Lately Part 1

Anybody have those moments where you feel like you have come through a blur and crazy and you can finally look back? Well, that is where I have been since February. I kept thinking things would calm down. They really have not. Finally I think they have. Anthony and I have just had a lot of projects looming over our head. Moving everybody's room minus ours was like packing and moving. Between that, Anthony's surgery, Ari tongue tie release, sick kids, finishing school, and Anthony and I leading a Connecting Group at church it has been a little nuts! Finally I could kind of reflect this week and look back.

I admittedly have just been editing photos in order. There are a lot of the babies. Truthfully Eli may not even be in any of these pictures. It is a blur and just quick photos when I could grab them. Regardless Summer break is in full swing here! We are loving a more relaxed pace,  designated day for deep cleaning, more blogging, more photography, more sewing, and more just breathing and living in the moment. I have been in a photography slump for going on two maybe even three years. My creativity has just been maxed by life. This weekend I pulled out my camera a lot. I did this after looking through albums with the kids. I forgot how much I loved it. I was getting so annoyed with everybody at first. I had to breath and just think how did you use to do this? You watched and waited for the moment. Go back to that. Don't rush it. It made a world of a difference. Consequently I have over 500 photos just to go through just form this weekend. It was kind of exciting. 

So Lately........

 First Spaghetti

They finally got brave and began climbing the stairs. This is awesome for my feet and back. It is not so awesome when people leave the stairway door open and I run out to ask where the girls are. Thankfully their room is upstairs. Regardless we have to be very careful as the stairs are very steep and narrow. They are over 100 years old when everything just went straight up apparently. I loved this in black and white, but couldn't get rid of the rainbow carpet. We have flooring sitting to replace these. It is a big project though as all the lathe has to come down. Deep down even though it is terrible I want to keep it. The kids have all loved it from the time they were little and I kind of like it. It is one of those funny quirks about this house. 

The Magnolia tree bloomed and as usual it was beautiful. They lasted a lot longer this year than usual which was nice. Every year I long for that Macro lens while doing these. I should quit buying fabric and I could buy one.

Ari has taken a keen interest in piano lessons. Many times we have to kick him off the piano. It is actually a welcome thing when he gets crazy.

The girls usually play together if the other kids ban them from Legos or their rooms. Many times tears happen, but they have each other.

They can frequently be found with Eli on the couch or chair. He is playing with them, reading to them, or telling stories. He adores them just as much as they adore him.

Mother's Day! I really had no expectations for Mother's Day. It is probably a good thing I didn't. Anthony was very sick and so I got to do what I do everyday take care of everybody. I did get breakfast in bed and some really great homemade gifts plus fabric. Originally I thought I would do a nice portrait with them all, but then I decided to do a realistic one of the day. I am glad I did. Tired and all. This is my crew with all their personalities shining through.

Speaking of mothers.....this girl things she is the girl's mom too. Regardless she is a great help and these photos just make me smile. Doo adores her.

Since it is warm I hear every day.... "Can we play in the water. Can we have a popscicle?" Gotta be honest it gets really old. Finally I gave up and it is a perpetual thing. The girls have been missing out so I grabbed a pot of water and let them play one day. They loved it. We have since done it several times. It keeps them entertained for a good 30 minutes at least.

I'm leaving with the yellow car. This car is a good containment area. They don't even know I am keeping them hostage which is rather nice. 

Now I get to go clean my house very well! Thankfully we have been keeping up on it so it should not take too long. Big families are so worth it, but the mess. Oh the mess! There is ALWAYS something to clean and usually you clean only for it to be dirty 2 hours later. The good news is all the laundry is folded. That rarely happens! At this point I will take the small victories, because one day I know I will miss this! 

Skin Care Week 2-Feature Friday

I meant to have this posted before the Holiday weekend began, but we spent the day at the zoo so finally I am getting this done. For a recap. Last Friday I talked about my skin issues and some new products I am using. You can click here and catch up. I also will be featuring something new next week. I will do a quick recap of how my skin is doing, but a new product will be featured and it won't have anything to do with skin. I have a list I can't wait to get through this summer.


