A Long-Overdue Update and a Mary Kay Flash Sale!

I've no idea where on earth we've been/why I haven't blogged.

First, I'm going to share something that cracks me up.  About 6 weeks ago Bubby dropped the iPad on his toe (that's not what cracks me up), and it turned his big toenail black and blue.  Toddler feet crack me up anyway, but a toddler foot with a black toenail?  It's even funnier (slash gross).  These Croc sandals also make me laugh, and display his black toenail nicely:

He somehow got a hold of my phone and figured out how to take a picture (third-borns are much more resourceful than first- and second-borns, at least in our family).  So of course (much to my delight) he took a picture of his feet:

Okay, on to less random things (sort of).

We've had some interesting events happen in the last couple of weeks.  Here's one:

During a wee-hours-of-the-morning storm a couple of weeks ago, high winds caused over 70 trees to fall around Alexandria.  Ours was one.  It fell onto our neighbor's house instead of our own (yay?), and another neighbor happened to be borrowing Chet's truck at the time...which means it was saved from being smashed by the tree (and it surely would have been smashed by the tree had the truck been parked in its usual spot).  Thank you, Lord.

Here's the other interesting event:

The kids and I were rear ended on our way to the gym the other day by a tourist from Ohio who was following her daughter in the car in front of her.  The daughter failed to yield (like most people in this area...deeeeeeep breaths) to us, the mother almost failed to yield, but then the mother hit us at the traffic light that was just a few hundred yards from the yield sign.  Everyone was fine, but the van will definitely need a new bumper.  The woman's car had hardly any damage (probably because it was American-made).  Chet had to zip tie the bumper to the car so I can still drive it until our appointment at the collision center.  We're nothing but classy around here, people.

This week (Monday through Friday) is Vacation Bible School at our church.  I'm a volunteer this year (I have the 2-year old class, which consists only of children of other volunteers since the minimum VBS age is 4-years old), so the kids and I all go, which is a nice change in pace (the summer is starting to get to us).  Our church's VBS program is HUGE -- it's free, and we offer over 400 spots to children in the community, ages 4 through 6th grade.  It's fun, and an amazing outreach program to the children and their families that aren't members of the church already.

My mom is flying into town as I type this, which is super exciting!  She will fly to TX with the kids and me this Saturday; we can't wait!

A random tidbit that I might not should share, but I'm going to share anyway.  Chet and I hired a woman to clean our house (something we've never invested in before), and she came today for the first time.  She arrived while the kids at I were at VBS, and finished shortly after the kids and I got home.  This woman is my new best friend (sorry, current besties).  I've never wanted to hug anyone so many times or give anyone so much money in my entire life.  We'll probably only have her come once a month, just to ensure the deep cleaning gets done (I avoid dusting like the plague, I don't think I've cleaned a shower since I was forced to for room inspections at the Academy, and I'm not known to pull out a mop on a daily basis).  Chet and I thought long and hard about hiring someone, but we decided that if I really want to give my Mary Kay business a fair chance, this is a wise investment.

Speaking of Mary Kay...if you've made it this far in the post...

40% off any one item (or set) until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday (the Mary Kay Monday rule is out the window this week)!

Go ahead and peruse my site (www.marykay.com/ashleywyckoff), choose your item/set, and let me know what you want!  You can either send me a text or e-mail (ashleywyckoff@marykay.com), you can comment on this blog, or you can place an order directly on my site!  (The 40% discount will not be visible on the site, but worry not!  If you register as a customer on my website, I personally calculate your total and determine your total, even if you enter credit card information.)  ***IMPORTANT: Please do not check out as a GUEST on my website if you want the discount!  If you check out as a guest, you will only receive the usual 5% discount that I offer, NOT the 1-day 40% discount, because I don't have any control over guest checkout orders.***

The only rule is that you must order/at least tell me what you want by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.  We're pretty informal around here!

Happy shopping, and happy Tuesday!

Mary Kay Independence Day Sale!

Everyone else is having a sale -- so I will too!

