Another Summer Update

It's been a few weeks since I've written a general update about life, and our family's adventures! We've had a strange combination of "busy" and "lazy" going on at our house (that's what I love so much about summer vacation).

The girls finished off their summer track season a few weeks ago!! They didn't place in their final meet, but did great at the previous one! Maddie got 5th place for her division in the softball throw, and Kay got 3rd place in her division for the same event. They were both super happy when they found out the results!!

While they may not have placed in all of their meets, they had fun during track season, and that's what really matters. I love that they were able to start learning some of the essential track skills for when they get older. I also love that the summer track season gave them the opportunity to build stronger bonds with their friends (even if they didn't like how hot it was outside....none of us did for that matter).

They're sad that the season is over, but they're ready for their next set of adventures (we are still deciding on what those will be). I love seeing them bloom with each new set of endeavors they take on! It's so amazing to be able to see them grow, and to see them each blossom into their personalities, who they are, what they like. The possibilities are endless with these two, and I'm truly blessed to be their mama!!

Life has been busy for me also. Back in April (I think), I made the decision to start my own home business, and signed up to become an Avon Representative.

I've been a fan of Avon since I was around 12, and I was tired of never being able to find a local rep, so I figured why not become one!? Not only do I get to offer people great quality products at an affordable price, but I get to splurge for myself also with the representative discount 😉

I could have chosen one of the numerous "popular" direct sales companies that I see plastered all over social media all the time, but Avon is what was in my heart to do. I see so many companies, and while I would love to try their products, the price tags aren't always suited for the working class who live paycheck to paycheck. Avon offers great products that don't break the bank, so that was a huge motivating factor for me. I am truly enjoying the journey so far (even though my house is drowning in Avon products these days)!!

So now you know a little of what our family's been up to in recent weeks! I'm hoping my next update will have more fun adventures packed into it! For now though? It's Avon order day, so I'm hopping off of here to get back to business. I hope you all are enjoying your summer so far! 😊

Vivo Mineral Clay Mud Mask

It's been a very long time since I've done a review!! It's something that I sort of got out of the habit of doing due to life getting busy. I also just sort of found myself in a "funk" for about a year or so where nothing was really motivating for me.  There have been a lot of positive changes in my life in recent months, and I'm starting to feel that motivation again, so I though it'd be a great time to jump back into the game!

The product I'm reviewing today is one that I received at a discount, and all opinions are genuinely my own.

This is the product I'm reviewing today. I will be perfectly honest and say that I was a little scared before applying this. I've used other mud masks in the past, and some of them really burn! I was very much expecting this one to do the same. I'm very happy to say that it didn't though!!

I really like that this mask has kaolin clay, bamboo charcoal, and other ingredients that help fight the signs of aging. This mask also targets clogged pores and excess oil, which is why I was so excited to be able to review this (I've always had issues with my pores and acne).




I actually got on camera while I was applying this because I wanted to record my "real time" first impressions of the mask as I was wearing it. You can find the link for that here.



Top Things I Like Most About This Mask:

• No Burning Sensation: I think this one speaks for itself! The fact that it didn't burn means that it wasn't an unpleasant experience while using this mask.
• No Hardening: This mask didn't harden while I was wearing it. I was able to talk and move my cheeks freely without worrying about the mask cracking (which has been the case with other masks I've used). I love that my skin was able to breathe while I was wearing it.
• Not Hard to Wash Off: I've used other masks in the past that I almost had to downright SCRUB just to get them off, to the point where my face was left irritated. That wasn't the case with this one. This mask was fairly easy to wash off, and only a slight gentle pressure was needed during the process. YAY to no irritated skin!!
• Super Clean and Soft Afterwards: When I finished washing the mask off, there was a HUGE difference in the way my face looked. It was almost like it had a new radiance to it. Also, it was so soft!! I was halfway expecting to need to use some moisturizer afterwards, but that's not the case! It should be noted, however, that each person has a different type of skin, so some people may find the need for moisturizer afterwards.

I'm really glad that I was given the opportunity to try this mask out!! I'm pretty sure it's going to be a keeper for me. If you're curious to see how this mask will work yourself, you can find it here. Also, for a limited time, you can get 10% off when you use code VIVOMASK. 

Our Simple but Busy July 4th

How was everyone's July 4!? Ours was good, but busy!! After starting my day with laundry & cleaning, some friends of ours invited us to a BBQ lunch. We ate (a lot) and enjoyed ourselves for a few hours while the kids all played.

