July Already?

So its been about 6mo  . . . where did the time go? Here is to starting over  - again :)

Peppermint Popcorn

Every year during Christmas my friend Lorena makes peppermint popcorn and I just cant get enough of it.  It is so yummy and easy to make I thought Id share it with you. It will be a great Valentine's day treats with a few of my changes.  I hope you still have a few candy canes left over from the holidays because this is a great way to use them up.  I used mine up the first time I had the idea to make this so I just used peppermint sprinkles I had in the pantry.  Check back soon, I will show you how I plan to package them up for Valentine's day.

You will need:
One bag of microwave popcorn (or air pop what ever you prefer)
White chocolate - I used Wilton candy melts - white and red to make pink.
Peppermint candy

Make the popcorn and put it into a large container.  My roasting pan worked great.

Crush up the peppermint candy to small pieces and then pulse them in the blender until its a powder. Set aside

Next, you will need to melt the chocolate in 30 sec. intervals until it is smooth.

Now its time to add the crushed peppermint candy to the melted chocolate.

Then, pour it over the popcorn.

Get ready for the fun part.  At first I tried to use two spoons to mix this up.  Really, the best way is to just wash you hands and dig in with your fingers to mix it all up.  Let it set up for about an hour and package it up.



Starting Over

I was so excited to start this blog so I could get all the crazy ideas out of my head and on to the computer. Then life got a little overwhelming and my precious blog fell to the wayside. My mother passed away about six months after the birth of my second child.  Each event on its own was difficult and putting them together was quite stressful for me.  Now that we all have had time to grow and grieve I would like to get my little blog going again.  So look out here come some fun ideas and crazy random thoughts :)

Time to Get Healthy!

Its around this time of year a lot of us (myself included) make New Years resolutions to get healthy. We go on diets and vow to stop eating _____ fill in the blank. But now I am on a quest to not only get my body healthy but also my home. They go hand in hand really. It started when I was watching an episode of Dr. OZ - so glad he has has own show now. They had a segment about making your own household cleaner. I had my doubts on this one until I tried it. I am very happy with the way it works and smells. Its true, I always wondered about all the warning labels on "good" cleaners about using in a well ventilated area and not getting it on your skin. I would always rinse and rinse the bath tub after cleaning for fear of lingering cleaner getting into the bath water for the kids. So in a effort to get toxins out of our home and stop wasting water :) I have started using the Safe Cleanser Recipe.

Start with the following ingredients:

1 Tbsp Borax powder (found in the laundry aisle)

3 Tbsp White vinegar

2 Cups water

1 Tbsp Dish soap
Essential oil - start with one drop and add more if you want a stronger scent.

Borax

Vinegar

The dish soap I had on hand was lavender but next time I will buy a citrus soap to match my essential oil.

I chose this Sweet Orange scent because I love the fresh clean smell of citrus.

Mix all ingredients and pour into a spray bottle and start cleaning!

One More Reason to Become a Host Family

If this isn't a good reason to host an exchange student I don't know what is!

Oh wait! There is the great relationships you will build, experiencing another culture and the chance to share your community with a student from another country.

One of my "exchange" daughters, Kate (hosted 2008), sent our family a Christmas package filled with German goodies and presents for our kids. And a few weeks ago I got a phone call from Switzerland! it was Celine (hosted 2006) calling to wish me Happy Birthday. The holidays are so fun now that we have family all over the world because we shared our home with two great kids.

For the last four years I have been involved with an organization called EF Foundation for Foreign Study. I had the opportunity to host two of those years and gained two wonderful "exchange" daughters. I have had such a great experience I chose to become an International Exchange Coordinator (IEC). After the birth of my second child I ran out of room in my house to host another student. As an IEC I get to place students with other loving families and become a friend and mentor to a student from another country. This way I still meet great kids and learn about their homes now that I don't have room to host in my home. I cant wait to get a bigger house someday so that I can have more "exchange" daughters.

If you have any interest in hosting an exchange student send me a comment and I can send you some information.

Bliss in a Cup

A dear friend of mine and I went shopping this weekend and found something amazing - Drinking Chocolate. I have heard of drinking chocolate a drooled over a few Food Network episodes of this too good to be true beverage. Last year, Emmely took me to Cacao and my taste buds were truly enlightened. I was 8 months prego at the time and chocolate was just as good as . . . well it was really good. So I waited all year for what has become our annual shopping trip in downtown Portland. I waited and longed for my little cup of bliss and it was so worth the wait! Yes, its true I could go there any weekend by myself, with kiddos in tow, or with my darling husband. But now it has become one of those things I want to keep special, a trip just for me and Emmely (and any other girlfriends we can drag along :)
If you are ever in the Portland area its worth finding Cacao.

Make Your Own Notepad

I found this fantastic product called notepad adhesive by The Unleashed Pen that lets you make your own note pad and countless other projects. It is a glue that you paint it on the edge of any stack of papers, let it dry and TADA! your very own custom notepad. I'm so excited to start making some of my stocking stuffer for Christmas. If you like this project you should definitely go to The Unleashed Pen on Etsy. You can buy a 2 oz. bottle for 4.99. A little goes a long way, I'm sure even at my rate of creativity this will last me a year or longer!

My first test project was to make gift tags with my Cricut. I love cutting out scrapbook shapes and tags for gifts but they end up everywhere. So I thought why not use the notepad adhesive to stick them all together. It worked great!

Gather supplies. (thanks for the great birthday present Dad!)

Cut out gift tag shape.

Stack and clip together with binder clips.

Let it dry and put on one more layer.

No more tags all over the place!

One of my gift ideas for my mom friends is this notepad of babysitter info. I made a fun little info sheet on my computer and printed it out. Then made multiple copies at the print shop so that I didn't use up all my printer ink :) Then I was able to make a photo frame with some of my scrapbook supplies. Attach the notepad and the photo frame to some chipboard and you have a very cute personal gift for any mom or dad.