How to Make Homemade Bath Salts

I had been wanting to make bath salts lately, since I love epsom salt in a bath.  Well, since my mom & one of my sisters have a birthday this month and both of them have been dealing with a bit of stress lately, I figured why wait.  It turned out quite nice... relaxing!  Here's the easy recipe I used:

• 1 cup of epsom salt (magnesium sulfate)- helps relieve sore muscles
• 1 cup of baking soda (bicarbonate soda)- it has a great softening effect on skin
• 2 Tbsp. of liquid glycerin- a skin protectant
• Several drops of essential oil- I used Lavender because it's calming and stress-relieving qualities.
• Food coloring- I don't plan on using this again.  It made the salts look very pretty, but it was an unnecessary step.

1.  Mix epsom salt and baking soda thoroughly.  My boys had a little fun before bedtime helping with this step!

2.  Add glycerin and essential oil.  Also add the food coloring, if you choose to.  Mix well.  I used my fingers to really break down the clumps.  The mixture was the consistency of nice beach sand.

3.  Add additional oil and coloring, if desired.  I used 6 drops of the lavender.


4.  Transfer mixture to a container with a good lid.  I used a canning funnel to help keep the salt off the threads of the jar.


5.  Let it stand at least 24 hours before using. The oil needs time to absorb into the salt.

Nesting Interrupted

At one point, I thought the whole concept of an expectant mother's urge to "nest" or prepare for the coming of her baby was made up and kind of silly... until I felt that urge myself.  With my first son, I remember finding myself scrubbing the inside of the washing machine with a small brush to get it nice and clean.  I had also stayed up late at night to keep up with washing everything I thought the baby might come in contact with.  With my second son, I found myself scrubbing the inside & outside of the refrigerator, and obsessively cleaning cabinets that would store baby's things.  Now, with my daughter on the way, that nesting urge had been interrupted by our cross-country road-trip to spend a few last weeks with my husband before his deployment.  The trip was so totally worth it, I'd do it again in a heartbeat, even though I had to drive alone 8 months pregnant, with our two & three year olds across the country.  Every day since we've been back home, I find myself trying to play catch-up to nest and prepare, especially knowing I'll be flying solo for about 6 more months after she arrives.  It's such an instinctive urge as a mother.  I admit, there's been quite a few days that I've left more important things alone to focus on washing the window blinds and curtains, washing all her clothes, even spending a little too much time at the grocery store trying to stock up on things we'll need.
On another note, our chickens' nesting and roosting had also been interrupted while we were away.  Raccoons found them and started making a daily meal out of the chickens and their eggs.  So now, the chickens are roosting and laying in different places.  Not a good thing.  One of our Plymouth Rock hens went broody for about two weeks.  This is pretty unusual for this breed.  Our bees, however, seem to have had no interruptions.  The hive was almost completely full of built comb and filled with yummy honey.  They were working on capping the honey.  I plan on adding two more surplus supers to the hive before spring is over.

Lots of change... some good... some bad.

It seems like our life has been changing so much lately... shaken up, put in a blender, flipped & flopped around.  In the end, it is what it is and all we can do is smile.
This year was starting out pretty great & exciting.  My husband and I were finalizing our house plans, getting ready to start construction this year.  He had recently been promoted at work.  We had just increased our chicken flock, with plans of building a new coop on our land and eventually having enough eggs to sell.  We were also successful in catching a healthy swarm of honey bees.  Best of all, we were expecting baby #3!  A girl!
Then in March, we received the news.  My husband, who is in the U.S. Naval Reserves, was being mobilized and deployed to the Middle East for the remainder of the year.  What?!  Really?!  No!  My heart sank.
With only three weeks to accept this new reality, start making plans, packing, taking required training courses, and just having fun and enjoying our time together... his last few days at home flew by ridiculously fast.  This would be his third deployment since we had been married, so we both knew what to expect.  For every fun moment my husband and I had, there was a hint of sadness, knowing what was ahead.  Our boys, ages 3 & 2, had no idea what to expect or how to deal with separation from their daddy.  Sure, we did our best to explain daddy's long trip and why he had to go, but we knew they didn't fully understand.
I was very thankful for the time both he and I were able to spend at home together before he left.  I am thankful that he has a wonderful civilian job with a supportive boss and coworkers.  I am also thankful that we both somewhat knew what to expect from a deployment so that we were able to better mentally prepare ourselves and our boys for it.
So now, we just keep moving forward, knowing that we have each other and as long as we keep a positive outlook everyday, we'll be fine!  I think a daily positive outlook is one of the main keys to a happy life.  Of course, some days make it very difficult to see any good through all the yucky, mucky, harsh realities... but every day is sooo worth it if we keep making a conscious decision to enjoy the all good, learn from and appreciate the bad, and be happy in our life!

The most wonderful husband ever, Julio,
with our two boys, Alexander & Christopher.