Pennington Smart Feed Sprayer System

I received my Pennington Smart Feed Sprayer System for free, as part of my BzzAgent membership.  As I have posted before, I have been a member of BzzAgent.com for several years now.  They send me free or heavily discounted products in return for my word of mouth and also evaluation of the product.  I can say that the Pennington Smart Feed Sprayer System has been one of my favorites that I have received.

The Pennington Smart Feed Sprayer that I received came with a sprayer and six Flowers & Blooms fertilizer tablets.  The sprayer makes it so easy to fertilize your gardens.  All you have to do is attach the sprayer to a garden hose, unscrew the sprayer barrel, drop in a tablet or two, close the barrel, and start spraying over your garden.  When the water is blue, you know that the sprayer is working correctly.  There is no measuring or spraying involved, so no second guessing or over fertilizing.

The sprayer itself has four different settings:

• Shower
• Drain
• Jet
• Flat

The fertilizer comes in three different varieties:

• All Purpose
• Flowers & Blooms
• Tomato & Vegetable

All in all I was very satisfied with this system.  I was able to cover my garden with one tablet, and all my plants look beautiful and are in full bloom.

Here are a few shots of my gardens.

Winter Inconveniences

Another wonderful snow storm came through our neck of the woods yesterday, causing my kids to have a snow day.  Okay, so honestly, it's not so wonderful.  I had to work, and I work about 45 miles from where I live.  Getting to work was easy, as the storm hadn't quite begun until after I got there.  Fortunately for me, my mom and grandmother live a few miles from where I work, so staying at their house was an option.  

All through the evening, guests and co-workers kept talking about the weather and road conditions.  Those that know I live far away kept asking if I was going to stay at my moms, and through the night I kept thinking to myself  "I can make it home, just have to be careful and take my time".  I've grown up in these conditions, so I know how to drive in the snow.  I had full intentions on going home when my shift ended at 9:30 last night. 

Well, after I left, and started on my journey home, I realized this wasn't going to be quite as easy had I imagined.  Needless to say, I called my husband to give him the heads up and then turned around and went to mom's house.  I have so many things at home to do, but I guess the plus is that I saved money, since I didn't have to pump $4.00 per gallon gas into my car.

I have to work the same shift again today, so I decided to just stay here at mom's until it's time to go back in to work.  The weather is still kind of nasty, but it's supposed to clear by the time I get off work, so hopefully I will be able to make it home this evening.

In Loving Memory...

In the middle of the night, she passed away.  We knew the time was coming, and we prayed she wouldn't suffer.  She had cancer and it was hard to watch her deteriorate.  

We were blessed to have had her as a part of our family for 7 years.  We adopted her after seeing an ad in the newspaper.  When we first saw her, she looked skinny and not well cared for.  We were skeptical at first, but we took her home and with a little love, she became a healthy vibrant dog.  She was a little shy and timid, but very faithful, and very loving.  She wasn't a licker, but she loved to place her paw on you to show her affection.

Cheyenne, we will miss you dearly, you were the best dog we have ever had. We will see you again someday sweetie, waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge.

Our Puppy & His Momma

Our  black lab recently had a pup, yes, just one pup.  She had two others, but they were both still born.  When he was about two weeks old, Cheyenne, his momma, stopped feeding him, so we had to bottle feed him.  Not much longer after that, Cheyenne got sick.  We found out she has cancer, and it's too far gone for us to do anything about, so we've been keeping her as comfortable as we can while she is still with us.  

It is bittersweet.  We have a cute, playful little puppy that so wants to be near his momma, but she is dying, and we have to keep him away from her as she gets quite agitated by him.  We were going to give him to a farmer that we know, but since he is a part of her, we've decided to keep him.  Now we are trying to come up with a name for him that is a spin off of her name.  My husband suggested Chez, but I'm not sure if I like that or not.

Anyway, here some pics of the pup and Cheyenne.

This was taken within an hour after he was born.

Here's a pic of them together.  This is probably the last picture I will have of her, as she has lost a lot of weight and does not look so good.  I don't want to remember her that way.

Here's one I took of him just the other day.  He is now just over six weeks old.

L'Oreal Magic BB Cream

Since I am a member of SheSpeaks, I get opportunities to try new products for free to evaluate.  My most recent opportunity was for L'Oreal Magic BB Cream.  I have tried another brand of BB cream once before, and I really like the idea that one little tube offers so many benefits, so I was very excited to be chosen to try the L'Oreal Magic BB Cream.

The L'Oreal Magic BB cream, with Beautifying Beads, is a multi-tasking skin beautifier that delivers four beautifying actions in one.  It hydrates, corrects, evens and perfects your facial skin. Instantly transforming to your perfect skin shade for a flawless, bare skin finish.

The first thing I want to say about the L'Oreal Magic BB Cream is that compared to the other brand I tried, I like this one so much better.  The cream is light, not heavy.  It comes out of the tube almost a bone white color, but as you rub it into your skin, it blends in to your skin tone, matching it perfectly.  Not too dark, not too light, and definitely not too thick or cakey.  It left my skin looking fresh and unflawed.  I love this new cream, and I definitely plan on keeping a tube on hand from here on out.  It has become a new favorite, and one of those things I just can't do without.

Here is a shot of my face before I applied the cream.

As I applied the cream, you can see how it went on whitish in color, and then as it blended in the color changed to match my skin tone. 

And here is my face after the cream was completely blended in.

