Going South

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Leaving today for Sunny Florida. Our own Christmas tree has already been sitting lonely on our front porch, a bit confused as to why it didn't get to stand around until Christmas.

Goodbye snow, Goodbye Virginia. We will meet again soon, but for now we must away....

Merry Christmas!

Dreaming of White

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My 5 year old son Warren told me right after Thanksgiving that every night he was praying that God would send snow. Well, He did. Soon after Warren's petitions began we got a few inches of snow and the boys were beside themselves with the excitement of answered prayer and sledding fun....but that is nothing compared to the snow we got last night and today. My son's prayers seem to have been answered in ways that I would never have imagined. After a few attempts to measure it all, it seems that we got around a foot of snow. It was amazingly white and so very beautiful.

So we spent the better part of our day, after the few hours it took to get all the layers, boots, gloves, hats, and trash bags (yes, I did say that...Ben put trash bags as the final touch over the boys clothes to keep them dry and it worked amazingly well) playing, shoveling, pounding and eating the beautiful white snow that covered our little piece of earth.





I suppose we'll be talking about this snow for years to come, "Remember that snow of '09!" but for now we are just enjoying the moment and no longer having to dream of a white Christmas.

The Eye of Beauty

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We finally decorated the tree last weekend. It was an amazing time to do it.

I woke up to my oldest son Warren in my face exclaiming in a loud whisper, "Mommy, it snowed last night!!" Warren has been praying for snow since Thanksgiving. He declared on November 30th, "Well, tomorrow it is going to snow!"

"Why do you think that?"

"Because tomorrow is December 1st and it snows in December!"

It seems simple enough but unfortunately he dealt with a small measure of disappointment when he woke up to green grass and sunny skies.

This past Saturday was different though. He woke up to a blanket of snow covering the ground and could hardly contain himself. The best part of it all was that large wet snowflakes were still falling.

So after groggily pulling ourselves out of our extremely warm bed, fixing and eating a family breakfast, we decorated our tree to the sounds of Bing Crosby and the sight of snow falling outside.









After it was all done Warren declared in amazement, "Now, Daddy, every time you come downstairs to go to work you will think, 'Wow, what a beautiful tree.'"

This is why I love winter....

And the Winner Is......

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Thank you to all who stopped by my blog and my shop. I hope this will only be the beginning of your experience with Oil and Spice.

As for the Giveaway, I have radomly selected two winners. Each winner will be receiving a lovely sample kit of my all natural soap.

Winner #1 Angie Pritchard

Winner #2 Momma Rae

It was hard to announce only two winners since I really want everyone who commented to receive my soap. Maybe I will have to do this again soon.

Happy Holidays!

All Good Things

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Well, as always things must come to an end. This is good news for the two of you out there who will finally be finding out who you are and receiving a lovely sample kit of soap.

The Giveaway will be closing tomorrow, December 6th, at 12pm so if entering has been on your agenda, put it off no longer! I will be choosing the two winners and announcing them on Monday. So stay tuned...

Thanks again to all those who did enter and comment. I LOVE the feedback, and I now have so many more wonderful blogs and ideas to add to my list.

Taking time to listen

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Every Christmas I find myself extremely tired of the songs they are playing on the radio long before we are ripping into our presents. So, I spend countless hours (well, maybe not hours but it seems like it) searching Itunes for a different mix of Christmas music. Last year I had a mix that I made but tired of it too quickly this year so I have made another mix for 2009. Unfortunately I have yet to get an Ipod. It has been on my wish this since the very first one made an appearance.

So, at this point I do it the old fashioned way and burn CD after CD until I get just the right mix and even then I find myself reorganizing, adding new music and burning a new one; however, if you are fortunate enough to actually own one of these music transporting wonders then you might just want to add some of these songs to your Christmas Playlist....

1. Winter Song---Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson
2. All That I Want---The Weepies
3. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)---Death Cab for Cutie
4. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear---Sixpence None the Richer
5. In The Bleak Midwinter---Sarah Mclachlan
6. Christmas Song---Dave Matthews
7. Christmastime---Smashing Pumpkins
8. Fairytale in New York---Kristy McColl and the Pogues
9. Baby, It's Cold Outside-- Dean Martin **Note: there are so many versions of this song but
none compares to this one--this is the one off of the Album "Christmas with Dino" 2006..this is important because there is one that he sings with a choir of women who answer back....definitely don't want this one confused with that one...
10. I Want You For Christmas---Big Band Christmas (this is an old big band song NOT to be
confused with All I want for christmas by Mariah Carey!)
11. River---Sarah Mclachlan
12. Christmas for Two---Sixpence None the Richer
13. A Great Big Sled---the Killers
14. Oiche Chuin---Enya
15. Wintersong---Sarah McLachlan
16. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas---Kermit

Okay, so there it is....hope it helps provide a bit of variety to your Christmas listening experience.


P.S. If you're here for my wonderful Soap Giveaway click here....

The Giveaway is Here

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It's time to give a gift to yourself this year! You've already fought through the crowds on Black Friday and now as you sit slumped in your computer chair, exhausted from the mayhem and stress of the holidays, it's time to give a little something to yourself.

I have just the thing to lighten up your load and help you pamper yourself. I am giving away, on this very blog, a sample kit of my all-natural soap. My sample kit includes 3 2.5oz bars of my all natural soap.

If you're new to the all-natural soap world I would like to give you a bit more info about the bar you so nonchalantly take in your hands practically everyday. Did you know that almost all the soap that you throw into your cart is detergent based soap? These soaps end up stripping your skin of it's natural moisturizers. Even the ones that strive to be moisturizing are working against their own ingredients and leave your skin dry, especially in the already dry winter.

My all-natural handmade soap has no chemical additives or detergents. It is made purely with oils such as Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter and many more. These oils give back to your skin what your detergent based soap has stripped away. They can remedy such conditions as dry skin, eczema, acne and more. I also only use 100% pure essential oils to scent my soap, along with flower petals and other all natural ingredients to add character and quality to the soap.

Okay, so now that I am done advertising for my soap it is your chance to enter to win the giveaway. Just comment on this post and include the soaps you would like to have in the sample kit. Be sure to leave your e-mail or blog link so that I can contact you with the wonderful news of your win! The winner will be chosen randomly from the comments. Unfortunately at this time I cannot ship Internationally.

This giveaway will only be open until Sunday, December 6th. The winner will be selected and announced Monday, December 7th and your sample kit mailed for you to enjoy right away.

To participate in more just go to Sew Mama Sew.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: After reading some of the comments I find myself wanting to send soap to all of you! So, I have decided to give away Sample Kits to 2 winners instead of just one. That increases your chance of winning!! Also, if you want to heart me in etsy just post again to let me know and you will get an additional entry and chance to win! Thanks again!

Giving Christmas Cheer

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Tomorrow I will be participating in the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway!

What does this mean for you? Well, you not only get the extremely exciting chance to win some of my all-natural, wonderfully scented handcrafted soap (stay tuned tomorrow for more details) but you might even get the opportunity to win so many more wonderful Christmas lovelies made my other handcrafters, sewers, artisans, and all around crafty people.

So tune in tomorrow, not only to my site but also my sister-in-law's site as well as the main giveaway site to grab your chance

...and don't put it off by saying, "I never win anything"..This is your time.