Soapy Elephant

Another Market Day!

2009-08-16T19:23:00.001-07:00

My booth at the local Colton Farmers & Crafters Market. This has been so much fun! My booth is next to the wonderful Kendra and her husband, the couple that got the market going! So far great turn out of local farmers and artisains, everyone has such great talent!

If your in the area the first weekend in september stop by and say HI!

Colton's First Farmers & Crafters Market

2009-07-20T18:41:00.001-07:00

Here is my soap being displayed by a customer at my booth!

The 1st Farmers and Crafters Market happened July 5th behind the Colton Fire Department. I have to say it was a hit! Great turn out of both customers and vendor. I had great success on opening day!

My next appearance at the market will be August 17th. Looking forward to seeing fellow friends and neighbors at the event!

My Baby is 15!!!!!!!!!!

2009-06-25T22:21:00.001-07:00

My baby isn't so much a baby any more! She is now 15! We will be getting our permit soon and learning how to drive!

The picture above was taken by a friend of mine, we did a fun dress up photo shoot. She is so beautiful!

Gratitude

2009-04-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to Liz for bestowing upon me, the Attitude of Gratitude Award.

The Rules of Accepting and Sharing this Award
1.Put the logo on your blog or post
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show an attitude of gratitude
3. Link to your nominees within your post
4.Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received this award
5.Share the love and link to this post and the person who nominated you for the award.
Tell us how you've come to have an attitude of gratitude
I truly have so much to be grateful for. My 3 kids. Brittany, Jesse and Melanie. They are the sweetest children I could ask for, and such a blessing to me. Mostly I am grateful to the Lord, for He has given me all of these blessings. I am also grateful for my parents, sisters and extended family and friends. Each have done great things for myself, my children and others.

Now, I'm fairly new to the blogging world, and I don't know too many of ya'all (and those of you I do know, have already received this lovely award), so I will pass this along to a few other special ladies. Anne Marie, Trisha, Elizabeth, Heather, Sharron, Debbie, Joanna
Thanks gals, I love keepin' up with ya! Each one of you has been an insperation to read about. Your creativity, your kindness, and the love that shows thru each one of you.

Love,

Michele

Organic Beauty! I love it!

2009-04-25T09:03:00.001-07:00

I was surfing the web this morning and found the following link! here It is to France's Elle magazine. It has posted several European celebrities with no make up on.

One of the phrases that was used in the article is that These woman without make up on are showing their "Organic beauty!" I LOVE IT!

So next time I choose not to wear make up and someone makes a comment. I will just nicely stay " I am showing my organic beauty!"

I am in an Etsy Tresury!

2009-03-21T19:37:00.001-07:00

I made it into an Etsy Treasury! Check it out here

The Cookie Monster Came for Christmas!

2008-12-25T19:10:00.000-08:00

Here he is the cookie monster himself! My nephew Justin had so much fun this year. Here he is eating the cookie he snagged out of my hands. He was playing with one of his Christmas presents, so I had to check it out, he seen I had a cookie in my hand, grabbed it and chomped right in. He then told me, I seen the cookies, I took the Cookie and I ate the Cookie! lol Little stinker

Here is Justin and Melanie starting to build a snow man. It has been 20 years since our area has seen a white christmas! I know this because it way my oldest 1st christmas when it was last white!

Took them a while to build it, but it stands 10 snowballs high! Melanie had to get a ladder to put the final snowballs on the snowman! Hopefully it is still standing in daylight so I can get a better picture!

The buck is back!

2008-12-21T10:30:00.000-08:00

Some time ago I had posted about the momma deer with her twins check it out here. As the twins got older the Buck went out on his own. We haven't seen him in a while. Today he was on the other side of the road looking at the apple trees he use to eat off of. I went outside to get the picture, he watched me the whole way. I said hello to him, his response was he lifted his tail and waved it. To cute!

The picture isn't that great, I had to zoom in on him and for some reason my flash went off outside. None the less here is his, no longer a baby.

My one and Only Show this year.

2008-12-14T10:20:00.001-08:00

Each year I usually do 4 to 5 christmas shows, due to my lack of planning , shift in positions at work and what ever else life has thrown at me this year, I was only able to do one show. WHAT A GREAT SHOW IT WAS TO!!!!!!!!!!!! I wasn't wanting to tell other vendors who had seen decreases in sales that I had actually had an increase in sales. Though the way my first day was I wasn't thinking I was gonna see an sales!

