Little Girl Dresses

I have several nieces and nephews, but I only get to see two of them on a regular basis.  My nephew and I have a weird relationship.  I am convinced that he hates me.  My two year old niece Lylah, on the other hand, is my heart.  She loves her Aunt Jenn, and it's all I can do not to squeeze her until she pops every time I see her.

My sister always has her wearing the cutest little dresses.  I remember when my girls were little and I bought them the cutest childrens clothing.  I loved putting them in dresses.  Kasi is fifteen now, and refuses to wear skirts or dresses.  Brandi will still wear dresses, as long as she picks them out herself.  She is really into designer childrens clothing, and has a fashion sense all her own. I apparently do not have the same taste as her, because she never really likes what I pick out for her.

I wish my girls were still young enough to wear cute little dresses like the ones I found at Babe & Tess. Click on the link and check out the little mustard colored sundress.  Isn't it adorable?  My girls are too big for it, but my niece would look beyond adorable wearing it.  I found the cutest little bow headband at Pin Pretty that would match the dress perfectly.  Lylah always has a hair bow in her hair to match her outfits.  It's just another thing that makes her adorable.

I hope one day my kids will give me granddaughters.  I can't wait to start buying cute little dresses again.  Of course, if I ever have grandsons, they will be looking stylish too.

Me And My Girls

Clothes For My Girls

I have been doing laundry all day.  The funny thing is, hardly any of it is mine.  Most of it belongs to my ten year old.  She has more clothes than the rest of us combined.  One of these days I have to find the time to go through her closet and her dresser and weed out all the stuff she has outgrown.  I have a friend who I give all her hand me downs to.  In fact, all my kids need to go through their clothes.  And with Christmas coming up, I know they will all get more clothes, so I really do need to get on top of this.  Or better yet, the kids have the week before Christmas off from school, so maybe I'll just get them to do it themselves.

I am sure once all the stuff that no longer fits is gone Brandi will need some new things.  I was checking out the tea collection wesite, and they have some really cute things.  I found this, and I think it would look adorable on Brandi.

For Kasi, this is perfect.

Yeah, if you know my fourteen at all, you know I'm kidding.  Kasi is all about tshirts and jeans.  She wouldn't be caught dead in something like this.  Now, if I was thinner, I would want it for myself!

Pearls

I was married for fifteen years.  (technically I am still married, but that will change soon enough) In those fifteen years, the only piece of "real" jewelry my husband ever gave me, besides my wedding ring set, was a pair of pearl earrings.  They were a Christmas gift one year, and I remember opening them, thinking I would never have anywhere to wear them.  Several weeks later, I put them in to go somewhere, and never took the out.  They were beautiful, and I loved wearing them.  Then one day at work, one fell out somewhere.  I worked fast food, and my boss was worried it had made it's way into someone's burger.  It was actually pretty funny watching her freak out a little.  But, there was never a complaint, so we all assumed it fell out and was swept up with the crumb on the floor.

Those weren't my first pearls, though.  When I was about 18 or so, a very good friend of mine got married.  She asked me to be one of her bridesmaids, and as a gift to each of us, she bought pearl necklaces for us to wear on her special day.  I still have those pearls, too.  Kasi is actually going to wear them when she has a chorus concert, as each girl is required to wear a pearl necklace. 

I think pearl pendants and pearl bracelets make excellent gifts.  As I just said, both of my memories of pearls were started by someone giving them to me as gifts.   I want to be the one to give both of my daughters their first pearls, so I did a little research, and found several pearl jewelry sets.  As soon as I found these pink pearls, I thought of Brandi.  Aren't they beautiful?

 
Of course, she is a little young for them right now, but when she gets a little older, I hope to be able to get them for her.

Clean

Last week, there was a letter stuck in my mailbox from the management office of our apartment complex saying they were doing inspections on Tuesday, and that everyone's apartments needed to be in tip top shape.  Now, we moved into our apartment on May first of this year.  That was four months ago.

My daughters still hadn't unpacked their room.

I said from the beginning that I was not going to do it.  They are both old enough to organize things on their own.  Or so I thought.  This morning, I woke up determined to get their room cleaned so that it would be ready for the inspection.  It took me several hours, but it is finally all unpacked.  As I was cleaning out the boxes from their room, I thought about how much at home carpet cleaning austin would cost, because I was sure their carpet would be a mess.  Thankfully, the carpet was clean.   I will, however, keep http://www.thesteamteam.com/ in mind for the future, because with three kids, I am sure there will be messes that need to be cleaned out of our carpet.

I should have taken before and after shots of the girl's room, because you wouldn't believe how much stuff they had tucked away in their closet.  I ended up taking several tubs of books and dozens of stuffed animals to Goodwill, and I also brought some books to my mom's house.  I found several boxes of VHS tapes, and since we no longer own a VCR, I gave all of them to my ex.  The only thing that mattered to me was that they were out of my house, and my girl's can now walk into their bedroom without tripping over boxes.

