Who knew putting on makeup was SO complicated??

So I was watching HSN a few weeks ago. 

(Yes, I'm addicted) 

I was watching a makeup show. It was from a brand named Too Faced. 

(Cute name!)

They had a today's special and some other specials that seemed like really good deals. 

I ordered a set of make up called Sugar Plum Fun by Too Faced. 

It looked like such a cute set. It came with an eye palette, a full size eye primer, a full size mascara, and a full size lipstick. 

The eye palette was SO pretty!!!

I had heard of the mascara before and had been wanting to try it, and the lipstick was a really pretty shade, so I decided to take the plunge. 

Of course as I was watching the show I saw several other good deals. I ended up ordering a highlighting set, some lip gloss, and some more mascara. 

So freaking pretty!! 

I decided to look up some videos on these products...

UMMM...Who knew applying make up had gotten SO complicated... 

I heard terms I had never heard of before:

Contouring

Highlighting

Tight lining

Blending

Fallout

I learned you must have a transition shade on your eyelids....that you are supposed to use like 50 shades at once, and a bunch of other junk. lol

Really though, it seemed so complicated. I used to wear makeup as a teenager and an adult, and we didn't do ALL OF THAT!

But, as I was watching all of these tutorials and reviews, I fell in LOVE with TOO FACED products! 

I ordered a few more things. I decided to get rid of all of my miscellaneous makeup and start over with some actual good makeup.  

I have received part of the products that I have ordered, but am still waiting on some of it. 

I am super excited about this makeup. It does seem a little expensive, but I can buy it in payments at HSN, and there is a HUGE difference between this makeup and drugstore/Walmart makeup. 

I finally understand what they mean by fallout and blending, and why they are really important. 

Besides...Too Faced products are so freaking adorable, you can't help but want to buy them!

I mean look at that highlighter. It looks like a diamond!

The palettes all look really good. I ordered a few, and can't wait to try them. 

I have watched many tutorials over the last week or so, and attempted to do a look with the Sugar Plum Fun set. 

I think I did a pretty good job! It looked super cute...

I have absolutely loved everything I have received so far. 

I'll let you know how I like the other products, as I get them, but I will go ahead and tell you that they eye liner is amazing. I have NEVER, been able to use liquid eye liner. These eye liners are called Sketch Markers. 

They actually look like markers, and they are so easy to draw with. I did it right the first time! I'll show you pictures of the markers in another post. They are adorable... 

I was just so surprised at how easy they were to use, and use correctly. 

Anyhow, I am embarking on a new adventure in life...I am almost 37 and learning how to properly apply makeup. lol

What do you guys use? Do you know all of these new techniques? Are there other homeschool mama's who love make up as much as I do???

Santa, or no Santa?

Here is a picture of our tree!

(You can tell we are a homeschool family with of the stuff on the walls. lol)

 I do a different color scheme every year. 

I realized this year that I have never done just green and red! 

So I decided to go all traditional Christmas colors this year. 

As I bought presents I started wrapping them and putting them under the tree. 

I never even thought about keeping them back until Christmas for "Santa" to bring them. 

Things are a lot different in my life than they used to be. My 2 older kids obviously know Santa is not real. Brently just turned 3, so I didn't think about pretending there is a Santa. 

My niece is staying with us right now though, and I have had people ask me what about Santa?

I honestly don't know if her mom has done the Santa thing or not. She has seen the presents under the tree and hasn't said anything about it, and neither has Isabell. 

Isabell has mentioned that Santa is real but hasn't really said anything about him bringing presents or anything. 

I have not said anything to her about Santa one way or the other, because that is not my place, but we don't do the Santa thing big time around here. 

I don't have Santa decorations, or anything like that, but we do watch Santa movies. 

My husband and I have not had a talk about whether or not we are doing Santa for Brently or not! It never came up and I just didn't think about it! 

What do you guys do? Do you do the Santa thing, or not?

I have told Isabell and Brently why we have Christmas, and why we give each other presents. I have told them that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. 

Do you like to see the presents under the tree in anticipation of Christmas, or have them all appear Christmas morning?

I don't know what we are doing next year when Brently will remember!!

I am linking up with The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew

Blog Redo

I just redid my blog for Winter. What do you think?

Four Birthday's, One Party

We celebrated four birthdays yesterday. My baby is turning 3 on the 16th, my niece turned 6 on the 6th, my son turned 13 an November 29th and my soon the be sister-in-laws son is also turning 13.

We made a Spiderman cake for Brently, a Frozen cake for Izzy and an OU cake for the two teenage boys. 

I say we because I was trying to make all of these cakes and had to call in reinforcements to help me because I totally underestimated how long it would take me. If one of my dear friends hadn't come over to help me, I would not have got them all done! 

I did however make buttercream icing for the first time!

The kids had a blast. So did the adults. The adults broke out in a Nerf Gun War. lol 

It was a little confusing when we sang the birthday song, lol, but it was great day. 