My usual way of setting my booth did not pan out the first day. I usually have it set up where the shopper can walk in and look, smell, touch etc. I noticed on friday that people were walking up to the end of the booth, sniff and walk away. I was like "NO! Wait! There is more to sniff!!" So saturday morning I changed my game plan. Great thing with a corner booth you can do this! With the help of a couple other vendors I moved my booth! Turned the table to it was almost in the isle way and WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sales took off from there! Of course I ended up boxing myself in, but I was behind all the product able to talk about the goods! Sundays which are usually slow was my best sunday ever!

Lip balms and body sprays on display

My soap table. I accented my table with elephants this year. Next year I need to make some stuffy elephants to sell! Everyone wanted to by my elephants

The isle side of the booth. Candles and lotions were a hot item for me this year, years past they weren't

The lotions. You can see the sampler has gotten some use! That was just after the first day. I ended up getting special orders for lotions to this year.

Along with the bath and body products I also had aprons, purses and scarfs for sell. Usually it is hard to move the scarfs, but not this year. I sold more of my spendy ones than ever before.

I was so pleased with this show! Next year I have to make sure I have more of my creatively" named soaps. These each year have been a huge hit and customers are starting to come back for them!

The Hair that got all the Attention

2008-12-14T10:14:00.001-08:00

This is the hair that got all the attention at the mall last month. These pictures she took of herself, she has to get the right myspace photos! lol.

Random Acts of Oddness

2008-11-23T19:39:00.001-08:00

Today my youngest went with a friend to the mall. While walking around a small group of girls (about 6 or so) approached my daughter telling her that her hair looked really soft and wanted to know if they could touch it! lol. Her comment was ?OK!?!. About 3 of them then proceeded to "pet" her hair and tell her it was really soft and then walked away!

My daughter then walked into Hot Topic where one of the people behind the counter informed her she had awesome hair. She looked at her friend and asked what is up with all of this Randomness. The Friends response was "Only in Portland" lol.

Not every day you get asked if someone can touch your hair, even less often to have a group of people want to "pet" your hair.

I WON!!!! I WON!!!!

2008-11-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

Heather over at Twin Birch has a give away every friday and I got to be the lucky winner of this wonderful gift set! She also sells these items in her etsy shop. Check out her shop here.

My winnings include a lovely soap, fun body puff, Perfect Pumpkin Shower gel and Lotion in a wonderful little bag. She has more wonderful items in her shop.

THANK YOU HEATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ever just want to scream?

2008-11-16T14:19:00.000-08:00

Life has it's ups and downs and can even hit you with an old rumor from the past (as it has done recently) In trying to deal with this, I am reminded of this passage from the Bible. The passage is from Ephesians 4:17-32 and Ephesians 5:1-20

Instructions for a Chrisitan Living
17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26"In your anger do not sin"[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you

Ephesians 5:1-20
1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. 4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7Therefore do not be partners with them.
8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."
15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. 18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

My personal struggle is to remember that God has a plan for me and at times the past will be brought up to deal with even if they are old ugly rumors. There are times that in order for me to move forward in my walk with God I need to address areas in my life, wether the issue was true or not. I am aware that as I testify to the truth there are ones out there that it will not believe or choose to believe what they want to believe. Praise the Lord that I do know of several that know the truth and are supportive.

Youth Beach Retreat

2008-11-12T19:25:00.001-08:00

For the life of me I can't remember the name of this ship wreck, but it is near Fort Stephens on the Coast of Oregon. The day rained off and on, but really some beautiful pictures came out of the mix!

A rainbow over Fort Stephens. The youth kids played a game at the old fort. I do believe this youth retreat had about 75 people, youth and adults combined. I have some great pictures of the kids in games, but to save some from embarassment I won't post them here. :)

Another Great View at Fort Stephens. This one was taken by a fellow youth leader who had climbed on top of an old cannon.

November Sunset on the Oregon Coast. Just beautiful!

ALL GONE!!!!

2008-10-26T15:40:00.001-07:00

Here we are all free of the lovely beaver dam! The kids and I got out there more today (Sunday) and got the rest of it out. Only to find out that up stream more they have built 2 more dams, thank goodness though those dams will not affect the back yard near the house like the one we just removed would.

A Busy Beaver had fun in my backyard

2008-10-26T10:01:00.001-07:00

This little beaver dam is causing quite a little problem! It has raised the creek in our back yard about 2 feet! Since it is such a nice weekend, we decided that it was time to remove the dam before the real NW weather hits.

Here is Melanie getting a small break in the dam, this let out so much water, within half an hour the creek was down a foot!

Here is my lab watching the water flow down stream, he is sad, the beavers created a swimming hole just for him! lol. Though when we got started tearing out the dam he was removing sticks to, it was so cute, I missed the picture of that.

Here is Melanie standing on the dam, she got right in there and worked the hardest out of everyone.

Here is Jesse and Melanie working. My oldest picked up sticks and cheered them on! lol.

One of Melanie's good friends even joined in on the fun, though she didn't want to get to close to the dam, she was afraid the beaver may jump out and bit her! lol.

We still have more clean up to do to get all the sticks and yuck out of the creek. I am sure the beaver will be back to rebuild and we will have to clean it up again. It has been years since we have a beaver do this, one year the creek flooded so much that it reached the corner of the house, we want to prevent that from happening again!

Bath Salts and Lipstick kind of day!

2008-10-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I hadn't posted in almost 2 weeks! WOW! Where did the time go! I did change over postitions at work transfering me to a different store, which is closer to home! YEAH! The postition change also puts me monday thru friday 5 am to 1:30pm shifts, I am home now in the evenings and weekends instead of having my work week bouncing all over the place.

With this weekend being at home i am creating again! I have been itching to make some bath salts, I hadn't made them in to long, so I dug out all my ingredients and made the below lovelys!

Pink is Pink Sugar kisses, Green (middle) is Cucumber Melon and last in Blue is
Hey! Hey! Cute Cabana Boy

Now on to lip stick, I reformualted, and still wasn't happy, well I was, but not completely. So I took half the batch and remelted it adding again more Mica and Olive oil. I am happy to say I now have LIPSTICK!!!!!!!!!!! The color shows on the lips. I have approx 13 colored lip balms and about 12 lipsticks. Both feel good on, just one will leave color.

Soaps In Molds

2008-09-30T19:39:00.001-07:00

Ok so I said the next day I would post the pics, some reason that didn't happen, could be kids, could the change in my work schedule, who knows I am sure I could come up with a million excuses. Point is HERE THEY ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This picture doesn't do the soap justice! I will have to take some pics of the soap out of the mold soon. I colored the soap above with a Tropical Sunset Pink and Neon Purple. The purple actually faded and the pink stands out. Scented this one with my new blend Girl Lavender, A scent I made up a year ago, my first batch sold like hot cakes last year! I Sold out at my one big show I do, I was amazed! I really didn't think that it would have been that popular. It is a combo of Black Raspberry and Vanilla with Lavender. It's a fun scent.

This one is also a popular fragrance Black Raspberry and Vanilla. I find Suz at Oregon Trails to be the best in this scent. I have tried others, but she has just the right blend in her fo. One of my Best Friends wears the lotion I make in the scent, she will get stopped and told she smells wonderful. I think this scent smells better than the Bath and Body Works scent in the same name.

Oh yeah I rebatched the lipstick, the color to me still isn't strong enough when put on, but now it glides on nicely, not feeling like it will tear your lips off! I added Babassu and Hemp oils to the lipstick. Feels great on, I guess this would be more of a colored lip balm that is unflavored.

If anyone is interested in trying a lip balm/lipstick let me know I have a few I can send out!

Ever put lipstick on your soap??!?!?!?! LOL

2008-09-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

What a headline! LOL!! What a Saturday, I got to be creative, didn't realize that I hadn't made soap since July!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness what have I been doing? I know I have been playing with mineral make up but NO SOAP!?!?!?!??! Got 3 batches made of soap, 2 for replenishment of ones I am getting low on and one is for a December swap, I will post pics of the soaps tomorrow, except for the swap one, that will be a surprise for those that are participating. As long as it turns out! :)

My first attempt at lipstick, now lets just say I may be reformulating the recipe to get the "slip" I like, but over all I do love the color, now out of 15 containers only 2 look this good, the others, well lets just say they aren't that pretty. OK so 3 batches of soaps, lip stick and now on to the final creation several candles!

Here they are all 13 of them! I did Brambleberry's Fresh baked bread for 2 (had a sample that I just had to try) and also made 4 candles of Lychee Red Tea, which I have to say I love! The other 7 were Scents from Daystar, 3 were Black Raspberry & Vanilla scent, the other 4 were scented Buttercream Frosting. I opted not to color any of these, just let them be the natural color of the wax. I love the smells that are in the kitchen right now! It smell like I baked homemade bread and cake while sipping on tea and eating berries and cream! lol.

Next post will have the 2 batches of soaps. I promise! I have to share, I just do! I used some new colors(well to me anyway) and I have got to share! One batch is made with the neon colors, same colors that are on my daughters eyes in a previous post!

Carole Crew Team!

2008-09-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here is the Carole Crew Team! On left is my cousin Candy, next to her with the white cap on is my uncle Bud (who is 83 years young!) In front of him in the orange vest is my daughter Melanie, then Me, Brittany and last my Aunt Audrey. We did this to Honor my Aunt Carole who has Breast Cancer, she was diagnosed with it a little over a year ago.

We wished we had a larger team, but we had so much fun! My 83 year old Uncle could have out walked us all! He was high fiving people as we walked past them, encouraging others along the way. His upbeat personality is an inspiration to us all!

We plan on doing the walk again next year, of course we will be recruiting others to join us!

Martha Stewart

2008-09-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

Martha Stewart recently did a segment about blogging . Of course, it makes perfect sense that Martha is also a fellow blogger! What better way to share the ups and downs of everyday life?She has offered a chance to get "blogged about" on her blog, by posting a comment and linking on your blog. What a fun way to get notice on her blog!

Join in on the fun!

Youth Group Adventures

2008-09-17T13:43:00.001-07:00

Our first youth group session after school is in full swing, we had a small, but nice size group of teens attend. Here they are feeding each other pudding. I will would show the lovely photos of their faces, but I will spare them the embarrassment :)

My oldest Brittany in the red t-shirt is the official game/get to know you coordinator of the youth group. Here they are doing a fun game of egg/chicken/raptor with rock paper scissors. Laughs were had by all!

Now on to the serious side. We do like to have fun, but we want the kids to have time to reflect and grow spiritually. So we took them up in the hills above Colton to a small hike and meditation session. Nothing like quiet, beautiful views and nature to get close to God.

To bad there has been some fires around Oregon, the smoke is filtering through the valley making it hard to get the view you can normally have on a clear day. Thank goodness the fires are no where near us. Colton is part of the foothills to the Cascade Mountain Range, usually from where we are at we can see the Coastal Mountain Range.

The youth had a good session, one even shared how a bee came up and sat on a flower next to them while they were praying.

Mineral Make up ~ Neon Glow!

2008-09-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

I decieded about a week ago to start looking into making my own make up, low and behold I had all the ingredients! Imagin that! lol. I knew I had most of the ingredients from making soaps, lotions and what ever else I make. So I started playing around. Well my youngest Pictured in the next 2 pics took an interest in my neon colors, I think the pictures will speak for them selves!
Hot Tropical pink accented with black eyeliner

Purple Neon extreme, this one actually looks good on her eyes.

Here is one of Melanies buddies, she is wearing Hot Tropical Pink with Screaming Blue Cornflower.

So far the only feedback from parents is laughter at their daughters. Melanie is already getting request for makeup if she starts to sell them. More like if I start to sell them and use her as my representative and model.

I can't believe she is 20!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

My oldest just had her 20th birthday on the 8th of this month! WoW! We took her out to eat at the resturant of her choice, She chose an New York style Deli, the food is pretty good! The new york cheesecake was to die for! Oh my goodness, it was a huge slice topped with tons of fresh strawberries. When I go there again I think I will just have desert! lol

Stonehenge on Washington State ~ war memorial

2008-09-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

On our way home from Boardman in August the girls and I took a detour over the Columbia River to view this neat memorial, for Talyn and myself this was the first time seeing it, for my youngest daughter it was her 2nd or 3rd time, needless to say it was a neat experience.

A full size replica of the original stonehenge can be found in Washington State! It is a war memorial built in the early 1900's by a gentleman named Sam Hill. The find out more about the monument click here to be directed to the site.

A beautiful view of the Columbia River

The center of the memorial.

Melanie (my daughter, the blond one) and her friend Talyn looking at the memorial plaque.

The dedication plaque on this American Stonehenge reads:
"In memory of the soldiers of Klickitat County who gave their lives in defense of their country. This monument is erected in the hope that others inspired by the example of their valor and their heroism may share in that love of liberty and burn with that fire of patriotism which death can alone quench."

Look what was under our apple tree

2008-08-31T19:28:00.001-07:00

Momma with her 2 baby fawns! They still have some spots on them. They are so cute!
The 3 of them really were not affected by us being out side looking at them

Here they are under one of the apple trees eating some apples off the ground. The one on the left stood there just looking at us, while the other 2 kept eating

Poundcake Blackberrry Cobbler OH MY!!!!

