Anna's homemade body butter

I started with a recipe I found on the Internet, but have tweaked it quite a bit over the years and am pretty happy with the consistency I get. This product is not heat stable; it melts in the summer. I tend to make a batch, always share a jar (for good luck!), and keep the jars I'm not using in the fridge until I need them. 

Ingredients 

1 cup shea butter

1/2 cup coconut oil 

1/2 cup almond oil

1/2 cup olive oil (or you can use 1 cup almond oil)

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon essential oil or fragrance of your choice

Notes about ingredients

The original recipe called for cocoa butter or shea butter. I find cocoa butter hard to work with, and it has a very specific smell that is hard to mask -- unless you are using mint essential oil, in which case it smells like chocolate mint! I haven't used cocoa butter in a few years.

I ordered a huge hunk of shea butter off the internet. It's much easier than scooping it out of a container. Now I just carve it off the block and force it into a measuring cup to get the right proportion.

The original recipe called for 1 cup of almond oil and no olive oil. Then one time I ran out of almond oil, so I used 1/2 cup almond oil and 1/2 cup olive oil. It was my best batch ever -- and makes the recipe slightly cheaper to make as well. 

In the spring and fall, I use vanilla and sweet orange oil to scent the butter (1/4 teaspoon each). Around Thanksgiving, I use cardamom and vanilla. And Christmas body butter is always vanilla peppermint. 

Steps

1.    Prepare your surface. I throw a big towel on top of our island to soak up all the oil, because this can get messy.

2.    Chisel the shea butter and coconut oil out of their containers and put them in a glass measuring cup. Microwave in 30 second intervals until it is melted. 

3.    Put the melted shea butter and coconut oil into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the liquid oils and stir to combine.

4.    Put the bowl in the freezer for 20 or 30 minutes -- until the oils start to congeal.  The edges of the oil get kind of white. The goal isn't to solidify it -- just to chill it, so that it will become whipped. Warm fats don't whip well.

This is what the oil should look like out of the freezer.

5.    Remove from freezer and add the arrowroot powder and essential oils. 

6.    Use the whisk attachment to aerate the body butter on medium to high for 8 to 12 minutes -- until the body butter forms peaks, almost like whipped cream. You want to make sure that the butter is actually stiff because it's whipped, not just because it's cold. That's why the range. Aim for 10 minutes, with at least 5 of that being on high. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides every 2 or 3 minutes.

7.    Use a rubber spatula to spoon the butter into mason jars. 8. Refrigerate all the jars for a couple of hours (Is this step necessary? I don't know!) and then remove and use each jar as needed. Enjoy!

50 reasons we love him

Here's Chris's birthday toast, delivered in front of family and friends.

On Chris's 50th birthday, the kids and I sat down to figure out whether we could think of 50 things we love about him. Here's our list:

1. Booty looked hot in that long underwear so long ago – and still does.

2. Is so kind and honest. (Tillie)

3. Fixes EVERYTHING. Even crazy little plastic toys that should never actually go back together. (We can only think of one thing that he couldn’t fix. A glass doll whose head broke.)

4. Makes his own pickleball paddles.

5. Notices cool things when we hike, like round places in rocks and areas where animals have bedded down.

6. Has Nerves of steel when we’re winding our way back through forest service roads.

7. Didn’t let me by a Volkswagon bug for my first car because he said he’d always end up working on it (and that’s how I knew he was committed).

8. Wears that sexy blue t-shirt when he’s working on cars.

9. Gives great Facebook and email.

10. Is always up for playing. (Tristen)

11. Learned how to play a new team sport in his late 40s. Ultimate!

12. Progressive values.

13. Rope swing master!

14. Has a sense of humor about himself; lets us laugh at his injuries (like when he bonked his head with the bar or slid off the rope swing).