If you are interested in giving it a try, you can find it at most mass merchandisers and drug stores.  It sells for $10.95.

If you would like to learn more about it, you can find more information by clicking here.

Happy Valentines Day

A little note from my daughter. :)

Nutella Cream Frosted Cupcakes

My daughter loves to bake cupcakes, and all of her efforts have been inspiring me to try some new recipes myself.  Here's a new one I tried recently.  The recipe is down below the pictures.  

NUTELLA CREAM FROSTED CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1 Yellow Cake Mix
• 3 Eggs
• 2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 Cup Buttermilk
• 1 Box Instant Vanilla Pudding
• 1/4 Chocolate Sprinkles or Mini Chocolate Chips

Frosting:

• 1 Cup Butter
• 1 Cup Nutella
• 1/4 Cup Evaporated Milk
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1/8 Tsp. Salt
• 4 Cups Powdered Sugar

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla pudding.  Beat with mixer on low for one minute, then beat for two minutes on medium.  After blended, fold in sprinkles or chocolate chips.
3. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes. After cooked let cool for ten minutes or so.
4. Cream the Nutella and butter, add salt, vanilla, and two TBSP of the evaporated milk.  Beat until creamy.  Slowly add powdered sugar.
5. After all powdered sugar is mixed in, add the remaining milk and beat for two more minutes.
6. Add frosting to cooled cupcakes and add sprinkles or any other toppings as desired.  I used Red Hot Hearts on mine.

Mixture makes 2 dozen cupcakes.  

I Won!

This came in the mail today!  So excited, I love winning stuff, especially gift cards to my favorite stores!

I also got this, it is so yummy!

Hoarder Truck

I went to the local market last week with my son.  As we were leaving I saw this truck.  I just had to stop and take a picture.  This truck was so packed with junk that there was barely any room for the driver.  Notice how the truck bed is so full that his rear end is low to the ground, and the tires are low on air pressure?  Also note the dragging tail pipe and the duct taped tail light.  

Note:  If you click on the picture, you can enlarge it to really see how bad it is. 

A Minor Procedure

Recently, Brenden, my 15 year old, had been complaining about an ingrown toenail.  We waited a couple of days to see if it would work itself out, but it just kept getting worse, so off to the doctor we went.

The doctor had suggested that Brenden could either go home and do an epsom salt treatment on it for several days, to help soften the skin and get the nail out from under the skin, or  he could just give Brenden a local anesthetic and cut the nail right there at the office.  Brenden was sick and tired of dealing with the pain, so he opted to get the procedure done with the doctor.  It took 8 shots of anesthetic before Brenden was numb enough to have it cut.

This is what his toe nail looked like before the procedure.  See the white part sticking out from the left side of his toe?  That was the "spur" that was causing him so much pain.  Gross huh?

The doctor made sure to let Brenden know for future reference, that from now on when cutting his toenail, cut straight across the nail, do not curve around it.  I swear I've told him that a million times, but did he ever listen?  Obviously not...

Surprises In My Mailbox

I absolutely love to check my mail.  First of all, I collect postcards, and I also love to create mail art, so I am a member of Swap-Bot.com and Postcrossing.com.  Participating in these two sites, I get a lot of mail from my swaps.  I also enter lots of contests, take advantage of free sample offers, and take lots of paid and product trial surveys, so I am always getting something new and exciting in my mail box.

Here is what came today:

I got a full size bottle of L'Oreal BB cream from SheSpeaks, a sample of Centrum Flavor Burst Gummy vitamins, a small can of Beneful dog food along with a coupon, a postcard from Russia, a 3D postcard from the Netherlands, and a vintage postcard from Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona.

I can't wait to see what comes tomorrow!

Sara's Cupcakes

 

For Christmas, we bought our daughter a mini-cupcake maker at K-Mart.  She loves watching Cupcake Wars and she is always helping when we do any baking.  The girl has a real love for baking and for 11 years old, she pretty darn good at it too.  So it seemed only natural that we get this for her.

The cupcake maker is very easy to use and comes with an aluminum box for storage, a carrier, and an icing tool with various tips. Here she is pouring in the batter.

A look at the cupcakes after baking and before icing.

Here she is putting the icing on the cupcakes.  For these she used Betty Crocker whipped vanilla icing.

And the final product after the final touch of crumbled Oreo cookies.  MMmm!

COVERGIRL blastflipstick

I've posted before that I am a BzzAgent, and for being a BzzAgent I get to try products and in return I spread the word and give my opinions on them.  My latest Bzz Campaign is for CoverGirl's BlastFlipStick lip stick.

The lipstick is a moisturizing, dual ended lipstick that comes with a different color on each end of the stick.  One color is a creamy color and is little softer and tamer for day use, and the other color is a shimmer, and is a little more bold and dazzling for those hot nights on the town.  You can wear each color by itself, or, because they were created to blend easily, you can create a whole new look by combining the two colors together.

They come in 13 colorful duos that perfectly compliment each other.  The different color duos are:

1. Whisper 800
2. Pucker 805
3. Glimmer 810
4. Flashy 815
5. Vixen 820
6. Perky 825
7. Tease 830
8. Cheeky 835
9. Stunner 840
10. Snap 845
11. Smooth 850
12. Minx 855
13. Intense 860

These are available in most drug stores, grocery stores, and major retailers, so they won't be hard to find.  They retail for right around $8.49 each.

This is a picture of me wearing Minx 855.

For more information you can visit their website here.