Shop my Mary Kay website now through Sunday, and you'll receive 25% off your purchase!

www.marykay.com/ashleywyckoff

If you have any questions, call/text me or e-mail me (ashleywyckoff@marykay.com).

Have a safe and enjoyable Independence Day weekend!

Comment Feature Fixed!

Happy Saturday!!!

In case you are one of the delightful people who read and comment on this blog, you'll be happy to know the comment feature has been fixed!

Since I can't really let that little piece of information serve as a stand-alone blog post, I'll share some pictures (all art-related).

First let me say that I am not creative.  I can copy a project, but I can't come up with the idea for said project.  My poor little brain just doesn't work that way.  (I specifically remember being very young -- preschool or kindergarten-aged -- and being given a blank sheet of paper and box of crayons at daycare/school.  I remember having no idea what to draw, so I copied off the little girl next to me, who was using only a black crayon to draw a sun, sky, ground, etc.  I drew the exact same picture she drew, with a black crayon, and felt pretty accomplished.  Thank goodness I shed those copy-cat tendencies, because they wouldn't have served me well as I advanced through school...)

Anyway, Sydney has, thankfully, inherited the creative skills from Chet's side of the family.  The jury's still out on Lorelei; her creative future may involve black crayons.  When we're inside, the house Sydney and Lorelei usually choose art to pass the time.  Here are some current projects:

Syd loves taping things on the walls--thank goodness for Washi tape! She came up with the pattern below all on her own.

The girls filled balloons with these beads--so random, but so quiet in the house for 10 minutes!

 

Lorelei's favorite is drawing rainbows:

 I said, "Smile, Lorelei!" Hmm...

In case you were feeling impressed, this was the next day, spaced out in front of "Sesame Street." After I snapped this, Lorelei said, "This is hard." Me: "What's hard?" Lorelei: "Watching this show." Summer, you have done your job.

Snippets of Summer

Are you surviving the summer?  The kids and I (surprisingly) are.  Here are a few snippets of what we've been up to:

Wearing maxi dresses (not me, too hot for me):

(This is quite possibly the most un-photogenic picture ever, but they love their maxi dresses!)

Playing at completely shadeless playgrounds in bathing suits:

Eating froyo (frozen yogurt):

(Bubby's hair is sticking up because we got caught in the rain right before this.  And also probably because it has food in it.)

Going to the gym/gym daycare (where everyone is much better behaved than they are at home):

How are you surviving the summer?!

Mary Kay Monday: Mascara Club!

Did you know you should replace your mascara every 3-4 months?  (Yeah, I didn't know that either.)  Once a mascara is opened, no matter how often you use it, it should be replaced by the 4-month mark to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.  Gross, right?!

So, go ahead and add that to your to-do list: "replace mascara every 3-4 months."

OR...

You can join my mascara club, and I'll automatically send you a new mascara every 3-4 months (you choose)!  

***If you join my every 3-month club (4 mascaras/year) you get the 4th mascara free!

***If you join my every 4-month club (3 mascara/year) you get the 3rd half off!

All of Mary Kay's mascaras are $15.  I personally love the Ultimate Mascara in black the best, but I also use the Lash Love Mascara in black, and the Lash Love Waterproof Mascara in brown (this one's my 2nd favorite).

(Click here to see the rest of Mary Kay's mascaras.)

PLEASE NOTE: You can shop my Mary Kay website any time, day or night, but I can't control the majority of the content on the website -- therefore, you will not see anything regarding my Mascara Club on my site.

So how DO you join my Mascara Club?  If you know me personally, you can send me a text or Facebook message or something, and we'll get you enrolled right away.  If you don't know me personally, you can comment on this blog, or send me an e-mail at ashleywyckoff@marykay.com!

Have a GREAT Monday!

www.marykay.com/ashleywyckoff

Sunday

You guys.  How has another week already gone by?  I'm sorry for being such an inconsistent blogger.

I really need to work on other things this evening, so I'll simply post this series of pictures from the park the other night.  The kids love this merry-go-round, and it's the hardest thing ever to help Bubby enjoy, because there's just no good way to run around the thing while holding on to him.  But Chet tried:

Don't worry, no one was hurt (Chet and Ford were just being dramatic).

