Sunny Days!!!

Sunshine!!!

Oh how I love sunshine.

It's been MIA for months now.

But it made its appearance a couple of days ago, and has stuck around. And I cannot begin to tell you how happy that makes me. It turns my whole mood around. Everything is different when there's that golden-y goodness streaming through the windows, you know? {Can you tell I'm sooo ready for Summer?}

How do I love thee, sunshine? Let me count the ways:

Playing outside!!!

Enjoying the fresh air

{and the poor, neglected swingset}

When that beautiful blue sky accompanies!

When we make a spontaneous trip to the park

When I get to wear sunglasses because it's so bright!

When we're reminded of the little things that make life so sweet!

I'm linking up to Jennilee's ~ A Glimpse of Summer because I'm longing for summer too, girlfriend!

Edit: Uh-oh, I don't think I followed the rules :( I posted sunny pics, but not summer pics. For good measure, here's one of my favorites from last summer. I don't want to be a rule-breaker ;)

I'm Gettin' My Face On, How 'Bout You?

Alrighty, y'all, this gal is one of my new FAVORITE bloggers. Meet Beth from Stories from A to Z {if you don't already know her. I swear, I am always the last to the party!} She is super funny and gorgeous, and has challenged us to {GASP!} bare it all. That's right, reveal our beauty routine with full-on pictures of our nakey faces. Yikes! When I first saw Jenny's post I thought, "NO WAY". I mean, I am a girl obsessed with makeup. I do not go anywhere without makeup. Did I wear makeup when I was in the hospital for two weeks when I was pregnant with Kam? Yes. When I went into labor with Sierra in.the.middle.of.the.night, did I bring my mascara with me in the car? Yes. It's pitiful, I know. And that is why I was scared beyond reason. But, the more I got to thinking about it {and the less I had come up with to blog about today}, the more I thought how freeing it might be to just put it out there. So, here we go.

My stash.

I try new cleansers all the time. Two at at a time. This month it's Loreal Skin Genesis to remove the makeup {it's supposed to minimize pores, and by golly, I need it!}, and Biore Revitalize to cleanse the face. Sometimes I even get crazy and switch it up. I'm wild like that.

I use Neutrogena Moisturizer in Sensitive, and Clean & Clear blemish treatment. Always a must. Does it work? Not really, but I can't not use it. What is the deal with my skin looking worse now than it did when I was a teenager? Seriously? I'm so over it.

Most of my makeup is Bare Minerals. I started using it several years ago and have never gone back to liquid foundation. The thought of slathering on liquid makes me cringe. Seriously, it does. I go back and forth on the mascara. I have such a hard time finding one I love. Anyone else have that problem?

WARNING: Turn away if you're easily frightened by scary ladies in zero makeup.

Alright, this is me first thing in the mornin'. I know, right? Scaa-ry! Can we just agree that you won't click on the image to enlarge? Mmmmmkay.

And the routine:

The Steps: Foundation and concealer {too many imperfections to skip that step!}. I use Bare Minerals in Medium Beige, and Summer Bisque concealer. Blush in Thistle {also from Bare Minerals}. On to the eyebrows. I use Jane eye shadow in Brownie Points and an angled brush to apply the shadow to my eyebrows. Otherwise I have none ;) And don't forget the mascara! A little lipliner and gloss if I'm going somewhere, but I usually skip the lips if I'm at home. I'm always kissin' on someone {ahem, my children, not just random strangers} and I hate gooping up their faces.But WHAT to do about that hair? Oh I have so much hair. That's what takes the longest. The brushing, the drying, the curling. It's time consuming.

And voila!

Ahhhhh, that's better. Ready to face the day!

Okay, that wasn't so bad. Now go! And have a look at others who are gettin' their face on!

Dance Team Is In The Air . . .

It doesn't really have the same ring to it, but it's that time of year again . . . Dance Team Season!!!

Dance is a big deal around here. I started dancing when I was three and attended EVERY dance competition of my older sister, Heidi. Annie started dance when she was three. Each one of us had studio dance and each one of us was on high school dance team {and I coached Annie's high school dance team, ha!} . . . and, well, you get the idea. We love dance, simple as that. So, when I left my coaching position to get married and have babies {wink}, Annie took over for me, and has been coaching ever since. For 8 years, to be exact. Wow, where does the time go???

Anyway. Annie brought her team up, last weekend, for a preliminary competition to State. It was such fun to watch. A lovely group of girls ~ beautiful, talented, sweet. And the icing on the cake? They took 1st place in their division. I really wish I would have videotaped it because it was a great performance. Annie choreographed the entire routine, and the girls danced it just perfectly. {Chills.}

This is how the evening went:

{And please excuse the photos. The lighting was terrible, and I had Kam squirming around as I was snapping pics. It didn't make for the most pleasing of pictures, ifyaknowwhatImean}.

Annie's Team

Look at those pointed toes ;)

It was such a fun routine to watch!

Here's my sis, Annie, with her son, Jaymes.

{Incidentally that's Sierra, my niece~ Sadie, and older sister Heidi behind them}

Jaymes may or may not have gotten into the chocolate . . .

Kam stayed busy for about a minute and a half with Gramps' shoe laces.

Cleanin' up.

After a long weekend of water-drinkin' and health food eatin' {and dancin' your boot off!} you have to have a treat! Pizza and soda all around ;) And, oh yeah, did I mention my parents hosted my sister and her entire team? {and a few extras?} They did. 'Cuz my parents are super cool like that.

And the best part? Cousins getting to spend time together. Is this the sweetest? Kenners and Jaymes are best pals. It's too cute!

That was our weekend. Whew, it was a long one! What about y'all? How did you spend yours?

Valentine's Day ~ What a difference a year makes!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Kam's first Valentine's Day ~ February 14, 2009

A year later :)

It's almost Valentine's Day! I'll admit, I'd never been a big fan of the holiday. I didn't dislike Valentine's Day, but I certainly didn't get excited about it. But over the last few years this holiday has come to grow on me. I mean, really, how can you not like a day that's devoted to love and hearts and pink froufy stuff? {And let's not forget cookies and chocolate! Mmmm cookies. And chocolate.}

So, we've been baking.

And decorating.

And yay me! I found something to do with the {many} pounds of M&Ms left over from Kameryn's birthday! {You know, besides eating them myself, one by one.}

And since I will eat each and every cookie in the house all by myself, it was necessary to gift some of the cookies we baked. {You're welcome, Dad.}

We've been busy making Valentine's cards too. You know, I think this is the first year we've made our own. And it was fun. I found the most adorable idea on The Maternal Lens for super cute Valentine's cards. We sent them off yesterday ;)

Cute, right? The girls loved decorating them and choosing who to send them off to. Such fun! I'm beginning to LOVE this holiday!

What kinds of pink fluffery heart activities have y'all been up to?

And, is time totally getting away from you too? Ugh, I don't know where the days go!

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday ~ Valentine Outtakes

We have been playing around with pictures to use for our Valentine cards. As you can see, the girls got a little . . . giggly. And Kenners was a goof-ball! Here are just a few of our outtakes.

i heart faces ~ We ♥ Kisses

This week's theme at i heart faces is We ♥ Kisses.

Well, we love kisses around here too! You may remember this photo from a little while back. {I actually "kissed Kam to sleep". Yes, that's right. Little Kameryn loves kisses so much that if you kiss her lightly, and she's already pretty sleepy, she'll drift right off to dreamland!} I had to share it again for this photo challenge ~ it's one of my favorites!

Want to take a gander at more smoochie smooches? Check out iheartfaces, whydon'tcha!

Real Life

Real life has been kinda busy lately, which has left little time for blogging.

I had great plans for fun Valentine's activities and crafting with the girls, but life has definitely gotten in the way. Stomach bugs, teething issues, appointments, school, have all kept us hopping.

We did manage to make these cute foam and tissue paper hearts last week. If you're looking for an easy project to do with your sugarplums, this is great. {Though if they are real little, they may need a lot of help}.

You'll need some craft foam {or construction paper}, tissue paper {cut into small squares}, a pencil {for shaping the tissue paper}, glue, a hole punch, and ribbon.

Cut the foam or construction paper into the shape of a heart. Slather with glue ;) Wrap each piece of tissue paper around the end of a pencil and place close together on the heart until it is covered. Punch two holes for ribbon, and hang.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kam has been pretty happy to be using utensils at meals. She keeps a spoon in one hand while using the other hand to feed herself, ha! It is the cutest. And messiest.

I keep her in her jammies until after breakfast. Otherwise we'd be changing clothes about 10 times per day.

This is where we wind up after meals. It's a must after smearing apple sauce and oatmeal throughout our hair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We've been busy with school. I'm so proud of Sierra. She's mastered carrying and borrowing, and we've just started on multiplication. And she doesn't think she's good at math!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today we made a trip to Target to birthday shop for my Mother-in-law. Is it just me or does Makenna look so grown up in this picture???

All my girls are growing so fast! Kenners will be 5 in just a couple of weeks. Sigh.

Sierra helped me pick out birthday cards. Choices, choices.

And she found a pot holder for our aunt. {She just sent the girls Valentine's packages, and Sierra wants to send something to her in return}. Sierra is one of the most giving people I know. Usually when we're at Target {or Joann's or anywhere else that has $1 bins} the girls get to choose one or two things. Sierra always chooses a gift for someone else. Always.

And Kenners chose this must-have. A neck pillow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been busy, I tell ya. What have y'all been up to?