peaceful, quiet house

after solid weeks of only a single child napping.  the other wide awake.  "resting" on the couch.  watching transformers or some other garbage on t.v. while i desperately tried to clean. 

and dodge the never ending "but why" questions.

ethan is napping. 

really napping.

my house is quiet. 

i just watched tivo'd parenthood.

and i am about to tackle chores.

my soul needed daytime hours of silence.

i could blog, but i would rather pick up the house.

xoxo, s 

beachy recap - part 2

i reeeeeally wanted to just sit down and write about the entire trip on monday after we came back.  but vacation recuperation is a beating.  i had all that i neglected during vacation preparation, and then the actual vacation... then getting back in the swing of things.

no complaints.  really.  but with savannah's teething induced cling... well.  i don't get my list checked off.

but back to the trip.

i really liked how there were random kids for our kids to make friends with... but what on earth is ethan saying to the boy in this picture??

this picture kind of cracks me up... 

we rented bikes... and ethan had his own.  it was the perfect place for him to ride.  until he fell.  and, well, our little trooper really busted it.  bruises on his knees and chin... thank god for the helmet.  we made him try again a couple of days later and all was well.  he thought he deserved new toys for riding the bike so well.  where have we gone wrong??!!??

i wish i had a picture of him on the bike.  it was sweet.

and savannah loved riding in the trailer.  i even loved pulling the trailer... which i thought i would hate.  or just be ill suited for.  and the best part was riding the bike a block down the street and parking it at the beach access.  perfection really.   i must be truthful, though.  faustino did much of the trailer pulling.  and i, frankly, suck at biking in sand.  just wanted to get that out there.  i am sure that my husband, in his college days, never pictured marrying such a lousy cyclist :)  

another wonderful thing was the downstairs screened porch of the house.  it wasn't so pristine that we didn't let the kids really play on it.  with sand toys.  they loved it.  i loved it.  no bugs... no wrangling savannah.  b l i s s

the third story porch... my favorite.

the third story porch view... like a tree house, really.

my view during a lazy afternoon... 

our house had a pool... the pool was cold.  i think i would have liked the "heated" option on the pool, but hindsight's 20/20 right?  who would have thought the pool would have been so chilly!!

by the way, the house had 6 porches.  3 were screened.  one had a bed.  have i ever lamented about my desperate need for a porch?  here in our teeny tiny nest, a tiny crappy patio and a stoop do not cut it.  so the house with all the patios was a dream come true.  i only wished i could have enjoyed a terrific thunder storm in the evening.  except who really wishes for rain on a beach vacation?

and while we are on the topic of the house.  what a house it was.  not my dream home, but a perfect beach home.  it was comfy.  i must tell you, i was so spoiled by the space.  spoiled.  amazingly spoiled.  it was almost a vacation in and of itself just to have more space.  i've never lived in a really large house... but this {with the exception of a college apartment} is the very tiniest space i've lived in.  and to have everyone in one space without us all on top of one another.  ahhhh....

just to have more than one bathroom.

and i looked at the bathroom counter in our bathroom at the house and i thought.  what on earth do people put on a counter?  really.  i thought that.

but i can't go down this rabbit hole.  because many, many, MANY people, all over the world, would move into my house in a heartbeat and be so pleased.  so no complaints here.  i promise.  i am grateful for the space in which i dwell.  it's just the beach house was luxuriously roomy.  one day...

i haven't even touched on the important topic of food.  oh my.  grits a ya ya... mmmmm.....  and let's not forget that sue is on this trip... so the food that she whips up is almost guaranteed to be divine.  really.  she is quite talented in the kitchen.  so between the restaurants and big breakfasts and hamburgers on the grill at the house... umm... yes.  i need to diet now.  i have indulged.

and shopping... well, not in this season of life.  but i'd like to go back during another season... for sure.  i window shopped.  and browsed.  and pined away for a few things.... and would have loved to have bought some art.  or furniture.  or clothes for the littles.  or myself.  or the vintage coin necklace pendants... like the mite.  as in the "widow's mite"....  so cool.

and these bricks... i wanted to "pin" them in pinterest.  lovely.  for a patio.  in a "one day" house.

a few other favorite memories -- ethan spotting dolphins and telling faustino and me... it took US awhile to see them, but sure enough, that little stinker has a good eye.

ethan learned how to boogie board - with the help of daddy and grammy.  so cute.  especially the wipeout.  :)  savannah gave it a try, too.  kind of.

we went out at night with a flashlight and looked for ghost crabs.  ethan learned that "crabs are pinchy"

the kids ran around eden gardens... it was beautiful.  a change of pace.  ethan successfully found a lizard and picked him up.  the lizard lived... :)  there was a moment where i was worried...

i really enjoy the vegetation of florida.  the beach.  the pine trees.  i could handle moving... really.  i am not kidding.

