Portrait Innovations is Our "Go To" for Fabulous Pictures!

Our family recently had a photography sitting with  Portrait Innovations. I scheduled the appointment for a Sunday afternoon. This is typically a time when things are always relatively chill for us, the weekend is winding down and we are usually just hanging out around the house.

The last time we had pictures taken was in 2014! Then, Liam was 3 Logan was 6 and Connor was 14. I knew what I was getting myself into, and even then I was still not fully prepared for the crazy.

WE WERE LONG OVERDUE FOR FAMILY PORTRAITS.

As anyone trying to orchestrate a decent photography sitting experience with littles knows, it is nothing short of exhausting! Someone is always looking the wrong way. Someone else is mad because of who knows what! I'm constantly chasing someone, changing someone, or most commonly, threatening everyone! I always end up a sweaty, frizzy haired mess, not a good look for family pictures! Needless to say, due to the last debacle of an experience, I was in no hurry to get back into a studio. However, I do know how important it is to capture these all too quickly fleeting days of our family, as it is now. I had to get past the trauma of the last experience. After all, the boys are 6 and 10 now, but they are still boys, and never predictable, never EVER! 

I expected to wait. I was kind of setting myself up for disaster, after all boys do not wait well.  I'm not new at this, I had both of their tablets in hand!

WE ARRIVED 10 MINUTES EARLY, WHY? BECAUSE I'M ALWAYS EARLY!

Jessica quickly ushered us to a room that was already set-up with a Christmas backdrop and various holiday props.


I was super impressed with her from the start. Throughout the sitting, as she moved seating and adjusted backdrops, she was engaging the boys. She talked to them about things that are important to them. You know, things like YouTube and Minecraft. They would have stood on their heads if she had asked!


She worked in some silly shots like this one with Liam acting surprised and handing Santa a plate of cookies and milk.

Within 5 minutes of completing our sitting, she was ready to review our pictures with us.

As we went through the shots, I was shocked because there were SO many great pictures to choose from! 

It was unreal! 

We struggled to decide, but Jessica quickly reassured me that I would have all of the shots in high resolution on the CD that was included in our package.

What more could a mom ask!?

Jessica helped us narrow down our favorites and showed us different options. She was very patient, I can be very indecisive. I had her cropping and uncropping, sephia-ing and un-sepha-ing. Through it all, she was very cheerful and sweet.

Once we FINALLY decided, our portraits were printed and in our hands in about 15 minutes!

The experience from start to finish took about an hour. It took me longer to do my hair and get everyone ready!

I am over the moon that I have an amazing, fast, affordable, and easy place to go for great pictures anytime! 

I'm going to go to them for everything! No overpriced school pictures for us! 

If you haven't been to  Portrait Innovations, check them out!

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Groupon is all about Coupons!

I am ALL about saving! If its on sale AND I have a coupon....WOW!  that is something I will tell everyone in earshot about!

I love Groupon. I really love that I can find coupons to all of my favorite stores, for FREE! It's amazing! It is also incredibly simple to use. Just search for the store you want and click on the link. A pop up will magically appear with a button to retrieve your coupon code. I'm telling you it just doesn't get any easier than that to save some of that hard earned moola!
These coupons are FREE! You will find over 70,000 coupons from more than 9,000 stores! 

Here is a list of a few that are currently available:

Home Depot
Amazon
TurboTax
Macy's
Hotels.com
Shutterfly.com
Bed Bath and Beyond
Target
Guitar Center
Finish Line

The list goes on and on, seriously!

Thinking about booking a vacation? Guess what...Groupons gotcha covered there too! Right now there are 54 different coupons for Hotels.com!

Got back-to-school on the brain? I know I do! Groupon has an entire page dedicated to back-to-school deals! They have coupons on everything you need to send the kiddos off to school with confidence (not to mention with some money in your pocket!). Need a new computer? - Groupon has coupons for Microsoft, QVC, Bestbuy, Amazon, and even ebay! Need new school uniforms? Of course you do! Save a ton with coupons on groupon for WalMart, Kmart, J. Crew and tons of others! Do the kids need new shoes? Do you? Your covered with discounts for Zappos.com, Vera Bradley, and Adidas! School supplies? What are you waiting for? Get coupons to Office Depot, Staples, Target, Walgreens and more! 

You will find coupons for anything and everything!

Head over there NOW! You will not believe the awesome discounts that are waiting for you!

Continue reading Groupon is all about Coupons!

A Sky Zone Birthday Party = Fun for EVERYONE!

Kids' Birthday Parties can be hard on us parents! 

I mean REALLY hard!

My son's 9th Birthday was fast approaching, I'm a planner and we had nothing planned. He constantly said he wanted to have a family day at the SkyZone. Sure, that sounds like a great time, but it's nearly 2 hours away! He begged and pleaded, and I gave in. To be honest, I REALLY wanted to go too! 

We ended up hitting tons of traffic and were about 5 minutes late and still on the interstate with about 15 minutes to go! Niyah, our party host called to be sure that we were okay and still coming. She was incredibly sweet! She greeted us at the door and helped to get us set up quickly and easily. 

Sign in was really easy, just signing a waiver for each person and then picking socks. The birthday boy got a special pair that were knee length and a T-Shirt! He was super amped that the socks were orange, his favorite color!

