Back to School

Since my children are home schooled and we choose to school year round, we’re always on break when the local children go back to school. So we start again after the Labor Day holiday. It’s always exciting for the children to go back to studies after the break. It’s kind of our version of “back to school.”
This school year, I’m teaching nursery/preschool, first grade, fourth grade, sixth grade, seventh grade, ninth grade, and tenth grade (whew!). We learned so much over the past school year that I’m looking forward to some of the new subjects we’ll delve into. We’ll be notebooking more this year and we’ll be doing a picture timeline for history, which is something a little different from our usual event documentation. I tried to do a little bit of notebooking with them this week, and they had a blast! I had them watch the dissection of a starfish and then create a salt dough model with a cup of flour, a cup of salt, and enough water to make a stiff dough.

It went over very well, I must say. The children particularly loved eating the chocolate chips before (and after) they went on the model.

On another note, back to school is also a sign that candle season is quickly approaching. We’ve been testing scents, baking, and making to restock our local booths and to place on the site.  We’re doing a few new scents because the tests went so well. I’ll be introducing them on our Facebook page very soon so keep posted. One of the bakery items we’ll be placing on the site include nine inch apple and pumpkin pies. We do these in both candle and ornamental.

This is one of the ornamental pumpkin pies that we’ve done. It’s even pumpkin pie scented. The children thought it was real.

Well, I actually have to get started with planning the rest of my school year (while my children start their break until after Labor Day).  As usual, breaks for everyone else is never a break for Mom. Not a complaint – just a fact, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

Happy Birthday Pie and Smoothies = Great Candles

We had a rather late birthday celebration for my Christian last night. We ended up having birthday pie (real pie) at nearly midnight when the birthday girl was conked out! We managed to save a whole pie as the little ones were playing video games and the rest of us were way too full on cheese enchiladas and beef tacos to indulge. Then there were the smoothies!

Since we had four birthdays every two weeks from February until yesterday, Christian decided that she wanted to have a pie for her birthday instead.

So today, my candle inspiration is pie and peach smoothie. I'm gonna get breakfast (late) and some coffee (Starbucks just tweeted that their House blend is in the house until noon). Then I'm gonna make a pie and smoothie candle. The pie, I've done a number of times but this will be a first for the smoothie candle, and I've already got an idea as to how I'm going to do it. Stay tuned to our tweets to find out our newest candle releases. We just did a tart melt version of the Edible Arrangement earlier this week so the smoothies will be posted there. You can find us @everythingdawn on Twitter or visit our Facebook Page and like us there.

God bless!

There's No Place Like Home

Home...there's no place like it. It's the place where my children throw their toys in the foyer, knock over their drink and wipe up half of it, placing a towel over the area so that no one will slip on it, and where the toddlers scream and leave fingerprints pretty much everywhere.

Okay so it's not a perfect home but it's home. Sometimes, when it's quiet, i think about all of the in things that make my home a "home" and I'm convinced that there's nothing like it. I miss the noise. I miss the sticky little fingers, and I definitely couldn't begin to imagine how much I'd miss those sweet little hugs and kisses that I always get from my little ones. If it were any different, it wouldn't be home.

Real Dessert Please

At six and a half months pregnant, I've been having crazy cravings for turnip greens and kit kat bars (not at the same time). So my candle creations this week have been centered around chocolate. I suppose if there were turnip greens that could be turned into some kind of tempting dessert, I would have figured it out by now but when I imagine turnip greens, I imagine them cooked in ham juice with bits of ham. I just can't see how you could make that into dessert.

Yesterday, as I was working on the hot fudge brownie sundae candle, my eight year old son comes up to me and says, "I should've never come over here." I couldn't help but laugh. The children are loving these dessert candle creations but they wish Mommy would make some real desserts.

My house smells like a combination of chocolate, vanilla, caramel and apples right now. It's not working well with the pregnancy but nobody else seems to mind. My first project for the morning was my white chocolate/strawberry/fudge cupcake candle. Then I decided to do an apple caramel crunch cupcake candle. Still no real food.

I've learned that candle designs and real baking absolutely cannot happen at the same time lest you end up with yucky candle tasting real food. Oh well, the little chilies will have to wait a bit for the real cupcakes...maybe the weekend?

Peace When the Enemy Tries to Steal It

Holidays are very special days. Easter is particularly special because it's a day when we commemorate the rising of Jesus Christ as Savior. It's a true acknowledgment of who Jesus really is. It's not accepting Him as a prophet but the true, living son of God.

Yesterday was a very difficult day for my family. There's not enough in the budget to do what's necessary. There were disruptive and self centered attitudes and complete disregard for what we were celebrating in the first place. As Christians, every day should be a day where we think about what Christ has done for us personally. If we are truly living a lifestyle as followers of Christ, we will be able to understand that each and every day there is a necessity to serve The Lord wholeheartedly. However, the enemy always has a way of distracting our attention from what is really important and getting us to think about the things that are not so important. It was a difficult day for my family.

There is, however, a peace that comes with knowing who Christ is. It's that peace that enables you to go outside of yourself and seek Him despite how you feel or how someone else tries to ruin your day. Then, once you have sought the Lord, you will find that He sustains you and He will righteously deal with the situation at hand. There is an evil in this world that only Christ Jesus can fix. I'm so glad that I have Him in my life to help me through the times when the enemy wants nothing more than to kill, steal, and destroy.

May the peace of Christ be with you this Easter holiday and throughout the rest of the year.

Life is Short

Today is the beginning of a new week after some some wonderful and not so wonderful events of last week. We lost a dear friend to our family last week, a loving husband and father to six children whom I've grown to love over the years. Remembering the wonderful times of fellowship our families have had together brings me such happiness; but the sting is when I think about today, reality.

On the other hand, I realize my brother in Christ is rejoicing with the Lord. I knew him to be a firm believer in Jesus Christ so we do have a sense of comfort that our brother in Christ is with the Lord. However, it will be a long road ahead and my dear friend, her mother in-law and the children will continue to need love and prayers throughout this difficult time.

Also last week, my sweet, little Celina turned one. We gave her a birthday party on Saturday. It's always fun to see the little ones' reaction to the birthday songs and cupcakes. It didn't matter that the candle was still lit in the cupcake, my little one tried to work around that. After three times of holding her little hand back to avoid a possible burn (or the whole candle tipping over and igniting the table), I just took the candle out. It was a great celebration and she enjoyed the fuss over her. I think her favorite was the helium balloons that she watched with amazement as they floated to the ceiling.

Celebrating earthly life and home going in the same week can give a reality check on how short life is. We never know when we'll be caught up so we need to live to the fullest for Christ.

It's Not the Guns - It's the People

Life has been so busy in our home that I've barely had time to post. Then there was the shooting of those poor babies recently that really penetrated my heart as a mom. My heart sincerely goes out to those parents who've lost their babies. That one incident seemed to bring so many hearts of compassion together. It's awesome to see people come together in support of those who need it.

On the down side; however, the event seems to have sparked some sort of anti gun rampage where people are blaming guns for the behavior of people who have been overcome by evil. Realistically, guns don't do anything, people do and its always been evil that motivates evil acts.

So now there are celebrities stepping up and protesting guns. Well I'd like to see how many of them would give up a payday by not accepting a role in a violent movie that certainly has the propensity of placing grand schemes in the minds of the wicked. I'd also like to see how many of them would volunteer their paychecks to increase security in schools, which, unfortunately is needed. It makes no sense to support an anti-gun campaign when you're making movies that promote the very same.

 As this country strays farther and farther away from God, more wickedness will begin to rear its ugly head.