So how is my face doing? That is the question. Are these LimeLight By Alcone products really that great and are they helping me? I can honestly say YES!!

Before I get to actual photos without make up, here is a photo with make up. To the right is what my face looked like before and the left is after a week of using the products. While there is some blotchy areas. I will tell you my face is so much more smooth. I also only used powder where before I was having to apply some concealer and foundation. I would rather not use either, but sometimes I need that. Either way, I think it shows how far it is coming. Yes, the lighting is different. One day was cloudy and I am sure it may make a difference, but I know my skin looks better. It is smoother and that is the first battle. The blotchy areas will take time to heal like any scar.

My routine at this point is using Dream Clean  in the morning and before bed. I really love this cleanser. It does not have a very huge aroma, but still smells nice. It foams as you put it on your face. It doesn't dry my skin, but feels like it actually cleans. 

Every other night I have used the Masque Of Zen. I have to say this might actually be my favorite! Seriously I LOVE it. It smells so good. It has cinnamon bark in it and I feel that really brings some oxygen to my face. If I didn't think it would dry out my skin I would use it every night because I love the way it feels. Moderation though. I think the best story I can say about this is it draws the junk out. I have had what I thought was a skin tag on the side of my nose. I gave up on it being a pimple literally 3 years ago. I used this the first day and my nose began hurting on the side. I went into the bathroom trying to figure it out. Well long story short no TMI that skin tag was a very deep pimple and it is gone. It is no longer there. That is one thing I have noticed this draws the junk out and I love it.

In the morning and evening I also use the Skin Therapist for a moisturizer. This has been great. It is not greasy. It does a great job. My big issue is I could get the acne cleaned up and then I would get dry skin. It was no good. This has fixed that. It is light, but does a great job.

I still have some healing to do. My acne scars are going to take a bit to clear up and the skin to heal, but my skin is looking so much better after a week. Here are the photos from this week.

Since Lighting can be funky here is a video. I will also link last weeks video so you can get a true comparison. 

Here is the first video...

In the interest of full transparency. Here is a screenshot of the photos and video I took yesterday so you can see it has been a full week like I did last week. I was testing fitting for shirts I sewed and then today's pictures from the zoo.

 I anticipate as the weeks go by it improving. At this point I do not have many little white heads everywhere. Right now it is about healing the acne scars. I can't wait to see where it goes. If you are having skin issues and have tried so many products like I have I highly suggest trying them. They really are not that expensive for what you get in my opinion and I like to  pinch pennies. My dear friend Chelsea at The BareFoot Beauty  can definitely get you started. She also is not going to recommend 5 different steps which is huge for this Mom right here not only on my time and budget.

My  house is finally clean and  organized. I have been using my camera more, and I have more time. So next week I will probably be back to blogging more about our daily lives along with some of my favorite products. Have a fabulous weekend! I know we will. 

Feature Friday-Let's Talk Skin Care

It has taken me a couple weeks to see how I wanted part of this space to change and finally I have something I hope to continue. We finally have everybody's room moved around. Unfortunately I lost my big desk and big room for sewing and editing. Consequently those things are taking a back seat. The room is small and hot and well I just have been too tired to go there, but I am really excited to start this series and hope to keep it going. Every Friday I hope to feature a favorite product of mine or something new I am trying. This could be from beauty to kitchen tool.

So this Friday I am talking skin care!! Let me give you some back ground. I have a good friend that I can relate to so much. She has 5 kids, two being twins. She is very into natural things like I am. She is the sweetest person, but not afraid to speak her mind. She and I are very much on the same wave length the majority of the time. She approached me a couple months ago about doing a party for a company she was joining. I was pretty shocked as she has a very successful Younique business. At the time I turned it down. I truly was just busy and right now I couldn't commit to more parties and events. Fast forward a bit and I see her go live on Facebook. Her skin is amazing. She fills us in on everything and wow I was intrigued.