2008-08-31T08:57:00.001-07:00

Here is a piece of my yummy yummy for your tummy pound cake blackberry cobbler.

To make the cobbler you need just these few ingredients:
1lb of butter

2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

2 cups sugar

2 cups milk

2 cups blackberries

9x13 baking dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, place your baking dish in the oven, cut your butter into chunks , place into the baking dish and let completely melt while the over is heating up

Put all your dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, baking powder) slowly pour in the milk.

Mix until your get all the lumps out, your mixture should look like pancake batter

When all the butter is melted, and your batter is completely mixed. Pour the batter into the melted butter.

Once batter is completely poured sprinkle in the blackberries. I have found 2 cups is almost to much on the berries, a little less than 2 cups is just great.

Now bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until top is golden brown and is pulling away from the edges of the baking dish.

Here is what mine looks like when I pull it out of the oven. This is awesome with vanilla bean ice cream!

I have been making this for over 20 years now, my family doesn't wait for it to completely cool down, they start into it several minutes after it is out of the oven. If I could find the cookbook this recipe originally came out of I would give proper credit, but I miss placed that cookbook about 12+ years ago. I made it do much that the recipe is now all in my head.

Try some different variations to the recipe. I have done a wheat flour accented with some cinnimon, then used plums, apples & various berries as the filling. Turned out AWESOME!!!!!!

I would love to hear your feedback on the recipe!

Breast Cancer Awareness Soap part 3

2008-08-30T12:32:00.001-07:00

Here they are! The ribbon soaps, my first attempt to make a CP, M&P combo, I was a little messy on these, next time I will try to do better! Practice makes perfect correct?!?! =)

Breat cancer ribbon soaps part 2

2008-08-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

Bottom side for the mold, the soap is poured and is setting up, looking forward to seeing what it looks like out of the mold.

I was a little bit messy pouring the soap. The other mold tray was worse, my darling 14 year old daughter took over pouring because Mom was to "messy"! hey no problem here, she had fun swirling more color in! She even took a straw and "blew" more color in to the center of a couple of the soaps. We had some soap left over so we used a milky way mold to make one soap, she did the the additional swirls in it to, looking forward to seeing how that one turns out too, I will post pics tomorrow on both soaps.

Back From Vacations!

2008-08-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

The kids and i had a blast the past 2 weekends. We Were at Boardman for our annual church confrence campout and then we were off to Odell lake. While out on the boat with the kids and my brother-in-law we got to witness the above beautiful sunset. I have more photos to post, give me a day or two.

Breast Cancer Awareness soaps step one

2008-08-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

I bought 2 of these lovely ribbon molds from Oregon Trials Soap Supplies . This is the beginning to my venture into raising money for the Susan G Komen foundation. Tomorrow I will have pics of the CP soap that will be added to the pink ribbons. See previous post for more information.

2008-08-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

I recently accepted the challenge to raise funds to supportthe Komen Portland Race for the Cure® on September21st in the fight to save lives and end breast cancer forever.

Did you know that Susan G. Komen for the Cure® locally helps toprovide more than 7,000 free screening mammograms for theuninsured women of Oregon and SW Washington who otherwise cannot afford them? Unfortunately, 37,000 more local women needmammograms but don't get them. That is why I am fundraising andjoining this year's Race, to help Susan G. Komen for the Curesave lives through early detection.Imagine the impact...Seventy-five percent of the dollars you donate will fund vitalservices across Oregon and SW Washington, while twenty-five percentwill be combined with other Affiliates' funds to fuel nationalbreast cancer research at an unprecedented level.*$10 funds ten support booklets for newly diagnosed breast cancerpatients.*$25 pays for a gas card for a low-income woman driving over 75miles one way to get a mammogram.*$77 can fund a free screening mammogram for one uninsured womanBy making a donation in this year's Race you can make adifference.

Click here to visit my personal page and pledge your support. http://race.komenoregon.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1050&px=1522044

Click here to register and join me in this year's Race.http://www.komenoregon.org/

Thank you for joining in our promiste to create a world without breastcancer!

Sincerely,

Michele Axmaker

To sponsor my participation online,

click herehttp://race.komenoregon.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1050&px=1522044

Off to Boardman Oregon!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

Yes that is correct, I am off to the middle of no where!!!! LOL. For the last 4 years our church conference has done a camp out/baordmeeting at Boardman Oregon. Just off I-5 there is a beautiful RV park/Marina, conference center and Hotel. My oldest 2 have opted to stay home with grandma, while my youngest has invited a friend along for the fun.

