Booties

I've been thinking a lot about booties late. Not the kind that my twins were wearing a few months ago. No. Booties like in this picture.

I read a post on Lola's blog recently. And it just made me smile. There are so many different styles of booties. Sandals, peep toed, and just little boot type. But I need to schedule in an hour or so of shopping time. That means Billy is going to be on "Daddy Duty." He really does enjoy hanging out with our kids.

And honestly, I couldn't imagine trying to shop for shoes with my 3 kids. They're not bad. But twins and a 3 year old...ya, I need some time away. I really like #4 on this picture. And I've seen some other styles that I like. I just need to go shopping!

~Manders

Cute Crochet

Lola's mom posted about this little pattern today. It's adorable! And it makes me smile. I just wish that I knew how to crochet. I really want to learn. And I'm going to ask Lola to show me, during the gigs in October. I'd love to make little things like this. Just to decorate our house.

~Manders

New Guest Room Bedding

I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond today. I was looking for some new curtains for the playroom. But when I seen this bedding, I melted. The bed in our guest room is dark wood, sleigh bed. And this set, it just looks so amazing with the bed!

I bought it. I didn't think twice about my husband. I probably should have. But I'll admit it, I didn't! We hadn't planned on re-doing the guest room. It was not on our list. And I probably should have talked it over with Billy. But when Billy got home, he loved it. I dodged a bullet this time.

I really feel like this is a nice neutral set. Not to feminine. But definitely not too masculine. Perfect for our guest bedroom! It's crazy how impulsive I was today. I'm never like that. But I've been feeling this need to make our house really inviting and special. I want our kids to feel comfy in all of our rooms.

And I want our guests to feel welcome when they come over. I just feel like this is much more comfy. We had a icy blue bedding set on the bed before. But this, it just warms up the room. There are a few more things that I'd like to change. But I think I'm going to take my time with that. :)

~Manders

Carbon Mess

I really wanted to love this mascara. I heard and read such good things about it. I bought 2 tubes. One for me to try. And one to try on Lola for the gigs.

My first impressions of this product were really good. I was excited. The brush is a good shape. Allowing you to get into the corner lashes. I like the way it's tapered. The brush is also a nice shape to prevent clumping. I initially purchased the waterproof formula. It's the formula I use for all mascaras.

The color was a deep and highly pigmented black. Much darker than most drugstore mascaras. The formula was also nice. Not watery or runny. But also not thick and clumpy. It applied easily. Didn't leave my lashes clumpy or weighed down. Things were looking good. My lashes had length, volume, and a deep black color.

But as the day wore on, I noticed the transfer of the product. Roughly 2 hours after I applied the mascara, I had raccoon eyes. I hadn't cried, had water splashed on me, or even gone outside. But the mascara was definitely running. I cleaned up my under eye area, and waited to see what would happen.

All day, every time I looked in the mirror, I had mascara transfer. Quite a bit of it. I don't have oily skin. And I've never experienced this before. I was honestly shocked at the mess on my face.

By dinner time, I couldn't take it anymore, I removed the mascara from my lashes. It came off very easily with a baby wipe. And this is the waterproof formula! For the following month, I let the product "dry." I thought that a drier product might result in a better product. But I got the same result when I tried to wear Carbon Black again.

I also tried this product on Lola. During a photo shoot. Again, it applied magically. This mascara has a way of making your eyelashes look amazing. Now Lola does have oily skin, and eyelids. So this was going to be a real test.

Sure enough, the product began running. This was an early morning shoot, outside. Meaning that it was cold. But the mascara transfer was horrible! You would have thought Lola was in a swimming pool. Or crying. After an hour, I removed it and went back to our reliable mascara.

But I wasn't done with this product. I gave Lola the tube, that I'd used at the photo shoot. I figured she could play around with it, and tell me what happened. After trying it out for a few weeks, she really hated it. She tried everything. Including layering it with another waterproof mascara. Nothing helped! I also went out and bought the regular formula. You know what, it was worse. I had horrible transfer.

I'm not sure if it was just Lola and I that had this problem. But it was horrible! The mascara seemed to melt off of our eyelashes and down our faces. This is a product that I would not recommend. Which saddens my heart. Because L'Oreal happens to be one of my favorite drugstore brands.

~Manders

*FTC: All items have been purchased by me. All my opinions are honest, and I'm not being paid to review these products.

