Week 21 and Dylan's graduation

I realized I never posted about the little grad ceremony that the preschool had for the kids. It was short and sweet thankfully. They had a brief slide show of some pictures of the kids. The kids sang a few songs and then it was over. Like I said, short and sweet. But it had to be. I bunch of preschool age kids aren't going to stand there too long. So here is a picture of Dylan at the ceremony.

What If?

Have you ever gone back and wondered what would your life be like if one big life event had never happened? I bring this up today because tomorrow is my birthday. And every single year around my birthday, I receive a call from my dad. Our relationship is strained to say the least. Anyway, this phone call is a 'happy birthday' call along with yet another reminder that my parents are divorced. They have been divorced for so many years. Like I was in kindergarten or 1st grade or something. For some reason my dad likes to dredge up the past and give me the same speech year after year. It always includes how he wished it didn't happen and how it wasn't his idea, and blah blah blah. And every year, I have to contain my laughter. Yes, laughter.
You see, because of that divorce, I am happy. I have a good life. If that divorce hadn't happened would I have met Ryan? Most likely no. I wouldn't live here in this cozy house on acres and acres of gorgeous farm land. I wouldn't have Dylan and Ethan. Could I have met someone else and been just as happy? Maybe. But you know what? Maybe not...If that divorce hadn't happened, I could be alone and miserable. Ryan and I are so great together, I really cant imagine there being someone else out there better suited for me. And I love where I live. What if something would have taken me to a city life? I'm not that person. So every year around this time (and usually some random time at least once more through the year) I am reminded how lucky I am. I am reminded how happy and I am now and how if my parent's would have stayed together, I may not be this happy.
I think the divorce set in motion so many little things. Like my grandparents taking my brother and I on little trips here and there. If my parent's had stayed together, would they have been so involved in our lives as they are/were? Maybe not...And my mom's side of the family. They included my brother and I on their family vacations to Myrtle Beach. Would we have had that chance to be so close to them and be with them each year on these vacations? Maybe not...I have so many wonderful memories from the trips with the different parts of my family. They each offered us something different on the trips. Now, because they all offered us a chance to travel and see things, I love to travel. And I have been able to share that with Ryan and now the kids! We now want to travel and do things. What if my parents had stayed together. I may not have gotten the chance to experience these things.
And I think I have an understanding and appreciation for certain things because of the divorce. When he starts on his speech about how different things could be, it really does make me count my blessings. I wouldn't want things to be different. I am right where I am supposed to be. And that divorce...well, that started me down the road to my happy life. I have a ton of wonderful childhood memories. And now I have an awesome family. It makes me sad to think that the things I have seen, done, heard and been apart of (good and bad) and where I am now, may have never have happened.

Week 20 photo

Another sunset. But the sun was gorgeous. I also wanted to show a difference between photos. This first one I want to show you is not as dramatic, and not as beautiful. In this first photo I exposed the photo so you could see detail in some of the surrounding things. Just not that pretty...

Now, on this second photo, I exposed for the sun only. Meaning I only wanted the sun to show up correctly. To show up like I was seeing it. I didnt care about the detail in the surrounding area. Same photo, just a few seconds difference. But this second one is much more dramatic, and much prettier.

Dermalactives

A few weeks ago I was given the chance to try some lotion and a body scrub from Dermalactives. Here is some info from the Dermalactives website:
Dermalactives contains a special polymer that enables molecules to be transported through the skins deepest layers, delivering protein rich collagen and elastin. Our patented ingredient stimulates the movement of healthy cells directly to the damaged skin areas joining the collagen
and elastin, rebuilding and nourishing the lower dermal layers in a natural way. The result is a visible reduction in fine lines, wrinkles and improved skin tone.

In the picture on the left is the Body Butter. First, it smells amazing. It is a soft, relaxing scent. It is not strongly perfumed, so it doesn't over power you. It has a whip cream consistency and is soft and smooth. It goes onto your skin so easily, without any greasy residue. I have such dry skin. Always have. My skin soaked this stuff up beautifully. And again, no greasy feeling. All it left me with was smooth, soft skin and a very relaxed feeling. The scent of the body butter is very relaxing.
On the right in the picture is the Body Scrub for the shower. I was a little worried about the scrub. I have tried a few scrubs before and they always made my skin feel like it was being ripped off! I know it should be a little abrasive, but some of them just plain hurt! Not this stuff. The Dermalactive Body Scrub is much gentler. It exfoliates your skin without the painful feeling that I have gotten from other scrubs. And again, the scent is very relaxing. The body butter and scrub compliment each other nicely. You use the scrub in the shower of course and rub it into your skin until it dissolves, then rinse. After you rinse your skin, you're left with smooth, and very soft skin. I must say that when I used the scrub, my showers were very relaxing. A relaxing shower is sometimes all that us SAH moms want. After the shower, I would apply the body butter. If I had one thing to suggest it would be that the lid on the scrub should have ridges or something because it can be a bit difficult to open with wet hands in the shower, lol!
But really, this stuff is pretty cool. It really does help you relax you in the shower. Both products leave your skin, soft and smooth with a lovely soft scent. Be sure to check out www.dermalactives.com to read about their full line of products. I have also included links throughout the post to take you directly to the website and to the individual products that I was able to try.








*Disclaimer: I was given these 2 products to try in exchange for this review. All opinions are mine. Yep, my own thoughts!*

Mother's Day & Week 19

Happy Mother's Day to all Mother's out there!

Friday at Dylan's school, they had a Mother's Day tea. I dropped Ethan off with Ryan's mom and then dropped Dylan off. The tea wasn't until the end of their school day, so I had some time to myself. I was able to get Dylan some summer clothes and then I got my hair cut. I only get it cut once a year, and that is usually right around summer time. I was due. I think about 6 inches was hacked off! I feel better though.
So off to tea I went. They had a very nice set up. Nice table settings and fruits and sweets. They had the kids sing a couple of songs for the moms and then had each child give a flower to their mom. After that we all sat down to tea. It was really sweet.
Here is what Dylan made for me:

And here he is with the flower:

And here is the place setting:

Happy Times

We haven't been up to a whole lot. We had a nice weekend. Although it seemed to disappear all fast. The biggest highlight of the past week was a delivery that I received. The UPS man dropped off a new vacuum cleaner. I had no idea this new vacuum cleaner was coming. I was so surprised when my new Dyson vacuum cleaner arrived. I am so in love with Dysons. I have had a Dyson for about 8 years now. Recently I have been having problems with it. Little things here and there. I tried taking it apart and fixing it, but it just didn't help much. I guess that Ryan got tired of listening to me complain about it. So for Mother's Day he bought the new Dyson.
Yes, this whole post will be about the Dyson. And no, this is not a sponsored post. I just like my Dyson vacuum cleaners! Anyway after I got it put together, I got out the old vacuum and ran it in the living room and hallway. And then I ran the new vacuum over the same areas to see how much stuff the old one was missing. I knew that it was missing stuff, but I didn't know how much.

That much! Half of a canister of dust and dog hair. Can you see the old yellow vacuum in the back of the picture? Every time I use this new one I am amazed at how easy it is to push around and how well it does at picking stuff up. With a dog, 2 cats, 2 kids who are in and out all day and a husband who wont take his shoes off when he stops in for lunch, there is always a bunch of stuff that needs to be swept up. Seriously couldn't be happier with this year's Mother's Day present. I love it! Is it weird that I am in love with a vacuum cleaner? Well I am.

Week 18 of Project 52

Hopefully I will be back later with a decent post! There are a few things to post about, so I will get around to it!

I took some photos of the clouds last night. Enjoy

Would you like cheese with your whine?

Seriously, what a day. I got the kids out the door this morning by 8:30. It was a nice day despite rain overnight. A little damp out, but warm. So out they went. They fought and whined all morning! Ethan was in and out because somehow, his shoe kept coming off. Nap time came around and I put Ethan down and made Dylan play in his room quietly. Ethan didn't sleep long. So back outside they went. And it was a repeat of the morning. It was just silly little things they were doing to make each other mad, but it was a bit annoying. We had dinner a little earlier than normal because Ryan had somewhere to be. I got them in the bath too before it started storming here. And you know what? They could have filled the bathtub with their tears! And I really am not sure why either of them were crying. So bath time was short. Very short. Dylan ended bath time standing naked in the bathroom crying because his towel was on the floor. *sigh*
As I write this, it is storming...a bit. Nothing bad. But I am counting the seconds to bedtime. It seems like an eternity. I have hope that tomorrow will be better. Dylan has school, so at least they wont be together all morning. They will get a bit of a break from each other.
Well, here's to a better day tomorrow!