i'm here.

y'all.

life has taken a 180 degree turn for jeff & i in the last 7 weeks.... like only life does.

and i've been paralyzed! overwhelmed with all that has come to be on my 'to do' list. and all that is not getting crossed off.

but all the important things are together, right? family. health. sweet friends. 

so i try to keep it all in perspective. and that's why the blog has taken such a 'hit' lately. i have so much to say - and so many wonderful pictures to post - but that will have to wait. 

taking a backseat to my 'real life'. 

so....................

saturday before we went on vacation, we had a 'family' reunion at j's parents' house.

b. had fun playing the guitar and aunt 'neesie' had fun loving on lil' miss.

okay - so a while back, j's parents took b. to the circus. 

and he loved it.

and darlene dug out this old costume of jeff's from when he dressed as a lion tamer for a play in elementary school...

and this became b's 'high wire' costume...

here he is with mamaw - the maker of the lion tamer-turned high wire costume.

doing some tricks...

and here is doing the 'high wire'.... love it. he even sticks out his foot like he's trying to balance....

and his 'ta-da' at the end.... 

and just for fun - here's a picture of the hubbs in the costume for his play.  isn't he a cutie? 

and ps- i've always thought that b. favors me - but in this picutre, i think he looks SO much like his handsome daddy!

happy monday night {or tuesday morning}. 

love all of these new shows starting this week.

too bad that won't be helping my 'to do' list.

lunch with daddy.

one of the things on our summer list was 'go to work with daddy'. 

and although that's not exactly how it happened, we did take some time on friday to visit daddy at work and take him to lunch.

brady had fun going from office to office saying 'hi' and giving high fives to j's coworkers. as soon as he'd say hi, he'd run out and try to go into the next office. luckily, it was friday at lunch time, so i think the break was welcomed, mostly.

brady was incredibly serious about working. 

jeff had told him the night before that he really needed his help at work on friday... so brady wanted to make sure that he did everything daddy 'needed' him to do. when we told him it was time for lunch, he shook his head and very sternly told me, "daddy needs my help for more work, mommy. no time to go."

precious.

and charlotte is moving FAST these days. jeff was showing someone how she crawls now and by the time he turned around she was all the way down the hall and in someone's office. 

love it.

we went to tin star for lunch. and of course, it was crowded, so the hubbs had to wait in a long-ish line to order. 

but it was okay. we had angry birds to keep a hungry little boy occupied and a line of people flirting with lil' miss while they waited. 

we are so thankful for a hardworking daddy so that i am able to stay home with the littles. i know it doesn't always work out that way, and some days i think i'd rather go into the office, but when it boils down, i know that i am very blessed.

we love you, jeffrey.

the 4th. for real, this time.

oh yes i did just load 55 pictures on this post. 

count 'em.

i was too lazy to split it up. we just simply had too much fun.

we went to the lake. 

it was hot. and wonderful. with a few afternoon thunderstorms that are perfect for nap time.

and lots of eating outside.

and sitting on the dock. 

staying up late.

waiting for fireworks.

we woke lil' miss up from her beauty sleep to get on the boat in her favorite life jacket for the fireworks show.

the littles were great.

and stayed up until after 10 watching fireworks. there were hundreds of boats. it was awesome!

and we woke up the next day bright & early ready to go swimming.

so proud of the bug. he could. not. wait to swim in the lake.

with his noodle.

and c. and i hung out on the boat - in the shade. 

she ate puffs & grapes while i ate my sandwich.

then it was my turn to swim with the bug.

he was wanting so badly to do it 'by myself'.

c. had to cool off too. 

of course.

snack time.

and then - sunday afternoon - the boys went out on the boat by themselves. 

and guess what happened. 

the bug went tubing.

it looks like he was miserable. but if you ask him now he says: "i love to go on the tube!"

sunday night we may or may not have shot a few fireworks.

including snaps.

smoke bombs.

a few fountains and tanks.

and sparklers. 

that b. was super excited about.

until they were lit.

then he promptly dropped his on the ground and ran to the safety of his seat.

we had fun. 

we are worn out.

and we are thankful for a short week.

i can't belive it's already july!!