she thought the statue was real...  saying hi...

and hi again...

our only family photo... not the best.  thank god i have a date with sabrina this fall.

savannah added all kinds of beach words to her repertoire.  savannah also mastered stairs, thanks to our 3 story house.  without a working baby gate for the stairs.  it was a little exhausting.  i won't lie.

and ethan built up some serious confidence.  and had some sweet father son bonding moments.  they are really two peas in a pod.  it was fun to watch... they would go off and look at things in the tidal pools.  sue told me that faustino has been doing that since he was a kid... so it was sweet to see them share that.  i wish that my kids were able to grow up on the beach like faustino did...  for now we'll just have to settle for a trip here and there :) 

but what an absolute delight to go on vacation.  it was perfect really.

thank you, sue. 

xoxo, s

the beach... part 1

the beach.  my mother-in-law was itching to go to the beach.  so she took us...

i had very good intentions to take a picture with my real camera of both kids by this sign...

we went to seaside.  which -- i must tell you -- is very lovely.  and for a family vacation, i truly can not think of a better place.  the town is tiny.  the food is yummy.  and there isn't anything you want to shield your children from.... you know, like drunk beachy people, scary bathing suits, cheesy tourist traps, etc.  this place is sort of a beach utopia.

my husband said it was like central market decided to start a town...

and well, with that you can use your imagination on the stereo types... and it's probably true.  things seemed fresh.  organic.  pretty.  and pricy.  but i will hold firm to my belief that it is a great beach town to take a family vacation.

this is the "busy" part of the beach.  and those chairs were ours one day.  really, i think it was the best time i've ever had at the beach... and with the exception of our last day, the entire time we were there we were jelly fish free... 

september is a great time to go to the beach.  it was still warm every day.  but not crowded.  at all.  granted, they didn't have things like the movie night and the concert night... but i feel like no crowds is better than organized activities.  so skip a week of preschool and go to florida! 

anywho.  i didn't really photograph the trip very well.  i never even took my nice camera to the beach, because i wanted to enjoy the beach without the paranoia of ruining my camera.  because that could happen.  and my husband sort of hates "photo ops."  so these photos are a combo of our cell phones and my husband's waterproof pentax... and a few from my cannon.

this is how we roll... savannah in the car seat/stroller combo...  does toddler travel make y'all feel like pack mules, too?

but let me back up...  we left on a sunday.  and i definitely needed a vacation because of the beating of vacation preparation.  frenzied packing.  but i promise, i am not trying to be ungrateful... it's just that i start feeling like my mind is going to explode.  too. many. details.   and really, this was an easy trip.  no layovers.  warm weather clothes.  not international.  i clearly just need to get my act together, right? :)  also, no preplanned itinerary.  and compared to disney, where i had actual minutes of the day orchestrated.  {as in, 8:55, be here.  9:10, be somewhere else.  psycho!} 

anyway, our flight got in that afternoon and after eating some seafood we checked out the beach before we checked into the house.

my fearless daughter couldn't get enough of the waves.  she totally dove in... wet sundress, diaper, hair.  laughing the entire time.

holy cow.

i prayed that night that she wouldn't drown.  y'all just don't realize how gung ho she was.  wave hit her face... she laughed.  i. am. serious. 

the next day {and for the rest of the week} she was SO TIMID.  didn't want to go in the water.  wanted to be held near the water.  screamed when you put her down.  she did manage to enjoy the sand quite a bit.

i was so thankful.  soooooo thankful.

and i must go attend to a cranky, teething baby... part 2 soon!
xoxo, s

vacation recuperation

we were at the beach last week... ahhh... bliss.  and now i am paying the price of vacation recuperation.  i wanted to tell you all that i was leaving... but i really don't know who you all are... and it sort of weirds me out to tell the world wide web that we won't be home.  c'mon.  break in...  steal our gigantic non-digital t.v. and snazzy converter box.    {actually, that would not be cool... i don't want to spend $ on replacing a t.v.... but i digress.}

the beach was sweet.  but reality is now upon me.

and after eating ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner {well, not really.  but almost} the kids are readjusting to real life.  you could say they aren't sleeping like champs either.  but maybe that would be sugar coating it.  perhaps i should just say that after four attempts of putting ethan back to sleep... each time waking savannah {screaming, no less.  bless her heart}, he finally came into our room and slept in our double bed.  diagonally. 

and i am in frenzy mode.  cleaning, laundering, putting clothes away... spaz style.  pretty inefficient.

grocery store without a list... sort of a fail.

no sitter for a dinner tomorrow night... another fail.  {kids in bed early... and go late? hmmm...}  i didn't even realize the dinner was tomorrow until last night.  captain organized!