My Lilies

Do you see these beautiful flowers? They're Oriental Lilies. And I planted at least 3 dozen of them, in the Spring. Before the twins were born. Do you see how beautiful they are?

Well, it's now September. And I haven't seen a single one of these flowers. Not one! Not even a tiny stem! I watered. All my other bulbs have turned into gorgeous flowers. Including other lilies. But these gorgeous creatures, they have just refused to crack through our soil. It makes me incredibly sad.

I'm going to chalk this up to a gardening failure. What else can I say? There wasn't anything else that I could do. My flowers just didn't want to grow. I'm going to try them again next year. Not as many. But I'm definitely going to try again.

~Manders

I Am a Child of God

"But to all who have received him-those who believe in his name-he has given the right to become God’s children." John 1:12

I've always been tough on myself. I am the oldest girl in my family. 2nd oldest in my family. And after my brother past away, I felt like I needed to take care of everyone.

The last 9 months have been tough. I can't lie. I've been trying to be "Super Mommy" and "Super Wife." Slowly, I've been losing myself.

It might have something to do with my need for perfection, in my life and in my home. No I'm not that mom! I'm actually the "Fun House" for play dates. I like to let the kids play with play doh, finger paints, etc. But I like for our house to be clean. At night, I want to go to bed knowing that everything is in it's place. That our clothes were washed, dried, and put away. That our kids' toys have made it to their toy boxes. That sort of thing. Oh, and that all the dishes are washed and put away!

But I never estimated what a set of twins would really do to my life. I love these 2 little babies like nobody's business. I LOVE my 3 kiddos with all of my heart. But life has been crazy!

It started with my 6th month of pregnancy. When life started to get really tough. Traveling was beyond hard! Work exhausted me. And Billy noticed. So he asked his Dad if he could do more of the busy work stuff. Not so much of the traveling. The stuff that allowed him to be home. And I didn't do any jobs until after the babies were born.

Even our daily schedules changed. Since Billy and I first got together, I would get up at 4:30am with him! Every morning. He would shower, and I would make his breakfast. For anyone who is married to a cowboy, this is pretty normal. Sometimes we were up at 3am! I'd eat too. He'd go to work. I'd shower. I'd check my email, do online stuff, and then take a 2-3 hour nap. Then my day was back on track.

Month 6 of my pregnancy, Billy started making his own breakfast. Letting me sleep. He was starting to understand how difficult it was going to be with twins. And I have to say this, he's been wonderful! He would take the girls to their Dance classes on my days. And I have to admit it here, there were plenty of nights when I fell asleep before Lauren did.

After the twins were born, Billy remained at home. I know after the first of the year, that will change again. But it's been a blessing thus far! He has only left out of town for big gigs. Oh, and that hunting trip that I made him go on. He needed a break too!

But it's tough. I'm "on call" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I breastfed Lauren. But that was nowhere near this. Breastfeeding twins. I feel like at all moments in the day, I have a child or pump attached to me. But I want to do this for them. It's the one thing that I can do right now, that will improve their health over their lifetimes.

And there's Lauren. I always feel so bad. Like I don't get enough time with her. She is in her dance classes Mon-Fri, 8am-noon. And at least 1 Saturday a month, she performs. I feel like we don't have as much time to spend together. And I guess what really stresses me out is, in 1 year, she will be in pre-school!

The other night, I just broke down. I had just put the babies down. Billy had read to Lauren. And she had fallen asleep before I got to tell her goodnight. I went downstairs, and I realized I had left wet laundry in the washer. The dryer also had a load of wet and very stinky clothes. And the sink was overflowing with dinner dishes.

Literally, I sat on our stairs and cried. Billy was outside with the dogs. Letting them do their business before bringing them in for the night. And he saw me. He had no clue what was going on. I just sat there crying.

Like his usual self, he came in to see what was wrong. He didn't ask me anything. Just scooped me up in his strong arms and let me cry. And when I was done crying, I spilled the beans. It was tough to admit that I can't handle it all. But it was also such a HUGE relief!

Today in church, the priest told us a story about a woman. And he read the scripture, John 1:12. It just hit me. I'm a child of God!

It doesn't matter if our home is spotless. Or if I had to dry and rewash 2 loads of laundry. Or that my husband washed the dishes. And the next morning I had to rewash them. He tried his best! Heck, it doesn't matter if by dinnertime, my hair is in a messy bun, I've got baby cereal on my shirt, the twins are in onesies, Lauren has one 2 different socks on, oh and I might have burnt part of dinner.