Upon arriving home, we were greeted with 2 big bags of girls' clothes sitting by our front door. This, of course, led to me calling my neighbors to figure out the mystery of who brought them to us. Not that I'm complaining...it's a blessing! The clothes were just the right sizes for our youngest daughter and our oldest. I am NEVER one to turn down free clothes for the kids! They grow so fast, and clothes can be expensive!! So needless to say, I spent the next 2-3 hours washing, drying, and folding the "new" clothes (This also gave me the perfect excuse for purging the closets of all the excess).

Fast-forward a few more hours. Some more friends invited us over for more food & to watch the local firework show that one of the town residents puts on every year.

The pictures don't do justice to just how beautiful the show was! It's something the girls always look forward to, and it melts my hearts to see the excitement on their faces!

It was a fairly simple day for us with no extravagant plans. It's the memories made that matter the most!

Oh Sweet Summertime...

Every time I tell myself that I'll start posting LIFE posts more often, it seems like life gets too busy for that. Isn't that about typical!?

Life has been a whirlwind since summer vacation started!

These two both have June birthdays (10 days apart, actually) which means that the month was busy BUSY for us!

Not pictured in this post are the birthday activities that took place on the FIRST birthday. On Maddie's birthday we took the girls into town for a day of adventure. We started out at Rao's Bakery, where they each got to pick their own miniature single-serve cakes. They loved it! We followed that with a trip to the book store since both girls love to read, and they got to get a new book! Ending that day, we stopped by the pet store to get some new fish for their aquarium since they love to collect fish (This ended badly for the new fish as well as a few fish we'd already had 😢, but more on that another time [maybe]).

As you can see above, the girls were each allowed to pick their own cake for the day of their actual party. With their birthdays being so close together, it's always easier to combine their party, but we ALWAYS let them each have their own cake!

The girls were delighted on the day of their party to discover that they were getting more books, and fidget spinners! They'd been BUGGING for fidget spinners during the last few weeks of school, and I told them they could wait until summer, because I didn't want them distracted by them during class.

 

Even though her birthday isn't until August, Gail got a new book and fidget spinner too! She loves to be just like her sisters. She loves books just as much as they do, and she's just as fascinated by fidget spinners as they are!

There is no slowing her down. In her mind, she is just as big and as capable of doing things as her sisters are, and I absolutely love that about her!





Aside from all of the birthday excitement, Maddie and Kay have been busy with the summer track season. They've done cheerleading in the past with the same league that does the track meets, but this year is the first year that their school has actively participated in the track events. Last weekend was their first actual track meet, and I think they both did awesome for it being the first time for each of them!! I won't lie though, I'm thankful that we don't have a meet this weekend with it being July 4th weekend!

Kay did so well at her first meet that she came home with a 4th place ribbon for the softball throw. I'm so super proud of her for this!!

Maddie didn't place in anything at this meet, but that's okay. I told her she can place at the next meet if she really practices at what she's aiming for.

Aside from the softball throw, they ran the 40 and the 100, and they ran their hearts out as fast as they could. I'm super proud of them regardless of whether they placed in anything or not!



This is how crazy busy our summer has been so far!! I can't wait to see what else it has in store for us, and what kind of adventures lay ahead!

MintVine Review

If you're like me, and always looking for little ways to earn extra cash, then you may have heard about a survey website called MintVine. I created this post to give you an idea of what MintVine's all about because it's one of my favorite websites to use for earning extra side cash!!

One of the things that I love about MintVine is that it's so easy to earn cash! You can cash out with a minimum of 1000 points ($10.00) in the form of gift cards or PayPal! My own personal strategy is to take surveys and cash out once a month. If you notice where it says "PENDING" points up above, you'll see why I make the choice to withdraw my money only once a month. Points from surveys stay "PENDING" for 14 days after the survey is initially taken. This is so that survey moderators can go through and validate survey responses. If you rush through without providing thoughtful answers, the moderators will reject your survey entry, and you won't be awarded the points.  The points listed above are what I have TODAY that will go towards the total I cash out for on July 1st. As you can see, since I've started taking surveys with MintVine, I've earned about $350 total. I have good months, OKAY months, and months where I just don't really bother because life simply gets busy! I know people who've earned $200+ a month because they really devote their time to it!

Up above, surveys found in the "OFFERS" tab are listed. These surveys are different from the surveys on "Survey Street" in the fact that the points are credited the same day instead of having to wait 14 days for them to leave "PENDING" status. So if you're looking for a quicker cashout, check out the "OFFERS" tab!

As you can see above, there's a section where you can see the breakdown of surveys you've taken as well as the earnings from each! (You can also see my most recent PayPal redemption).

So if you're tired of all those survey websites that have ridiculously long surveys and ungraciously low payouts that take half-past forever to reach the minimum cashout threshold, I highly HIGHLY recommend signing up for MintVine!! I promise you won't be disappointed!!

Lots of Things Happening..