i also decided it would be a good time to switch out savannah's summer clothes for winter clothes....  it sort of looks like a bomb hit my nest.  really.

and the post office delivered our mail from last week in one of those crates.  nice.

but what i really want to do is just blog about our vacation to seaside so that i don't forget any of it!  bye for now.  be back soon...

xoxo, s  

snug as a bug

sister is all about wriggling into tiny spaces... here she is the the bowl of my salad spinner.

and for the record, at school this year and last year, her favorite thing is to kick the dolls out of the cradle and sit in it.  she does the same at my mother in law's.

you should see her with a diaper box!

i remember doing this too... although, i think it is something a lot of kiddos do...   i know i have that photo... perhaps i should scan it and post it?? 

but, for the record, ethan did not show the same enthusiasm for tight spots!

i'll be back with a real post soon... i just had to document my little grub, even though the photo quality is sadly from an iphone...

xoxo, s

busy

whew!

do you know how much you can get done in 2.5 hours?  preschool is magical.  the kids learn.  i get 4x the amount of errands checked off my list.

i can't really believe the week is half over.  i feel like it just started!  we had a very full weekend... it seeped over into the week.

it started on friday night.  high school "fickall game" as ethan calls them.  my dear husband was on the field... making sure the kids were okay to play after they got hurt.  i don't know what i think about my little boy playing football when he's older.  i think i would have a heart attack if he were tackled and got a concussion.  anyway, it was a long game... the kids stayed up l a t e. 

does that mean they sleep in early?  oh no.  not at all!

i will have to take pictures at the next football game.  ethan really loves it.  sister has to stay restrained most of the time.  otherwise... yikes.  she'd be everywhere.  and it is just me in the stands with the kids... so it isn't like i can chase her and watch ethan.  and plus it would annoy the fans.  there are some serious friday night football fans.  when they start screaming at the coaches, so does mr. pickle.  embarrassing.

and while we where at the football game, many of my friends where at another football game.  thank you, baylor!  soooo happy we beat TCU.  i know we live in the purple city, but i might just wear green and gold every purple friday from here on out! :)

and on facebook... my friend's baby was sporting this smocked baylor dress.  so stinkin' cute.  she told me she justified it to her husband as a family heirloom... her daughter's daughter could wear it.  why do i not think my husband would go for this?  :)  savvy does have a baylor cheerleader's uniform bought from a friend at the beginning of the summer... i think we need some bloomers though.  i see some sewing in my future.

back to the weekend.  my dearest theta "pretend" grand-little is getting married in october and she had a bachelorette weekend in dallas.  overnight.  and guess who went?  yes.  me.  without my kids or husband.  i don't think this has ever happened.  overnight.  wow.

and i was definitely the old lady of the group.  the only one with children.  {one other girl was pregnant}

and you know what?  i decided, while uber-fun, i quite enjoy my very quiet life.  this season of life is very enjoyable.  and super chic dallas clubs... not really my cup of tea.  dinner at ocean prime was a treat... and the ghost bar view of dallas is great.

the beds at the w?  fantastic.

sleeping in... i didn't even know how.  amazing.  how do you forget how to sleep in?

the biggest bummer?  not getting a picture with jenny!  i have plenty of picture of jenny from the festivities

like this one.  cute, no?

and while i was trying to sleep in?  the boys were on their own playdate of sorts... doing boy stuff like shooting off model rockets.  i would have loved pictures of ethan's face for that!

the actual labor day holiday, we went to sue's house and grilled fish, asparagus, and corn... {have you ever soaked your corn in water and then grilled it?  yum} then used the corn to make these corn and basil pancakes.  thank you domestic goddess shelley for sharing the recipe.  mmmm.....  i continued to eat them LONG after i was full.   we also had homemade mango margaritas.  delish!

and i totally pinned the pancake recipe to pinterest.  you can click on the button on the side bar to follow my pinterest boards.  you really should.  pinterest is only the best source of inspiration for all things wonderful.  i have been pinning since march... definitely not a passing phase for me.  and i go back to my food board all the time... like a "what's for dinner" inspiration.  love.it.

anyway, i was too concerned with eating my food to take photos of it... but trust me, they were pretty and delicious.  i would definitely serve them to guests.   easy too.

here's a picture via the iphone of savvy jumping on a vintage jumping board.  grammy is always good for some vintage toys...  not going to think of how safe this one is :)

and that was pretty much it.  now just lots of cleaning and errands.  and i need to weed the garden now that it isn't 105 degrees.

and maybe plant squash?  i think i waited too long.

making baba ghanoush tonight... the eggplants are so plentiful.  i have given bags of eggplants to people.  the plants are still going strong.  do you like aubergines?  we have more than enough to share. 

and one more thing -- have any of y'all been to seaside?  could you leave me a must see/do/eat comment?  muchas gracias!

xoxo, s