Summer Loves

Our summer was filled with lots of great stuff. One of which was the infamous Harry Potter. He entered our home and took over for quite some time. Now, I know many of you out there think that my life and purpose will never quite be made complete without reading the Harry Potter series. That I will have a forever void in my life. A missing piece. You might be right. I have thought about getting started many times...read the 1st one even...and stopped there. But I'm done thinking about reading the books. It's looks like it's just not gonna happen. So to make up for that gaping hole in my life, Shane and I decided to have a Harry Potter movie marathon. Watching all the movies back to back confirmed my resolve to skip the books. Holy long! Honestly. It took us an accumulated 24+ hours to complete the movies. Thinking about the hours I would need to dedicate to the books completely wipes out any motivation. So even though I'm an avid reader and promoter of books, I'm totally recommending the movie route on this one (I'm sure many of you are cringing at the thought!). But it was great. Watching them back to back was exciting and a fun evening ritual with Shane (granted he's more of a movie-sleeper than a movie-watcher!). We had to watch short bits at a time to get him through them with his eyes open.
We went to the theater to see the finale. Thank you Harry Potter for keeping our summer days filled with suspense, imagination, humor, magic, and fierce bravery. We want to be like you when we grow up.
Another summer movie favorite was The Help.
As far as movies doing books justice, I think this one did just that. I just loved it. Loved the book. Loved the movie. I'm anxious to watch it again.

After Shane said good-night to Harry Potter and succumbed to sleep, I did go back to reading. I left the school of Hogwarts and entered the world of.....pAreNTinG!! I have read a few different parenting books and this has by far been my favorite. I'm a believer in Love & Logic. These have been SO helpful and almost therapeutic for me. I feel completely validated and also feel so much motivation to do better and be a better mom to my young boys. I highly recommend these books. I've read two: the one geared to the younger years and also one geared toward children with extra energy and attention needs. They are both fantastic.
Another something consuming my time is none other than my hair. My hair is longer than it's been since the 3rd grade...alright...maybe the 6th grade. Most days I like it. Days that I'm ready to chop it are days that I don't take the time to do it. On those days I just think, why have long hair when it's all flat and stringy and gross? Fortunately, I do enjoy doing it, and I get excited to try new things. It has become a little bit of an obsession. My latest hobby. I have spent too much time watching tutorials and reading styling and product tips, but I have also learned lots. Who knew there were so many different curling techniques and that they really do made a huge difference on the look of your curl? I've never really known how to braid and now I do! I even attempted the "halo braid."

This was the first time I tried it. I've gotten better since.

This is another fun idea.

These are my favorite sites to follow:
Hairdresser on Fire
The Beauty Department
Nature's Knockout
Watching tutorials and doing different fun things keeps me enjoying my hair and away from always wanting something different. It's easy to chronically want what you don't or can't have. At least for now, I am trying to love what I do have...before it's hacked off again!

I'm trying to get myself excited about the fall. Summer went too fast. My house is decorated for the new season. Makes such a difference in my attitude. It makes adjusting to the change much more fun. Our subdivision is lined with lots and lots and lots of trees. They are beautiful in the fall. Their leaves are starting to change.

Now if we could just freeze them (and Carson and Cade) in time for awhile that would make me happy. I miss these two.