An At Home Spa Day With My Girls, Thanks To Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

Last week, I received a basket from Arm & Hammer filled with all kinds of goodies.  Check it out:

It contained all kinds of goodies to help a girl relax.  The candle smells so good, and the tea was delicious.  My daughters and I decided that today would be a spa day, so we broke out the recipe book and started pampering ourselves. 

The first thing we did was make an exfoliating scrub for our feet.  All we had to do was mix 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water.  (for a more exfoliating scrub, they suggest adding brown sugar, which we did)  I ended up adding more water to the mixture, just to make it a little smoother.  This is what it looked like:

Brandi and I soaked our feet in warm water with 2 tbsp baking soda and a few drops of lavender oil added.  The water smelled really good.  After fifteen minutes, Kasi used the scrub on my feet and I used the scrub on Brandi's feet.  We used a soft brush to really work the scrub into our heels, and I have to say, they do feel softer.  Once our feet were rinses, we painted our toenails a bright pink.  Don't they look wonderful?

Once our feet were done, we needed facials.  We made a new batch of scrub following the same recipe, only this time we added oatmeal instead of brown sugar.  Check it out:

My girls let me slather it all over their faces, and then we worked it in gently, rinsing after a minute or two.  I made sure to avoid their eyes, but Brandi ended up getting some in her mouth.  Thankfully, the entire scrub was made with edible ingredients (though they may not taste good!) so I wasn't worried about her tasting some.  Don't they look adorable?

I also learned that there are several other ways to use Arm & Hammer baking soda in your daily beauty routine.  For instance, I had no idea that you could put some baking soda in your hand and dip your toothbrush in it to brush your teeth.  I know they have toothpaste that has baking soda in it, but I had no idea you could use it straight like that.  I wonder how it tastes?  I'll have to try it to find out.  You can also use it as a natural deodorant by dusting it under your arms as needed to feel fresh all day.  Honestly, I'm not sure that I would try this, but it does sound interesting. 

I am happy to say that I enjoyed my day of beauty with my girls.  We may have to make this a monthly thing for the three of us. 

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Arm & Hammer and received a beauty basket to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Happy Halloween!

 We decided to go trick or treating tonight, and found a couple of neighborhoods that were giving out candy.  The rest of the county will be giving it out tomorrow, so my kids lucked into two nights of Halloween.  They got tons of candy tonight, so I'm not even sure they need more, but it will be fun.  We are going with my mom and sister (and my niece and nephew) tomorrow, so that will be fun.

Brandi gave up the witch costume in favor of last years pink fairy costume.  Kasi did the witch thing.  They both wanted glittery make-up, and I think they looked awesome!

I Am Going To Try Again Tomorrow...And The Next Day If I Have To!

Seriously, what is up with my kids?  The rain didn't help this morning, and Ryan and Kasi were still reluctant participants in my picture taking.  Is it so hard to smile nicely for the camera?  (I also hate the Mr.T shirt)

I did get this cute shot of Brandi...the other two flat out refused to have more pictures taken.

What they don't realize is that I am going to whip out the camera every morning until I get the "back to school 2010" picture I want.

The Silly Bandz Have Arrived

The Silly Bandz I ordered last week came in the mail today, and I have to tell you, they are pretty interesting.  The kids wear them on their wrists, and when they take them off, they go back to whatever shape they are supposed to be.  Of course I had to open the package and check them out, and look what I found:

An elephant one!  (it would have been perfect if it had been purple, but oh well)  I know the kids are going to be excited.  I just need to get them separated into piles before they get home and start fighting over them

My New Facebook Profile Picture

Don't you just love it! The girls were bored tonight, so I let them give me a makeover. Kasi did the left side of my face, and Brandi did the right.

I am really digging the three different colors of lipstick!

When they were finished, I did what any good mother would do. I let them take a picture, and I am using it as my facebook profile picture, which most of you probably already know, because you stalk me there as well as here.

I should get some major mommy point for this!

Hair

I cut everyone's hair in my house. Brandi is easy, because she likes her hair long, and all I have to do is trim it. Kasi is a little more difficult, and I have actually agreed to let her go have a professional cut her hair because she is at that age where she wants a "style", and I am not that talented.

The guys are easier. I just use my electric trimmer. Ryan usually lets me buzz his head every other month or so, but Junior is a pain in the butt. I have to beg him for days before he will let me cut his hair.

You see, we disagree on how his beard should be kept. He wants it to grow long, in true ZZTop fashion, and I tell him that if he does, I will divorce him.

I'm not kidding. I do not think that is a good look on anyone.

He is also wanting to grow his hair a little longer. I hate the way that looks, too, because he is going bald. That's right. He has major hair loss , and it is a lot less noticeable when his hair is buzzed short. Now, before you all start yelling at me because I hate my husbands bald head, continue reading. I am not suggesting hair loss treatment, I am just saying that a comb over isn't fooling anyone. I want him to embrace his baldness. I wouldn't care if every hair in his head fell out, as long as he didn't try to hide it with toupee's or comb overs. If he wanted to do hair restoration I would support him 100%.

