The Best Make-up

I cannot believe that I- of all people- am giving make-up advice, but I can see from my post earlier today that some of you need the info. I am absolutely hooked on Bare Escentuals mineral make-up. Ok, and the lip gloss (color= Dolly, looks great on everyone). I started using it several years ago and was instantly sold- I was getting regular facials at the time (before I was a mom, of course) and my facial girl couldn't believe the difference it made in my skin either!  I have gotten so many people hooked on this stuff, even my mom is a believer! (Bare Escentuals marketing folks- I wear faily light- you might wanna send me some freebies as kick-backs! LOL!)
All joking aside- I have never been a make-up wearer, but this is a loose powder that you apply with a fancy brush and swirl it around until it isn't noticeable. I cannot even tell that I have make-up on, it is light and smooth. I literally wear it almost every day, even on weekends because I know it is good for my skin and has SPF 15. I also highly recommend the "skin rever-upper" or whatever it is called, it is some kind of moisturizer with minerals in it that I swear by. 
So Girls- get yourself down to the local Sephora ASAP and have them set you up with a color- I suggest getting the starter kit- it is a good deal and gets you some OK brushes too. My last bit of advice- use the color the ladies tell you to get. I was just in there last week (when I scored the cool brush) and had them check out my color for the 10th time probably. My mom couldnt believe that I was wearing a color darker than her- I had picked it out myself because I thought I needed a darker color for the summer. Turns out that even in July my skin is super fair and the girl recommended "fairly light" for me- the same color the previous 9 consultants had recommended.

Happy Shopping!!

Juice box holder

I  am looking for a juice box holder that wont allow her to squeeze the box and make a mess in the car. I haven't seen them at stores- but found a few on Amazon- seems a little pricey, I think. Anyone have these? Any advice?

Love this make-up brush

I am a big fan of Bare Escentials make-up and I scored this brush the other day. It is small enough to carry around in your purse, and you can fill it with your make-up color. I just have to twist it open and swipe it on. Some of the online complaints at Sephora were that it didn't apply very much make-up- but that is what I like about it, it doesn't dispense very much powder at a time. I am trying to be better about applying sunblock to my face multiple times a day (basically before I go outside) and this is going to be a big help- my make-up is SPF 15. It is on sale at Sephora for only $14 and comes filled with make-up. Great product!

Grandma V

Beerfest 2010

So, my camera isn't working the best (in addition to my jacked-up laptop) and I was having too much fun to take pictures. It is disappointing, but I don't have many pictures of my mom's visit. She was here for 10 days and we had a great time- we went to beer fest, a big party at friend's, Jazz in city park, and the zoo to name a few excursions. Lauren was sick and had fevers for about 5 days, so it was nice to have my mom to help out- but i felt bad that Lauren wasn't fully herself.

One of the cutest things- my mom would play "you are my sunshine" to Lauren on her harmonica (which she keeps in her purse). Lauren kept grabbing my mom's purse and asking her for "sunshine, sunshine". Lauren would dance and play her maraca or homemade tambourine- it was super cute. She even tried to play her harmonica that Grandma V had bought her last year. Such great memories :) (PS: blogger is messed up. I cannot delete the duplicate pictures of the funny characters, and I cannot add the other photos I want to add. After 3 days of trying to post this- i am just going to post it this way)

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She kinda looks Amish, doesn't she?

Grandmafest 2010- Karen

So, I am really late with these posts, we have had visitors galore for the month of July. Jeff's mom was here and then my mom was here for 10 days... so I had more fun things to do than play on the computer. Also- my laptop has been giving me some trouble lately.

When Karen was here we went to WP for the weekend and got to play in some parks, hit the rodeo, and learned about the cool car shopping carts (see previous post).

Little drummer girl

I dont know why this is sideways- something happened when I sent it from my phone. But she sure is an aggressive drummer, isn't she?? She was eating Oreo cookies...

Arkansas Trip

OK, as promised - what did Lauren and I do in Arkansas last month? Well, we went to visit my dad and his wife Donna, and also my step-sister Catherine and her family. Catherine has 3 sweet children, all of whom were so welcoming and happy to meet their cousin Lauren. My brother also drove down from Wisconsin to spend the weekend with us. It was a great time, and we have many, many beautiful pictures. Catherine took some great 18 month shots of Lauren that I cannot wait to frame, and also pictures of all the kids together. It was sweltering hot and humid, and Lauren is about as tolerant of the heat as her mommy- she would turn bright red and get a little sluggish, so the poor thing did better playing indoors. Grandma and Grandpa had a big wheel and barbie dolls- both are new playthings for Lauren and she loved them. The best part was playing with her cousins- the older two doted on Lauren and carried her around. Her 3 year old cousin called her "baby" and was very sweet as well. Lauren was a bit shy, but liked to watch and take it all in. On Saturday we went to a family cook-out for Catherine's daughter's birthday. They had 2 pools- a big one and a baby pool, a trampoline and fireworks at the end of the night. Whew- What a day! On sunday we went to their little church, and then home for more playing and a big family breakfast together. It made me so sad to leave, the one big thing we are missing in our lives is family nearby and it always makes me sad to get a taste of what we are missing out on.

Birthday Party

18 month pictures

Thanks so much to Catherine for taking these fantastic pics of Lauren. There are many more- and all so beautiful!!

The Car

Lauren's new car- was a hand-me-down from our friends. She LOVES it, and has been riding all over town in this car. When she is a little more coordinated, the floor comes out and she can pedal it around herself. Too cute!