This brings me to the second part of the back story. I have always had pretty great skin. No sever acne in highschool. I would have break outs, but they were not constant and not terrible. I sold Mary Kay for a time and loved the skin care, but honestly I found after a bit water and a wash cloth just worked the best for me. It was economical and after Anthony and I were married we pinched pennies for many years. A couple times while pregnant I had some rough skin, but it cleared up. Fast forward to getting pregnant with the twins. My skin was horrendous. My cheeks had constant acne. I thought for sure after I delivered and my hormones leveled out it would go away. Through this time I was adamant about using very natural products. I did too. They just were not working. I used Trim Healthy Mama Naturals products. If you know me you know I love Trim Healthy Mama, so this was a perfect fit. The ingredients are great and truly, I would still recommend them for pure natural you can eat them kind of things. They are fairly affordable too. I think one jar of lotion would last me 6 months. Unfortunately it was not working. Anthony noticed and he would ask why is your face still breaking out? Normally he does not notice anything like that so I knew my face was bad. Any of my research pointed to gut issues. It still very well could be my gut, but I can't do more. I  know the antibiotics from my c section and also the ones I was on for the infection after killed my gut. I know this because of the intense sugar cravings I had beat for two years. I also know it can take years for your body to fully recover from an antibiotic. I truly am doing all those things. I take a probiotic. I drink Kiefer no sugar, and Kombucha. I eat a no or low sugar diet. I also did a slow liver detox to flush out hormones. I can't do too much as I still am nursing the girls. I just boosted it basically with dandelion root, milk thistle, and lemon water. It still has done nothing. That is when I began looking at different things. I looked at Beauty counter. I looked at Rodan and Fields. I looked at several other companies. Meanwhile my dear friend was still posting these wonderful live videos of makeup and skin care. She was pulling me in.

Two months ago I took the time to message her and find out what she suggested. Here is what I loved!! It sold me. Her response was you don't need a ton. WAIT! WHAT?!? A company rep telling me I don't need 5 different products. I was kind of baffled. So she gave me an idea. I calculated it out. I could definitely afford it out of my personal spending budget for the month. Here is where the fabricholic comes in. I had to budget my personal spending even more because there is always fabric to buy! LOL Truly I am on personal fabric ban of my own choice, but that is a completely different story! Regardless I was determined to try it. I just had to save some money. I also decided through this I would document it. I can't be the only person that deals with skin care issues. Plus I don't work for the company. I wanted unbiased views. So I am bringing that to you. Here comes the disclaimer. My friend is also opening a brand for herself. I love her just for this reason. She is a go getter like me and if you knew everything she did plus what she is going to be doing soon you wouldn't believe she gets it done, BUT she does! So back to my disclaimer. She was looking for some Reps for her brand. It would allow for a discount on products, but not just for skin care/make up. More is coming. So yes, I do get a discount for this. I would still do it whether I got a discount or not as I was planning for something similar. Every week is not going to be skin care or make up. I probably will only get anything from these reviews meaning a discount when or if I purchase things.

Yesterday I took pictures before I began using my product that arrived. So here they are.

First let me show you what my face looked like last month. This was 3 weeks into using a store acne treatment. It is still terrible. This is also under make up. Now, as you know I know my way around Photoshop so I definitely photo shopped it out. You know what I have no problem doing that. Some may say it is body shaming and be happy with it. That is fine, for me personally I am not happy with it. I have never had this problem and so I don't like it mind the fact my skin is sore. So something has to be done. This is also the first time I have done this to my personal photos. I also rarely did it to clients unless they asked. So it isn't like I make this a huge part of my routine, but for my comfort level I did. Now I am putting it all out there so I probably don't care as much. I'm pretty low maintenance these days when it comes to make up. I just don't have the time. It works for me. I don't do my brows, I don't like to wear foundation or cover up, although some times I do. I very rarely wear any lip color. I just like a natural look minus bright red cheeks from acne and an acne forehead. If I can't do my makeup in five minutes it isn't happening! This may change, but probably not.

The edit didn't even completely remove it, because I wasn't spending hours on these. LOL This is my edit.

This is straight out of camera minus cropping which the other was also cropped.