Because my kids are happy. And healthy. They're clean and well fed. Our home is clean. Not spotless, but clean. I love my husband, and he loves me. We have an amazing family. And great friends.

So I might not get to have breakfast with Billy every morning. I can't leave my babies for more than 2 hours at a time. And that's pushing it! I schedule time with Lauren, when her siblings are napping. I don't wear makeup most days. My hair is in a permanent messy bun. And I can't remember the last time I went out to lunch with my friends.

I LOVE my life! It's not perfect. But that's not the way life is supposed to go. The constants that I have, are my friends and family. I owe a lot to Lola. Who doesn't mind listening to me cry, my kids screaming, and my never-ending list of worries. She's here for me. Even if we live so far from one another.

That's what God has given me. Amazing friends. And loving family. That's what life is about. I get to snuggle with my babies. I feed them and watch them grew healthy and happy. I get to hug my daughter. And play dress up and dance around the house to "Princess music." I get to make love to my hubby. Maybe not as often as I'd like. Not going to lie here, some nights, I fall asleep with my kiddos. Before they are asleep! And I get to chat with Lola. About the problems in my life, about her amazing love story, and silly things...like makeup.

I'm a child of God. And I'm proud. He has given me struggles. But he's also blessed my life so much! I don't need to be so hard on myself. Because I was not created to be perfect. But to serve the Lord. To grow healthy and beautiful children. To love my husband. And to do great things in the Lord's name.

~Manders

PS I wouldn't mind a little "Couple Time" with my hubby. I'm just saying...you know, we just had an anniversary! :)

Our 5th Anniversary

Dear Billy,

I can't believe it's been 5 years! Where has the time gone? It feels like just yesterday I was meeting you for the first time. Don't let me forget to buy Lola an amazing gift too! She's the one that introduced me to you. And completely changed my life forever!

5 years ago, I thought I was in love with you. I thought it wasn't possible to love anyone more than I loved you, at that very moment, when we said "I do." But I was wrong. Every day that passes, I love you more and more. Isn't that so crazy how that happens? But it has. And every night, I can't wait to get into bed with you. To feel your strong arms around me.

Then there are the 3 little miracles that we made together. Just looking at them, I know that there is a God. He is the one that made it possible to have such amazing children. Part of me, and part of you! We are so lucky!

You are the beginning and end of my world. My day never starts off right without a kiss from you. And nothing feels more complete, than making love to you before bed. I'm a very lucky woman. To have a man like you to love. And who loves me.

The last 5 years, they're just the beginning to our story. We still have a lifetime to live together. We Mr. T, go together like peanut butter and jelly! I LOVE YOU more than any words can ever say. And I can't wait to grow old with you. My Love, Happy Anniversary!

~Manders

Lisa Makes Me Smile

I really enjoy watching Lisa's videos. She has such a soothing voice. And she is someone who really loves to take care of herself.

In a lot of ways, I'm like that too. I think half of being a good mother and wife, is being able to take some time out for yourself. You need to be happy and healthy before you can take care of screaming babies and hungry husbands. :)

Another thing I enjoy about Lisa, is that she is genuine. Not many of the big "gurus" on YouTube are that way. But Lisa is honest and sincere. I really do love that about her! Also, she has some wonderful ideas about makeup. It's making my shopping list a little lengthy. But there are some great recommendations. :)

~Manders

Free Cookbook

Lola blogged about this offer not long ago. It was for a free recipe book from Gooseberry Patch. I couldn't resist. And I sent for one. I also sent for one for my mom, my mother-in-law, my sister, and my sister-in-law. I hope that they've gotten theirs. :)

I got my recipe book last Thursday. It's so cute! And it has some really good recipes too. Not just for desserts or crockpot meals. Nope, it's a variety of recipes. All made with raisins. Honestly, they all sound yummy. And I've already marked some of the recipes to try.

I really can't wait for Fall to come. These are going to be some tasty recipes. Billy was even excited as I was reading some of the recipes to him. It was nearly midnight, and I was tempted to go make the Crunch Oats and Fruit Cups. They really do sound good!

~Manders

Quints by Surprise

This might just be my new favorite show. Yes! Ethan and Casey are such sweethearts! They have a 6 year old daughter, Eliot. And 20 month old quints! They are just too adorable. And this family is so loving and enjoyable to watch. If you want to watch, their show comes out on TLC. It's a wonderful show!

~Manders