This year instead of tenting it, we have choosen to stay at the hotel. I will post pics of inside when I get home on Sunday night!

FrontDoor Swap recieved!

2008-08-04T14:18:00.000-07:00

I got a swap box in the mail today! We were a small group but boy were there some great goodies in the box! The swap was from participants on the frontdoorsoapgroup. A fun talented group of ladies.

This soap is really neat! This picture does not do it justice! There is at least 5 different colors in the swirl!

First night of VBS

2008-08-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

This years theme at Vacation Bible School is Cowboys for God. First story that was done was on the coat of many colors, one of the other stories this week will be about David and Goliath. We had around 25 kids the first night (not uncommon) in years past we started out small and by the end of the week have around 40+ kids. Now this isn't including the adults and youth helpers, this is just little kids. We are a small church in a small community and to see numbers like this is always wonderful!!!!!!!!

Sheriff Josh on patrol during dinner with the kids. The kids loved running up and making the air go out of his costume, of course they were amazed at how it would reinflate right after they did that!!!!

Cowboy Tim giving a lesson to the kids at Vacation Bible School

Kids playing toss their shoe at the boot game. Boy did they think this was funny! Each child had a great time!

I've Been Tagged!!!!!

2008-07-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

I've been Tagged!
I've been tagged by Trish over at suds to love
These are the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged you
2) Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading)
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below)
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them (This is only a game)
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Random items:

1) I hate putting laundry away
2) I hate cleaning the bathroom
3) I love playing with little kids and even my own!
4) I love going on hikes
5) I love reading the bible
6) I love reading blogs

People I'm tagging:
1) Liz at Sugar Plum Creations
2) Sharon at Soap Obsession
3) Janelle at Dancing Mooney
4) Mindi at Ms-In-Between
5) Elizabeth at Gassner Custom Soaps
6) Nahia at Nahia Creations

Top Bowler!!!!!!!

2008-07-28T00:41:00.000-07:00

This sweet little 2 year old is our top bowler! lol. She beat all the youth kids and adults bowling! Granted she had the helper stand with the gutter blocks, but still she pulled off a 104! She even beat her older brothers!

She is pictured here with her dad our pastor. We took the youth group bowling sunday night and 3 of the pastors kids got to come join in. The youth group kids are wonderful! They love having the little kids there and the little ones love the youth kids!

Little Abby also was the biggest ham of the night, not only did she want to lead us in song, doing some of her favorites that include hand motions, but each time she went to bowl she did a little dance and army crawled across the floor, as if she were sneaking up on the ball before she gave it a push.

Oh what to call them!

2008-07-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

My mom made a special request to make her some earrings, after not playing with the beads for several months this request got the interest going again. I made these above and want to put them on etsy under my girllavender store, but to come up with a name I am at a stand still. Today my hands are creative, my mind is not! It keeps thinking I should be asleep even after 3 cups of coffee!

Back to the Dating Scene ~ maybe

2008-07-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

I just recently decieded about 2 months ago that I would put myself back into the dating pool. So after placing myself on Match and Eharmony, I have managed to meet 3 different men, only to conlcude that maybe I am not ready for this dating thing after all! Boy do I have a lot to learn. 2 of the 3 very nice guys, one of which I would have no interest in learning more about, the other I would like to know more, but well me being me may have caused him to not have an interest.

I have been divorced for about 6 year now, dated some just after the divorce. Made a couple of boyfriends that each lasted no more than 6 months and then took a 2 year break, with my oldest almost 20 and having a 16 & 14 year old, soon they will be out of the house and I can have time to do more. Now to start looking again, or do I???

Then there is what my dear friend Alexis told me. I don't carry myself like a single woman! huh?!?!?! OK now I have to figure out a way to come across as a single woman. hmmmm how does one do that? LOL!

Waterfall hike with youth group

2008-07-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

The starting point of our hike, though it fibbed a little, it is only 1/2 mile to the half way mark! Though a 1 mile long hike is nothing, even when most of it is up hill!

Below are 2 different pictures of the waterfall we hiked up to. I unfortunatly didn't get any panned out views of the waterfall, though I did get some great ones with the kids in the water!

5 teenage girls taking the chance to climb over rocks and explore the great outdoors! This area that we hiked up to is one long cascading waterfall that has old logs and big rocks along its way. The girls are treking down stream to play in some of the pools that you can only get to by climbing down stream. They has so much fun!

Kevin taking a dig in the pool under the waterfall. He was trying to give us some "poses" but we just couldn't get the camera to take the pictures fast enough! LOL!!

