We've been busy neglecting the blog...
We had Super Girls' Night last Friday and the boys came too. Why not, we were making lip balm! We ended up with 5 flavors: Zorg made Strawberries and Cream, Leena made Raspberry Coconut, Klenda made Watermelon Cream, and Mxyl made Eggnog lip balm. Yum! Yum! Some will be for us, and some for Christmas presents. If you've never made lip balm, LorAnn Oils has a very nice kit. The only thing we did differently was to heat the mix in the microwave instead of a water bath.
I don't know if I've mentioned LorAnn oils before, but I love them! Besides lip balm/soap/aromatherapy stuff, they sell candy flavorings and essential oils. I use them to flavor teas, baked goods, coffee syrups, and all kinds of things. For example, our latest favorite cookie is chocolate cherry chocolate chip. Just take your normal chocolate chip cookie recipe, add 1/3- 1/2 c. cocoa and add 1/4 tsp cherry flavoring when you add the vanilla. We also like these cookies with peppermint oil instead of the cherry: just like thin mints but chewy!
One word of warning, the oils are very concentrated: I use 6 drops to flavor a gallon of iced tea. If it is water soluble, I add it at the end, if it is oil based, I add the drops to the plain tea bags before steeping. I love to use them in scones, pies, quick breads and eggnog.
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Realistically, most of our time and attention has been devoted to gingerbread.
Yes, we are entering the gingerbread competition this year, at least Mxyl, Klenda, and Zorg are. They are due in Sunday 11/23, so you may not see too much posting until then :0, but they will be worth the wait!!! The Zoomlians had some truly fantastic ideas!
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Oob report: Oob wants to walk everywhere at top speed. He can't quite run yet, it's more like a quick trot, but off he goes, falls over, picks himself up, and is off at top speed again. He has started walking maybe 1/4 mile of our 2 mile morning hikes. Walking through leaves is enchanting, and can not be done enough...
Most of the time he likes to do laps around the inside of the house with Choclo, chasing each other giggling. They have reached the Nutty Buddy stage! They like to run and giggle and be tickled. And he has started napping longer. What's not to like?
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I am very nearly done with Christmas presents. In fact, we've started wrapping the stuff to ship!
I am also getting ready for Advent. I think this year's theme will be "Christ Came in History, Christ Comes in Mystery, Christ Will Come in Majesty!"
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