fifteen.

fifteen days have come and gone since i last posted a "post" on this little online scrapbook.

fifteen.

yet it feels like i've lived about an entire year of life.

whew.

i'm wiped. out.

literally couldn't peel myself out of bed this morning. even with the thought of my coffee. 

and that's unusual.

we started "school" yesterday.

and it was chaotic. i was very ill-prepared.

but the day, like every other day, came and went. and went just fine.

i was anxious about it. i think because i hadn't had time to think about it until we came back from out of town late sunday night. and then it was meet the teacher monday morning. 

and that's when i started panicking. not because i don't want them to start. i do, i do, i do. 

but because i had not done one thing. including laundry.

so for the next 15 hours i ran what felt like a million errands with my two tired children, packed lunches, made a nap mat for my daughter who is waaaay to little to be napping on a nap mat, tried to buy snack baggies {which there were none of}, got some laundry done so both the littles would have a clean outfit for their first day and a set of clean back up clothes.... AND tried to sleep.

remember a while back i mentioned my nightmares?

well, they have resurfaced. and i have very unsettling dreams about someone - who shall remain nameless - breaking into our house & holding us captive. 

it's horrible. 

i don't think i have ever once felt unsafe in my house. ever. even with my nightmares that come and go. but this one was so real. and it was set around here. 

and i felt paralyzed in bed, not even having the courage to wake up the hubbs and tell him about it while it was still dark outside. 

anyway.

last night i slept much better. maybe from the lack of sleep the night(s) before.

but i'm still tired. 

in & out & in & out of town will do that to ya.

and a total change of life pace.

whew.

are you all back in school?

i'm thankful for our little preschool program. very thankful. we've always had a great experience and am hoping the same for this year. even with my littlest there once a week too!!

anyway - let's do a bit of catch up.

a few weeks ago we went to the circus in ft. worth.

b. had a wonderful time. c. had a great time too, until she was tired. and then it was a marathon of holding her while we watched elephants and motorcycles from the top of the stairs.

b. was very serious about the clowns. love him.

they had a dress up spot before the show started. loads of fun.

thanks so much, mimi & papa for such a fun time together!!!! we love you!

tattoos, dolphins, sea lions & ducks.

after our fun outing to the very popular candy store, we headed next door to one of those junky beach shops. and what did we get? 

a henna tattoo. so fun. 

brady was very proud to be sitting in such a big boy chair getting his 'tattoo'.

our very own super heros. love.

as i mentioned before, our trip was kinda rainy. 

and one day that looked as if it wouldn't let up enough for us to go to the beach, jo and i took the boys to the gulfarium for a hopefully dry outing.

turns out most of it, although covered, is outside. 

the boys loved their "maps".

waiting for the sea lion show. jo & i thought they were pretty cute, but the boys weren't terribly impressed. 

now, the dolphins, they were a different story. 

unbelievable. 

how wonderful is God's creation? i feel like each year we go to the beach, i come back more in awe of Him. 

maybe it's because i get to experience a different "creation" for a while. how many different kind of fish are there in the sea? how many different corals? sting rays? sunsets? different kinds of sand. seaweed. jellyfish. waves. on & on & on. 

awe.

anyway - the dolphins. the boys were quite impressed. as were we. loved being able to get these pictures.

and when we got back the sun was shining once again. 

so we took the girls & the daddies to feed the ducks with us. 

b. was super happy to show c the way - and how to feed them.

if you look really closely at the picture below, you'll see two tiny baby ducks on the left. hidden in the grass.

the momma wasn't too happy with us getting this close.

love.

i didn't get much {okay - any} sewing done yesterday. i did manage to buy some adorable fabric {as seen on my instagram} yesterday. now it's just sitting in the dining room waiting to be used. 

let's see if we can get some of that done tonight as the hubbs and i embark on season 2 of friday night lights. we are HUGE fans. we originally got into the series during season 3, and we had borrowed season 1 from a friend. but now - we've found netflix. 

and we tried downton abbey. oh did we try. and maybe we will keep trying. i so want to be sophisticated enough to find it fascinating as so many of my friends have.

but only after season 2 of FNL. it is seriously the best. show. ever. 

and perfect for fall.... and the anticipation of all things football!!!

texas forever, y'all.

more destin.

one of the first nights, we took the boys to the pond to feed the ducks while the girls fell asleep in their rooms. so sweet. but with boys the bread doesn't last too long. i think they were more interested in throwing it and then chasing the ducks than actually feeding them.

i love both of these pictures {above & below}. they perfectly capture both pierce & b. 

all of the loot we lugged down to the beach everyday. luckily the boys are big enough to help. and our house isn't too far from the sand. 

the girls had the easiest job. chilaxing in the wagon. 

we had a lot of rain this year. more than normal. but it was actually really nice. it made for an overcast, sunburnless, cooler vacation. a big storm came through about an hour after we got out there on this particular day. so we ran back real quick and stood under cover at our house for a bit. 

and had snacks, of course.

 and blew bubbles. and road the scooter.

the evening was my favorite time out there this year. normally it's the morning. 

but this year, do the overcast skies and the rain, it was pretty cool {temperature wise} in the evening. 

 

looking for something easy to do at night {as in, not getting all dressed up to go to a restaurant and try to keep our kids behaving properly} we went to a near by candy store. 

this was a big hit. for all involved.

still more pics to edit & load. that will hopefully happen this week. 

but right now i have a need to sew.  as in i couldn't sleep last night because i just needed to do something. 

my sweet husband. he tries to understand this about me. my need to create & use the right side of my brain. it's been a long time and i feel myself going a little bit looney. 

it's a coping mechanism for me. and besides, it's relaxing for me. and i won't pretend that you understand, unless you're just like me and then you DO understand. i know you do. 

hope you're having a great week. it's not as hot back here as i had anticipated it being. so that's a bonus. right?