Let Me Get This Straight

Straight hair, don't care.

So I got a hair cut, my once-annual chopping of the locks. I'm just so lazy low maintenance when it comes to my hair. The good news is, curly hair can handle it. After all, every day it curls in a different way. My lovely stylist Jennifer feels my pain - she also has curly hair. But like so many curly haired girls I know, Jennifer always straightens her hair. And as a special treat for me, she insisted on straightening it at my appointment.

It's like I'm a completely different person with straight hair. I keep catching sight of myself in the mirror and marveling at the shape of my head... normally all you see is a mass of hair. Now there is actual a form under there. I keep thinking my face seems longer, or my hair somehow looks more brown without the distraction of the curly frizz that normally takes over. I like it for a change, but heaven help me, it took longer to straighten than it did to cut and I just don't have that kind of time in my life. Short of Jennifer coming over at 5 a.m. each day and doing it for me, this look will last until I finally break down and take a shower. Still, it's fun for a change. Although I rather think I would (gasp!) miss my curls if this were a permanent thing.

I've also been wearing my glasses for the last few days (I know, who AM I?!) I woke up with what seemed like a touch of pink eye, so I dug some eyedrops out of the cabinet and started self-medicating. It's been an adjustment, though. Every time I walk in a store, my instinctively go to take off my sunglasses, only to remember I'm not wearing any. And without sunglasses, the world has been a much brighter place, literally. Today I'm finally back to contacts and sunglasses, but I found myself riding around without the shades... it turns out that the fall colors are so much more vibrant when you're not hiding from the glare. I guess sometimes it is worth it to face reality as God made it, even if it makes your eyes water. (Insert deep metaphor about the current state of affairs here.)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The girls have been at the grandmas since Saturday, which means Matt and I have gotten to run around reliving life as a young married couple, doing spontaneous things like couples date night (you haven't lived until you've had sparkling sake... you're welcome) and dinner/movie. I got a massage one day and popped into approximately 27 different stores on the hunt for various event-related items (bridal shower luncheon Christmas ornament gift - how specific is that?, lingerie shower gift, room mom gifts, teacher gifts, pre-Black Friday anxiety shopping). I cannot even imagine how horrible those errands would have been with two children in tow. I even busted out the Christmas decorations, minus the tree stuff. We'll wait until we have the girls back before we put up the tree - we're not total Scrooges. But it was nice to get some things out without their "help". I'm super excited about our advent calendar this year - various crafts, events, and stories for each day, handmade from our church. Isn't it beautiful?! We are really going to commit to following it through this year. With Lukas and Virginia's wedding closing out December, it's already guaranteed to be an extra-busy season, so I think it's important to make the time for this one.

Advent is coming!

Finally, I'll close this one down with a picture that's been 25 years in the making. We got together with some of Matt's closest high school/college friends. These guys have been through it all together... their friendship circle expanded to include girlfriends who then became wives and now we all have kids. We took over and pretty much shut down the local pizza joint with this crazy crew. Thankful for these friendships.

Party of 23!

Two Wheels

Last Christmas, Santa brought Violet this new bike, complete with training wheels. It was good times. But one of my summer goals was getting Violet to learn to ride it as a two-wheeler. (The other goal was potty-training Annie. Hey, one out of two ain't bad.)

Violet just wasn't interested in taking those training wheels off. We tried a time or two, but a few wobbles was all it took for her to lose all desire. Well, enter Annie's birthday balance bike. While it was way too small for Violet to be riding, she would still get on and zoom around the house. She got so good at it, Matt finally convinced her to try her real bike again, promising it was the exact same idea.

Lo and behold, within minutes she had mastered her two wheeler! Awesome! Even though Annie still won't touch the balance bike, it certainly proved its worth. Best way to get a kid to learn to bike, in my (now) opinion. After all, it's not the idea of pedaling that proves tricky, it's the staying upright on two wheels. And a little balance bike will quickly accomplish that part.