These are yesterday's photos. I just used my phone camera. I could have grabbed the tripod, but honestly I knew this would get done if I just used my phone.





Here is a video, as sometimes light can change things. Yes, I look lovely in the mornings, but hey real results here and real reviews are my goals here. This is also after faithfully using for a month and half the Yes to Tomatoes acne kit. It worked a little bit, but not great.

Since I am all about true results and dates, here is a screenshot showing I took these yesterday. Sometimes it is hard to believe photos, so I like proof. Yes, in my skeptical research of most everything I like all the facts. I am trying to provide that.

Now to the good things. The products I am trying and hoping will work along with the wonderful lady that is helping me. The Company  is LimeLight by Alcone . The wonderful lady is Chelsea. Her new brand page is The Barefoot Beauty . If you are at all interested at any point she can help you.

These are the 3 things I am using.

Cleanser-Dream Clean

Moisturizer-Skin Therapist

I also am adding a mask for the first time in my life. This was not necessary, but Chelsea recommended it. I thought it sounded perfect so I added it.
Masque of Zen

As a bonus Chelsea sent me some lipstick. I normally do not wear lipstick. She nailed the color and seriously I love it. It doesn't smell funny. It stays on pretty long. It is very creamy and I probably will purchase more in the future. I NEVER buy lipstick. I like it that much. She did an awesome job of picking a color that was not crazy and very subtle for me. 

The other thing she sent was some body cream. Funny story, in my low maintenance attitude I do not take care of my nails. I am the first to admit they look horrible and I don't care. Half the time the length drives me crazy so I bite them. I never even use to have fingernails that grew until I began Trim Healthy Mama and healed my body. When I was single and well cared more I did go get acrylics, but now I don't care. It drives Anthony CRAZY! My hands look horrendous. They always are red at the cuticles. I never push them back. They look horrible. I wish I had a picture but I don't. Ask my husband he will tell you. One week of using this body cream https://www.limelightbyalcone.com/chelseacarey/product/LLSCCC?category=Body and I am sold! Yes I love it that much. Doubt I take any better care of my cuticles or do my nails BUT my hands look better.

Next week I will have an updated pictures of my face and more on the thoughts about these products. I will say one day in and my face does look better. I absolutely love them so far. I want to give it 6 weeks for sure before I say I am sold, but so far I am happy. We will see if it really does clear up my skin like I hope. Have a fabulous weekend! 

SCHOOL'S OUT

That title should be followed with rows of exclamation points! Really truly I am SOOO glad. I probably will post some more of this year's school struggles. The fact is we finished and we finished well! Exams were done today and Eli did so well. Every exam time I am amazed at how much he remembers and hasn't done a single worksheet, studied one bit, or written a single thing. It is all listening and telling it all back to me. Who would have guessed! Either way we are done. 

Some things that have made the past couple months a little crazy! 

Ari had his tongue tie released. His lisp was not getting better even with practice etc. We did it and I WISH I would have done it at birth. I truly have a completely different child. He still has Ari moments, but he is doing so much better. His lisp is practically gone too. We practice every day.

In case you haven't figured out I got behind on my 365 and I am not catching up. I will probably begin again for May. For now you just get a hodge podge. 

We finally got all the furniture for the homeschool room. The boys had a blast putting it all together. I need to add another bookshelf plus organizing, but we are loving our new space. Consequently have the battle of the crazy right now is the fact we are in the middle of moving rooms for all the kids so the babies have their own room. School takes a lot of my time and so it has been an ongoing project that still isn't done. 

We had some snow. Still not much, but I couldn't keep these boys inside.

Lots of Star Wars music thanks to Eli's birthday present. The babies now walk around humming the imperial march. 

Some sick days, ironically we have sick kids again. 

Walking babies AKA tornadoes that are into everything. 

A black eye. She fell down the stairs with Lilliana. Thankfully she was ok. 

Lots and Lots of outside time now that the weather is nicer. 

Sunglasses and curls for days. 

Now, hopefully I can get this house in order. Lots of spring cleaning planned for the next couple of weeks along with organizing. Who am I kidding. I'll get half of my goals done I am sure.