Melanie, Nicole and Talyn posing for a very cold and very wet picture at the waterfall!

What a Good Dog!

2008-07-20T18:34:00.001-07:00

Meet Bubba, Our 8 year old black lab. He has been part of our family since he was a pup. As you can see from the pictures below he has a closeness to each member of the family.

Melanie taking bubba for a walk, or should I say Bubba pulling Melanie for her ride!?!?!?

Here he is sitting with Jesse on the banks of a river, just kicking back and relaxing

River Walk and Canoe watching

2008-07-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

Melanie and Talyn waiting for the canoes to come down stream. Talyns mom Ronda is in one of the boats. The girls to the oppurtunity to enjoy the cold water while waiting

Bubba (my black lab) having fun in the river while we wait for the canoes to come down stream

My friend Ronda and my cousin Matt working their way down stream.

Sherry and Pastor Tim waving at us on the bank.

Pastor Tim and my cousin Sherry in the rapids on the Santiam River.

Church Family Camping Trip

2008-07-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

The Tents! First picture is of the boys tent, the second pic of of the young teenage girls tent and then the big tent is for MOM and Brittany (of course).

My kids, Brittany, Melanie, Jesse(far end) and his friend hanging out at Grandmas camp trailer, you never know grandma just may feel sorry for them and feed them. Grandmas are good for that!

True Friends! Melanie and Talyn giving each other rides on the handle bars out camping

Minky Soft!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

I was asked by one of my dearest friends to make a quilt for her granddaughter. I said OH YES I WILL! and took the oppurtunity to work with some fun soft material. Below are pics of the finshed quilt.

Front of baby quilt. Wonderful pink and sage green minky material off set by a large and small cottage roses material. I loved the way this quilt turned out.

Front and back shown here. The pink(back) is a swirl minly material, This stuff is amazing! It is so soft and cuddly. I may have to make me a quilt out of this stuff!

All wrapped up and ready to go! Isn't my friends granddaughter so lucky! :)

Families 4th of July Celebration

2008-07-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

Our mini firework show at my Aunt and Uncles house. I love the way this picture turned out, it really looks like a big firework, but it is just one of the small legal oregon fireworks. We enjoyed ourselves, several families got together to just sit back and enjoy the day.

Melanie and Kyla playing with sparklers.

Melanie (my youngest) helping her cousin light a sparkler. Kyla was having so much fun.

My Platypus Dreams Purchase

2008-06-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

Look at all the goodies I just recieved from Sharon at Platypus Dreams. Her soaps are amazingly beautuful. It was so much fun to go to the mail box today and get my box from Australia! I puchased these off her Etsy Store but you can also get them from her website http://www.platypusdreams.com.au/

Here at the wonderful soaps displayed in my bath room, just waiting to be used.

My youngest and her friend (both 13) think these soaps are pretty neat, infact my daughter informed me that they were to pretty to use, unlike the ones her mom (me) makes. LOL. My comment to her was these are to pretty and wonderful NOT to use and will be in the shower soon :)

Thank you Sharon for the wonderful soaps!

A Super Serum

2008-06-18T14:01:00.001-07:00

I have attempted and tried this Super Serum. Soon it will be on my Etsy Page. It has the goodness of some great oils. Some of the oils included are Emu, Cranberry Seed, hemp, rosehip, Tamanu and more. Keep an eye out on my etsy store, it will be released soon!

I personally have been using this Serum for a good month and I love it! The area around my eyes are soft and smooth, I have also used my mother and a sister as testers. So far both of them really like to serum. I also love the bottle!

Custom Purse I made!!!!

2008-06-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

I got a special request to make a friend a brown and pink purse. Here is what I came up with. Hope she likes it!

The brown side with the striped pockets

The striped side with the brown pockets

A view of what it looks like hanging open

I think this purse is too cute! Of course that is my opinion! :)

My youngest is now heading to High School!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-31T13:50:00.001-07:00

Now with my youngest moving into High School next year life is taking the ever changing route! At least I now have 2 in high school and one that is off to the world of working.
Here she is looking stylish as ever! LOL!!!! Heels were sinking in the gravel as the picture was happening, henc the lovely stance.

The Yellow shoes She had to have. The week before her 8th grade promotion she decieded that she was gonna wear yellow shoes and jewelry with her black and white dress. we found them, thanks to the help of one of my co-workers!

Metolius River

2008-05-27T15:17:00.001-07:00

Picture of the Metolius River just West of Sisters Oregon. One of my families favorite stops when we head over to Eastern Oregon.