Now, my hair is easy to cut, too. I like to have it trimmed every other month, and Junior is pretty good at doing it for me. Heck, I even had Ryan do it once. I am not picky. As long as it is straight across the back, I don't care who does it.

The Best Of Friends

I took this picture yesterday morning, on the way to the bus stop. Yes, it is still dark, because we walk down at 6:20ish. Anyway, as you can see, the girls were walking together. They are more than sisters, they are friends, which is weird because I thought with the age difference (4 1/2 years) and the fact that they share a room, they would fight more. But they don't. They not only love each other, they like each other.

And that makes me happy.

A Productive Day

There is a good side and a bad side to everything. The bad side of my life right now is that I no longer have a PR3 on my craft bag, so the opps aren't there anymore. Sure, I still get some over here, but I find that I am no longer a slave to the computer.

The good side of this is that I am spending more time doing other things, like making those signs for my nephew to be, and swimming with the kids.

Today, I decided it was time to clean out the girls closet. I took every single piece of clothing out, and they tried on all of it to see what still fit, and what didn't anymore. I had put up a lot of clothes for Brandi that Kasi wore at that age, and most of it fit her now, so she is set for school, except for maybe some shoes. She likes to wear dresses, and her little black shoes are too small, so she needs a new pair of those. I'm not sure about her sneakers...I'll have to find those and see what kind of condition they are in. We only wear flip flops during the summer, so I have no idea where her sneakers are.

Kasi still fits in most of her clothes. I think at her age she doesn't grow as fast anymore. She probably needs shoes, too, and maybe a couple of pairs of shorts. She has a gift card to JCPenny's that she got for her birthday that she never spent, so maybe we'll check there for shorts.

I also helped Kasi get all the laundry done today, which hasn't happened since they were in school. I have been behind all summer, but now we are caught up.

At least for now!

Blindfolded Makeovers

Kasi had a friend over today, and they decided to do blindfolded makeovers. Basically, one girls puts on a blindfold, and then has to put makeup on the other girls. As you can see, none of it ended up where it was supposed to, but I think that was the point.

They swam for a while, and are now playing LIFE. I love when they have company, because they are so good, and they don't bug me all day.

Games My Girls Play

I have two daughters, and they love to play games on the computer. Brandi, who is seven, loves to play the games where you get to put makeup and clothes on dolls. We were just looking on Girl Games and found a game where you can dress up Zac Efron. We chose his hairstyle and color, his eye color, facial hair, and all of his clothes. Brandi made all the decisions, and look how he came out. She thinks he looks pretty hot.

I don't know how I feel about my seven year old thinking anyone is hot.

I know she is going to go back to this site, and I'm okay with that, although I am not too happy about all the kissing games. It's a good think she is not interested in that kind of thing. I tried out another one of other games, the pizza matchmaking game, and think it is geared more towards my older daughter, who is twelve. Now they both have something new to play.

Father's Day Swimming

I finally posted the rest of the pictures from the weekend over on my picture blog.. We spent most of the afternoon at my dad's house, and the girls got to swim for hours. They were in heaven. i really miss having our own pool, but I don't think we can put one up here. I might get Junior to ask the management company if we can put up one of those blue bubble pools like we used to have, but I'm not sure they will allow it.

Anyway, my dad lives on a lake, so Junior and Ryan spent the day on the dock fishing, and the girls were in the pool. I stayed by the pool, making sure the girls didn't drown. It was nice getting to see my brother and his family. I wish we saw them more often.

Wordless Wednesday ~ 6/17

My girls. Don't they look tired? Well, Boo does. I snapped this picture about 10 minutes ago. I am trying to convince them to go to bed early, if you consider 11:30pm early. They want no part of it, though. They are my little night owls.

My Silly Girls

My beautiful daughters...Kasandra Barbara and Brandi Rose.
They were laying in the grass, being silly.
I love their blue eyes.
I love that they love each other.
I am a lucky girl.

Clue

For the past few nights, I have been playing Clue with the girls. I am trying to teach them all the "secret" ways to win. You know, by going in a room, and guessing only one thing you are missing. Like if I have the study and Miss Scarlet, I would guess them two, and then a weapon I don't have so I can eliminate it. Make sense? Kasi is kinda getting it. Brandi may still be a little young. But, we have fun, and spend time together, and that's really all it's about, anyway.

Feel Better, Mom!

I got these beautiful flowers from my beautiful daughters.

Why?

Because I am beyond sick.

I can't stop coughing...I have no voice!

I can't talk above a whisper.

I have spent all day dozing in bed, which is where I am heading right now.

I just wanted to let you all know that I have read all the comments on my last post, and as usual, you guys rock!

You made me laugh, you made me cry (miss donna!), you showed me the support I needed, and helped me to see what is really important. I am going to respond to it all, maybe tomorrow, when I can think clearly....I am heavily medicated on nyquil right now...and most of you may know that I DO NOT do well with medicine...I will sleep for days....

But, when I am up and around, I will be back!