14 Empowering Quotes To Help You Harness Your Inner Wonder Woman

About a week ago, I was talking to my husband about how I was both sad and relieved that summer was over.  I was lamenting the fact that I felt like I'd kind of failed my older two kids in the summer fun department because so much of my time was spent in three hour blocks due to our new baby.  As a result, they mostly played together inside, watched shows or were out in the backyard.  Sure, I still planned some activities and we crossed a few things off our bucket list but as a whole, I felt the summer wasn't all that memorable.  I crave routine and predictability and with the start of a new school year, as well as a baby who's schedule is emerging, I finally have both of those things.  And that's when that old enemy "mom guilt" started creeping in big time and I felt bad for looking forward to my kids being gone at school.  If you have kids, I'm guessing you've felt this way too at least a few times in your life.  It can be so easy to let that voice tell us that we didn't do enough or what we did do wasn't good enough.

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Easy Rapunzel Braid

I learned how to braid when I was about seven or eight and would practice on my mom's hair all the time.  Now that I have a little girl of my own, it's been fun to try out different hairstyles on her.  Braids are an easy ways to keep her hair back and add a little style and this Rapunzel braid might be one of my new favorite hairstyles for her.

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Hello Dollies (7 Layer Bars)

Growing up, we almost always had some kind of homemade treat on the counter in our kitchen.  My mom has a sweet tooth and loves to make desserts.  One she made regularly was called Hello Dollies, which I found out later are also called 7 Layer Bars.  I still have no idea why they are called Hello Dollies, but hearing the name always reminds me of one of my favorite musicals: Hello, Dolly.

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Galaxy Bars

What is it about outer space that is so fascinating to us?  Maybe it's the idea of the unknown or just the thought that there are things out there that we haven't seen, but know they are there, like giant stars and black holes.  From a young age, I remember learning about the planets, moon, stars and galaxies and finding it all so interesting.  My kids are getting to the age where they are experiencing the same wonder and it's been fun to relearn with them.  (I even got to tell my kids about how "when I was a kid, we had nine planets".  Talk about feeling old!)  Today I'm sharing a family recipe with you that I've adapted to go along with the space theme and I'm calling them Galaxy Bars.

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5 Fun {and Free} Disney Printables

I love Disney movies.  They make me laugh.  They make me cry.  And I have no problem admitting that I still watch them by myself sometimes at night.  So when I saw this month's prompt for Movie Club Monday was for Disney movies, I was so excited!  Then I felt a little bummed because I was having a hard time choosing just one movie to post about.  And then I thought, why choose just one?  So this month I'm sharing some of my favorite Disney movie quotes and song lyrics with you ("with you...with you...with you...with you...with you!")

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Movie Club Monday: 45+ Movies Based On Books

I had the best of intentions when it came to this month's theme for Movie Club Monday, but between having a new baby and then being in the hospital for a week with her when she was two weeks old for RSV and bacterial pneumonia, I wasn't able to do what I had in mind.  So that led me to plan B where I decided to poll some of my friends and find out what their favorite movies based on a book are.  Being a book lover, I have a hard time when books get adapted into movie form because inevitably they will have to leave parts out and sometimes they even change significant parts of the story line.  But every once in a while, you find a movie that stays pretty true to the book and it's enjoyable to sit back and watch the movie on a screen.  So I've listed out over 20 books that have been adapted to film and are worth looking into.

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Movie Club Monday: Leap Year and St. Patrick's Day Inspiration

As a kid, I was always fascinated by the idea of "leap year".  I imagined how funny it would be to say that my birthday was on Leap Day because then when I was 16, I would have only had four "real" birthdays.  (I've celebrated eight leap years myself.)  So while this year may not be a leap year--the next one is in 2020--I thought it would be fun to incorporate it into this month's Movie Club Monday theme which is a romantic comedy.  The movie of choice:  Leap Year, of course.  *wink*

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Movie Club Monday: The Princess Bride Inspired Taste Testing Activity for Kids

You know those movies that you grow up watching that you absolutely love?  The ones you could watch a million times and quote all the lines and still enjoy it?  For me, one of those movies is The Princess Bride.  My sisters and I would watch it together and anytime one of us would quote it (either in or out of context), we'd all bust up laughing because it just never got old. "That's inconceivable!"  "I'm a poet, did you know it?" and "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya.  You killed my father.  Prepare to die." are just a few that make the rounds and it always takes me back.  Last month, I shared some monthly link parties that I am going to be participating in this year.  Today is the first one that is part of the Movie Club Monday series and the theme is nostalgic films.

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