I know you all thought I was done talking about our vacation to Riviera Maya.  Um.  I’m not.  :)

The Resort

The resort we stayed at was nice.  They say it’s a 5 star resort.  I say it’s not.  We booked two rooms.  They were not adjoining.  I’m still disgruntled about that. I wrote to them twice before arriving telling them that we really needed adjoining rooms. They didn’t bother responding.  They did let me know however that I didn’t need a converter for my flat iron.

I will say this:   we had a great time, the service was great, except around the pool (notice my kids getting their own drinks in my last post about the trip?) BUT, the food didn’t meet our expectations.  It was totally hit or miss.  For the price, I think it should have been better, that’s all.  And speaking of the food, here’s some pictures of some of the items that DID impress us.

 We did have plenty of good meals.  See our smiles?

And, I mentioned this before, but we spent the bulk of our time by the pool or on the beach and lucky for us the loungers were right in between both!

I’m almost done with my Cancun pictures.  Almost!

Have a Wordful post to share with us?  Join us in our linky AFTER you check out Amanda’s Parenting By Dummies and these 4 awesome posts from last week’s linky!  We pick our 4 faves every week to feature and it’s just our way of saying thanks for sharing your moments with us!  Drum roll please….

Thanks for linking up!  We love picking our week faves to feature!

• A look at heat to come in this summer-y post from Desert Deals Diva.
• Another seriously cute summer post from My Life and Kids.
• A cute post about a girl in overalls from Living Like Kings.
• A heartfelt tribute to Where The Wild Things Are from Ramblings from Utopia.

One is crisp and clear.  One, is….not.  Which is the difference that Brooke has in her day when she takes Claritin, compared to when she doesn’t.  One day is perfect {wink} and one is…not.  I have a feeling that it’ll resonant with those of us that have had a bad day due to allergies in a big way.

“Merck, the makers of non-drowsy CLARITIN® products, has teamed up with Dancing with the Stars host Brooke Burke-Charvet this spring to create a new short film titled “The Difference is Clear.”

The film is a crazy, over-the-top look at two versions of one busy woman’s day who is juggling work, life and family while also dealing with allergies. In the first version of her day, Brooke’s character doesn’t take her allergy medication, and her non-stop allergy symptoms cause an impossibly upside-down day, where nothing goes right and everything goes wrong. In the second version, she treats her allergies and has an impossibly outrageous day, so much so, that there is no limit to what she can achieve.”

What kind of day would you rather have?  The difference is clear.

To learn more about Claritin® and  for some downloadable coupons, be sure to visit the Claritin® website!

Disclaimer:  I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour conducted by Burst Media on behalf of Claritin^®. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program, but my opinions are my own.

Hope your day is extra special!

I found the recipe for this coffee scrub on A Cup of Mo.  The recipe was super simple.  I added nutmeg to my recipe, however.   I can’t stress enough how easy this recipe was to make.     Plus, the sugar scrubs can be used on the hands, feet and body.  I love to use sugar scrubs in the shower because they are such great exfoliators and the hot water dissolves the sugar crystals before they can be too abrasive.

Coffee Scrub Recipe

Mix Together {this recipe fills 4 of those little 4 oz. mason jars}

• 1 cup ground coffee (any that you like, I used regular coffee, no special flavoring)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg

How to Use:

• Apply scrub over clean, damp skin.  Rinse and pat dry.

• Decorate Jar ~ {or don’t if you are keeping for yourself and decorations are not necessary} I used embellishments I had at home.  A ribbon and felt flowers I had in my craft supply closet and then made a tag using a punch I have.  It was super easy and the whole project took me a total of 20 minutes including a run to the store for coffee.  It’s THAT easy.

That’s it!  The Coffe Scrub is read to use or give!

Todays a treat.  At least for me.  It’s a switcher-roo-kinda-day.  I’m at Amanda’s place guest posting, and as you can see, she’s here.  So, be sure to read her post here and then go visit me there.  I have a really good post for you there, I double-dog-swear!  {P.S.  Did you notice that my blog design update is complete?  Shauna is quite amazing-there’s all kinds of new do-dads here, but you’ll have to poke around to find them!} 

In addition to being sort of a big deal in the blogosphere, I am a professional photographer.

Which means that, I make other mamas pretty dang happy with the photos I take of them with their families.

It also means that, while I have pretty amazing photos of my Dudes…

and even a few gems of my Baby Dog Daughter…

It is rare that I am ever photographed with any of them.

Or really even alone.

Which is sad.  So, so sad.

Because there is nothing I enjoy more than seeing photos of myself as a child with my mother, and I really, really want to make sure that The Dudes have those to look back at too.

