New Looks!

My sister-in-law and I are both Mary Kay Independent Beauty consultants, and today we thought we'd play around with make-up. We started like this:

We decided to try the smokey eye look - a bold move for me in particular since I generally go for a more natural look.

This is Stacy when we got done:

Although it is very dramatic, I like it and think she can pull it off very well.

Me, well, don't laugh too much. I have some of the most hooded eyes you will ever see, so when they are open you can't even tell I'm wearing make up.

Plus, I'm almost 20 years older than Stacy, so I'm not as smokin' hot as she is in the dramatic make up. Here's a close up of the eyes to let you know that I do indeed have make up on: So, being older is a disadvantage. Heck, you can even see the grey streaks in my hair to frame my face.

Speaking of hair, it's getting cut off tomorrow. I know for many of you getting a hair cut is not a big deal. But for me, I'm going in with this:

And coming out with something just below my chin. I will donate the length. But you've got to know, I'm a bit nervous. Wouldn't you be!

See you tomorrow with a totally new look!

Ice Cream Castles In The Air

Rows and flows of Angel's hair,

Ice cream castles in the air

and feather canyons every where

I've looked at clouds that way. . .

Well, I'm dating myself a bit with that Joni Mitchell reference, but really, that's what it was like last evening. I went out to set some stuff up for a photo shoot this morning, and had to run back in and grab my camera. Glad I did. See what was there:

Speaking of cameras, I'm concerned that mine is going to need replacement soon. The quality of photos is just degrading a bit. I read somewhere that after 10,000 or so shots that can happen, and I'm pushing 17,000 shots on this one. Has anyone else heard that? I know it gets outdated easily because there is always improvements in the digital cameras, but this is more like the photos it takes now are a bit grainier and generally under exposed compared to when I first got it.

Yesterday was a work day at J's school. We were out in the sun quite a bit.

One thing that has always struck me about Petra is that the older kids will include the little ones. This is two of the high school boys (seniors next year, I believe) who hung out with J all afternoon. Nobody told them to, they just initiated "play" with him and let him hang with them. I love that! To me, it shows that the school is doing something right!

Have a great Sunday!

QUOTE!

"I don't want to die of dirt cancer!"

J, May 30th, when contemplating why it would be good to clean the mud from the plastic pitcher he'd used in the garden before we made lemonade in it.

We're Shootin' Arrows!

So, we got the target up and running. That was way back five or six days ago. We've all used it and enjoyed it.

Also this week were lots of work for Andy and I, and tons of reading for J as we went from activity to activity. Throw in a couple of baseball games, some fence building at the school today, and lots of house cleaning, and it was a full week!

Big development coming - I'm cutting off my hair on Monday to donate it to one of the charities. I'm a bit nervous because . . . well, it takes a long time to grow it back out if I want. But, I'm not going super short. Hope I'll like it. Should be cooler for the summer, and look nice for my business activities. Still, I'm a bit nervous. I'll try to get a good photo of it when the deed is done.

Have a great weekend!

We Made It!

Summer is here, evidenced by these two playing outside.

They are building a fort. Should be interesting! She's coming back over today, so we'll see how the fort progresses!

Yesterday J and I decided to make an archery target. We got directions off the internet here: http://www.ehow.com/how_11361_make-archery-targets.html

It is made by layering cardboard, foam and old rug (in our case we substituted old dog bed for the rug because they are of similar weight).

Cut the cardboard:

Line it with foam or carpet:

Continue layering for six to ten inches (we got to 7.5 inches):

Put it in a burlap bag (this was our idea, not in the instructions):

Sew the bag shut:

Then you can use it. Except, it started to rain, so we never got to use it so I don't have a photo of that part. Hopefully today!

J was a huge help in making this. He helped glue and sew, and he took many of the photos of the process. Throughout the whole process he kept saying "This is so fun!" It was a great Mother Son activity.