View of the river from the Fish hatchery. The Head of the Metolius is just about a mile from the fish hatchery. The water is extremely cold no matter what time of year.

Memorial Day weekend at my sisters

2008-05-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

My kids and I went to Eastern Oregon for 2 days. We had so much fun visiting with one of my sisters and looking around the little town of Sister.

My son and nephew looking at a video taken my my oldest on her new camera

Above is a picture of my 2 girls and my sister. The girls are riding one of the quads.

My itchy youngest child!

2008-05-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my youngest daughter showing me how she was itching her back while she had the chicken poxs. I can't believe she can wrap her arms all the way around her and touch her fingers! Ooh to be that limber!!

More Cupcake purses!!!!

2008-05-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

The first one was so fun I had to make more! I got 2 more done on Sunday! These ones have a bright rainbow effect.

The pink cupcake purse I gave to my cousins little girl for her birthday, she thought it was cute, but loved the gift inside more! lol. It was pickles! Yes Pickles, she loves pickles! I found little pickle cups and gave some to her.

Cupcake purse

2008-05-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here is my newest creation, a crochet cupcake purse. I purchased the pattern off Etsy. It is so easy and so cute! It is actually larger than I was expecting it to be. This is a project that can be done in less than 1 hour! Of course it took me longer than that, I am not a skilled at crocheting, but it was fun!

I am actually looking forward to making more! There are several little girls I know that would think this purse it neat!

Chicken Pox!!!!!!! UGH!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

My 3 teenage children have gotten Chicken Pox! Yes Chicken Pox! My younger 2 had the vaccination so their duration was small and really not to bad, My oldest though, poor thing, had them younger, but a very mild case. Well she is miserable! She has a really bad case of chicken pox.

Seems like there for a few years we didn't hear of it going around, now several people (kids) in our community have it, well hopefully none will get it again!

Church Auction, my donation

2008-05-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

Each year our church does a "Penny Crusade" to raise money for missions. We are a very small church with attendance being between 25 to 60 on any given Sunday. We though are very generous when it comes to missions! This year I donated a "Gardner's tote" inspired by one I had seen on etsy from a fellow soaper (twinbirchbathandbody) . I loved the idea and thought it would be a great auction item, and it was. Along with the Gardner's tote I did 2 bags of 10 soaps each, this is a common donation of mine, usually has lots of bids. Which is great with all moneys going to missions.

My nieces 4th birthday party

2008-05-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

The quilt made for my niece by her grandma: The white squares have little girls embroidered on them, all done by hand. My mom does a great job with that!

My niece with her doll birthday cake, or as her little cousin says "the Princess Frosting Cake"

April Snow

2008-04-19T21:52:00.001-07:00

Today was quite interesting with Snow and Hail happening all day.

This evening was neat to see large flakes coming down out of the sky.

This evening I noticed one of our bushes had a blooming flower on it that had a kiss of snow, I couldn 't resist I had to take this picture. I thought is was really pretty.

Candles My new Journey

2008-04-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to make candles for a long time. I finally broke down and purchased some soy wax from BrambleBerry. This was fun! My first candle I over filled, but the rest I figured out the amount of wax I wanted to add, how much scent and then to pour just right so I didn't have the sinking holes in the top.

I think they turned out pretty and so far they smell wonderful, now to light one to see how it burns. I already sent one off to a friend to try.

Coffee Soap and Lunch on Saturday with Anne Marie

2008-02-25T12:10:00.000-08:00

This last saturday I went to lunch with several NW soapers and Anne-Marie of Brambleberry and Rebecca of Sunnybrook farms. What a fun time! OF course any chance to talk soap is a blast! I really enjoyed meeting several soapers and getting to know them , to me that was one of the high lights of the day!

Each of us were asked to bring our best and worse soaps. To my delight my coffee soap won best. I was actually surprized! There were several beautiful soaps on the table! Heck even some of the "ugly" soaps were pretty amazing!

Of course the best part of my day was finally getting to meet Anne-Marie! I have had the pleasure of ordering from her for the past 8 years and also been in a couple of swaps together. To finally meet in person was a treat! She is one amazing woman! Not only is she an inspiration business wise, but her way of being happy and willingness to help others learn and grow is wonderful!

Thank you Kate for heading up the lunch it was a blast!

Southern Rose Soap

2008-02-14T13:06:00.000-08:00

Just removed this from the mold when picture was taken. I love this way this soap looks and looking forward to seeing how it turns out after the full cure.