15. Apologizes easily and well.

16. Does not hold a grudge.

17. Found a way to stack the paddle board AND the kayak on top of the van.

18. Is easy to beat at darts.

19. Fun to play folf with. (Tristen)

20. When he had his motorcycle accident, really focused on healing and getting better.

21. Pulls me in at night. Still.

22. Has always been super nice and welcoming to my family and friends, makes them his own.

23. Taught me how to play Frisbee and carve sticks. (Tristen)

24. Good sense of humor.

25. Picks great friends!

26. Is always willing to help a friend.

27. Is an incredibly gifted doctor, excellent at his job.

28. Is an incredibly compassionate doctor; consistently gets the highest patient satisfaction scores.

29. Takes care of me when I am sick, anxious, or tired.

30. Put an “Alaska or bust” sign on the back of our bikes for a bicycle trip around Flathead Lake.

31. Always up to go to the park! (Kids)

32. Always up for a hike!

33. Loves his walking stick.

34. Made me a new walking stick when I lost mine on the hike.

35. Chooses my friends as his own.

36. Was a foam baby and still is: doesn’t give up easily.

37. Was super kind and respectful to his mother.

38. Has the best high school stories of any person I’ve ever met, especially the motorcycle chases.

39. Has the best college stories of anyone I have ever met.

40. Knows he is a good person.

41. Is always happy at birthdays. (Tillie)

42. Loves a good toast!

43. Has infinite patience with our children at bed time.

44. Seems to get me before I get myself, even though I never give him credit for that.

45. Loves animals; especially Hertessa. Takes such good care of her.

46. But kills our rats.

47. Is an amazing problem solver (look no further that Hertessa’s food dish).

48. Works so hard to make our family go.

49. Makes pancakes almost every Sunday morning.

50. Is always Krumm, no matter what the circumstances, no matter where you go, and that’s great thing.

Chris Krumm, we love you for everything you do and everything you are. You’re so great, it only took us a few minutes to brainstorm this list of things. There are at least 50 more, and probably 1,000, reasons that we love you.

What a bargain

 

Even though the nabes were nice enough to take our kids for movie night, we still were too tuckered to start the arduous process of putting Tillie to bed, so Tristen offered to do it. For five dollars. I NEVER would have gone with his first bid, but he hooked Krumm. And now hearing them is about the world's sweetest thing. He brushed her teeth. She quickly changed into PJs, and he complimented her for being soft and snuggly. Tillie says, how about this book? Tristen says, oh that's my fave! And, we will read for 10 minutes, okay? And now I am on the couch thinking I would have paid 10.

2014 to 1016 "good things" jar

June 1, 2014. Super fun family bike ride to Mathew's Beach, then Flying Squirrel Pizza. 

Hike to Twin Falls. Tillie on my back in the Ergo. Slept all the way back. -- Anna

A perfect day. We rescued wiffle balls at the park! Played a long time. Chit-chatted with Jamison's family and then Cal and Deb. Then Chris and Tristen made their own pickle ball paddles.

Tristen playing soccer. He is  really engaging and running after the ball and learning! 9/13/2014

Perfect September Sunday at Carkeek with Lori. Family frisbee, beach, fort building, soccer, sun, fun, joy, love. 9/14/14.

Taking Tristen to see his good buddy Owen perform in the Nutcracker!

Family frisbee night!

2015. "EliafoughtMelaniewamagramaw." (Elia thought Melanie was my grandma.)

Tillie: how 'bout MEEEEE?!

Making a monster eat Tillie's belly.--Tillie

Knit night with Aunt Amy. --Tristen

Family badminton in the backyard with Aunt Amy. 2016.

Marshalls plus friends great Thanksgiving 2016! 

Seeing Tillie's drawing and writing blossom! 11/2016.

Years in review: 2015 and 2016

We keep a jar in the kitchen where we try to remember to write down really special memories to review at the end of a year. It's as close as we have to a new-year ritual, beyond eating the hell out of some crab with the Ozretich Family.

We are slightly better at putting memories in the jar and reading them at the end of the year than we are at documenting them for posterity. Thus, here are the items from 2014, 2015, and 2016:

• June 1, 2014: Super fun family bike ride to Mathew's Beach, then Flying Squirrel Pizza!
• Hike to Twin Falls. Tillie on my back in the Ergo, asleep on the trip down. Chomper was a superstar!  (Anna.)
• Tristen playing soccer. He is really engaging and running after the ball and learning! 9/13/14
• A perfect September Sunday at Carkeek Park with Lori Compas. Fort-building, soccer, sun, fun, joy, love. 9/14/14.
• A perfect Sunday: we rescued wiffel balls at the park using a contraption Krumm made from a lopper. The balls are falling in between the two sides of the backboard, which is open at the top. Then we played a long time. We chit-chatted with Jamison's family there and then with Cal and Deb. When we came home, Chris and Tristen made their own pickle ball paddles, borrowing one from New Paul to trace on plywood. The paddles sanded up nicely. Old bicycle tubes made nice handle grips.
• The nutcracker with Tristen. Owen Odegard performs! (12/2014.)
• Rollerskating with a cousin!
• "How 'bout ME?" (A Tillie quote.)
• Eilla faut meline was my grandma. (Tillie, 2015. Ayla thought Melanie was my grandma.)
• The best aunt. (I think that was Tristen, meaning Amy.)
• Making a monster eat Tillie's belly.
• Family badminton in the backyard with Aunt Amy!
• Snow Lake and Enchantments. Our first time away from the kids TOGETHER in 10 years. What a hike!
• Family Frisbee night!
• Anna always setting us up for success when she's away on work trips.
• Tillie's drawing and writing are blossoming. 11/2016
• Thanksgiving 2016. The whole weekend!
• Knit night with Aunt Amy.

Montana vacation car list, August 2016

Our vacations just keep getting better. We went to Missoula and Helena. Had adventure. Relaxed. Spent quality time with lots of different friends. Enjoyed near-perfect weather.

We also played a game I got from a book I read this winter: The Secret to Happy Families. Throughout the trip, I rewarded the kids with points for this and that (hiking 1 mile,  learning the names of 10 plants, getting the brass ring), promising them a reward if they both reached 100. The reward turned out to be a stop at that crazy 10,000 Silver Dollar place, plus money to spend on souvenirs.

As always, it was hard to leave Missoula. Just what are we doing in Seattle again?

Here's the list of memories we made on the way home in the car.

Rocky start:

• Toilet overflowing in Spokane
• Hiawatha Trail: flat tires, crash, crazy bus ride
• Missoula VRBO not ready

Heather, Paul, Lucy, and Oscar!

• Closing down the Carousel
• The brass ring on Paint!

Montana Splash. Fun slides. Great lap swimming!

Downtown Missoula:

• Protected bike lanes!
• Farmers' market 
• Scooting by the fountain
• Piano in the park

Potluck with Vicki Watson, Mark, and Marnie:

• Holly hock dolls with Vicki
• Tillie thought Mark might be Santa Claus

Dinner with Sandy and Troy:

• Double D
• Three yellow jacket stings (Tillie)

Farmers market

Water sampling with Vicki

• Mermaid hair
• Playing in the river

Bridge Pizza

Philip:

• "L" and Philip's
• Coffee with Philip
• Drink with Philip outside at...Old Post?

Nimrod's and cave

Butterfly bar with Tillie

• Her first ice cream soda

Tristen's birthday:

• Huckleberry pancakes for birthday breakfast
• Sushi
• Too much mochi

Saw Miles at Bernice's!

4th of July with Frank and Beth and Maddie:

• "The turducken of berries"
•  Watching Lion King
•  East Helena fireworks
• Amazing dinner
• Guitar around fire
• Sleeping giant
• Mount Helena
• Ray at the Merc

Gateway to the Mountains:

• Man Gulch Fire
• Geology
• Eagle with fish
• Osprey with snake
• Mule deer

Margaret and Carrol

• Saloon
• Hot tub under the stars
• Piano, guitar
• Caroll's art
• Old jeep
• Boner the bird
• Playing in the river, flyfishing
• Bear scat
• Moose pump
• Trout! on a Japanese flyrod
•  Bats

Playing near Brennan's wave

Date night for Chris and Anna:

• Old post
• Dancing at Union Club
• Paula

Doug:

• And his cherry tree
• Headwaters of the irrigation ditch

Run

Blodgett:

• Swimming three times.
• Tillie hiked SO FAR. 
• Smelling Ponderosa pines
• P pine, huckleberry, Indian paintbrush, quaking aspen, spruce, Douglas-fir, princess pine, twinflower, kinnickinick, gooseberry, elderberry

He really missed her

Tillie and I recently spent a long weekend in the Midwest, celebrating niece Ashten's high school graduation. We got back late, after Tristen was asleep. And in the morning, he got up, walked right past me, and super-hugged Tillie. I guess he actually missed her. Child care provider and friend Heather took this picture later in the morning. The effects of our absence lasted more than an hour! But less than a day. ;)