Plus, a couple of weeks ago, I was looking though the photos of the Disneyland trip that I expertly planned and paid for all by my lonesome last summer, and you know what?  There are two photos of me on that trip.  T-W-O!

It’s like I wasn’t even at the happiest place on Earth feeling all happy!

So, in honor of the celebration of my 29th year of life again (my birthday is next Tuesday), I’ve decided to celebrate by snapping photos of myself with my Dudes as often as humanly possible.

Which pretty much boils down to not more than once a day (don’t get crazy America).

I may only be able to take a shot with one of them…

Or, I may actually force all three of them to cram in the photo with me…

But, either way, I am doing this thing.

Because if I’m going to be the backbone of this family (and I am, totally), then I need to have physical evidence of my existence in it, lest it look like Dumb Dad was the only one setting up awesome adventures for these people and he get all of the credit!

What do you have to be Wordful about this week?!

Link up with me and Angie and share your special, wordful, photo moments!

And don’t forget to take a peek at this week’s features before you go…

• Beautiful AND cancer free at Lost and Forgotten.
• Hitting her Stride at Bungalow 56.
• Scrub a dub-dubbing with Grumpy Sleepy and Bashful.
• Hitting the late night, date night scene with The Daily Wyatt.

I first tried gel polish at the nail salon about 6 months ago and fell in love with it.  For the first time I was able to keep polish on my nails without chipping for more than a day (it lasted almost 2 weeks).  The only draw back?  It was $40.

For about $100, my husband bought me a gel system so that I could do my nails at home, and I LOVE it.  I do both my finger nails and toe nails and my investment has totally paid of.  He bought all of my supplies on Amazon (but you can find them many places on-line), including the UV light to cure the polish, the Gelish starter kit, a few Gelish nail colors and a nail brush kit. (Gelish is the brand I have, but you can use any of the shellac/gel/UV curved nail polish brands out there)

When I first got my kit, I wasn’t sure exactly how to apply my polish, so here’s step-by-step instructions on how to apply the polish for a french manicure!

How to apply Gelish Nail Polish

Step 1:  Shape nails with nail file

Step 2:  Clean nails with the Nail Surface Cleanser.  You DO NOT need to buff or “rough up” your nails to get the gel to stick!  Just put the cleanser on a cotton ball and rub on nail.

Step 3:  Apply Ph bond to entire nail.  Don’t worry when this evaporates quickly.  It’s just rubbing alcohol.

Step 4:  Apply Foundation to nail.  This tends to be a little thick, so make sure you apply evenly.

Step 5:  Cure Foundation under UV light for 2 minutes.

Step 6:  Apply white polish to tips of nails.  Dip nail brush in nail polish remover and then swipe along nail line to clean up line from nail bed to nail growth. (If you were not doing a french manicure and just painting a solid color, this is where you’d paint the solid color.  If it’s a dark color, it needs to cure for 3 minutes!)

Step 7:  Cure white tips under UV light for 2 minutes.

Step 8:  Apply light pink polish to entire nail.

Step 9:  Cure light pink polish under UV light for 2 minutes. (you can do two coats of light pink, but I prefer just one as two coats seem a little thick to me.)

Step 10:  Apply top coat to nail.

Step 11:  Cure top coat under UV light for 3 minutes.

Step 12:  Using cotton ball, clean nail with Nail Surface Cleanser.

To Remove Gel Nail Polish

You can remove gel nail polish using artificial nail remover solution, cotton balls and aluminum foil.  Basically, you, saturate a cotton ball with the solution, place it on top of the nail, wrap it in foil and let it sit for 5 minutes.  It dissolves the polish and you can sort of scrap it off.  However, I’ve never removed my polish that way.  I usually peel it off.  Oops.  Did I just say that?  I don’t think you are supposed to peel the polish off.  But I do.

In honor of Mother’s Day, and sponsored by the folks at Ebates, I get to give one lucky winner $150!  The winner must be a registered Ebates member (signing up is easy – just takes 15 seconds and is free).  The $150 will be deposited right into the winners account!  Can you say SCORE?

 Ebates will be doubling the cash back from many stores in May!   Plus, Ebates pays its members to shop online, and offers cash back and coupons at over 1500 stores. Membership is free and they give new members a $10 gift card after their first purchase of $25 or more.

Cash Back and Coupons

Winner will receive a $150 credit to use at any of the more than 500 participating Ebates stores.

Entry Requirement:

Riviera Maya

 I mentioned this last week, but we packed our bags and flew to the Riviera Maya for the kids spring break.  For the first time in AGES, we totally “unplugged” and enjoyed a week of sun, food and swimming, minus electronics.  It was really, really nice.

I have so many pictures that you’ll be sick of hearing about our trip.  And seeing it.  TRUST me.

