The Kassel Family Project Life 365

I think it is amazing that Laura and her best friends from high school always try to get together when all four are in town. Tonight, they enjoyed dinner together and then played some Dungeons & Dragons.

I woke up way too early this morning and decided to finish the rest of the candles.

The blue is dark orchard; the brown in the white ceramic jar is warm vanilla sugar; and the brown in the clear jar is Cinnamon Chai. I also had some wax left over from the warm vanilla sugar, so I made wax melts.

This has been fun! I see more wickless candles and wax melts in my future.

I bought a candle making starter kit, so that Laura and I could make wickless candles for our candle warmer lamps while she is home on Spring Break.

I also bought two extra bags of wax, some colorants, and different containers in case we wanted something different than the clear containers that came with the kit. We had a lot of fun tonight making the first four candles, and it was relatively easy. The bags that the wax comes in are heat safe. Basically, you warm the bag in a large stock pot over medium-low heat and periodically remove it from the pot to gently tilt it side-to-side to fully melt the wax.

Once the wax is melted and reaches about 185 degrees F, you unzip the top of the bag and add in your fragrance oil and colorant. We mixed “Apple Element” fragrance oil with a yellow colorant, and “Stress Relief” fragrance oil with a sage green colorant.

Then, you tilt it side-to-side again to fully mix the fragrance oil and colorant. Finally, pour into the containers. We were able to make two candles for each set of jars.

While the finished candles could end up with holes or bubbles, it does not matter. It was fun to do this with Laura. We still have three bags of wax left for six more candles! Up next will be Cinnamon Chai, Dark Orchard, and Warm Vanilla Sugar.

It seems that every Monday night while the rest of the Kassels are at Scouts, I make soap.

Tonight, I used three new scents – Blushing Bouquet, Bramble Berry, and Sea and Stone. Also, I made a poppy seed scrub bar from my other new, favorite scent – Stress Relief. I am looking forward to seeing the final results tomorrow!

Andy and I drove through Cape Girardeau on our way home from Evansville to pick up Laura. She is home for Spring break!

It was quite the day! We started at the WIU social for food, drinks, and time with other WIU fans.

Then, it was game time! The WIU women did not disappoint, and they came out firing against Lindenwood.

They did give all of us a bit of a scare as their shooting percentage dropped in the second half, but the ladies were determined. It was so amazing to watch them turn it on in the last few minutes to secure the win.

I cannot even say how important this win was for WIU. With the automatic bid, they are going to the NCAA tournament for the third time in school history!

Congratulations to the WIU Women’s Basketball team. It was an honor getting to watch you play. Even when you had down moments, you did not panic. It is on to the Big Dance!

When it is WIU versus SEMO, who do you cheer for?

I love my alma mater, but I love Laura’s college home too!

We wore our WIU gear, and we sat in the WIU section. However, we told everyone that our daughter goes to SEMO, so we win no matter what happens.

It turned out to be a great game that was much closer than I think anyone expected. SEMO was even winning going into the half.

However, when the third quarter began, SEMO’s shooting got cold and WIU was awake. In the end, WIU pulled out the victory with a score of 74-66. While Laura was disappointed in the result, she was pretty happy to finally get to meet Colonel Rock IV (Ray-Ray).

After a late lunch with Laura, Andy and I went back to the hotel to change out of our WIU gear and into SEMO gear. We spent the evening at the Ford Center watching the men’s games. Unfortunately, the SEMO men’s game was very similar to the women’s game, and they were cold in the second half. Combined with some questionable calls, the end result was a SEMO loss.

It was a late night, and Laura will head back to Cape Girardeau in the morning. Andy and I will stay to watch the WIU women in the championship game. Go Leathernecks!