So blessed to have been able to celebrate it with great family and friends. 

It would be too tiring to go to school...and the other reasons my kids think we homeschool

This is my first Throw Back Thursday link up, but I love this idea! 

This weeks TBT post is: 

It would be too tiring to go to school...and the other reasons my kids think we homeschool

Commercial Palm Trees/Silk Plants Direct Review

I was recently contacted by Commercial Palm Trees with an offer to do a review in exchange for a product of my choice. 

Since Commercial Palm Trees is a commercial site, I was to choose my product from Silk Plants Direct. 

Since my friend, and soon to be sister-in-law is getting married, I decided to choose a set of bouquets!

They came 6 to the box. When I saw the box I was concerned that they would be too small, but they weren't. They were the perfect size for bridesmaids bouquets. 

OK, so what did we think of the bouquets?

We both thought pretty much the same thing. The bouquets were a little lackluster compared to the picture online. However that doesn't mean that they are not nice. 

We plan on adding a few diamonds and some ribbon and making them just what we want!

Personally, I think they look more real than any other silk flowers that I have seen. 

And for the price of $15 per bouquet, that's not bad at all!

I would recommend Silk Plants Direct for your bouquet, or silk plant needs. 

If you have a business, or are in need of outdoor plants, be sure to check out Commercial Palm Trees. They have an amazing selection to choose from. 

If you are interested in doing a review for Commercial Palm Trees, leave a comment and I'll get in touch with you with all of  the details. 

I received a free product in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC regulations. 

2017 Homeschool Review Crew Blue Ribbon Awards

Sadly, the Crew year is over for the holidays, but I am super excited to have been invited back for the next year!

I really have missed the Crew, the curriculum, and all of the wonderful ladies. 

I am really looking forward to next year, when I'll have a full year!

I only reviewed four products this Crew year, and they were fantastic! 

The first review I had this year was for Reading Eggs.

I had never heard of it, and was supposed to review it from the toddler perspective. However my niece came to stay with me for this year so I could homeschool her. 

I got to really use the main part of the program and I'm glad I did. 

This has to be one of my all time favorite reading programs. I will be using this with her, and with Brently. 

The next three products I reviewed were all from The Pencil Grip, Inc. 

I reviewed the Ultra Safe Safety Scissors, The Three Step Pencil Grip Training Kit, and Thin Stix. 

We thoroughly enjoyed all three of these products, especially the scissors and the paint markers. 

The last review I did for the Crew this year was Forbrain.  

Now, the rest of the Crew members reviewed MANY more products this year. 

The Crew has something we call Blue Ribbon Awards. At the end of the Crew year we get to vote on what/who we think the best product was, and to be able to say THANK YOU to all of the vendors who so greatly blessed us this year. 

You can check out the 2017 BLUE RIBBON AWARDS HERE!!

I hope you find some great, new products that you wouldn't have found other wise. Good luck!

Forbrain / TOS Review

I recently received a product called Forbrain from Sound for Life LTD to review.  It is quite different than any other product I have reviewed before. 

This product looks like a head set, but instead of listening to music or other audio, you listen to your own voice. 

Forbrain uses bone conduction to transmit the sound of your own voice faster, and with more clarity than air conduction. 

It has a filter that enhances specific frequencies of speech that surprises the brain to increase memory, attention, and sensory processing. 

It corrects the way you hear your own voice, which leads to better speech production and increased confidence. 

OK, so your probably wondering just what/who this product is made for. 

Forbrain helps people with many issues.

 Some areas that you could expect to see an improvement in are:

• A greater comprehension of the written word and verbal fluency
• An improvement in verbal or short term memory
• A sustained attention span and a greater ability to stay on task
• An increase in concentration and focus
• An improvement in speech, pronunciation and fluency
• A greater self esteem and self confidence

If you could use help in any of these areas, Forbrain is for you. 

Forbrain can be used with children ages 3 to adult. There are a few exceptions. 

Forbrain is not suitable for:

• Children under 3
• For people with Parkinson's disease
• People with hearing loss in both ears of 80%
• People carrying a cochlear implant
• People with epilepsy

OK, now your probably wondering just how you use this product!

In a nutshell, you put the headset on, read or sing out loud, and listen to yourself.

I know that's an oversimplification, but that's really all there is to it. There is obviously a lot more going on scientifically, but as far as how to use it, that's pretty much it.

If you are interested in the science behind it you can read about the scientific evaluation and the scientific results. 

Forbrain is meant to be used daily, for 6 to 10 weeks. (It can be repeated)

Depending on your age, you would use this for 10 to 30 minutes a day.

 The following chart shows how many minutes you should use it per day depending on your age, and what areas you can expect to see improvement in depending on age as well. 

OUR EXPERIENCE:

When I first learned that I would be reviewing this product, I thought I'd use it for myself to see if it would improve my memory and for my niece to see if it would improve her attention span. 