Niyah, walked us out and gave us a quick tour of the different areas. I don't know about my kids, but I was overwhelmed with the options! 

Trampolines + Basketball hoops = AWESOMENESS!

Check out the super cool socks!

The first thing we went for was the basketball area. We each took turns getting air and dunking. There was always an attendant nearby to make sure everyone waited their turn and was being safe.

Since there are three different hoop heights, everyone can be a star! My 5 year old was even able to try it out. I don't think he ever made a basket, but neither did I!

We each started out on the shortest hoop. I think Logan was the only one bold enough to try the tallest hoop.

I could use some practice

It is actually a whole lot harder than I thought. My body just could not coordinate the dunking with the jumping!

  Dodgeball is apparently where "IT" is at! 

Clearly working on strategy

Such an evil grin!

My boys spent the majority of their time in the dodge ball arena. It was a lot of fun and very well supervised. 




There were two attendants watching the kids and making sure everyone was playing fair. They each had whistles and the kids were very responsive to the warnings.

Eye on a target!

I was very surprised how well the ciaos was controlled. The kids were divided by ages. Everyone was about the same size so everything was fair. Most importantly to me - everyone was SAFE!

Jumping to avoid getting tagged.

Ball Pit on Steroids!

The area that I call "the ball pit on steroids" was very popular! There were three trampolines. Those looking for a thrill, bounce up to the edge and over into the pit of foam blocks. I really wanted to attempt this, but I was sure that I would drop to the bottom and never get out on my own. There were kids doing flips and cartwheels into the pit. It was really impressive!

Cake Time!

When our jump time was over, Niyah rounded us up and led us to our party room. She was extremely outgoing and fun. My boys both loved her! She joked with them and knew just how to relate to them. We had pizza, yum! We were all holding out for the cake!


When she lit the cake with trick candles, which I was not aware was coming!  It was a fun surprise!

The cake was REALLY good. It was moist and was, for me the best part of the day! Not really, but it was impressive!

Niyah delivered Logan a Sky Zone bag filled with goodies! He was really into it and eager to model for me! 

 

I am so glad we had his party at the Sky Zone! It was more fun than I expected. I definitely plan to go back!

Continue reading A Sky Zone Birthday Party = Fun for EVERYONE!

Awesome Frosted Roller Balls!

As my essential oils collection grows, I have been discovering that there is SO much more to learn!


I've been reading about creating roll on mixtures for anxiety, motion sickness, and SO much more! 

My 5 year old has terrible motion sickness issues! We have to keep bags in the van "just incase"! Yeah, it's THAT bad!


This two pack of frosted glass roll on bottles are perfect! They are compact - who has room for anything extra! The metal balls fit tight to prevent any leakage. If it is flipped upside down, the ball creates a seal - how great is that!? Since it's metal, there is no concern about the oils breaking down from those cheapy plastic roller balls!

Check it out on Amazon by clicking HERE.

I received this product at a promotional discount in exchange for my HONEST and UNBIASED review.

Continue reading Awesome Frosted Roller Balls!

Diffuser = Happy Mommy!

I have diffusers set up all over the house. I love the way the house smells when they are going. I truly notice a difference in my mood when they are filling the house will happy oils!

My diffuser in my bedroom was recently cleaned by someone and that someone broke it. It is one of the most important diffusers! I rely on the relaxing lavender oil to drift into happy sleepy time.


This cool mist aromatherapy diffuser has been amazing! I have had it for a few months and I love everything about it! I love the look of it. It is very "spa" looking to me.

I like that it holds nearly twice as much as any of my other diffusers! That means less fill time and more enjoying! The auto shut off feature prevents it from running out of water and burning up! It can be put on 1, 3, or 6 hours as well as continuous use.

I love the mood LED light! It is intoxicating at night! The colors fade in from one to the next. I leave it on all the time and find myself staring at it lost in my thoughts. It is really relaxing!

Check it out on Amazon by clicking HERE. 

I received this product at a promotional discount in exchange for my HONEST and UNBIASED review.

Continue reading Diffuser = Happy Mommy!

Gettin' My Family Pictures Under Control!

I have a bad habit of downloading pictures on various computers. Later when I try to find something, I never know which computer to go to. It makes everything take longer and causes me to get really frustrated. I created the insanity and that makes me really crazy! 

I needed to get things under control! 

I ordered this card to transfer our pictures from multiple computers onto one main desktop computer. My end game it to get it all backed up to jump drives based on the year. That is a far off unattainable dream!


I am currently running Windows 10 and had no problems with the installation. It blends well with the overall computer. It runs really fast!

It seems well made. The caps and components are great quality.

Overall, this is a great card with a price that won't hurt your wallet!


Check it out on Amazon by clicking HERE.

I received this product at a promotional discount in exchange for my HONEST and UNBIASED review.

Continue reading Gettin' My Family Pictures Under Control!

Excellent Brush Bundle!

I am really pleased with the quality of these brushes! I have used them and washed them out several times without loosing any bristles! 

I am also impressed with the bristles. They aren't stiff at all, which is what I was expecting.

Overall these brushes are an incredible value!

Check it out at Walmart.com. 

I received this product at a promotional discount in exchange for my HONEST and UNBIASED review.

Continue reading Excellent Brush Bundle!