I feel like summer time is a time to be a minimalist if there ever was one. You play outside, you read books, you watch less TV, you wear less makeup, and kids can be entertained with simple things instead of toys.

I wanted to share my summer essentials with you!

Makeup

I don’t like wearing much makeup in the summer time. I don’t have much time these days to apply makeup and I sweat a lot and I don’t like the feeling that I have on tons of makeup and then it’s covered in sweat. It makes me feel like a big break out waiting to happen. I also like to be able to wash my face as much as possible after being outside. So I just don’t wear a ton of makeup. These are the essentials. (I always always always wear eye liner, but feel like it’s too heavy looking on a sweaty, hot day, so I haven’t been wearing it this summer.)

Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturizer with SPF– This goes on after my regular moisturizer. It has SPF and just enough tint to even out my skin tone. But it feels light.

Clinique Super Rescue Antioxidant Night Moisturizer– I use this in the morning and at night after I wash my face.

Smashbox Soft Lights in Shimmer– I brush this over my face for some shimmer and to get a little bit of a summer glow.

Diorshow Mascara– My favorite!

Urban Decay Naked Palette– All of these colors are so natural and beautiful. I think they add just enough color in the summer time without looking too “done.”

Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in Blonde– I use this color to give my eyebrows some help. I have the lightest eyebrows you’ve ever seen!

Neutrogena Makeup Remover Towelettes– These are perfect for removing eye makeup. I still use all my Bliss products for washing my face.

Hair Stuff

I have a lot of hair and it takes forever to dry. And then I go outside and things get all frizzy because I have naturally wavy hair. So in the summer, I just use these products, let my hair air dry, and then do the curl down. I also use my Olivia Garden round brush to dry my bangs or they’d be ca-razy! Nina first told me about Olivia Garden brushes a couple of years ago and I bought a couple of different sizes. Then she recently told me about the Olivia Garden bamboo brushes. I love mine!

Olivia Garden Bamboo Brush in 3.5 inch– It makes my hair dry so fast. When I do dry all of my hair it  cuts the time down by so much!

Aveda Brilliant Damage Control– This is a great detangler and heat protectant.

Aveda Phomollient– I put this on last and scrunch. Then I let it air dry. It is very light!

Conair Ceramic Curling Iron– It’s my favorite. It’s a great price and it lasts forever. Here’s the link to Amy’s post with the curl down video again.

Books

I read the most in the summer time. There aren’t may great things on TV, so I would prefer to just read. This is what’s left of my summer reading list! I kind of fell off the reading wagon at the end of my pregnancy and when Hayes was first born. I’m getting back on track though.

TV on DVD

Again, there’s nothing great on TV, so I’ve been using my Netflix Instant to watch all of Friday Night Lights this summer. I’m obsessed. TC and I just love every single character– well, almost all of them! My mom watched this show from the beginning and I’d catch the occasional episode with her. But I’m weird about TV shows. If I’m going to watch them, I have to watch them from the very first episode.

What are your summer essentials? Make up and hair routine? What are you watching this summer? If you say you spend every day at the pool with no one around, I’m going to be extremely jealous and ask if we can trade places for a day. I’m just kidding…

Without embarrassing the Twitter friend who prompted this post, I thought I would set the record straight today about my life and the person I am. I apologize to anyone who ever got the wrong impression.

• I don’t get dressed every day. I don’t put on make up every day. I hope my husband thinks I’m sexy.
• I wash my hair twice a week. Fortunately, I was cursed blessed with thick hair that doesn’t need to be washed daily. But still. I don’t wash my hair every day.
• My children are not always dressed cute. Some days they wear their pajamas all day, too!
• I swear. Not in front of my kids and not in public. But at home when I stump my toe or my water boils over or when Hayes wakes up every hour on the hour for no particular reason.
• I also have road rage. I have been known to reach over from the passenger seat while TC is driving just to blow the horn at someone because he doesn’t like to do it.
• I am impatient. If I want something done, I want it done right then or I’m going to stomp off and do it myself. Probably just to prove a point. And I’ll probably trip and fall on the way because that’s what happens when you make an idiot of yourself.
• I watch bad TV and get really into it.
• I’m super competitive and hate feeling like I lost at something. Even if it wasn’t something that I should have been competing for.
• I have pretty good intuition when it comes to meeting new people. I’m not the most trusting person in the world and can be very cautious.
• But I also tell some people way too much information.
• Ummm hello I tell way too much information on this blog.
• I try to be forgiving and try not to hold grudges against people who have hurt me in the past, but that’s not always how it works out.
• I say mean things about people I see that I don’t know based on what they’re wearing.
• I say mean things about people’s children that are misbehaving and make my kid cry!