We knew from past experience that the kids would want blended drinks poolside so we decided to go for an all inclusive resort.  It was the best choice because I swear to you, those 5 kids drank more blended drinks each day than I would have ever thought possible.

Poolside

The boys would crowd around Jeff when he would get a drink like it was the first time they’d ever tasted a blended fruity drink.  It was insane.  Let’s just call it the vacation of the Mud Slide (this was basically a blended chocolate milk), the Mango Tango and the Good Boy, shall we?

The Beach

The sand on the beach was amazingly soft and totally made up for the fact that there was a ton of seaweed in the ocean.  I know that sounds strange to say.  There’s always seaweed in the ocean, but this was in inordinate amount. Like, it was floating around everywhere.  The water was so blue and warm though, there was no deterring us from swimming in it!

{See the seaweed hanging out in the water?}

Do you kids guzzle blended drinks while on vacation, too? 

Have a Wordful post to share with us?  Join us in our linky AFTER you check out Amanda’s Parenting By Dummies and these 4 awesome posts from last week’s linky!  We pick our 4 faves every week to feature and it’s just our way of saying thanks for sharing your moments with us!  Drum roll please….

• We should all be so lucky from Who Says 8 is Enough.
•  They haven’t changed at bit:  A bloggy friend reunion from My Home Wellingtontown.
•  Oh, to have a cat nap like that! from Stacy’s Random Thoughts.
•  The making of Special memories from The Juggeling Act of Life.
• and because this one made me nostalgic:  Insane Spidey from Sweet Annabelle.

Thanks for linking up!  We love picking our week faves to feature!

Making sugar scrubs are so easy it should be illegal. The best part is that KIDS can make them for moms.  Or grandmas.  Or aunts.  Whomever.  With Mother’s Day coming up, that’s important, right?   Plus, the sugar scrubs can be used on the hands, feet and body.  I love to use sugar scrubs in the shower because they are such great exfoliators and the hot water dissolves the sugar crystals before they can be too abrasive.

Lemon Sugar Scrub Recipe

Mix Together {this recipe fills a bit more than TWO 16 oz Mason Jars} ~ I filled 4 round tins with this recipe.

• 5 1/8 Cups of Sugar
• 2  Cups of Olive Oil
• Add  7-8 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
• Spoon into desired containers {it smells so good!}

  

• Decorate Jar or tin ~ or don’t, depending on whether or not you are giving it as a gift or whether or not you want to make it look pretty. {I found a set of lemon note cards in the dollar bin at Michael’s and cut out the lemon image for the tag.  I’m sure you could find a free lemon printable online and get the same effect.  I tied it on with twine and that’s it.  You can see that just a little bit of embellishment went a long way in making the tin look dressed up but not too fancy schmancy!}

That’s it!  The Lemon Sugar Scrub is read to use or give!

Seriously, would you have ever guessed that making a sugar scrub could be that easy?

*Just like with peanut butter, the oil will separate and the sugar will settle on the bottom if it sits for prolonged periods,  so if you don’t use regularly, be sure to stir before use!

*I scoured the web for the easiest sugar scrub recipes and then based on their recipes made my own.

**The scent goes away after a few days, so next time I’ll use a few drops of essential lemon oil.

I have the job of being a stay at home mom, and I have the job of working from home on the computer.

One is definitely the most important and the other one allows me to be a stay at home mom but also work outside the home, although technically, I’m not working outside the home.

{What other job would allow me to get all dressed up in hip new jewelry just to stay home? Too bad the effect is ruined with a super hero band-aid.}

I love that I can have a job that allows me to work with some pretty talented women and yet always be available to my children and husband.  When my kids get home from school I’m done working for the day and I can concentrate on all the things that need my attention like their homework and shuttling them from here to there, making dinner, origami, and underwater basket weaving.  Plus, I vowed when I was a child that when I became a mom, I was going to work just as hard as my children.  See, when I was a child, I was convinced I had the hardest job in the world.  I want my children to see that I’m not sitting home watching TV while they are slaving away at recess all day at school!!!!  I have important tasks to do like Facebook and Twitter updates, and let’s not forget the power of Google +.

All joking aside though, the thing that I love most about my job or jobs is that I get to do them from home.  I LOVE my home.  I love the feeling I have when I’m in it.  I love my cozy, comfy places, and I love feeling like the jobs I’m doing are helping my children become better, more responsible people.  I love that my job that requires online attention is helping to grow a site that is creative and beautiful and promotes moms that want to stay at home too.  I love that in my online job I work with amazingly talented women and that my “boss” has integrity by bucketfuls.

I am playing along with Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop this week and answered the prompt, “What do you love most about your job?”