A Mom's Year

Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

Snowball Soap (with a Hidden Surprise)

We discovered the wonders of Ivory soap at Will’s birthday party (it does cool things when you put it in the microwave). It also makes great snowball soaps with hidden toys inside. Lily and I made a bunch to give to friends for Christmas. Here’s what we did.

Step one: shred the soap. We used a food processor, but you could use a cheese grater instead. Four bars filled the food processor bowl to the brim.

Step two: add water and mix. We used about 1/2 cup of water—you want to add just enough for the soap to be easy to squish. Lily loved this part!

Step three: form the soap into a ball and hide a toy inside. Dig a hole in the side with your thumb, then stick a little plastic animal into the hole. I had hoped to use penguins, but I couldn’t find any small enough. I found a plastic tube of small arctic animals (orcas, seals, and white wolves) at Michaels and it worked fine. Re-form the ball, using more soap if necessary. Place the snowballs on a baking sheet and allow to dry completely. Ours took about 24 hours to dry.

If you would like to give the soaps away as gifts, you can pop them into clear cellophane bags, add tags and ribbons, and you’re all set.

Faith

Today several people I care about said goodbye to loved ones who passed on from this life to the next. It’s always hard to let someone go, but don’t you think it’s especially difficult during the holidays? A friend gave me this poem by Rabindranath Tagore when my Grandma Charlotte passed away. I’m grateful to Tagore for expressing so well the belief that there is nothing to fear from death. 

I was not aware of the moment when I first crossed the threshold of this life.
What was the power that made me open out into this vast mystery
like a bud in the forest at midnight?
When in the morning I looked upon the light
I felt in that moment I was no stranger in this world,
that the inscrutable without name and form had taken me in its arms in the form of my own mother.
Even so in death the same unknown will appear as ever known to me,
and because I love this life I know I shall love death as well.
The child cries out when from the right breast the mother takes it away—
in the very next moment to find in the left one its consolation.

{ Night Sky }

Staples and Scrooge

{ The remains of the plum pudding }

So. We invited a few of our music- and theater-loving friends and their children over Sunday night for dinner, caroling, and a read-through of A Christmas Carol. Everything was off to a great start when Will fell and got a nasty cut on the back of his head. It was obvious he’d need medical intervention so off he and Tim went to the ER. Now, had this been the first time Will had to get stapled back together, our guests would have had to fend for themselves. But since it was Round #3 (and because Tim is the kind of dad he is), I was able to send Will off with a kiss and a promise to wait until he got back to light up the plum pudding. But still.

[Read more…] about Staples and Scrooge

Happy Weekend

{ image via Say Yes to Hoboken }

Do you remember when you were little and the days dragged by…so…very…slowly as you counted the seconds until Christmas? And your mom looked slightly crazed every time you said you couldn’t wait? Now I know exactly how our poor moms felt. Time is whizzing along and I’m so behind it’s not even funny. Except it is sort of funny. I mean, what person in her right mind would take on so much in one short month? Oh, well. Bring it on—we can rest in January.

Are you shopping this weekend? Do you have any fun holiday parties? Tim’s dad is visiting from Virginia, so the kids are enjoying some time with Pappaw. Tonight he requested a special reading of How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Tim, who is definitely a master Grinch-reader.

Here are some links to give you a little last-minute Christmas inspiration:

I hope your weekend is filled with Christmas spirit—and I hope you come back on Monday as we kick off our last week of holiday prep.