I cannot believe that it's been over a month now since the last time I posted an update on the happenings of my life!! Things have been so hectic! My family has gone through a whirlwind of emotions with different events that have taken place.

Probably the most life changing event to take place since my last personal post is the passing of my grandmother. She and my grandfather took custody of me when I was only a year old, and they raised me. Therefore my grandparents are essentially my "parents".  It was late night on May 11th when I received the phone call that she'd lost her battle with lung cancer.

Do you know how incredibly hard it was for my entire family?  My grandmother left behind 4 children, 6 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. Non of us were much in the spirits for trying to celebrate Mother's Day that weekend. How could we be when many of us had just lost the primary mother figure in our lives!?

My husband I made the decision not to let our daughters know before school the next morning about my grandmother's passing. They're 6 and 8, and were SO happy that day about it being their school's field day, and we wanted them to be able to enjoy every moment of it without being sad!

There's my Kay right smack in the middle of the picture!! She truly had fun that day, and she was so happy to be wearing PINK!! As a side note, this picture proves why I love having an actual digital camera as opposed to the camera on my phone. I was standing VERY far away from her, and the zoom on this works beautifully!

Maddie (in the yellow, on the line) had fun too on field day, and she got first place in her sprint! The girls' school has a youth sports program that has just started offering track & field this summer, so I took them both to sign up the other day. They're both excited for it, and I can't wait to watch them excel at whichever events they're best at! I'm equally looking forward to the fact that they won't be bored this summer!


Aside from Field Day and the passing of my grandmother, the girls and I have been busy with all of that "End of the school year" fun and activities. We recently attended the school's Science Night/Book Fair and the girls had a blast! Maddie and Kay of course wanted to stop at the book fair before anything else. They LOVE books and reading, so I can't tell them no when they ask for new books!

I love this picture that I was able to get of the girls that night! They're both HAPPY in it, and it's so hard these days to get a truly good picture of them together!

The girls were mesmerized by all the animals! I loved seeing their faces as they explored alligators, parrots, chickens, lizards, snakes, and more!







Their happiness in this picture says it all!











There have been some hard curve balls thrown in our family's direction, but we're keeping faith, and keeping positive attitudes! We've got a few more days of school left after Memorial Day before we sail into summer vacation!!

Life Updates, Excitement, and New Adventures!

It's been a while since I've posted anything aside from the Sunday coupons found in the Houston Chronicle! Life has been busy and honestly? I've had a tremendous case of writer's block! I'm disappointed with myself about that, and I plan to get back on the blogging bandwagon.

On the home front, things have been relatively peaceful! Gail is currently on a 6 month break from cardiology appointments (though she goes back May 9). We still don't know when her surgery will be, we just know that they want her to get bigger before it takes place. She is thriving every day!! She's got an AMAZING grasp of all her colors, and she has a special love for animals. It melts my heart to see her learning new things all the time!

Maddie and Kay are doing well also! Their most current excitement is getting ready for the end of the school year. Kay is getting ready for a field trip to the Big Thicket, and her end of the year music program. Maddie is getting ready for her first year of STAAR testing (we are keeping her pumped and POSITIVE about it!). Maddie and Kay are BOTH getting excited for Field Day, and Aloha Day. There's just lots of that "Almost Summer" excitement going on around here!

I call these three my 3 Musketeers because everything they do, they do TOGETHER. It's amazing to see how much love they share for each other (even if they do fight like cats and dogs sometimes). They start their days together, and equally end them together! Maddie and Kay get sad if Gail doesn't wake up to see them before they go to school, and Gail refuses to fall asleep at night if she's not part of our regular mommy/daughter bedtime prayer routine. I'm telling you there's no separating these 3!

I have started some new adventures, so I'm excited as well! It's something I've been thinking about for a while now (a little over a year), but fear of the unknown kept me from taking the leap.

I made the decision to start selling AVON, y'all!! I've been an AVON gal since I was 12, and I've always loved their products. Their eyeliner really WORKS, and they've got a newly released line of makeup that I can't wait to personally try! Shoutout to my best friend for encouraging me to join her team!! Aside from dealing with writer's block, I'd also kind of been in a funk of depression, and I'm already noticing a dramatic improvement in how I feel about life since taking this leap! I really can't wait to see what the future holds in store for me with these new endeavors (and for my family as well).

There are other new exciting things happening for our family, but I will write about those at another time! I don't want to jynx things by telling too soon, because nothing is set in stone yet!

For now, I'm going to get back into posting regular updates about our family life, and I'll be posting great AVON deals with each campaign! If you love AVON, and don't want to wait for the posts, you can take a browse through my estore here.

So now you know what's going on over here on my end! For now though, I'm logging out to get back to the cleaning! The weekend wiped me out with a toothache, and I've got lots to do before the girls get in from school!