My Year with Ipsy Glam Bags

When I first started the blog I shared with you guys my obsession with subscription boxes... 

At that point I had already been with one called Ipsy and  had my eye on a few more as well which you can check out here.

I have now been with Ipsy for a full year and I don;t plan on dropping the monthly script anytime soon... 

Here's why?

Number one is I REALLY look forward to the pink package in the mail box every month...

for me it is like Christmas! 

 Plus I get a SUPER cute bag every month and if you know me on a personal level you know that this has been an OBSESSION of mine since I was younger... 

damn it the cuteness!

 Over the last year this is what I have raked in with the subscription and if you really think about the quality and the quantity of what you get each month you are really saving money with them! 

 I also LOVE make up brushes and thanks to ipsy I have been able to work on adding to my collection!

 Plus what girl doesn't just LOVE to smell amazing! 

These adorable little bottles do just that!

 A blushing babe is always a must for me... since I am the half a shade of a marshmallow especially in the winter a little color to my face is a must have...

 Blending and eyebrows are the point of perfection on any gals face and luckily I was able to get new and professional grade tools to keep both of these points in shape.

 Ipsy really nailed it with their choices in nail polish brands and colors. 

Though I am not HUGE on painting my fingers you won't see me with out my toes looking color-rific :)

 Keeping my hair healthy is important since I color it so often and with these products I can do just that on a dime :)

 Beautiful skin is a well beautiful thing! 

Ipsy has showered me with amazing products to do JUST that.

 As a busy mom of three, plus the wolf pack at our door and me always on the run, when I do take the time to apply makeup I damn sure don't want to waste it. Ispy apparently heard my cries and hooked me up with these amazing bases and finishers! 

 My favorite place to make a statement with my make up is my eyes. 

As you can tell thanks to the style questions ipsy asks you when you join they know this too and this is the biggest "category" I have gained with them and I LOVE it! 

 I have never been a huge lipstick or lip gloss person but I do think that it is a MUST for certain looks or occasions.  There are a few WOW colors but they have been great about mixing it up and also sending sheer, nudes, and lip balms for my plain jane lip self...

 If you are a make up enthusiast, lover, junkie, new to the game or whatever your make up status is try it out! 

You simply follow this link and sign up!  

Earn points every month and cash them in for FREE products! 

You will love it too! 

Are you an ipsy gal?

Meet the Wolf Pack

One of my favorite things about the "new" place is because we

have such a close knit neighborhood... 

Though our wolf pack grows and shrinks on a regular basis the core of the wolf pack has stayed in tact since day one.

We are all very close and I LOVE IT!

Our hoe has always been the hang out for the kids and though this can sometimes be overwhelming I know in years to come I will look back at this as some of the best memories that the girls and I have as a family. 

So with out further ado....

Here they are (no special order) 

Tyson

(the one to the right)

Tyson is the oldest of the pack and I am grateful that he has the big brother status not only to his three younger sisters but to the rest of the pack as well. They all watch Tyson in awe and LOVE when he is spending time with them!

 Lanie (L) and Aaliyah (R)

These two...

They are besties and to say the least are VERY close! 

They do everything together and though these two get on each others nerves it only takes about 5 minutes before they are over it and back to being attached at the hip. 

Lanie is a little older than Aaliyah but they are in the same grade and inseparable.
I am blessed that Aaliyah has been able to have such a close friendship at such a young age. I feel these too will be friends for life and I am blessed to be like a second mother to her and her sisters. 

 Ashton (top), Summer (L), Thalia (M) and Kara (R)

These are our newest additions to the wolf pack. Ashton is with the middle school girls. then Summer and Kara are with the elementary girls and then there is our sweet Thaila who started her own "section" of the pack.
Though they haven't been here long they have come to fit in well and keeps things interesting and helps keeps our friend drama up :)
Not because our crew NEEDED the help :)

Raelyn:

Another daughter I have adopted in the mix.

Raelyn is the bestie to Alora and sister to Tyson, Lanie and Emmalee.

Raelyn is so much fun and reminds me a lot of my lifetime bestie Mia. 

Though her and Alora seem to be the core of drama these two have each others backs. 

They have been inseparable since last year and I am so honored to have her in Alora's life... now if the drama would come down about a 1000 notches this mamma wouldn't enjoy wine as much I am sure :) 

Alora

Alora has quickly earned my wild child title and since Middle School started I have been dumb founded by some of her stunts. 

I am thankful that I am so close to her best friends mom and we can work these things out together and aren't afraid to lecture them as a team. 

Alora and Raelyn are SOOOOO much like and my friendship with my bestie that I know these too are officially serving life together! 

Dakota:
Dakota and Tyson are the same age and though they get along and count each other as a friend they aren't super close.
Dakota kinda stand on her own and socializes when she is ready. She has always been my "keep to myself" girl but she does enjoy the company. She is a huge help with me keeping the pack in order and she usually plays mamma when needed.

Emmalee

Em is by far the youngest in the pack. She joined us last year on Alora's birthday as we all sat here at the house anxiously awaiting her arrival! 

We always joke about sharing Em's happiness because it is a rare day that this little shorty is in a mood. She is always happy, smiling and cheering us up when we need it most. 

Our favorite part... NO DRAMA, NO TALKING BACK and NOTHING BUT SMILES :) 

I am super excited to see where her personality will go when she gets older and how her role will be in the pack but what ever it may be we are good with waiting it out and enjoying this stage... 

We all know TOO well how FAST it goes! 

Do your kids have a lifetime group of friends? 

Eat My Catfish

In yesterday's blog  I had mentioned that while we were out on our walk Sunday afternoon we stopped and finally tried a local restaurant called Eat My Catfish. If you are a Benton native then you know that this is a staple to the community and a must for your dinning pleasure... of course we are a bit slow and after 4 and a half here's here we jumped on the band wagon and checked it off on your "Benton Bucket List" and grabbed a bite to eat.

Ant is not the type to "throw" away money on new places and he is very "classic" when it comes to food selection... I call it picky of course... I on the other hand LOVE to try new places and foods so it takes a bit of convincing to get the hubby on board for food adventures and we finally got him to say yes!

 We all ordered something different:

Dakota and Aaliyah got their catfish and Alora snagged the crawfish...

Ant ordered the chicken fingers (see classic) and I tried their shrimp.

 Excuse the girls faces in the pictures... they were ALL about their food...

We were very pleased with their food and the portions that were served.

Plus we all sampled from each others plates and towards the end of the meal I think Aaliyah and Dakota ate more of Alora's crawfish then she did. 

Crawfish was the conversation piece for the rest of the day. 

Anthony and I were pleased with the price and we spent less than $40 for the whole deal and that was great considering we have a family of 5. 

If you are local you should check out their Facebook page.

If I was a food critic I would give them a 5 out of 5 and we will be back for sure. If you are a local you need to check it out if you haven't already!

Our Weekend Recap

For once it looks like that rodent was right and spring will be early this year. We have had some beautiful days here lately and the fact that we have only had one snow day this winter I am a happy camper.

 This weekend's weather was perfect and thanks to mother nature's kindness we were able to get some time outside and spend some quality family time, since soon I will be venturing back to the overnight working world.

 Saturday after the hubby got home from work we got out and about to so our usual Saturday errands and made a stop at our local Hasting's.

We are a sucker for good movies not only as an at home date night but also as quality time with our girls.

Hasting's always has great deals on used movies and they even to this day offer the old school "video" rental that we are known to take advantage of on a regular basis. 

This weekend was no exception as we rented Black Mass and The 33 plus we snagged The Iron Giant and the 2013  version of Godzilla to add to our collection and only spent a whole $4 on both!

I don't know why but for some odd reason we always tend to watch the movies we buy first versus the rentals and there was no exception to the unwritten "law", because the rest of the evening was kicking back at home and watching Godzilla and then The Iron Giant...

On Sunday the hubby and I got up and deep cleaned the house. This has came to be a routine around here and it is nice that we spend one day as a family to get together and clean. Though I maintain the house during the week it is usually just that maintaining but the deep cleaning always gets put on the back burner with things that happen though out the day. 

After we got the house cleaned we rounded up our girls and took about a 3 mile walk around town. Of course us girls suckered Ant to treat us to lunch on our adventure and we finally tried a local favorite called "Eat My Catfish". I will share more about our experience there this week. 

After we filled our bellies we drug ourselves home and spent the afternoon watching the kids play in the yard and starting working on our over flowing  burn pile... 

