the rest of the memories...

so it looks like coach sal is in a swimming pool....

...but he's in the ocean...isn't that an amazingly beautiful scene???

i think i took so many photos because i could hardly believe it was real...and i wanted to remember this moment forever...

this was taken before dinner on the deck, with the atlantis resort in the background...

i wanted to share the last of the memories...(sigh)...seems like an eternity ago...

my child returns...

mary e was gone for a few days on a school trip...

yet it felt like forever.

so tonight we caught up. missed my girl.

bedtime...

O bed! O bed! delicious bed!

That heaven upon earth to the weary head.

~Thomas Hood, Miss Kilmansegg - Her Dream

back to work, back to school...

we've gone back to work and school. it's so hard to look at my photos of the bahamas and not wish i was somewhere else....*sigh*...

this past week was spent trying to settle my family into the routine. i also spent the past week creating my classroom, from no-furniture last monday to completed-classroom-with-all-the-trimmings on friday and school-started-for-my-kindergartners on monday this week. whew.

(can i say that again? please? thank you.)

WHEW.

tonight i managed to go to the gym and then go buy groceries. and brownies.

that shows you how tired i am. NO will-power.

but who needs will-power when you have brownies?

besides, i go to the gym so i can eat brownies. don't you?

g'nite.

the daughter returns to school...

the boys return to school...

happiness list...

happiness is...

1. eating cupcake tops
2. reading quotes
3. worshipping on Lord's Day
4. couponing and stockpiling
5. knowing your fifteen-year-old is a good driver
6. fresh new school supplies
7. getting your hair washed at the salon
8. a good haircut with a blowdry and style
9. burning a new candle
10. knowing that tomorrow is NOT the first day of school

it's a sad, sad day...

...when the suntan lotions go away...boo-hoo!

before...


...after...

(but you know it's been a good summer when you're on your third bottle!)

what a smile...

look who got braces!

and guess who said "ooouuuch!!!"?

(hint- it was the one who paid, not the one who wore.)

the colors and character of nassau...

these are all straight-out-of-the-camera...

cococay, bahamas...

i heart heart heart cruising. it is the ultimate in relaxation and travel.
i came home last friday and truly could not function. i had done NOTHING for a week.
awesome-ness.

these are from the private island, where we literally laid around on the beach all day.

the view from my chair...

havin' fun...

another view...

can you BeLiEvE this??? like i said, awesome-ness...we soooo did not want to go back to the boat at day's end...

we kissed a lot...it was good for the soul...

i'll post more soon!

argh...

i can tell school is lurking around the corner, because i suddenly feel like i can't breathe.

i'm also not able to blog like i want to. but i am still here.

this verse was my daily devotional today.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you..." Jeremiah 29:11-14

it is SOOOO fitting.
God is THE BEST stress reliever!

pure bliss...

more to come!...

happy, happy, joy, joy!

i'll be back...

happy birthday, my sweet girl...

only yesterday were you so tiny...

and now i blink and you're a young lady,

with thoughts and dreams and wishes

and stories and laughs and hugs and kisses...

happy birthday, sweet girl,

i love you more.