I tried it myself first to see what it is like. I'll admit I had NO idea what to expect. It was a little intimidating. 

It is a little weird at first, but you get used to it pretty fast. You hear yourself talking, but it's like if you were covering your ears and talking, except that you can hear everything clearly. 

I read out loud while I had it on. I do see how it can make you aware of your pronunciation and speech. 

You are forced to hear yourself, I mean really hear yourself.  You could read out loud or talk out loud all day long and never really hear, or pay attention to the way you speak, or how you sound. When your wearing this device, you are totally aware. 

My niece is almost 6 and she couldn't wait to try it. I put it on her and I read out loud to her and she repeated what I said, or she recited the alphabet. 

We've had this device for 6 weeks. You are suppose to use it for 6 to 10 weeks. I think I need the full 10 weeks to be able to see full results, however I do think that this product has potential. I definitely see how it increases your focus already, even though it's only been 6 weeks.

 We have also had a lot of sickness the last couple of weeks. I haven't been able to use it with my niece the entire time as I had planned, due to a bad case of Croup. 

I do think this is a case where I need to add an update later on, but from what I have seen already, I expect more good things from it, along with what I have already seen, such as increase in focus and awareness of speech and pronunciation. 

I encourage you to read the reviews and testimonials  on the Forbrain site as well as the reviews of my fellow crew members. 

Also be sure to check them out on Facebook and Twitter. 

The Winner is....

The winner of the Thin Stix Giveaway is Brittney!

 Congratulations! 

I used Random.org to randomly pick the winning number, and I skipped over my comments when counting...

Thin Stix / TOS Review and GIVEAWAY

I was given the opportunity to review a product from The Pencil Grip, Inc. called Thin Stix Creativity Pack.  
I was excited when I found out that these were paint markers! 
Yes, these markers are actually tempera paint, in marker form, and they are super fast drying. They dry in 90 seconds!
I received a set of 24 tempera paint markers. 

I went out to the store and bought a few items for the kids to paint. 
I bought pumpkins because it was almost Halloween.
 I also got these little canvas animals, and two small wooden puzzles that the kids could color.   They had a blast coloring the pumpkins. Both of them are too small for carving, so I had already planned on letting them paint them, so these were perfect!

4 During our painting of the pumpkins we really put these markers to the test. 
These markers really are very easy to use, even for toddlers.
 Here is my 2 year old twisting the markers.I didn't even show him how to do that, he just figured it out on his own. 

Now, as things usually do get messy with toddlers and paint, here is my 2 year old putting his freshly painted pumpkin on his head!!!

Now, if this had been regular paint, this would have been a disaster, but since these paint markers really are fast drying, there was no transfer of paint to his hair at all!. 
And just as surprising was that they did not have messy hands after painting either.
 I would never just let them alone with regular paint and brushes, but with these I can let them sit at the table and paint all they want without worrying about a huge mess. 
Here are their finished pumpkins!

Now, I also got them these little canvas animals, and wooden puzzles.
 I bought these before I had actually received the product. 
We could not use the little wooden puzzles with these paint markers because the marker tips are wide, and round. 
I was thinking they would be more like regular markers. 
So the tips of these markers are too wide if your wanting to color in things like coloring books, or anything with fine lines, but we could still use them with our little canvas animals. 

If you look closely, you can see on their papers that it didn't leave a very big mess. 
They both turned their's over and I was like, wait it needs to dry first, but it didn't seem to do any harm.
They really do dry fast!

Here is a picture that I took of their hands right after they finished painting these. 

They really are MESS FREE!
They get more color on their hands when they use regular markers. 
We love the Thin Stix Creativity Pack, and will definitely be using these instead of regular paint.
As I mentioned before, they probably won't work for finely detailed items, but are great for making posters, painting on canvas, pumpkins, wooden items, etc...
With Christmas coming up you could let your kids paint wooden jewelry boxes, bird houses, or all kinds of gifts to give. 
When I use them it reminds me of a gel eyeliner. That's how it feels when you are drawing with them. 
I didn't notice any smell to these paint markers. They are washable and non-toxic. 
They are also nut, egg and gluten free for those who may need that consideration.
I asked my five year old niece what she thought about the Thin Stix paint markers, and she said "They're cool, and fun, and kinda great and awesome!"
So, there ya go. They are awesome! 
They really are a staple for a homeschool family, but even if you do not homeschool, your kids will love them, and you will love the fact that your kids will not leave a huge mess after painting!
You can get the whole set of 24 Thin Stix Tempera Paint Markers for only $19.99. 
Would you like a chance to win your own 24 pack of the Thin Stix Creativity Pack?
Just leave a comment on this review, and please follow my blog!
I will choose a winner by random number on Sunday the 12th, and will announce and contact the winner for their mailing address. Thanks and good luck!

Be sure to check them out on Facebook and Twitter too!
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