Insomnia and my Talented Sister-in-law.....

So... I hate it when it is 2:30 in the morning and you wake up to go to the bathroom and can't get back to sleep. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep easily at 10:30 and now I am so refreshed that 4 hours later I can't fall asleep.  I looked at the clock and it was 3:11a.m., at 3:36 I made a deal with myself that I should just get up and do something productive in the hopes of falling asleep.  That is why I'm typing this at 3:54 a.m.
I tried all the little tricks to get myself to relax and fall asleep.... nothing was working.... my mind kept wandering... to ridiculous things.

 First, I started thinking about yesterday and celebrating Mother's day at Justin's house.  I hadn't been over there in awhile, and I really liked all the things he had done since the last time I was over there.... (painting the inside of his closet).  That made me think about painting my living room and the kitchen... should I get someone to do it or do it myself and save some money?.... but then I have to hire a baby sitter.... which costs money.... so I might as well hire someone... unless I paint in the evening after the kids go to bed.... which I have done in the past.... but it's hard to see.  Then I started thinking about everyone playing soccer at the party... and Justin complaining about the weeds in the yard... which made me think I should do some yard work today and pull some weeds... and mulch... which is so time consuming... and I don't have a lot of time because Nick needs to work on his volcano project... and if we start the project later in the day he will really resist and complain.  I should get to sleep in on Mother's day and do what I want... not yard work and volcanoes.  Mom said the weather was going to be great so it would be fun to go to the tennis courts with the kids.  This made me start thinking about the kids and what fun they had kicking the soccer ball in the backyard... I have lots of pictures to post.... which will come soon.  Then I was thinking about Tyler and I hope that his face cleared up and he was not having an allergic reaction to the grass, etc.  Then this got me to thinking about Tyler's birthday and helping Laura make dinosaur cookies and how fun that will be and how cute they will be.... but I wish I had more time.... which there never seems to be enough of.... because I'm always driving around and racing and trying to get somewhere on time but I'm always late. Now do you see why I couldn't sleep.  My mind was racing with NONSENSE!

So because I can't sleep.... I will share with you these pictures that I uploaded yesterday.  They are from our make-up day with Laura.  Maureen and I had mentioned to Laura that we would love to learn what make-up looks good on us and how to apply it.  Well.... Laura was so EXCITED to help us.  (She secretly knew she needed to save us.  For those of you that do not know, Laura has been doing make-up for the past 10 years and has worked for Sephora and Mac.)  Crystal and Mom wanted in on the fun too so we all met at Laura's for lunch and learning some new make-up skills.  When we first walked into the kitchen.... look what was on display... 1/3 of Laura's make-up stash... and she said she had gone back to Sephora the day before to find some samples that would be perfect for us.....  It was going to take a lot of stuff to get us looking pretty. 

You will have to forgive these photos... they are not high quality and do not give Laura's work justice.  I took them on my i-phone because I forgot my camera.  Can you believe it?  On the one day I'm going to look my best, I didn't bring the camera for evidence.... it was because I was running late....once again.  So anyway... here Laura is....beginning to work her magic on Mo.

This is Mo checking out every step of the transformation.  She was serious....she wanted to know step-by-step how to apply the eye make-up and how to get a glowing complexion. 

She was so serious....she made Crystal take notes....and Crystal loved it!  She wrote down every last detail so Mo would be able to transform herself at home, on her own, without Laura's help.  Crystal already new a lot about make-up application so this was all for Mo.  

Look at all the detail.....  I told Mo that I was going to post these pictures with the title "Make-up for Morons."  Now I'm not including Mom and Crystal in that generalization... but as for Maureen and I.... I think we definitely learned a thing or too!

So here is Maureen's finished face...She looked so pretty... and her skin was glowing and her eyes were fantastic.  Too bad this photo doesn't show the attention to detail that Laura applied to her face.

Here is my "after" shot.  You have to believe me when I say my make-up looked great.  This photo that Mo shot just shows off my glowing skin and distorted nose and forehead!

Then we convinced Mom to get in the make-up chair so Laura could do her artistry.  I can't believe Laura wasn't getting tired.  Here we were all relaxing and laughing and having fun.... and Laura was standing and put to work the whole time while Tyler was napping.

So here is Mom's beautiful face...  We were joking that we all better do something that evening so we could be seen with our perfect make-up. 

Unfortunately.... then I had to leave.  I did not see Crystal's transformation.  Laura was going to give her a smoky eye and make her complexion flawless.  I wish I could have seen the results.  I would love to see what she did with Crystals "big" eyes, spider leg eye lashes, and "Na-Nu-Na-Nu" eyebrows, as Crystal so eloquently put it.  (She was cracking us up... not to mention that she told us she was going to sleep in a neck brace so her make-up wouldn't get smudged and she would look good for the Mother's day BBQ!)  I imagine she looked a little something like this... but with more eyeshadow and less kelbasa in the picture!  She always looks good!

So that about sums up make-up day.  I have to tell you that Laura is AWESOME and soooo talented and so much fun to be around.  I can't wait for our next practice day....as requested by us all.  Well it is now 4:50 and an hour has conveniently slipped away and I am still NOT tired.  I think I might just go make some coffee and wait for the newspaper to arrive.  Until later......