So, I apologize to any of you that got the wrong impression of me over these past few years. I try to show you all the good with the bad on this blog. But I do try to keep it clean for the most part.

If you could all have the misfortune of coming to my house to sit and chat with me while I watch the Real Housewives of Where Ever and sip a glass of Santa Margherita, you may see a side of me that doesn’t always come out when I’m blogging about my day.

I do love the Lord and try, try, try to be the best person I can be. But I fail. A lot.

God knocks you down and humbles you! No, it’s true.

I don’t think I deserve a medal when my 2 year old behaves or when my 9 week old sleeps through the night. But it does make me feel pretty darn good. Because the days when Hudson is being particularly disobedient or when Hayes doesn’t sleep well, I think, “I am failing. I am doing something wrong.” Being a mom is tough on the ego, I tell ya.

Last week, I posted some goals to get more organized- especially with meal planning and grocery shopping. So this weekend, while Todd was out of town, I planned our meals for the week and did all of our grocery shopping. I handled Monday’s supper on Sunday night. I had everything lined up to handle tonight’s supper today while the boys were napping.

I laid out all of our clothes for this morning and made Hayes’s bottles ahead of time. We all got dressed and out the door. Hudson has swim lessons this week, so Hayes and I sit and watch/sweat to death while Hudson swims. I was feeling pretty darn good. Not quite Super Mom, but definitely like I had my stuff together… finally!

Hudson had a great lesson, and then when it was time to go, he decided he wanted to take the blue pool ring home with him. You know those pool toys that you dive down to the bottom to bring back up. He wanted to take the blue one home. I was carrying the pool bag and I had Hayes in the crook of my elbow in his carrier. I was holding Hudson’s hand trying to keep him from taking a flying leap into the pool. He picked up the ring, but I told him he needed to leave it at the pool so he could play with it tomorrow.

He wasn’t having it. Cue the melt down of all melt downs. He collapsed and kicked and screamed. And I know he was so tired from his lesson. But I couldn’t pick him up and just run to the car because I had Hayes! And I’m trying to hold onto his hand without dragging him across the concrete and skinning his legs!

Can you be embarrassed even if no one sees? There was no one around to witness this, but I was embarrassed!

I managed to get Hudson to the car and Hayes to the car. They both got buckled in and I used the towel to dry my face from the insane amounts of sweat. The heat index is 110 degrees today. It’s too hot to be wrestling a toddler outside.

(Before anyone asks… Yes, I do discipline Hudson. And I did then, too.)

I let him watch a movie on the way home and then, of course, he didn’t want to get out of the car because he wanted to watch The Jungle Book. Duh, Erin! So he proceeds to collapse in the driveway and in our front yard as we made our way into the house. It’s just so hard to be a toddler.

I sent him to his room with his lovie to calm down while I fed Hayes. I fixed Hudson some lunch and went to get him. He told me he did want some tortellini and fruit and thanked me when I put him in his high chair.

Then he looked at me and while he choked back what was left of his previous tears, he said, “I’m sorry, Mommy.”

And so he couldn’t see the tears building up in my eyes, I hugged him and kissed his cheek. And told him I loved him.

Gah! This motherhood stuff is hard. But moments like that can be so rewarding.

We have our set backs and we’re constantly reminded that we don’t have all the answers and we don’t even know what we’re doing most of the time. But instinct and love help us cope with the melt downs and embarrassing moments when you’re convinced that everyone on your street knows that your toddler wanted to stay in the car to watch The Jungle Book.

And I just think that God wants to humble us so we remember that He has the answers. He wants to remind us to look to him for guidance in all of our relationships– especially the ones where we’re trying to raise Godly children.