I also spent some time in my scrap room - while it was raining. It's been a long time since I've done anything more than tags. I caught up on two circle journals, so I'm ready to mail on Tuesday.

And then I did a total scraplift of a page. I mean, really scraplifted since I even used the same line of papers from K&Co. as the original. I did change some things (two photos in the original to one in mine, crystal swirl instead of stitched, different prima flowers, and several other changes). Here is the result:

It was fun to get back into scrapping some. Life is so busy, but I hope to set aside an evening a weekend to do some and keep from getting too rusty.

Have a great Memorial Day!

Has it really been a month?

Ugh! Embarrassment!

Flaky blogger here! So sorry about that! I'll try to make up for it with some photos and more frequent blogging in the future. Photos this time around are from our Mother's Day trip to Yellowstone, which was tons of fun, and some end of the year school activities for J.

It has been a good month, although busy!

When I last left you, Montana was still covered in now, and now everything is suddenly green, and we've had a warm weather streak that is seasonally unusual. I've even worked in my garden (one of the many things keeping me on my toes).

J got out of school yesterday - for the summer! So, we are on summer schedule and loving it! I know, we're only 24 hours into it, but still, we are loving it!I've been working my Mary Kay business, which has been rewarding both financially and personally. I love it! Never thought I'd like it as much as I do. For fear of gushing on and on, I'll stop with that.

I've done a couple of photo shoots as well, and have a couple more on the books. All simple stuff for friends, but really fun too.

Oh! And my family is coming to Montana this summer, which requires a bit of preparation, so I'm busy doing that. A neat "God-sighting" in that too! We need to sleep three couples here at our house, and I was short two beds. I looked on Craig's list, and didn't get any of the ones I was interested in. But I mentioned the need to some friends, and voila! They had to beds. So my need was met and I didn't have to spend a dime, except on gas to go a few miles to there house and get them. It was great! It was such a wonderful proof of God's provision even in the little things. And, I admit, in my human-ness, sometimes I need to be reminded by such little proofs!

I also helped to plan and implement a women's tea at our church, although we did it somewhat tongue in cheek and used Fancy Nancy as or guide. It was a success and lots of fun, but it did take up lots of time there for a few days. At church I also taught a series of classes on women and emotions, which was successful, but also a lot of work.Throw in my usual work at Andy's office, lots of end of the year school projects, J starting baseball again, and I was just on the go all the time. There are very few days where I'm at home for more than a few hours at a time during daylight hours. Now, I'm tired but feeling pretty darn satisfied with my life where it is. There are still things on my plate, but they are good. Take a look:

• I've got some goals with my Mary Kay that are very achievable. Learning to balance Mary Kay appointments with having J home full time is going to be good for me - it also means I'll invite more of my customers to my home, so I'll have to keep the house cleaner!
• I'm working with Kristii to plan some scrapbooking activities for the summer which will hopefully include some other great scrapbookers like Jenn and Elizabeth! Also want to develop some classes for next fall!
• I'm excited about some hiking and other fun activities with J now that he's out of school. We're looking forward to seeing some water falls and lakes, and hopefully some wildlife. and some relaxing activities.
• I've got a couple of home improvement projects to work on too - paint one bathroom fresh, touch up paint in one bedroom, and maybe, if I'm ambitious, completely paint another bedroom. That is a summer's worth of projects right there at the pace I work!
• And my yard needs help like nobodies business. The field grasses have invaded my flower garden. Although this happens every year, this time it feels particularly daunting to think of getting it all out so the flowers can shine. Hopefully I'll make some progress on that this weekend!

We don't have any big travel plans this summer, but that's okay. With all my family coming this direction, I'm very satisfied with the plans we've got!

I'll try to be better about blogging - at least every other day or so if I can this summer. Mornings are going to be more relaxing, so I plan to sit down and do what I can at the computer while J sleeps in. Ah! The ideal life in my head! We'll see if it comes to reality as the summer progresses!