back to Work...I Promise!

Whew! The kids go back to school this week...except one, I haven't received his materials yet for homeschooling, so probably next week for him. Anyway, no more running around means a bit more time at home, so I finally got to work on a couple more potpourris! I started with Mango, so voila! Mango Madness! I also made a new batch of Lemongrass, one of my all time best sellers. My supplier no longer carries some of the ingredients, so I improvised! I will be posting new items over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!

New Adventures!

It's that hectic time of year once again for getting the kids ready for Back to School....Of course it's a bittersweet time, since part of me can't wait for the relative freedom of having the house to myself all day, and part of me is dreading having to be up at an unholy hour every morning to catch the bus! Crazier still is the fact that I will have to find out if I am smarter than a 5th grader, since we have decided to take the homeschooling plunge this year for our middle son. We are going through an online public school, so hopefully that will mean I don't have to learn all of the things that have become necessary to learn at that age which inconceivably were unbeknownst to my generation in 5th grade!

"Inconceivable!" "You keep using that word...I do not think it means what you think it means." Vizzini and Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride