Where does the time go?

Based on the title of this post, it would be easy to expect me to ruminate on the passage of time, how the kids change so quickly (ohmygosh do they!), how many gray hairs I have (thankfully only a few- and only if you know where to look), how fast the world can seem to pass by... But actually, I'm really only talking about the last couple of weeks. Wow! Somehow we were really busy, and I didn't keep up with posts. And, the kids and I are leaving to spend a week and a half with my parents the day after tomorrow, so I probably won't be posting in the next couple of weeks. Thus, where does the time go?

Updates

Lotion: Still not really satisfied yet. I warmed and re-blended the lotion in the hopes it might emulsify (?), but it still didn't work. A pharmacist friend of mine sent me a bunch of info on "old-fashioned" body care product manufacturing. I'll have to look into it.

Sign language: Alanna now waves in the funniest way- she holds her fist straight up, fingers toward her, and opens and closes her fingers rapidly like she's squeezing something in her fist. And she can sign when she's sleepy and wants to nurse, and when she wants to drink some water. In ASL, "water" is signed by making a W with the fingers on your hand by holding your pinky and thumb together on your palm and then tapping your pointer finger on your chin. Alanna signs it by pressing her palm to her lips, fingers spread, and loudly sucking on her palm. It is so funny!

Granola: Excellent. I have to make more of it every week, which means it's tasty, but rather more time consuming than I'd like. Oh well. One must work for life's rewards, right?

One of Rhys's common phrases is "That would be good." As in, "Mommy, you need to go to the store [presumably that means I'll be gone for a while] and Daddy can pick me up from school. That would be good." Or, "After I play cars, I watch a movie. That would be good." He is also very keen on everything being his favorite. "This book is my favorite." "My favorite is yogurt."

We forgot the camera last weekend, but Rhys did his first trip on skis himself. They were the slip-onto-your-snowboot kind, and he was pretty psyched. I think he managed to go about 40 feet before it was just too much. In other words, he didn't make it out of the parking lot. But, he was psyched...

Organic Body Care

Aahh, yes. I now smell a little like patchouli, which as I've said, is a wonderful aroma to me. Not everyone likes it, but maybe my enjoyment of patchouli  makes it easier to assume the mantle of hippiedom. Above is my nearly complete body care regimen, made from herbs, oils, vinegar, nuts and seeds. Tree-hugger enough for ya? I've got lavender cleansing cream, oatmeal-almond-sunflower seed-peppermint-rosemary face scrub, and lavender facial toner and body mist. I've got chamomile basil shampoo and peppermint rosemary vinegar rinse (for dry, itchy scalp). And finally, I've got calendula and rose body lotion with patchouli. I'm in heaven.

Next up, I need to make deodorant, and I'd like to dabble in first aid remedies, including ointments. There's a diaper rash in the house that's hanging around rather unpleasantly.

If anyone cares, I had to give up the baking soda and plain vinegar rinse for my hair regimen. Not only was I not very happy with the results, but I also realized I like my hair to smell good. It does now. Once a week I'm using a lavender and almond oil treatment that leaves a wonderful aroma for a couple of days, and the shampoo and vinegar combo also leaves a clean, herbal scent. My hair feels clean and soft, which it did not with the baking soda. And, I can use the gentle shampoo every day if I need to, which I also was not able to do with the baking soda. I might need to add a light conditioner as my hair gets longer to help tame flyaways, but right now I just rub my recently patchouli-lotioned hands over my hair to help tame it, and that's working great.

All of the above recipes came from one of these two books: Organic Body Care Recipes and Earthly Bodies and Heavenly Hair: Natural and Healthy Personal Care for Every Body.

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 Update: I'm not so happy with the lotion. I love the patchouli scent, which I should point out is a very mild aroma, but it doesn't really moisturize. I think it's a manufacturing error: the lotion needs to be whipped or beaten for a while in order to emulsify the oils, and I had trouble with this step. The oils have separated out and I think what I'm left with is rubbing my hands with the herbal infusion water and very little oil, which doesn't do much for moisturizing. Hmmm.
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Cookin' in the Kitchen

 

Continuing my adventures in hippie-dom..... Above is yogurt cheese smeared on rosemary bread (from a bakery in Pagosa) and (almost) yogurt. 

The yogurt cheese is soooo tasty, I can't imagine how we've managed to get this far in life without constantly having some on hand. It's also very easy to make: just dump a couple of cups of plain yogurt (fat free, lowfat, or whole) into the middle of 4 to 6 layers of cheesecloth. Gather the sides and secure with a rubber band or twist-tie on top, as if you're making a hobo bag. Place in a colander inside of a bowl (to collect the water that will be squeezed out), put a couple of heavy bags of beans or rice on top, and put it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, dump out the extra water and put the cheese in an airtight container. Enjoy! I've seen recipes adding herbs and spices before leaving it in the fridge, but haven't yet tried them. I'm sure that's really tasty, too.

The (almost) yogurt is really tasty on cereal, but is not quite yogurt. I've now tried three times to make yogurt– heat the milk, stir in the yogurt, keep in a warm place overnight– but haven't been able to get it to thicken up. It tastes like a very rich milk that's just slightly thicker than usual, but it's definitely not yogurt. I need to do more research and practice, I guess.

Shmushtash

 

Rhys has been excavating his closet during rest time recently. As a result, lots and lots of toys and games that were being stored there because they're too old for him or too messy to have out with easy access have been migrating to the kitchen and dining room as I take them away from him. Above, he is modeling his green "shmushtash", which he artfully drew on himself with previously hidden markers a few days ago. What a guy...