I hope you had a lovely Sunday!

Some MK, Puddle Jumping, and Target

Can we just pretend like it's not Friday already?  (On the other hand -- WOO HOO!  IT'S FRIDAY!!!)

I know I said I was only going to talk about Mary Kay on Mondays, but since I've let two Mondays lapse now without saying anything, I'm going to go ahead and mention some Mary Kay things today.  Don't worry, I'll throw in some stuff about the kiddos at the end to make it worth your while ;-)

Wednesday morning I conducted my first solo skin care class.  The hostess was a friend who also attended my debut party (back on May 14th), and she was so gracious in hosting her own gathering for me.  There were five women total, and we had a great time.  One of my favorite things about this business is getting to know and hang out with amazing women who I would not normally have the chance to meet.

Also, I want to share an amazing product with you -- Mary Kay's After-Sun Replenishing Gel.

YOU GUYS.  I love this stuff.  Here's why:

1) It smells good.  This can almost be considered a fact, because Sydney and Lorelei love it, and are always slathering it on themselves for no good reason.  And these are the children always exclaiming things like, "Ew, Bubby stinks!" and "Ew, what's that smell?!" (usually referring to me, the moment I step out of the shower).  So, yeah.

2) My skin didn't peel after getting my first sunburn of the year.  On Memorial Day I got a sunburn ONLY on the right side of my body: specifically my right shoulder/upper arm, and the top of my right foot (don't ask).  The burn hurt, because it's been a ghostly-pale winter and this was the first time I had gotten any significant sun on my skin this year.  I kept slathering this stuff on because it made my burned skin feel better.  I didn't realize until this week (two weeks after said sunburn!) that my skin never peeled.  AND IT ALWAYS PEELS.  This was not a scientific experiment, I'm just sayin'.

3) This product contains "soothing botanical extracts rich in antioxidants" that made my sunburned skin feel better, but it can also makes insect bites feel better.  How do I know?  Because I've tested it on Sydney, queen of bug bites and addict to topical Benadryl and bandaids.  Yesterday she was whining requesting topical Benadryl and bandaids for three different bug bites, one of which was in her armpit, and I put this on them instead (sans bandaids).  I didn't hear a complaint for the rest of the day.  Placebo affect?  Perhaps, but I'll take it.

4) It's not sticky.  Also "proven" because Sydney didn't bat an eye when I rubbed it on her armpit bug bite, as stated above.  Trust me, she would have complained had it been sticky.

Besides the quote I used in #3, these are my opinions, not scientific facts or product guarantees.  But I wanted to share this specific product with you because I really love it and because it might sound like something you need.  And if it DOES sound like something you need...drumroll...

This is the product of the week, which means you can buy 1, get 1 50% off!

And guess what?  If you place an order through my website (www.marykay.com/ashleywyckoff), you automatically get a 5% discount and ALWAYS FREE SHIPPING!

So that means (depending on where you live and your state tax), you could get two of these babies, normally $14 apiece, for $21.35 total (assuming a 7% tax rate)!

Okay, I'm done.

Now for the kiddos.

Have I mentioned it's summer vacation here?  It's been raining all week, but we've been doing okay in spite of the rain.  I even stepped waaaaaay out of my comfort zone and let them splash in puddles:

And apparently I need to take more pictures of my children, because this is all I have (that I haven't already posted on this blog).

Yesterday morning we all went to the gym (the kids like going to the gym to play, and I especially like it when outside play isn't really an option due to rain), and then to the adjoining Target afterward.  We didn't really need anything at Target, but it was close to lunch time, so I decided to feed them lunch as we strolled around and browsed.  Lunch consisted of popcorn, those apple juice drinks where the straw comes out of a character's head (Sydney chose Hello Kitty, Lorelei chose Spiderman), and a couple of cheese sticks.  It was a meal to remember.

We didn't need anything, but here's what we left Target with: a blue-striped picnic blanket, two $1 bin drink holders, and two child/toddler-sized maxi dresses.  Because all of those things are obviously necessities (does Target play some sort of hidden message music, compelling us to buy things?).

TGIF!