Beauty is only skin deep

So I've been doing this photo a day thing for almost a month now, and I must say I am really enjoying my camera..I typically take a picture of the girls, an activity or whatever is going on throughout our day. Occasionally, I will turn the camera around and try to do a cute self portrait, but uh, yeah the self portrait ain't so cute...Thank goodness for the delete button. Every time I examine the picture of myself, I cannot believe it is me. Do I really have those fine lines around my eyes? How much botox will I need to relax that brow furrow? When did I get gray hair? IT IS SHOCKING I TELL YOU....but has forced me to take some time for me...a bit of pampering to help me recapture that youthful, dewy glow.

Now, I have always been a girl to never leave the house without lipstick.. I just feel put together when I've got my makeup on and once you get to a certain age a lady needs concealer and blush on a daily basis. You can have a great body, a great outfit, but if you don't put your best face forward, what's the point? Skin care is where I was lacking..I will sometimes fall asleep with my makeup on, (I know, gross), I forget to moisturize and I rarely use eye cream..But it is time to start.

So I've compiled a little list of my favorites

1. Oil of olay cleanser : this is a good cleanser that is just right for my combination skin. I've tried them all from Lancome to Noxzema..This one is a keeper.

2. Oil of Olay beauty fluid: My mom used to use this in the past, and it is the most lightweight, fresh smelling lotion. I love it under my foundation.

3. Anew eye cream: I notice a difference in the am when I use this at bedtime, dark circles are less visible and there is a dramatic difference in puffiness.

4. Clarisonic Mia: this was a gift to myself at Christmas. It is great cleansing machine especially for exfoliation.

So there you have it, my new skin care regime. Hopefully, it will improve my skin's texture and you just might be seeing more self portraits of me and my fresh faced self!

This was a blog topic because I hope one day when Ava and Olivia are 35 they will ask me, their 70 year old mom how did I get such amazing skin? My reply will be only a click away..

And for the record my mom has great skin (she may not think so) but I can recall her always using fancy creams and taking care..I should of been paying attention.

Another day.....

Each night before bed the girls ask me, "what are we doing tomorrow, mama?" Most times, it consists of school, errands, dance class, playdates etc. Last night, I told them, "tomorrow girls we are going to see your cousins." The delighted squeals could be heard for miles I'm sure. My brother has 4 children, but the girls refer to the Bradley compound, as Max and Luke's house, as if Emma and Jake, the other 2 Bradleys are not residents there? Funny that isn't it?

The girls love going there. And I do believe their cousins love them being there. They run and yell, eat snacks, play hide and seek, explore and giggle. It is memory making for them and me. They are so lucky to have cousins that live so close and are so close to their age. They all get on so well.

The temperature on this January afternoon reached 43 degrees, so the coats, hats and mittens were donned and I ushered them all out the door for some "fresh" air. I convinced them to go on a nature hunt with me, AKA a walk around the block. The 4 of them scrambled to find a box or a bucket to bring with them to collect their "treasures" It was 45 minutes of bliss. It truly is the little things in life that mean the most.

Lucky girls

As a child I did not know my mom's parents. They lived in England and I met them only a handful of times. The only memories I have of them are through pictures or stories my mom has told to me. My dad's parents emigrated from Scotland and lived near us my entire childhood. They were a part of my life, but not in the typical way. I have memories of them, but none that are special. They are all gone now, and now that I am a mother I see firsthand how important grandparents are.

My girls are lucky. They have 3 grandparents. David's parents have 14 grandchildren. That is ALOT. When Ava and Livi go to visit Grandma and Pop house they have fun. They get to play, explore and eat cookies. They always ask to go visit again soon. But we all know, that life gets in the way and visits are hard to get in. I love that my girls know them and speak of them.

My dad is gone and I know that he would would just love these girls if he were able to know them. I feel kind of shortchanged sometimes since so much of my life cannot be shared with my dad. It's too bad that my girls will never know him. I try to keep his memory alive through pictures and stories. Somehow I know that he can see it all.

My mom. Their nanny. These girls can barely go a day without seeing her. Nanny is an integral part of their life. She has been there since the twins were babies, I could not of done any of it without her. Come on twin infants is hard work!!

My girls will have so many amazing memories of their Nanny. Memories that matter of time spent together...trips, walks, shopping, laughing, crying, reading, coloring, cooking...the list goes on and on.. I wish I had a Nanny like that when I was a kid.....I guess I was pretty lucky though because I had a mom like that.

I'll be the Nanny

We had a nice weekend which started with a great day Saturday..The weather was a balmy 50 degrees for January and we took advantage by going hiking at Willowwood in Chester. 1.8 miles. Know what I learned, kids do not need entertaining. This was the most pleasurable day we have had in a long time. The girls were happy, I was relaxed and the baby was napping in the jogger. What could be better.

Then they started to talk..walking leads to talking you know. On our hike I learned that Liv will get married and will have TEN children, but no dogs or cats. She will live close to me, so that I will be able to come over to help her "do the wash". Her sister, however, would not like to marry, nor live on her own. She hopes to live with her sister and her 10 nieces and nephews while pursuing a career as a "singer" (I'm a bit worried about this info), and she will have a couple of cats but not too many since I am allergic. Apparently, my golden years will be spent folding laundry in a benadryl induced stupor..good times!

Growing Pains

Control yourself this is not a blog post about Kirk Cameron aka Mike Seaver, but my oh my was he the bees knees back in the 80s..but I digress...the growing pains , it seems we've got quite the case of them round here.

I can remember when I was young, I would get the pains in my legs when I laid down in bed at night...growing pains I was told was the culprit.. and now Livi gets them.

We came back to Nanny's after dance class tonight to have dinner together, the girls were so happy. But after a full, long, tiresome day they both hit the wall pretty quickly. Livi was crying and laying on the floor rubbing her leg...I told her to let me look, after inspection I determined it would be ok it was "just growing pains"...She looked at me with her big blue eyes and tear stained cheeks and said..."Mama, but I don't want to have growing pains I don't want to grow up" And at that moment, I realized that I too, had a case of the growing pains...I don't want them to grow up either..I want them to be little forever...

Oh and little Miss M, well she has got some pains of her own in the form of two bottom teeth...maybe if I stopped feeding them all it will stunt their growth. Just kidding.

With both feet....

I'm starting a blog. I've poured over various blogs for months. Its time for me to just DO it!!! My goal is to document our life, most notably the lives of my children. How can it be that the eldest are already 5? 5, seriously? That is just crazy to me. So I've never finished the baby journals, the scrapbooking thing was great but was really just an excuse to drink wine with girlfriends. So here we go, I'm sharing it with you and I'm jumping in...