As the afternoon became cooler we came in doors had dinner and  the hubby and I sat down to enjoy one of the rentals and opted that Black Mass had to be the first must watch! 

If you are a Johnny Depp fan this is one not to miss. His skills awe me in every movie he has been in and this one did not disappoint. 

This is going to be a busy week for us but I plan on not forgetting you guys :) 

See you soon! 

Turning a HOUSE into OUR HOME ; The Yard: Phase One

One thing I REALLY love about our place is that we can do what we want to make it fit our style, needs and most importantly make it our own... 

We have SEVERAL projects started here and there but a lot of the things that we are doing now is "blank canvasing" areas that we will re do when we have more time and money. 

The weekend before that is a perfect example...

When we moved in the yard has some MAJOR greenery and though it is beautiful they were all untainted, overgrown and honestly I didn't really like them... 

I have always had the theory when it comes to yards that less is more.

BUT here is the kicker...

I am not in charge of the yard and how it looks lol

When the hubby and I met we agreed the inside was mine to decorate, have final say etc and outside, garages, building etc were for him to have the same...

Front of the house before.... 

I did convince him some how to pull ALL of that greenery up and it came to look something like this...

Not only does the house not only look bigger but it had already helped with the yard looking cleaner in it's self! 

We have not came up with an official plan for this area but I think a beautiful porch or deck would be amazing... hmmmm...

What I REALLY love though about projects like these though is that everyone gets involved! 

And when I mean everyone I do mean everyone! 

Even our little wolf pack came by and helped! 

You will meet them tomorrow :)

There has been a lot of cleaning up in the yard and there is still SO MUCH MORE to do! 

Stay tuned :)

Our Valentines Weekend Recap PLUS Life Lately

It has been WAY TOOOOO LONG!

First I have to say that I am SO very sorry that I have been majorly MIA here...

I guess that I am NOT doing so hot with my blogging goals so far... does it at least count even a little bit that I DO think about blogging daily...even JUST a little?

Anyways...

As you can see life has been CRAY CRAY on my end... SO much has happened since I last left you with my hair-tastic post....

But lets start with a recap of our Valentines weekend recap shall we?

Friday night the elementary girls came through the door right after school all hyped up... of course because they had their bellies full of valentines candy and goodies from their annual valentines parties but also because this particular Friday meant Valentines Dance AND a the beginning of their three day weekend thanks to today being President's Day...

Friday afternoon I managed to cook dinner and get 4 VERY EXCITED and HYPED up girls ready for their BIG night of dancing...

Wonderful #epicfailrealization came later when it dawned on me I only got ONE out of FOUR of the girls' pictures after they were decked out...

WAY TO GO MOM!

Saturday was pretty laid back around here, we ran errands and went grocery shopping because we all  know how fun that can be...

Saturday night we lined up our kitchen table with Valentine goodies for our loves and on Sunday morning you would have thought it was Christmas in our house!

For our LOVES

From MY LOVE! 

 The rest of the day was filled with our wild child's drama and movies in between. 

So it was a typical day after the spoiling of gifts :)

Today all the kiddies are home and since it is wet and rainy out I plan on overhauling some rooms that are in desperate need of some deep cleaning with hopes the rain will let up long enough to get a photo sesh in for my sister and her babies...

As for where we have been?

Here is a quick recap... 

Prepare for pic over load!

Aaliyah had to have a tooth taken out on the fly... no more crowns for this princess! :)

We have been bargain shopping like mad over here :) 

We squeezed in a girls day!

 I am working on a new home decor project... which usually takes a day... has been a WEEK and counting :/

The hubby tried his FIRST ever cinnabon!

Of course I updated my chalkboard for Cupid's holiday!

 A friend of ours was murdered at the age of 20. He had just recently graduated from High School and had his WHOLE life in front of him... I have known Trevon since he was about 12 or 13 years old and he was like a son to me. My heart and mind has been very numb over the whole ordeal...

Trevon you will be missed dearly and never forgotten!

My prayers and thoughts are with his family and friends. 

I still HEART ipsy!

We are party prepping for Dakota's birthday next month!

A dear friend of Alora's is in the hospital. Today marks day 11...Prayers are with Aiden and his family

With a mild winter we have been able to get out and do some yard work as we work towards making our house our home!

There has BEEN SO much more happen here but I of course can't blog it all! 

What have you all been up too?